le message july 2009

8/9/2019 Le Message July 2009

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Winning

entries from

the 2009 Essay

WritingCompetition


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Presidents Message

In 2009, many political stances took dierent twists and turns. The power opolitics overwhelmed the reach o economics and science or a while in thenancial crises that broke out in winter 2008. The eects o interdependencyamong countries worldwide are being tested more and more severely. Theworlds ast-paced, connected nature enabled nancial shock waves to spreadquickly, causing increasing unemployment and dependence on welare.

Everyone is a vital part o the global community, and should keep abreast

o current aairs and judge why events happen. Thus, we urge everyoneto keep abreast with up-to-date news all over the world and reason orthemselves the why, when and how things happen.

We aim to expose students in NUS to changing worldwide events, and toengage the student body in discussions o current aairs. Our mission is andhas always been to meet students needs to keep track o global developments.Our political association aims to reach out to the student body or continuous

and constant political engagement. In many ways, though our association isshaped and transormed over the years to meet the respective needs andinterests o the students, we have always kept the mission o the associationclose to our hearts.

Our association is glad to have solicited the agreement o a number odistinguished guests to appear in our orums or talks and speeches.Through dierent orums and channels, they have kindly shared with us their

knowledge, experience and expertise. These orums are specially organised,with a theme that reects recent events, to attract students to attend andlearn rom them. Usually held ater school hours, these events seek togenerate discussions and engender interests in busy students.

In February 2009, we successully hosted our annual Chancellors ChallengeShield in NUS, with a record-breaking participation rate and scale. It was well-received by many JC students, who had come to put themselves in one o the

most rigorous and dicult current aairs quizzes. They ought it out in thecompetition, game show style, and had enormous un. We are also glad that

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our objectives in organising the competition - or the students to learn, shareand gain knowledge - were realised.

In March 2009, our Policy Studies committee took a huge step orward inorganising a series o debates that involved not only NUS undergraduates,

but also Debate Team members rom other tertiary institutions and JuniorColleges. Not long ater, our publications team also successully held theirEssay Writing Competition, with many enthusiastic responses sent in romvarious secondary schools, JCs, polytechnics and universities at a nationallevel.

For the next Academic Year, we have planned a whole new series o eventsor all NUSPA supporters, both old-timers and newcomers.

One o our annual highlights is the Kent Ridge Ministerial Forum. The event,as the name proesses, involves one o the Cabinet Ministers o Singaporecoming to NUS and sharing some insights with the students. This keynoteevent bestows a rare opportunity or dialogue between the students and theMinister where some burning questions can be asked.

Our upcoming events also include a new collaboration with Channel News

Asias Primetime Morning Co-Anchor. Several newscasters and journalistsare invited to our Panel o Discussion, to get eedback rom the studentpopulation about their views on Journalism in Singapore.

With many events that are slated rom July till October, the association isbusier than ever in achieving our vision and mission. As the 34th ManagementCommittees elected term draws to an end, we welcome new-comers to joinus in the never ending road o pursuing our relentless goal: to promotecurrent aairs and engage more undergraduates politically. Be Involved. Bepart o our amily in achieving our goal!

Low Tian Leng

President

34th Management CommitteeNUS Students Political Association

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Editorial

The Publishing Committee recently concluded our Essay Writing Competitionin March 2009. We received a large number o entries, and would like to thankall the teachers/students-in-charge who helped to make this competition asuccess.

The theme o the Essay Writing Competition this year was NegotiatingSel-Identity. No rameworks or guidelines on the topic were given to allowthe participants an unbridled imagination o the subject. Interestingly, the

majority o the essays submitted ell under our broad categories nationalidentity, personal identity, personal anecdotes, and analysis o the concept osel-identity. Included in this issue o Le Message are the our winning piecesthis year (we had two third places), and each essay roughly alls under one othe categories.

