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Straits Times
06-07-2025
- Business
- Straits Times
NUS College draws 10,000 applications for 400 places, showing strong liberal arts interest
Sign up now: Get ST's newsletters delivered to your inbox Former Raffles Institution student Nor Ilhan Anakin, 21, will be taking a computing and AI degree at NUS College. SINGAPORE – Even as Yale-NUS College graduating students and alumni lament the closure of their beloved institution in June , they can take heart from the fact that a liberal arts and sciences education is very much in demand among young people in Singapore. This despite the worldwide shift towards artificial intelligence (AI) and computing degrees, alongside falling interest in liberal arts and general studies. NUS College – built on the foundations of the Yale-NUS College and University Scholars Programme – received a record number of about 10,000 applications in 2025 for the 400 places it offers every year. In 2022, when it opened for applications, 7,000 applied. An NUS College spokesman said the incoming cohort along with the first three batches form a diverse community comprising more than 30 nationalities. Of the 360 students who have already accepted places in the college for the coming academic year, starting in August, more than 30 are from local polytechnics. The rest of the Singaporeans come from all junior colleges, as well as Millennia Institute, the Singapore Sports School, School of the Arts and NUS High School of Mathematics and Science. Top stories Swipe. Select. Stay informed. 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The college offers a programme rooted in the interdisciplinary study and application of the natural sciences, social sciences, arts and humanities. Students take the college modules concurrently with their main degree requirements and are expected to contribute actively to learning within the small class sizes of 20 to 25. They are also required to live for two years in the residential wings of the college. Experiential learning takes place on field trips for courses such as those on marine conservation and heritage, through interaction with industry partners, and via practicums in storytelling, photography and dance. Through the college's Impact Experience projects, students form interdisciplinary teams to work on projects across Singapore, the region and beyond. Three projects are now being incubated to develop longer-term value, including Bamboobon, a bamboo sustainability initiative in Thailand, which won the NUS x Hult Prize 2025, a global competition where university students develop social enterprises to address world issues. Professor Simon Chesterman, dean of NUS College, said of the surge in applications: 'It reflects a growing appetite for an education that combines intellectual rigour with real-world relevance. We are candid to applicants that our programme is not easy and it's not for everyone. The demand that we are seeing tells us that students don't just want a degree – they want to be challenged.' On 40 per cent of the Singaporean students qualifying for needs-based bursaries, he said: 'Access and excellence must go hand in hand. We want the best students, not just the best-resourced ones.' Asked about university-bound students around the world questioning the value of a liberal arts education in the age of AI, Prof Chesterman said: 'In an age where machines can increasingly do what we once thought uniquely human, the case for a broad-based education is stronger than ever.' Incoming students echoed his comments, saying that a broad-based liberal arts education will give them an edge in the age of AI. Ms Angel Lim, 18, who intends to major in sociology, sees liberal arts as being more relevant in the age of AI. She said: 'AI raises a lot of issues, and you would need clear and critical thinking to understand the issues and see a way forward. I believe a liberal arts education will inculcate that sort of thinking in me.' She is also of the view that AI will force humans to double down on those talents and skills that only humans possess – such as creativity, empathy and cultural agility. 'Now, more than ever, we need liberal arts education to ensure that technologies help us become more fully human,' she said. Ms Naomi Ho, 20, a business studies graduate from Ngee Ann Polytechnic who is aiming for a degree in accountancy, hopes to pursue a career that will take her around the world. To prepare for this, she is bent on making full use of the opportunities for global exposure and project work at NUS College. She believes a liberal arts education will prepare her for going out into the world, adding that she is glad to see a diverse student body at NUS College, with students from different countries and education pathways. She said: 'There is value in an environment where you get opposing views and different perspectives – it's the best way to prepare yourself for a globalised world.' Former Raffles Institution student Nor Ilhan Anakin, 21, who will be pursuing a computing and AI degree, said combining it with a liberal arts education will give him an edge when he heads out to work. Mr Ilhan, who is working as a receptionist in Pan Pacific Orchard to gain people skills, said: 'No doubt AI will dominate every aspect of our lives. I feel that learning how to use AI will be the easy part. The difficult part will be using it well to benefit people and dealing with the complex issues that comes with using AI. 