Last week, alongside my fellow NTU-USP peers, I embarked on a transformative journey that led me to the 11th University Scholars Leaders Symposium at the United Nations Headquarters in Bangkok. It was a much-needed pause from the whirlwind of exchange programmes and work commitments that had consumed my past year, allowing me to reflect, once again, upon the significance of community service.  

Amidst a sea of insightful voices, one speaker’s words struck a resounding chord within me. “The act of volunteering itself is not innately destructive. It is the act of volunteerism that when used as a tool for supremacy, pity, othering self-interest; it creates psychological, mental, spiritual, and physical harm to those on the receiving end of the service,” said Breauna Doraus. This triggered a profound reflection on the nuances of community service and the power dynamics often intertwined within. 

Indeed, I have previously witnessed this very phenomenon of the savior complex subtly weaving its way into well-intentioned acts of service. It’s the assumption that we know what’s best for others, that our help is a beacon of salvation in their lives. It’s an attitude that, however unintentionally, creates a rift between the giver and the receiver, diminishing the individuality and agency of those whom we aim to support.  

People are not your projects. What I took away from Doraus was to reframe what volunteering or service meant – Instead of thinking “what you are saving this person from”, think instead about “what barriers are you breaking down for these people” ; what obstacles can you help dismantle. This transformational shift requires us to step back, to acknowledge that those we serve are not passive recipients of our benevolence. Instead, they are active participants in their own journey, deserving of respect, dignity, and the opportunity to collaborate in crafting their own narrative. It simultaneously necessitates an introspective examination of our motives, ensuring that our actions are driven by a sincere desire for positive change, devoid of perpetuating power imbalances. 

Now if you find yourself presented with the opportunity to volunteer under the University Scholars Programme, perhaps with SSP or at FOP CIP, I implore you to reflect more deeply upon this. Consider how your actions can contribute to meaningful service, contemplate the intentions of your actions, and reflect on the lasting impacts that your action may bring. 

As university scholars, potential future leaders, entrepreneurs, and change-makers, I believe we have the power to reshape the narrative surrounding the act of service. So let us, as mindful individuals, approach service with a genuine heart and a drive to empower, to uplift, and to make a difference. 

Last but not least, I would like to offer my heartfelt thanks to NTU-USP for affording me the privilege of attending this eye-opening symposium, which not only broadened my perspective on service but also instilled a renewed commitment to making a positive impact. 🙂  

Submission by: 

Koh Rei Min Ashley, Year 4, CS

For many of us, spring cleaning is an annual event with our family members in preparation for Chinese New Year. As we usher in the new year and embrace a fresh start, we declutter our rooms, clean the furniture, and put up vibrant red decorations symbolising a bright future. This year, the NTU-USP Club’s Social Service Projects committee collaborated with Central Singapore Community Development Council (CDC) to organise the annual USPringClean.

Leading up to the event, a few of us conducted door-to-door visits to introduce ourselves and better understand the seniors’ living conditions. These areas included the kitchen, living room, ceiling, doors, and gates. Personally, it was quite nerve-wrecking as I had never painted homes and did not want to disappoint the elderly. Nonetheless, I was looking forward to helping the elderly organise their homes and provide a cleaner and safer environment to live in!

With other NTU-USP student volunteers, I made my way to Whampoa on an early Saturday morning to spruce up the homes of the elderly residents, many of whom are too frail and require help cleaning their homes. We collected our cleaning and painting kits, had one last briefing, and proceeded to the respective units. Each unit had different needs and my group was tasked with painting the door and gate. It took some work to manually scrape off the old paint and clean every edge of the door, but it was definitely worth the smiles on the residents’ faces as they looked at the fresh coat of paint.

While the cleaning and painting was tiring, the most memorable part of my experience was enjoying lunch and interacting with the elderly. As we gathered round a small table in the living room, we listened to the residents talk excitedly about their heritage, children, and grandchildren. Perhaps this was what made all the hours of planning and execution worth it. Simply giving the elderly the time of day and listening to their stories reminded me of the times I spent with my grandparents and made me reflect on the isolation that some of them face daily. The heart-warming conversations with them brought me greater joy and satisfaction than all the cleaning and painting I did.