As a linguistics major, I am sensitive to syntactical variation, and one interestingtrend I observed in the essays is an increasing use o noun-adjective reversal

[DP D[NP AdjP]]. Uh oh, have I lost you there? Let me cite a concrete examplethen. Instead o saying an evanescent thought, the writer opted or athought evanescent, eectively shiting the adjective evanescent rombeore the noun thought to ater it. I wouldnt say that this is right or wrongper se, just an interesting trend to take note o.

Now let me put on my critics hat. Some writers went through the entire essaywithout dening what Sel-Identity is. Considering that this keyword is the

topic o the Essay, Id have expected at least a brie touch on it. Other writerspresented a rather simplistic dichotomy o Western values = bad, Easternvalues = good or New = bad, Old = good. More importantly, these writersdid not substantiate why they think western values or new things are so bad;they just named them as i they were universal btes-noires and based anentire chunk o their argument on this presumption. Finally, as a generalobservation, most essays are either too macroscopic or too microscopic. Itis admittedly ludicrous to expect participants to ocus on both ends o the

spectrum when given an 800 word limit, but a brie comment on the oneeven while one ocuses on the other will be a nice touch.

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The content o an essay matters, but the grammar also aects a readersperception. In the essays submitted, there were copious instances omisspellings, dropping o markers, wrong use o tenses, pronounsthat do not agree in case with their reerents and incorrect syntax. Evenpunctuation makes a dierence dashes were used incorrectly, semi commas

were used when a comma should be used, and the overuse o exclamationmarks is especially egregious. One more comment on the orm o the essaysis the usage o subordinating conjunctions (since, while, although) andcoordinating conjunctions (and, but). Im not o the prescriptivist schoolthat says one cannot start a sentence with a conjunction, but a sentence thatgoes although but, while requently encountered, is plainly wrong.

With the impending end o the Academic Year 2008/2009, my term as

Publications Director o the 34th NUSPA MC is also coming to an end. I wouldlike to thank all the participants o the Essay Writing Competition or theirentries and enthusiastic support, all NUSPA members or being supportive,and wish the incoming Publications Team all the best. Look out or the nextissue o Le Message under the management o the 35th NUSPA MC. Untilthen,

Now to scape the serpents tongue,

We will make amends ere long;Else the Puck a liar call:

So, good night unto you all.

Give me your hands, if we be friends,

And Robin shall restore amends.

[Exit]

-- William Shakespeare (A Midsummer Nights Dream, Act V, Scene 1)

Tan Liyang Andrew

Publications Director

34th Management Committee,NUS Students Political Association

Editorial Board

Editor: Tan Liyang AndrewGraphic Designer: Fabian Kong

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FIRST PLACE - Goh Li SianHwa Chong Institution

I still remember the time our Economics tutor was explaining the importanceo agriculture to us. He said: Much as it might seem strange to you, the

arming liestyle provides the entire country with a cultural backbone. Ithought about this, and concurred. What would America be without imageso lazy aternoons on a arm la Mark Twain, accompanied by the backdropo elds o rustling corn? The bright lights o New York came later, as adeliberate contrast against the olksy heart o Middle America.

What does this mean to us Singaporeans, whose pig arms and vegetableelds were swept away in a urry o industrialisation in the sixties? This

relentless purge has helped us to survive. However, the impact it has hadon us has been elt ever since. Malaysia was intended as our motherland areason or the attempted incorporation o Singapore into Malaysia was that itwould have provided us with natural resources or a manuacturing industry.It would also have given us the cultural hinterland we so dearly needed, andcontinue to need.

A acet to Singapores struggle to dene hersel is the act that we were

seemingly created a mere 190 years ago when Rafes decided to land onour air shores. Very briey, our history: we were colonised by the British,occupied by the Japanese during WWII and had independence thrust uponus ater a ailed merger with Malaysia. Our known history is short; much oour angst concerning cultural sel-identity comes rom this.

Moreover, another problem is that a oreign power has dominated so mucho our brie history. It has imposed an ineriority complex on many o us(maniested in our tendency to believe that books and music importedrom Western countries are superior) and given us an education system in alanguage that is not native to us. In act, the genesis o our modern historywas sparked o by Rafes, while our post-occupation history has revolvedaround attaining independence rom the British and our struggle oreconomic survival as an independent nation.