'That's where a liberal arts education will be useful. It will enable me to see the big picture, to question and look at issues with a different lens, before arriving at solutions. 'I strongly feel that in the age of AI, a liberal arts education can equip individuals to become effective 'translators' between AI and humans.' Dr David Leong, managing director of recruitment company PeopleWorldwide Consulting, said university-bound students combining a liberal arts education with their main areas of study are on the right track, as employers will value individuals who can leverage AI as a tool rather than a replacement for human ingenuity. He said: 'A liberal arts education excels in cultivating important skills, emphasising not just what to think, but how to think – encouraging curiosity, ethical reasoning and the ability to evaluate information critically.' Asked about opportunities for NUS students who failed to get into the college, the NUS College spokesman said the university has expanded its interdisciplinary education initiatives, and its experiential programmes – including the NUS Overseas Colleges programme for those with an entrepreneurial bent – are open to all.
Straits Times
14-06-2025
- General
- Straits Times
TBR (To Be Read): Elyse Graham's entertaining Book And Dagger highlights literary warriors
Book And Dagger: How Scholars And Librarians Became The Unlikely Spies Of World War II retells the story of the US' Office Of Strategic Services, the precursor to the Central Intelligence Agency. PHOTO: HARPERCOLLINS SINGAPORE – Librarians and academics are seldom feted nor do they often take centre stage. Popular sentiment has oftentimes dismissed, even denigrated, them as nerdy and characterised book-related pursuits as ivory tower preoccupations far removed from the gritty realities of the 'real' world. But a recent read highlighted to me once again the underrated importance of book-related skills. It is an especially timely reminder in the wake of the Yale-NUS library debacle and the current craze for artificial intelligence, a gimmick which disguises a lack of real understanding beneath a veneer of legibility and coherence. Join ST's Telegram channel and get the latest breaking news delivered to you.
AsiaOne
11-06-2025
- General
- AsiaOne
'Overwhelming response': 2,000 books left after Yale-NUS adoption drive, June 14 fair open to public, Singapore News
Yale-NUS College (YNC) is organising a book adoption and exchange fair on Saturday (June 14) for the public for the first time since the row over dumping books erupted in May. More than 2,000 books will be put up for adoption and exchange from 9am to 3pm at the Central Library, NUS Libraries said in a Facebook post. The first fair was held from May 28 to 30, but it was open only to the Yale-NUS alumni, staff and their guests. A second adoption drive for the public was scheduled from May 31 to June 9, but due to "overwhelming response" for the first fair, the authorities decided not to go ahead with the second. The fair for the public was thus pushed to June 14. More than 8,500 books were available for adoption during the first fair, but that is down to 2,000 now. One Yale-NUS alumni, who only wanted to be known only as James, told AsiaOne that it was great to see the overwhelming turnout for the May 28 fair and how "different books found good homes". The 26-year-old shared that he had always been "strongly attached to the YNC Library and its books" and that he would browse the shelves when he had any excuse to. He said he wanted to ensure that books previously called "too niche or academic" to be given away were available to collect. But he said that some concerns remained unaddressed, particularly the library's lack of response to the student petition calling for open dialogue on their decision to "shred the books" and how NUS could adopt more collaborative decision-making in the future. Another alumni, Ryan Yeo, shared on Instagram that he and other alumni had tried to push for more days to be open to the public. In his post, he shared NUS Library was "worried about the potential large inflow of people" if they immediately opened the library up to the public. View this post on Instagram A post shared by Ryan Yeo (@ryanyeokh) Yeo added: "Hopefully it's enough for everyone to be able to grab a book or five, I can't bear to think of leftover books going into the shredder again..." In May, Yale-NUS was in the eye of the storm after videos of books being discarded outside the library and collected by a recycling company went viral. James added: "While the rehoming effort on NUS Libraries' part has been laudable, I do hope NUS also pays attention to the wider conversation surrounding the incident beyond the books themselves." [[nid:718887]]