As the event came to an end, we bade farewell to the elderly and gave them mandarin oranges as a symbol of conferring well wishes. Looking at the before and after pictures of the units, I was pleasantly surprised and very grateful to all volunteers who made time to join the event.

Finally, this event would not have been possible without my main committee: Glendon, Caitlin, Joie, Jolin and Wen Hao. I certainly hope to be back as a participant for USPringClean in the coming years!

Submission by:

Kong Song Wah, Hannah, Year 2, Biological Sciences

If you asked me why I applied for NTU-USP 2 years ago when I first graduated Junior College, I couldn’t really tell you much back then. To be very honest, I didn’t know much about NTU-USP during the university application process. In fact, I was more concerned with getting into my main major, Communications, as I had set my sights on it midway through JC.

But after 1 semester in NTU, I can safely say that the NTU-USP family (or USPHAM) has been a huge source of joy and comfort in helping me transition to university life. USP isn’t just a group of scholars — it’s actually a family in itself.

My journey in USP began after I accepted the NTU-USP offer. I was then assigned a USP buddy, Cherie, who was a Year 1 in the same course as me. She’s probably already in her final year by now (due to me spending 2 years in NS), but I remember asking her a ton of questions about the school and the scholarship back then. It may seem trivial, but having a senior and buddy you can talk to before you even matriculate is the most comforting thing in the world. University is a confusing and complex phase in your life, and things just happen without you really noticing or understanding how they work. So to have a buddy is to have a guide — someone to tell you what deadlines you have to meet, what your matriculation process will be like, what documents you have to submit, and where to access certain things so you’re not completely lost in week 1. And USP was the first to reach out to me in the months and years before I even matriculated.

This sense of mentorship continued further when I went for USP’s Freshman Orientation Programme. Our OGs (Orientation Groups) were initially split into sub-OGs, with about 5-6 freshmen to 1 OGL (Orientation Group Leader). This made orientation a lot less daunting — we weren’t bombarded with an entire new batch at once. A lot of people dread the idea of orientation — what with having to introduce yourself and participate in a bunch of games — but the USP seniors were happy to sit and relax with us even if we weren’t that enthusiastic about the activities.

One OGL in particular stood out to me — my Bravestone OGL Syed Zaheen. He’s everything you would need in a senior: tells you everything you may need to know, answers and explains even the dumbest of freshmen questions, and gives advice on pretty much any aspect of university life. I’ve asked him about things like the scholarship GIRO application, the STARS process, checking into hall, joining CCAs, the fastest way to get to Pioneer MRT from various bus stops, and even how the staircases and levels work in hall. I found myself asking him questions that I would otherwise have turned to Reddit for — a testament to how helpful he was as a senior.

As the semester progressed, USP became a small community for me to fall back on. The batch is small — only about 50-odd students or so each year — so by the end of the first semester we all pretty much knew each other. We stay in the same halls (for the Year 1s at least), go for the same core USP modules, and stuck together with those in the same majors as us. USP modules also tend to be evening seminars (the last class of the day), and as a result, we found ourselves always having dinner together as a mini USP batch after these seminars. This may have been a simple thing, but amidst the confusion that is Year 1 of university life, it was a calming thought to know that you’ll always have these few familiar faces to eat dinner with at the end of the day.

And this brings me to TOPS, the year-end research module that all USP Year 1s go for. To travel overseas as an entire batch after your first semester in university — and to do it with the freedom of planning your own group’s itinerary — is honestly such a unique bonding experience that I am forever grateful to be a part of. It’s like an initiation into USP — a second orientation, if you will. It’s an experience that truly cements you as part of the USPHAM, from the very moment you board the plane at Changi Airport and think to yourself, “Wow, so this is what NTU-USP is all about.”

Now all this may sound like a shameless plug for NTU-USP. But I can truly say that USP has been the bedrock of my university experience so far. USP is a family that’s here for me from the beginning to the end.