Then again, there is our pre-modern history, irretrievably tangled togetherwith myth and legend. The old stories we were told when we were young a young boy saving the island rom swordsh; Sang Nila Utama are an

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important part o our story and arguably what makes Singapore unique,instead o just another modern, sterile city.

Yet there are problems with this mythos too. How many o these legendsare Singaporean rather than merely Malayan? The idea o Singapore as a

disparate city-state is a relatively recent construct. Moreover, how much doall o us identiy with these stories? Singapore is an immigrant nation, andthese are stories which come rom Malay culture. These stories may tell oevents which took place on our soil what comes to mind is the legend othe slaughtered boy whose blood turned the soil red, causing the area to benamed Bukit Merah, or Redhill but the Singapore that we know literally restson borrowed soil, and borrowed cultural traditions rom all over Asia.

This disconnect between the past and present is elt by other countries, too globalisation has made this world a more homogenised place. Singaporesproblem is that we have hardly had enough time to gure out who we are,and where we are going, beore having to conront change yet again. Whileothers look to the past or consolation and direction, we have certainly hadno such option.

Less pessimistically, we are not doomed to an equally conused sense o

identity in the uture. Certainly, we are bound by the laws o equilibriumto settle into a more comortable sel-identity, although each successivegeneration will probably keep questioning, reinventing and negotiating it.While we do not have an agricultural sector, we do have the heartlands thesuburban part o Singapore seemingly ar removed rom the bright lightso Orchard Road or the afuent business district o Shenton Way. There hasbeen an explosion in the number o artists who seek to portray the lives oheartlanders and this trend sends a message about where people think thereal core o Singapore resides. The unique, and might one say, slightly absurdquirks, which help dene ourselves as Singaporean, seem to spring up here ina somewhat organic manner: eating sot wafes, wearing pyjamas outdoors,uneral stores selling elaborate paper houses. This is the stu o the lives ourartists seek to capture and to some extent, romanticise.

In the heartlands, these artists seem to say, there is tradition, even i theyare rom oreign lands. There seems to be an unshakeable sense o certaintyabout who we are, and where we are going, and worrying about suchpointless questions seems to be the work o others.

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SECOND PLACE - Kristine Paula Changco AquinoYear 2, FASS(CNM), National University of Singapore

Conversations with the Other: Refections on Identity

Me: Hi, my names Kristine. Whats yours?Random Girl: Hi, Im XXX. Uhhh, where are you rom? Are you Singaporean?Me: Oh, no, Im rom the Philippines actually.Random Girl: Oh really? Cool! Can you speak Tagalog? My maid was romthere and she taught me the best swear words ever! Lemme see i I remembersome

When I rst came to Singapore, conversations like these were common.

While most o the people I talked to seem to genuinely enjoy them, I havealways ound mysel standing there uncomortably as they talked. As theyondly recounted all the words their maids taught them, I would stand therewondering, Why are you telling me this?

I tried talking about other things my all-girls school education, my shoppingaddiction, my love or ood things that made us more similar than theyrealise. But people never seem to nd anything more ascinating than the

act that my passport had the same colour as their maids.

I never elt any particular dislike or these people. I anything, some o thembecame my good riends. I knew they meant well and were just trying tomake conversation. But it made me wonder about mysel how I spoke, howI dressed, and how I acted and whether I stuck out in such a way that madepeople want to talk to me about these things.

And in that moment, ater a three-hour plane ride, everything that elt sonatural and common to me was suddenly put under a magniying glass thatclassied people as Chinese, Malay, Indian or Others. While I am currently anOther, I decided it wouldnt be too hard to try my hand at becoming moreSingaporean. And thus began my mission.

Random Guy: Eh, lunch tomorrow?Me: OK. 1230 can?Random Guy: Can. Oh, meet me at Engin? Ill only have hal an hour.Me: Okay loreh, how come your lunch break so short ah?

