SWIFT LOVING - Nanyang Technological University

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04 NEWS THE NANYANG CHRONICLE VOL. NO. 17 08 Students, professors applaud budget goodies Food wastage continues in NTU Assessable Income Annual value of residence (as at December 2010) for year of assessment 2010 Up to $7,000 $7,000 to $13,000 More than $13,000 Up to $30,000 $30,000 to $100,000 Cash grants and tax rebates will be put to good use Kenneth Foo Students and professors are generally delighted with the unexpected windfall resulting from the lavish payout from the latest government budget, which they say will be spent mainly on defraying personal expenses, paying for school fees and coping with rising living costs. Widely anticipated to be a generous budget due to the upcoming general elections, Budget 2011 lived up to expectations last month when a wide array of benefits for all Singaporeans was announced. Budget incentives include cash grants, tax rebates and enhanced bursary awards for needy students. But the handsomest of the budget handouts has to be the Growth Dividends, which will be be awarded to every Singaporean aged 21 and above this year. Depending on one’s income and the value of one’s home, Singaporean adults can expect to get between $100 to $800. Operationally-ready national servicemen (NSmen) and full-time national servicemen (NSFs) will receive an extra $100. Many interviewed are pleased with the payout and have already made plans on how they will be spending the bounty come May. “I will use it to pay for my school or hall accommodation $700 $600 $300 More than $100,000 $100 NSFs/NS Men + $100 Source: Ministry of Finance Up to $7000 = HDB flats with 3 rooms or fewer $7001 to $13,000 = HDB flats more than 3 rooms/ lower value private homes More than $13,000 = High-value private homes fees. Then, maybe treat my friends to a good meal,” said Ong Zhen Iang, 23, a second-year student from the School of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering. He will collect $700 as he is an NSman and lives in a 4-room HDB flat which has an estimated annual value of $8,000. Second-year <strong>Nanyang</strong> Business School undergraduate Jonathan Tan, 22, plans to enroll for career grooming courses that will prepare him for his future career. “It’s a great opportunity for me to use the $700 to take courses that provide training on interview skills and personal branding that will give me an edge over other job-seekers,” said Tan, an NSman who also lives in a 4-room HDB flat. “It’s a nice gesture as I can now focus more on my studies instead of having to put in so many hours at my parttime job." Elena Quek Undergraduate School of Humanities and Social Sciences Some, like Assistant Professor Shirley Ho from the Wee Kim Wee School of Communication and Information, will simply place the money in the bank. “I will save and use it to offset the rising cost of living here that is a result of GST hikes and increasing inflation,” said Professor Ho who will also be getting a 20 per cent income tax rebate this year thanks to the new Budget plan. Besides the one-off cash grant, undergraduates whose household incomes are within the bottom two-thirds of the country will also benefit from an 80% increase in bursary award amounts. According to the Ministry of Finance, this will be an increase from the current $1,600 a year to $2,900 a year, covering up to 40 per cent of school fees. Elena Quek, 22, a third-year undergraduate from the School of Humanities and Social Sciences cheers the move, as she will be receiving a $1500 bursary grant. “It’s a nice gesture as I can now focus more on my studies instead of having to put in so many hours at my part-time job, ” said Quek, who works three times a week as a telephone surveyor earning $7 an hour. But not everyone is happy with the way the budget goodies are allocated. First-year Electrical and Electronic Engineering student Cinny Chin, 20, is disappointed that only those aged 21 and above this year will be eligible for the cash handouts. She said: “I’m unhappy that I won’t be getting it just because I’m a year short of the age requirement. I guess I will have to wait for the next general elections for another generous offering like this.” WASTE NOT, Want NOT: Food leftover in Canteen B Cheryl Chan While food prices are rising, food wastage is still commonly observed in ntu. Plates of unfinished food are often left behind on tables or at tray returning points in the canteens, according to Ah Yu, a cleaner who has worked for more than a year at one of the tray cleaning points at Canteen B. “At my cleaning point, we collect up to seven to eight of the typical garbage bags full of food wastages during lunch time alone and around 10 bags in total every day,” she said. Colin Quek, 23, a second-year student from the <strong>Nanyang</strong> Business