Submission by:

Adam Bin Mohamed Razali, Year 1, CS

The streets of Chiang Mai sang with a choir of sounds, of chattering tourists, honking Rod Daengs, and the calling of street vendors. But at the heart of it all, were the sounds of passionate creatives who artfully strummed Suengs and acoustic guitars, who sang traditional folk songs and classic rock and roll. I remember walking down the Sunday Walking Street Market on our very first day in the city, observing Traditional Lanna Music performers play alongside food stalls, and watching a crowd gather around a rhythm and blues band playing in a storefront. The people of Chiang Mai, I learnt throughout the course of the trip, breathed in music.

I’ve always been interested in musical cultures. So when my TOPS group decided to center our research around culture and heritage, I jumped at the opportunity to explore Chiang Mai’s music scene. We interviewed numerous people about local music, from students, to random shop owners, to dancers and musicians, to instrument vendors, and university professors. We watched performances, listening to musicians perform Traditional Lanna music while enjoying a traditional Khantoke dinner, watching bands rock out with electric guitars at ground shaking volumes and singing jazz songs so deep its soul reverberated through the walls.

Chiang Mai, we learnt, was brimming with energy. Performances stretched well into the night and venues were packed with foreigners and locals, with the young and the old alike. Musicians played Traditional Lanna songs with practice and pride, learnt from their grandfathers who passed down the tradition preserved by the generations before them, while challenging the limits of the genre at the same time, blending traditional and modern elements to create something new. It was inspiring to be surrounded by people so passionate about what they do. Perhaps one of the most inspiring performances we experienced was one performed by the students of Yupparaj Wittayalai School. I still remember sitting in that hall, an array of instruments spread across its length, feeling chills crawl up my skin as the orchestra swelled, watching the students dance as if they were feeling every emotion that rolled off the music. I’ve never seen music mean so much to people before.

This trip became so much more than a mere fieldwork trip then, more than just collecting data and conducting interviews to substantiate our research. We talked to people and sat down for entire durations of performances for a genuine love and curiosity for the music. It felt like we made real connections, shared experiences, and truly learned from others. That, to me, is what ethnographic research is ultimately about. Human connections. I would not have learned nearly as much if not for the conversations I’ve had with people and the experiences I sought out.

As our trip to Chiang Mai came to an end, I left with an aching desire to pick up the Seung and to learn more about the world.

Submission by:

Tay Hye Der, Heather, Year 1, PPGA

It is a curious thing to have your research be recognized beyond the classroom, and this is especially true when the course paper had been written on as unorthodox a topic as hair and its representations in art. A peculiar introduction, certainly, and yet strangely apt in encapsulating the humble beginnings of what would culminate in a surreal and exhilarating experience in Dublin, Ireland.

Shantini, Sherry, Jian Kai, Alexis and I at Phoenix Park.

It was an honor to have been invited to attend the 2022 Global Undergraduate Awards Summit as the Regional Winner in the Art History & Theory category. The three-day conference summit has proven fruitful, and I am immensely grateful to have been part of a platform that brought together a group of like-minded students, each so well-versed and devoted to their disciplines. Their shared love for academia resonated with my own in ways that I had never encountered before. As a double major in English Literature & Art History, and part of the University Scholars Programme (USP) that unites students of various faculties, interdisciplinarity lays at the heart of my work and life, though in practice they have rarely traversed the boundaries of the humanities. Nonetheless, the fluid conversations held with students across all fields of study at both the summit and in my time in USP has continually affirmed my belief that no discipline is truly self-contained.

Throughout my time in NTU, I have been exposed to new perspectives that have inspired me to seek out novel and niche topics to explore, and I constantly find my knowledge carrying across modules. It is hence paradoxically both serendipitous and predictable that the art history paper I submitted to the Undergraduate Awards was inspired by and founded upon a prior research paper undertaken in SP0048 “Global Histories Through Masterpieces”. That module holds a special place in my heart, partly because Professor Walsh had allowed us to write about anything that piqued our interest, but mostly because he had told us that “if you keep writing, I will keep reading”. This was a statement I was later told I had taken “a little too literally”, and which I shall always remember fondly as a testament to my professors’ genuine desire to nurture and take interest in their students’ passions.