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Random Guy: (Laughs) So unny when you talk liddat, sounds so wrong.Ater awhile, I ound mysel peppering my phrases with the quintessentiallahs and lors. What better to sound like a local than the ubiquitous Singlishvocabulary, right? And it worked wondersor a while, anyway.

It was certainly easier to meet more people. No more questions about whereI was rom and no more conversations about childhood memories with theirmaids. For once, it elt like I was truly integrating into Singaporean culture.So much so that when taxi uncles nd out Im not rom Singapore, theyincredulously exclaim, But you sound so Singaporean!

But while I was enjoying the newound ease o navigating my way into theSingaporean social structure, I never really elt like I totally got the hang o

it. No matter how hard I try to work out the kinks, it was always strange tohear mysel speak in Singlish. It elt like another person was taking over mewhenever I use my lahs and lors, and that other person and I never seemedto come together as one. It wasnt quite a split personality disorder, but I didrealise that I needed a new approach to Mission : Integration.

Me: So Ill, like, contact you over this summer, but, um, gimme some time cozI need to, um, like, go back home or a while. (In a heavy American accent)

Random Classmate: Okay. Errhome is where?Me: Oh, the Philippines.Random Classmate: Oh really? I never would have guessed, your English isso good!

Most people I meet these days assume that Im an exchange student romCaliornia or that atas Filipino chick who went to an international school inthe Philippines. And when I answer a resounding No to both assumptions,they usually walk away scratching their heads and urrowing their brows.

Several questions remain in my mind. Why is it considered good English whenI speak in an American accent? Why cant Filipinos be good English speakersunless they went to a posh international school? Is there something wrongwith the way Singaporeans speak English? Why does it all matter?

Having spent two and a hal years here, Im still not quite sure what I amtoday. Im not quite Singaporean, not quite American, and not quite Filipinoeither. So at the end o the day, I guess Im still an Other.

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THIRD PLACE - Lee Yu Ying Heather MarieHwa Chong Institution

Adolescence. The tumultuous period o a persons lie crammed withharrowing uncertainties, ruthless pressure and galling rustrations, during

which a person most questions the paradoxical idea o his or her sel. I thereis a single thing teenagers grapple with on a daily basis, it is their identity. Thequestions o sel-identity unceasingly pervade our everyday lives: Who am I?What am I? Why am I? We are reminded o them when we make decisions,ranging or the most basic what should I have or lunch today? tothe more complicated which career am I destined or?; when we answerquestions; when we reminisce about the past; when we daydream about theuture.

The sel in sel-identity has tremendous gravity. Ater all, identity aloneis but the condition or state o being who or what a person or thing is,according to the Compact Oxord English Dictionary, whereas the additiono the world sel carries with it the meaning o an individuals awareness owhat constitutes his or her essential nature and distinguishes him or her romall others . It is, without a doubt, exceedingly dicult to be entirely cognisanto ourselves, because that would require us to be brutally honest.

Then there is the question o whether or not sel-identity vacillates. Are oursel-identities evolving as we move through lie? At every moment, everyinstance, are brand new aspects o us gradually unolding, layers o usbeing peeled apart, new acets being explored, rendering us dissimilar romourselves a ew seconds ago? Change is constant, and I believe this applies toour sel-identity as well. Our sel-identity is denitely not set in stone; it mightnot go through extreme variations but it certainly does not remain the sameorever. This explains why people have the ability to turn over a new lea, tolearn to tolerate what once drove them insane, but also to experience moraldegeneration.