School, acknowledged that he often has food left over. “The food [on campus] isn’t great, hence I always don’t [enjoy it enough] to finish the whole portion,” he said. While students continue to waste food, stall vendors, who have felt the pinch of rising food prices, are trying to minimise the waste. PHOTO | WAN ZHONG HAO Leong Kok Wai, 30, a stall assistant at the chicken rice stall in Canteen 2, said he ensures food is not wasted at the stall. “Normally we have little leftover, but if we do, we will deliver them to other outlets to sell. We usually estimate the amount of rice to cook to prevent wastage,” he said. Similarly, Hartini, the owner of the nasi padang stall at Canteen B said: “If there are leftovers at the end of the day, we either bring them home for ourselves or give them to our neighbours.” “It’ll be good if the stalls could charge slightly cheaper for those who ask for smaller portions,” said Joey Lee, 22, a fourth-year student from the School of Physical & Mathematical Sciences, who usually has food left over on her plate because of the large portions. “If they don’t lower prices, people will simply take the usual portions even if they don’t eat that much as they’re not motivated to get smaller portions, resulting in a lot of wastage,” she added. Presidential smile: The Honduran president visits a Collaborative Classroom in nie. PHOTO | Goh Chay TEng Two presidents in one week Or in three days to be exact. ntu hosted the Federal President of the Republic of Austria, Dr Heinz Fischer, on February 22nd and the Honduran President Mr Porfirio Lobo Sosa on February 24th. His Excellency Dr Heinz Fischer witnessed ntu signing two agreements with Austrian Institute of Technology GmbH (AIT) and SOLID ASIA to improve the efficiency of cooling systems such as air-conditioning and to tap solar thermal energy in tropical environments. His Excellency Mr Porfirio Lobo Sosa visited the National Institute of Education (NIE) to learn more about Singapore’s education system, with a focus on higher education and NIE’s role in teacher training.
VOL. NO. 17 08 Judith Ho THE NANYANG CHRONICLE SAC's first phase now complete Two brand new rooms are ready for use NTU clubs can book the two meeting rooms at the new Student Activities Centre (SAC) when they open on March 7th. The two rooms will be equipped with tables and chairs for meeting purposes and resemble the meeting rooms in the previous SAC, said Logistics Executive for the Students’ Union Kelvin Oscar Wangsa, 20. The SAC, previously located at the School of Biological Sciences, is now at old Canteen A. “The new SAC is part of a plan to improve facilities and to build a more fun and vibrant environment for students,” said Wangsa. It is scheduled to be fully operational in June, when its students' lounge, recreational U-ROC area and study areas open. A third meeting room which can be converted into a dance studio will also be ready then. However, several clubs were inconvenienced by the upgrading process. Some meeting rooms in the old SAC were closed three weeks ago and there were restrictions on booking the remaining meeting rooms. Clubs that were affected included the NTU Sports Club, Fastforward, Christian Fellowship and the NTU Rotaract Club. The SAC Meeting Rooms 1 and 2 were initially expected to open on February 21st. According to Wangsa, however, importing of equipment from overseas was delayed by the Chinese New Year break, thus postponing its opening. Men AT WOrk: SAC meeeting rooms are opening after a slight delay. PHOTO | WAN zHONG HAO For the NTU Sports Club, it was a particularly trying time as they were in the midst of planning three events—Sports Expose, Surf N Sweat and Bike Rally 2011. “It was difficult accessing the meeting rooms due to the construction at the old SAC and meetings were hindered by the noise from the construction,” said Sports Club Logistics Officer Chen Shao, 21. NTU’s board game society, Fastforward, moved their gaming sessions to old Canteen A. According to Fastforward’s vice-president Tan Haiwang, 22, the change in location resulted in the society losing some students who would usually join the gaming sessions when dining at the old SAC. But for Christian Fellowship and the NTU Rotaract Club, this delay posed only a minor hassle, said Honorary General Secretary for the NTU Rotaract Club Ter Mei Mei, 22. The two clubs had booked meeting rooms in the new SAC for their joint event—Janitor’s High Tea, on February 25th, but the bookings were rejected due to the delay. “But we sort of expected this delay and had other alternative venues in mind, like the tutorial rooms in the South Spine,” said Ter. When the new SAC becomes fully operational in June, students can expect air-conditioned rooms, game consoles and board games, and an area for movie screenings, said Wangsa. NEWS 05 Hall toilets get a makeover