AsiaOne
28-05-2025
- Entertainment
- AsiaOne
'It feels like a gut punch': Yale-NUS students asked to destroy DVDs prior to campus closure, Singapore News
Yale-NUS College (YNC) alumni and netizens have expressed dismay after learning that DVDs containing classic films were destroyed prior to the closure of the university. Student associates working at the YNC Library were asked by staff to destroy over 100 DVDs back in April before the college shuts down in June, reported The Straits Times. Many YNC alumni have taken to social media to show their disappointment in the way National University of Singapore (NUS) has handled the matter. Speaking to AsiaOne, a 26-year-old graduate from YNC who wanted to be known only as Adam, said that "it feels like a gut punch" and that there has been an obvious "loss of transparency and collaboration" as a result of NUS' recent management of the library. "Prior to staff movements following the 2021 YNC closure announcement, the Yale-NUS Library's staff worked consultatively with the Yale-NUS community, often seeking opinions from student associates on community-focused events and initiatives," he said, adding that the new leadership seems to have ignored all requests for clarity regarding the attempted disposal of books on May 20. Chloe, a 25-year-old YNC alumni, also found the incident "absolutely shocking", given that NUS had ample time to plan for the transition considering how the announcement to shut down YNC came in 2021. "Out of context, the treatment of the books and DVDs was so rushed, it could almost seem like the college closed down last-minute," she said. "The labour that was channelled into scratching out the DVDs could have been redirected into rehoming the books, or even taking out the RFID tags on the books," said Chloe, expressing that it has been "incredibly disappointing". especially as YNC's last batch of students graduated last week. 'A loss to the learning experience of all students' In a digital age where most laptops no longer come with built-in DVD readers and the popularity of streaming platforms like YouTube, some would question the impact of such a loss. Speaking to AsiaOne, Dave Lim, a 31-year-old filmmaker and YNC alumni, begged to differ, saying that "streaming and finding films in a library are significantly different experiences", given that DVDs in an academic library are curated. Some of the DVDs destroyed were from The Criterion Collection, and also represent films that "people would not have ready access to, even with streaming". The Criterion Collection is an American home-video distribution company that restores and distributes classic and contemporary films. "It is a loss to the learning experience of all students, especially in NUS. Much less to be said of the greater community if it had been donated to public libraries," added Lim. A Literature student from NUS, who requested to remain anonymous, also echoed similar sentiments and said that streaming services "carry such a limited number of actual older content". "Some of the DVDs might have films that in a few years may never exist in good condition anywhere else," he said. The value in physical media was also raised, as Adam emphasised the risks of censorship and how entire bodies of work could be eliminated from streaming platforms. "Physical media is a safeguard against those issues, especially for an academic institute like NUS," he said. Restricted by licensing and copyright regulations: NUS In response to AsiaOne's queries, Associate Professor Natalie Pang, university librarian at NUS, said the rehoming of DVDs is subject to different considerations to that of books. "Audiovisual materials are governed by licensing and copyright regulations, which restrict redistribution. We have integrated the DVDs we need into our collection. The DVDs which we were unable to rehome were those which could not be redistributed," said Assoc Prof Pang. No other details were shared regarding the actual number of DVDs and content destroyed. A majority of the DVDs destroyed were films, including DVDs from The Criterion Collection. Films from The Criterion Collection are also known to include scholarly essays and documentary content about the respective films and filmmakers. The incident happened on April 24 and 25, according to a student associate who spoke anonymously to The Straits Times. During that time, she was instructed to make four cuts on each disc to render them unreadable. Prior to this incident, NUS sparked public outrage when videos and photos of some 9,000 Yale-NUS books being collected by a recycling company had circulated online. It was only after feedback and a petition by students that NUS managed to salvage 8,500 books and apologised for the "operational lapse", promising to hold a book donation drive to rehome the books. [[nid:718245]]