In an almost desperate bid to make sense o who they are, it is not uncommonor teenagers nowadays to conorm to societal labels that run the gamut romEmo and Prep to Punk, Goth and Geek, to name a ew. Unortunately, it isimmensely easy to lose ourselves in one o these labels and have them deneus instead o discovering our identity ourselves. This makes the concept osel-identity is very questionable are we really who we think we are, and i

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not, how can we tell?The Chinese oten lament how the younger generation is losing touch withtheir gen, or roots. Many steadastly cling on to the belie that only byembracing ones Chinese heritage will one be able to thoroughly grasp onessel-identity. However, the notion that simply appreciating being Chinese

will somehow aid us in our quest o getting in touch with our ever elusivesel-identity is awed. The Chinese number the largest among ethnic groupsin Singapore; they are responsible or a whopping three quarters o theSingaporean population. Even i I, a Chinese, were to proudly proclaim, I amChinese, it does not get me any urther in my understanding o mysel how exactly does being Chinese distinguish me rom the millions o Chinesein Singapore and make me me?

This is not to say that the culture we are raised in does not play a part indening who we are, or that we should turn our backs on it. Growing up inSingapore denitely has certain repercussions on our sel-identity that wouldprobably not be as signicant as i we were raised elsewhere. However, aswith other external actors such as education, religion and the people aroundus, culture not so much moulds our identity as contributes to the experiencesthat could possibly shape us as a person. This is because such external actorsaect us, consciously or unconsciously, in ways that may condition us to

become a certain type o person, thus detracting rom our true sel-identity.

There are currently over six billion people in this world, and it is startlinglybewildering to even try to imagine how every single one o us is dierentrom every single one o them, let alone the hundred billions o people whohave lived beore us. Sel-identity is a constant bafement even the littlestthings aect it. I we were to only slightly alter even the most trivial parts oour lives, we could possibly turn out to be a radically dierent person. Whoare we in and why are we a part o this colossal, gushing, ever-owing river olie? Perhaps it is the pursuit o these answers that keeps each o us movingalong this river.

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THIRD PLACE - Vishwas Subrmanya KashyapAnderson Junior College

What is negotiating sel-identity? Does it mean understanding ones identity,or dealing with it? In my opinion, it reers to both, or it is impossible to deal

with something one doesnt understand. Thereore, I shall take negotiatingto mean understanding and, leveraging on this understanding, dealingwith our identity.

A persons lie involves a plethora o quirks and emotions, all o whichcontribute distinctly to making us who we are. As humans, we are conditionedto living and thinking in a certain way, and this way o lie aects our abilityto distinguish and categorise the things around us. Over the years, humans

have grown to be experts at searching and identiying the things aroundus. However, when this search turns inwards, the human mind becomesperplexed, conused and astounded at the memories, emotions and ideascontained within it.The identity o an object could be its name, shape or orm, which is in turninuenced by our perception o it. For example, a dove is called a doveand associated with peace, so in our mind its identity would be a creature

that ies and a symbol or peace. However, when it comes to humans, weassociate ourselves and hence our identity with more complex things suchas emotions, relations, position in society, etc which makes it a much hardertask.

Thereore, our identity is inuenced by several actors. Our name or instanceis considered by many to be important in shaping our identity. Our personalitycan also inuence our identity. Interestingly, all o these qualities are dynamic,in that they constantly evolve and change A natural inerence rom thiswould be that since the actors that inuence sel-identity change over time,so should sel-identity. Hence sel-identity too is a dynamic concept.

Take the case o a hypothetical pair o twins who has been brought up thesame way, exposed to the same kind o environment, have same riends, etc.Even in such a situation, the twins need not necessarily develop the samepersonality or behavioural traits and hence, need not possess the same sel-identity. From this stems the necessary conclusion that sel-identity is notinnate.

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Hence, we see that there can never be a xed way o dealing with sel-identity. I shall take dealing to reer to the reaching o a state o acceptanceor reconcilement, i.e. a state where we accept and are comortable with ouridentity.

The major problem that people have with their identities is that they aredierent rom the majority. Mitigating this discrimination requires theunderstanding that every persons identity is unique and being dierentrom the norm is not a bad thing.

Knowledge o ones culture and descent can also be useul in understandingonesel. This doesnt mean that all members o a amily or all people withthe same culture are similar; it simply helps us to understand why we do the

things that we do, which may have a cultural or religious reason. It also helpsus to understand peoples reactions towards us based on our associationwith a certain religion or culture.