Much like the humanities curriculum, NTU-USP emphasises elective-based modules, allowing for creative freedom while providing a critical foundation through core modules in the first and second years. It is only now, in my final year of study, that I am fully able to appreciate the tolerance and open-mindedness with which my professors have regarded my wild ideas and proposals. More so than pushing me out of my comfort zone, they have provided me a conducive and safe environment to expand the boundaries of my knowledge at my own pace to my own whim and design, and for this I am eternally indebted.

NTU-USP has been extremely supportive in providing extensive funding to attend the conference, and it heartens me to know that the program and school truly care about the development of its students, recognizing the unique value of attending an in-person conference summit.

Finally, I would like to extend my gratitude to the Global Undergraduate Awards, the School of Humanities, URECA, USP, and all the professors who have nurtured me in my time as an undergraduate student. Lastly, I wish to thank Professor Michael Walsh, for whose module the winning paper had been formulated, and who has been an immense source of inspiration and influence on my research work.

The NTU award recipients with Jim Barry, Chairman of the Global Undergraduate Awards.

Submission by:

Ng Xin Le, Year 3, ELAH

When I first got the invitation to write for an NTU-USP blog, I was told to write about my recent “success” in getting work awarded by the Global Undergraduate Awards. While the process was a mere submission – and some formatting to “deface” my creditors, i.e. my instructor Professor Nick Prior, it didn’t feel much of an achievement for me; I did my best trying to write an essay for a sociology course during my study abroad semester in Edinburgh, and that’s about it. But it may be ungrateful on my side to discount those who made this seemingly small award possible based on my undervaluation of it.

First, it’s needless to say that without NTU-USP, SOH and undoubtedly their support, this couldn’t have been possible. I am a philosophy major. So, it seems odd that it was my work on sociology that got awarded (which also means my work on philosophy needs more work). As such, I have NTU-USP and SOH to thank for (sometimes, painfully) forcing us to take up courses beyond our majors. Furthermore, without the comfort and privilege of the Study Abroad Programme, I wouldn’t have the opportunity or the confidence to venture into courses beyond my “expertise” – I have also taken courses on social anthropology, which one wouldn’t easily find locally.

Next, this blog post made me realise the importance of venturing beyond what we think we’re capable of. It also made me realise that regardless of what we think we’re made for, we could always achieve more than that; that we’re capable of innovation and creativity so long as we try. Going into a course titled “Popular Music, Society, and Technology,” I had (and still have) minimal knowledge of “popular music,” “society”, and “technology.” I think we NTU-USPians often feel this way when we take on any electives. But I think if we’re perceptive and receptive enough to take on new content and challenges, we may find ourselves discovering aspects of ourselves that we thought were closed to us. And I think NTU-USP (and SOH) does a great job guiding us there.

Finally, coming back from an academic hiatus made me realise that we shouldn’t impose a “time limit” to our learning. Two years ago, when the pandemic hit, I was urged by my mentors to persist and finish my degree as soon as possible. I made the tough call to return to my home country and was “locked” there for two years. I was forced to take a break from school. While my learning slowed down then, I never stopped reading and researching the things I find interesting – I’m recently interested in neo-Marxism, money, and sociological issues on labour. I believe those two years contributed to my “achievement” as much as the support I got from my instructors and NTU-USP. I’d like to believe that those two years gave me a more mature (and admittedly more cynical) outlook on life and my work as well.

I’d like to thank NTU-USP, SOH, UOE, and Prof Nick Prior for making all of this possible.

For those interested in my work, click here. It is an essay about how we could understand “virtuality” in the context of popular music. I analyse the tension between the virtual and the real, and the relevant sociological problems created by this tension through the Japanese virtual idol Hatsune Miku.

Submission by:

Ang Wei Xiang Philo, Year 3, PHIL