New Paper
28-05-2025
- General
- New Paper
NUS book-dumping incident: Students also told to destroy DVDs of classic films
Student associates working at the Yale-NUS College Library were told by staff to destroy more than 100 DVDs in April, weeks leading up to the college's closure. One student associate who requested anonymity said she "felt very pained and sad" when she was asked to destroy the DVDs on April 24 and 25. She told The Straits Times she was given verbal instructions to use a penknife to make four deep cuts on every disc to ensure they could not be read. Most of the DVDs she was tasked to destroy were films, including DVDs from The Criterion Collection, an American company that restores and distributes important classic and contemporary films. Criterion issues are coveted and collected by film buffs because they are usually packaged with extra materials such as director interviews and critical essays. She said: "A lot of them were still in good condition and they could have definitely found a new home. I wasn't very comfortable with the scratching task too." Another student associate said she was given a cart of at least a hundred DVDs in early April and was tasked to scratch them with a penknife. She said: "I was a bit fed up about the whole thing, to be honest, and was very reluctant to contribute my time to these efforts." Associate Professor Natalie Pang, university librarian, National University of Singapore (NUS), told ST: "The rehoming of audiovisual collections is subject to different considerations from that of books. Audiovisual materials are governed by licensing and copyright regulations, which restrict redistribution. We have integrated the DVDs we need into our collection. The DVDs which we were unable to rehome were those which could not be redistributed." She did not comment on how many DVDs were destroyed. A student associate who worked at the Yale-NUS College Library shared a photograph she took of the scratches she was instructed to make on DVDs with a penknife. PHOTO: ST READER Associate Professor Andrew Hui, founding faculty member at Yale-NUS College, told ST it was "gut-wrenching" to hear about the order to scratch the DVDs. In 2012, the literature professor had personally requested films in the Criterion Collection to be made available in the library as academic resources. He said: "As streaming platforms are notoriously unstable, licensing rights shift and digital catalogues are curated by commercial algorithms rather than scholarly values, physical media ensures long-term access to film that shape our collective memory." Prof Hui, who was also head of studies for literature at Yale-NUS, called the move "a slow-motion act of cultural amnesia". "In a century where the past can vanish with a click, to destroy them - and to order undergraduates to do so (when they should be watching and learning from them) - is, for a humanist like me, a tiny but terrible act against art." A former Yale-NUS librarian, who spoke to ST on condition of anonymity, estimated that the library had a collection of around 1,600 to 2,000 DVDs. This revelation comes after NUS apologised on May 21 for an "operational lapse" which led to the destruction of 500 physical books. NUS had originally planned to dispose of 9,000 books, but halted the process for the remaining 8,500 books after photos and videos of employees from a recycling company loading books onto a truck circulated online on May 20. It drew sharp criticism from alumni and members of the public who called the disposal wasteful and distressing. Photos and videos of a recycling company loading the books onto a truck on May 20 were shared on social media, drawing criticism from alumni who called the disposal wasteful and distressing. PHOTO: COURTESY OF MS LEE JIAYING NUS will now be organising a giveaway on campus for the remaining 8,500 books from May 28 to June 9. Speaking to the media on May 21, Prof Pang said the university will introduce a new process for excess books. Under the new process, NUS will reach out "more extensively" to faculty and other academic libraries, and will hold book adoption fairs for its students and alumni, as well as the public. The incident comes after the final weeks of Yale-NUS College's existence, as its last cohort graduated on May 14. The liberal arts institution, founded in 2011 through a partnership between Yale University and NUS, is being closed following an announcement in 2021 of its merger with NUS' University Scholars Programme.