Thereore, rom the above discussion on the nature o sel-identity and waysto negotiate it, we realise that sel-identity is a very dynamic concept thatchanges over time and space. Also, sel-identity is a complex concept, withthe complexity arising largely due to myriad actors that inuence and shape

it. Furthermore, the need or negotiating sel-identity helps us to understandourselves better and hence is an essential part o sel-realisation. As J.CMurray once said:

Self-understanding is the necessary condition of a sense of selfidentity.

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The Chancellors Challenge Shield(CCS), an annual current aairs and

general knowledge quiz organizedby the NUS Students PoliticalAssociation, was held on 21stFebruary 2009 at Lecture Theatre 25at the Faculty o Science in NUS. Theevent was graced by Mr. Steven Chia,presenter o Channel NewsAsiasagship morning show, Primetime

Morning.

In its 17th edition, CCS 2009 sawthe largest number o participantsin recent years with a total o 249participants rom 22 institutions,ranging rom the universities, JuniorColleges, and schools involved in

Integrated Programmes.

The days proceedings began with

the preliminary rounds where eachparticipant had to answer 50 multiplechoice questions testing theirknowledge on areas such as politics,sports, arts and entertainment. Thescores o the participants during thepreliminaries were then combinedto orm team scores determining the

top 3 teams entering the Finals.

The nalists consisted o the HwaChong Institution (Junior CollegeSection), Victoria Junior Collegeand NUS teams. Both audiencesand competitors alike were rstentertained by the highly engaging

keynote address by Mr. Chia, settingthe tone or an exciting encounter inthe Finals.

Chancellors

Challenge

Shield (CCS)

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What ollowed was a public display o emotions by the nalists as theyeagerly sought to outwit each other using the various helplines available.The many witty interactions between the nalists, in between the questions,urther spiced up the competition between them.

Hwa Chong Institution (Junior College Section) eventually emerged as theChampion ater 3 intense rounds, winning or themselves individual trophiesand a cash prize o $500. They were ollowed by The 3 Unknowns rom NUSin 2nd place and Victoria Junior College in 3rd place.

The CCS 2009 Organizing Committee would like to take this opportunityto thank all participants and teachers-in-charge or their enthusiasticinvolvement in the event. The Committee is also grateul or the support

provided by sta rom the Oce o Student Aairs and relevant administrativebodies throughout the planning and organizing o the event.

Do look out or publicity materials or CCS 2010 in the months ahead. In themeantime, enquiries can be directed to [email protected]. We look orward toyour participation at the Challenge next year!

Ho Kee Meng

Chancellors Challenge ShieldDirector

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NUSPA Forum

The Singapore governments shared values are as ollows:1. Nation beore community and society above sel2. Family as the basic unit o society3. Community support and respect or the individual4. Consensus, not conict5. Racial and religious harmony

The nuclear amily structure has always been emphasised by the government,

and they expect amily ties to be always abided by and highly valued. Thisexpectation is evident in the lack o governmental support in Singapore orthe old and disabled as compared to other comparatively afuent countries. The same, however, cannot be said about Singapores competitor, HongKong. Hong Kong was until recently a British colony and thus had similarwelare system as Britains. The system not only provides welare handoutsor the elderly, but also or the disabled. Although the welare system is arrom perect, the elderly are assured o certain orms o social security. This,

however, is lacking in Singapore, despite the introduction o ComCare,whose objective is to help needy Singaporeans. ComCare was introducedin 2005, but the main goal and basic emphasis o this und is or amilies tobe sel-reliant.

In 1996, Attorney General Walter Woon introduced the Maintenance oParents Act. It is a measure put in place to ensure that the elderly in a amilyare being cared or. A summary o the Maintenance o Parents Act is as

ollow: An elderly above the age o 60, incapable o caring or themselvescan apply legal means to enorce an order, which requires one or more othe elderlys children to provide a monthly maintenance allowance. Lately,however, there has been a series o worrying events concerning the elderly inSingapore, resulting in them being abandoned and uncared or.

