The students voice MICA (P) 200/03/2009

THE BLUE AND GOLD

Issue 7 October 2009

heartware in SMU
Views on the 80 hours of compulsory community involvement projects
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Nurturing the

THE BLUE AND GOLD Editors note

MANAGING DIRECTOR

Michael Ng
ACTING MANAGING DIRECTOR

his is an extraordinary time for The Blue and Gold. We launched our new look just this year and many other initiatives will roll out over the next few weeks. We have also formed a new team of student editors since our last issue.

Owen Tan
EDITOR-IN-CHIEF

Ephraim Loy
ACTING EDITOR-IN-CHIEF

Early in the term, The Blue and Gold launched a model search for our new series of print ads which you will see around campus. The response for this search was heartwarming and I would like to extend my thanks to those who had applied. We are also very priviliged to partner Trilympics 2009 as their official student publication and look forward to future partnerships with student related events in SMU. This issue hopes to focus on the pulse of student life - from issues close to students hearts like the Delight issue to events featuring our very own SMU students such as the Freshmen Bash. Look out for the exclusive interview with our newly crowned Mr and Ms SMU. For the Viewpoint section, we have a wide array of critical feedback on policies that could affect students. And we hope that the school management would take these views seriously. We also feature several insightful talks - one of which is on the rise of China - in the Higher Learning section which we hope would give our readers knowledge beyond the seminar room. Taiwan takes centrestage in our Travel section. In this feature, we also managed to have a short chat with pop idol Jolin Tsai. We hope you will enjoy this issue as much as we have enjoyed putting this issue together. As you read this, work on our next issue has already begun. Lets continue to make the students voice heard! Ephraim Loy Editor-in-Chief, The Blue and Gold ephraim.loy.2006@socsc.smu.edu.sg

Alexandria Neo
SENIOR EDITORS

Esther Yeo Talisa Kaur Dhaliwal

EDITORS

Bharath Raganathan Suren Rastogi Truong Thi Ngoc Anh Pranav Backliwal Pang Hui Qing
GRAPHIC DESIGN

Chloe Sng
ILLUSTRATOR

Alexandria Neo

THE BLUE AND GOLD is a fully student-run publication of the Singapore Management University Students Association. All rights reserved. No part of this publication should be reproduced without the prior permission of the authors concerned and The Blue and Gold. Printed by KHL Printing Co Pte Ltd. The Blue and Gold 81 Victoria Street Singapore 188065 pubcomm@sa.smu.edu.sg

You know youre important when The Straits Times acknowledges your presence. All right, we made a mistake with our spelling in the SMU 200 poster, which some of you including our national newspaper spotted and made known to us (right). We sincerely apologise for the spelling error and this time, we promise you well get it right. It was a good experience.

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THE BLUE AND GOLD

October 2009 Issue 7

Contents
Viewpoint 4 Reviewing pre-assigned modules: 5 6 8
A wise move? Unpredictability the key to LTB Falling attendance at Vivace?
It seems like a sign of apathy amongst students says Owen Tan

28 China will rule the world a

Western insight into Chinas rise
Owen Tan finds out more at the Foreign Correspondents Associations Morning Talk

Communication is key in student engagement SA replies to Students, take action if you want change

Worldscope 30 Obamas healthcare plan 101

Esther Yeo gives a summary of what you should know

16

32 Human rights in ASEAN: An

economic perspective

Cover Story

10 Nurturing the heartware in SMU

Views on the 80 hours of compulsory community involvement projects

Travel 34 Taiwan: An often overlooked gem Campus Arts 36 Love two be part of art
Emile Law has a sneak peek of art in the heart of SMU

School Events 16 Sports Fiesta reveals new trend 18 20

of student participation Eight questions for Freshmen Bash 2009 winners Sean Wong and Natalie Pua Delight-ful issues: Tripartite gap within SMU?

CCA Pages 38 Adding colour to Noahs Ark III

Leandra Chee reports on the recent painting overseas community service project by the SMU People for Animal Welfare

18

Higher Learning 22 In writing, theres No Looking

Back
Owen Tan listens to the stories, the past and the hopes of writer Robert Shearman

40 Friendship redefined
Eugene Tan Jia Rong questions the notion of being a friend

42 Reflections from the 14th APEC

WLN Meeting

44 Q.E.D. is about passion and zeal

for Quantitative Finance

27 Copenhagen: Unavoidable
management?

46 Literati: We are novel

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Viewpoint
Reviewing pre-assigned modules: A wise move?
By Putra Muskita

freshman acquaintance of mine was asking me for advice regarding BOSS bidding. Knowing how difficult it had been when I was a freshman doing first-time bidding, I gladly helped. However, one of his perfectly innocent questions caught me totally off guard. Hey Putra, how much did you bid for Financial Accounting? I was trying to recall how many e$ I paid for FA when it suddenly dawned on me that I never paid any e$ for it. It was pre-assigned, two terms ago. I tried to remain helpful and told him to check the past biddings in OASIS, but then I remembered that FA had always been pre-assigned, at least in recent times. I told him to bid somewhere around e$18, just to be safe. (For the record, he eventually got the class.)

