Orientation fundamentally beneficial, and NUS will bring it back: Ong Ye Kung
TODAY file photo
SINGAPORE — The National University of Singapore (NUS), which halted student-organised freshmen orientation activities this year following public outcry over inappropriate behaviour at previous camps, will bring them back for this year’s cohort eventually, even after classes begin.
In a written parliamentary reply issued on Tuesday (Aug 16), Acting Minister for Education (Higher Education and Skills) Ong Ye Kung said that orientation is “fundamentally beneficial” for freshman.
“The correct response should be to take this opportunity to improve, right the wrongs, and bring it back later, even after lessons have started. It will not be the same as having O-week, but we owe it to the freshmen of 2016.”
Last month, NUS had announced that all student-organised team-building activities — including orientation camps, and freshman activities in halls and residential colleges — would be suspended “until further notice”, in the wake of a New Paper report on increasingly sexualised activities at recent NUS orientation camps.
Members of Parliament Dr Chia Shi-Lu (Tanjong Pagar GRC), Mr Zaqy Mohamad (Chua Chu Kang GRC), Mr Gan Thiam Poh (Ang Mo Kio GRC), Miss Cheng Li Hui (Tampines GRC) had tabled questions for Tuesday’s parliament sitting, such as whether there were standardised checks and regulations in place to protect students from tertiary institutions from physical abuse and harassment, and the number and nature of incidents reported.
In his reply, Mr Ong said there are a “multitude” of rules and processes at universities that regulate and guide orientation activities, but noted that “there is a fairly strong view that orientation has been useful for freshmen”.
He also said that inappropriate orientation activities are certainly not widespread. Complaints to the university administrations have been “very few” over the last five years, and neither have any police reports been filed to date. he added.
University campuses, he noted, are full of “energetic”, “independent-minded” young people, while there are rules, unspoken norms, and traditions.
“In this environment, we should not expect to watch their every move, ameliorate every risk, and cushion every eventuality. We want our young to learn, in and outside of the classroom, from successes as well as mistakes. If something goes wrong, we have to correct them, immediately and thoroughly, and NUS is indeed doing so.”
Those who do wrong should expect “discipline and rebuke” while those who suffered wrong “have the option to forgive”. “For the rest, the system did not start from Lord of the Flies, so let us not push it to 1984,” said Mr Ong, referring to the George Orwell dystopian novel about a totalitarian regime.
On the rules universities have in place to guide such activities, Mr Ong said that at NUS this includes briefings for student leaders and requiring student organisers to submit detailed orientation proposals to be vetted by staff advisors and the Office of Student Affairs — “a painstaking process that takes about three to four months”.
“Any inappropriate activities, such as those involving piggybacking between opposite genders, intimate body contact, and wastage of food, will be removed during this process,” he said.
But these still crop up, when “staff and faculty are not watching, and when some students decide to deviate from approved plans”.
He acknowledged that some students may lament the loss of certain traditions when NUS tightens its enforcement against ragging. But students, he said, should value traditions like service to society and excellence.
“I wish our universities orientations that will inspire freshmen, and which everyone can be proud of, and remember – for the right reasons,” he said.
An NUS spokesperson said the university will discuss with student groups the possibility of organising some additional activities for Year 1 students during the course of the semester. It also has been progressively allowing some student-organised activities to resume since Aug 8, such as the Student Life Fair and dinner-and-dance events, said the spokesperson.
"The university will be working together with the rest of the NUS community to review student orientation programmes comprehensively to preserve the value of freshmen orientation activities, and to ensure that these activities are organised in ways that serve the purpose of welcoming and introducing freshmen to the university community."
Ms Yeo Jing Ni, 19, a first-year student at NUS’ Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences (FASS), said she would be keen to participate in the activities, if she has the time, adding that she expected the activities to be on a smaller scale.
“I think (leaders) would stay away from activities that came under the spotlight, they must know their limits as some freshman may not be comfortable with the activities they want to do,” she said.
Mr Said Effendy, 21, also first-year FASS student, was heartened to know that orientation activities were on the cards, adding he heard that some seniors had organised off-campus activities for the freshmen, after the suspension.
“My first lecture was a Year 2 module, so there weren’t many Year 1s around.. It was awkward. I had difficultly in find the venue, and I was overwhelmed, the readings were overwhelming… There wasn’t (anybody) to help me out in getting through this. (An orientation) could have helped,” he said.