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The onslaught o the global nancial crisis has resulted in many living inimpecunious situations, with many more in constant ear o losing their jobs.The Straits Times recently reported a rise in the number o people deaultingon the bills or their parents stay in nursing homes. Another relevant reportpublished earlier this year in Lianhe Zaobao cited the rise in the number oSingaporeans sending the elderly in their amily to nursing homes across thecauseway in Johor Bahru, simply to save money because it is comparativelycheaper than nursing homes in Singapore.

In relation to this topic, the NUS Students Political Association would liketo present a chance or all students to share an evening with Member oParliament or Tampines GRC, Miss Irene Ng and Member o Parliament orTanjong Pagar GRC Mr Baey Yam Keng. They would be giving a talk on thetopic Which would you deend - Family or Individualism on 17th September2009. Further details will be released on http://www.nuspa.org in due course.

Lim Hwee TengNUSPA Forum Director

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Internal

EventsInternal Events are value-addedactivities meant to urther integrateand enrich NUSPA members. Eachyear, the director is tasked with

organising these events, includingthe annual Appreciation Dinner, andthis year proved no exception.

In the Academic Year 2008/2009,the Internal Events departmentstarted o by organising a BBQ. Itwas the gathering o resh aces, the

commencement o new beginningsand a chance to get to knowthe members o NUSPA outsideannual meetings. It was a nightlled with much un, laughter andweirdness (throwing ice-cubes to killhamsters?!), ensuring that the year inNUSPA started o on a high note.

Following that rst bonding session,Internal Events held a Xmas Pot Luck

cum git exchange. What better wayto celebrate the season o giving byhaving a session lled with ood andpresents! All members were giveninstructions to prepare a presentthat was gender-neutral and withina budget o $20. The presents werethen be pooled together and a lucky

dip determined who received whichpresent. Held right smack in themiddle o the holidays, the sessionwas a great time to catch up with oneanother and learn about each othersplans or the holiday season and theNew Year.

The next event was a learning journey trip. The purpose o alearning journey is or the membersto learn more about Singaporesheritage. We decided to take a tripto the new and improved SupremeCourt at 1 Supreme Court Lane tond out more about Singapores

highly ecient justice system.

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To say the least, the trip to theSupreme Court was a ruitul one. The new Supreme Court building,which was ocially opened on7 January 2006 by President S.R.

Nathan, was equipped with thelatest IT developments to acilitatehearings. Entering the building, wewere greeted with the SupremeCourt Gallery which gave us asuccinct overview o the signicantdevelopments in Singapores legalhistory, as well as major legal

milestones since the ounding oSingapore. We quickly got acquaintedwith one o the most ecient legalsystems in the region, and a judicialsystem which operates with almostno perceivable imbalance, whetherin political leanings or corruptiono the judiciary. During the trip,

members o the club were also luckyenough to sit-in in an open hearingor the Court o Appeal in which twoo the three Judges o Appeal, Judgeo Appeal Justice Andrew Phang andJudge o Appeal Justice V K Rajahwere present. It was certainly an eye-opening trip.

Next on the list was a steamboatsession held to mark the end othe semesters exams. This was theperect opportunity to catch up oneach others current projects, and a

time to engage members regardingnon-NUSPA matters.

The Appreciation Dinner marks theend o the Academic Year. A yearsworth o events, commemoratingthe hard work all members have putin. This years Appreciation Dinner

was held in the NUSSU Guild Houseat Suntec City. Ater slogging awayor NUSPA or the past AcademicYear, it is now time or NUSPA toreward its members or workinghard by throwing them a sumptuousdinner. This dinner is also one othe ew occasions where all the

NUSPA members rom the separatecommittees get a chance to minglewith each other one nal time beorestarting the academic year areshagain.

Michelle Chan

Internal Events Director

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le message july 2009

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