Goh Ee Ling Students of Halls of Residences 4, 5, 6 and 7 can expect fully upgraded toilets come July 2013. The new toilets will feature designs similar to that of the ones in the halls that were upgraded recently. Students will be able to use them once the renovations are completed. Key changes include the use of fluorescent lights, additional shower and toilet cubicles and bidets. Users will be greeted with a more spacious interior, a full-length mirror, solidsurface vanity tops and towel bar hangers. All renovation work for Halls 4-7 will be divided into four phases. Phase 1 of the upgrading works will commence in December 2011 and take place concurrently for the halls. The work will be carried out on a blockby-block basis. Each is scheduled to be completed within the semester vacation, but may spill over to the first few weeks of the following academic semester However, students can expect minimal disruption as these will be limited to polishing and finishing works done by contractors. No noisy hacking or major disturbances will take place once the academic term begins, said Miss Angela Shang, Deputy Director of Student Accommodation from the Student Affairs Office. Wear and tear is the primary reason for the overhaul of the washroom units, said Miss Shang. “Although localised repairs are carried out routinely, we feel that now would be a good time to start on the renovation work,” she added. Assistant Honourary General Secretary of Hall of Residence 4’s Junior Common Room Committee Avalynn Chiang, 21, gave the new design a thumbs-up. She felt that the new design is a tremendous improvement from the current one where “toilet facilities are rather old and dim-lit”. “The brighter lighting and increased showering space will make it much easier for us to move around. It seems safer too,” added Chiang. According to Miss Shang, the renovation costs for each hall are estimated at $1 million, and up to $1.6 million for the halls with more washrooms. KEEPING CLEAN: Hall residents can expect upgraded, brighter toilets. PHOTO | WAN zHONG HAO New modules reach for excellence Aravinda Karunaratne Students can look forward to a slew of new modules released in line with the NTU 2015 strategic plan’s Five Peaks of Excellence— Sustainable Earth, New Media, Future Healthcare, New Silk Road and Innovation Asia. The plan aims to guide NTU’s development based on the areas represented by the peaks. More courses with interdisciplinary content are on their way, said Senior Assistant Director of the Office of Academic Services Hariaty Mohamed Senin. One new elective released this semester is HU101: Introduction to Environmental and Urban Studies. It is part of a new minor in Environmental and Urban Studies offered under the School of Humanities and Social Sciences. The minor was inspired by the peak of Sustainable Earth, and the multidisciplinary emphasis of the Five Peaks, said programme coordinator Associate Professor Tan Khye Chong. He added that the minor will take on an interdisciplinary approach, enabling students to understand threats and challenges posed by increased urbanisation of the environment. Some major issues covered include energy, pollution, social equity and economic development. After completing the prerequisite HU101 for the minor, students are required to take one module each from the four different subject groups of sociology, economics, Chinese/English/Linguistics and multilingual studies, and civil and environmental engineering. Third-year student from the school of Materials Science and Engineering Cai Li, 23, is currently taking HU101 as he is passionate about environmental sustainability. Said Cai: “I like the fact that this module looks at the relationship between the environment and the society with a multi-faceted perspective. It keeps in mind that many environmental problems do not need a technological solution, but a shift in paradigms and mindsets.” Cai added that more opportunities should be made available to students because enrollment for the course is limited to 35 people. “More line-ups such as competitions, seminars, talks as well as awareness campaigns can be carried out to bring about a deeper engagement of students,” he said. Next semester, electives CH0810: Biofuels and MS8205: Materials for Energy Conversion will debut for the minor programme in Energy, which only started last semester. The minor in Energy from the College of Engineering is also driven by the peak of excellence of Sustainable Earth, said Associate Professor Gooi Hoay Beng, from the School of Electrical and Electronic Engineering, who is teaching some modules for the programme. Said Dr Gooi: “Energy is a deep concern of the modern world. Even President Obama has highlighted its importance. We want to raise students’ awareness on this timely issue.”
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