Apparently, thats not all. In this new academic year, with the exception of SIS modules, there are only three that are pre-assigned: Calculus, Academic Writing, and Introductory Economics. Unless exempted, those who are in block A will get Calculus and Academic Writing, while those in block B will get Calculus and Introductory Economics. This is a huge change from the previous academic year. A total of seven modules were pre-assigned; joining the aforementioned three are Business Law; Leadership and Teambuilding (LTB); Business, Government, and Society (BGS); and, of course, Financial Accounting (FA). Delisting Business Law and FA from the preassignment roster is quite sensible. After all, both modules are not meant to be taken by all SMU students. Business Law is compulsory only for students from LKCSB, SOA, and SOL, while FA is compulsory only for students from

LKCSB and SOA. The other two, however, is a wholly different story. LTB and BGS are both compulsory for all students, no matter which school they are from. Therefore, pre-assigning them would prove to be less of a headache for everyone: From students who dont have to worry about failing their bidding, to professors who dont have to worry about students dropping their classes. That being said, even though the reasons behind these changes are not obvious for us students, surely the school acts in everyones best interests. With students being one of the key components of the very existence of the school, no policy change would be made without taking into consideration our welfare and interests.

Unpredictability the key to LTB

By Owen Tan
he Leadership and Team Building (LTB) course, compulsory for all SMU students, is a class that offers an opportunity for students to learn by doing in giving them hands-on experiences that facilitate the learning of leadership and team dynamics in real-life situations, as mentioned in the course description. For years this course had been pre-assigned to all students in either their first or second terms of school. This year, however, citing the changing school dynamics of increasing attendance, the university decided for the first time in its history to not preassign the LTB course to students. The contradiction to the course description, however, leaves something for the students (and academic offices) to wonder. How can a course that expects to facilitate the learning of leadership and team dynamics be a class that you can possibly bid with friends that you know? The fact that LTB is unpredictable that you are able to meet people whom you have not met, possibly people from different schools and backgrounds makes the course intensely educational, since we need to learn how to react and build rapport with a group of strangers. While the workload is immense in pre-assignment of course units the Office of Registrar, apparently, needs to manually enter the names of every single freshman into the class databases, which becomes more of a hassle every year with exploding attendances the surprise in meeting another group of individuals that are not immediately in your first-degree network of friends (and then spending 13 weeks together grinding out a decent project notwithstanding) is a worthwhile benefit. Pre-assignment of courses, in my opinion, can reduce the formation of cliques, and help to establish networks with people whom you might not necessarily have met. The benefits of having a pre-assigned LTB course may not be immediately apparent but are significant, if one is to consider what the course description is all about. In real-life situations, you are limited in the choices of who you can work with. Could bidding for course units that teach teamwork (to a group of friends) possibly be as educational than teaching teamwork to a group of strangers? I wonder.

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Viewpoint
Falling attendance at Vivace?
It seems like a sign of apathy amongst students says Owen Tan

ear on year, SMU admits a record number of freshmen into its campuses, and class sizes have conspicuously grown larger. Interestingly, there has been no corresponding increase to the following: the attendances at Vivace, the subsequent attendances of most CCAs, and the number of chairs in seminar rooms. It may not be as worrying to run out of chairs in school but it certainly is to run out of passion. Taking into account once more the yearon-year increase in enrolment, we have not matched that to the number of people looking to get elected into constituent bodies (CBds). Fewer people are looking to be elected into the Students Association Executive Committee (SA Exco) than the previous year.

Are we not caring enough to join associations and organisations anymore? I look back at myself as a freshman in 2008 and wonder if I had ever thought I would write an article like this. Students who do not participate in these civic activities probably cite priorities as a reason, but do priorities ultimately matter most? External pursuits matter as much as the textbook theories and I am not talking about sports. Meeting people, talking to them, stimulates your intellect and in the long term, builds relationships that you may never have the chance when you go to work next time. Think about something that youve always wanted to do and it is likely that it would be the pursuit of something apart from

academic achievement, or priorities. Learn something different, it has been said in psychology, and youll find it easier to learn something new in the future. Join a society, says sociology, and it is likely that you will benefit from the strength of weak ties, or what others term as networking. In short, do something and the world, including you, benefits from your participation. Dont neglect your studies just yet, but never forget to broaden your horizons.

October 2009

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Viewpoint
Communication is key in student engagement
By Elvin Ong

Because the students need to know that is the tagline adopted by The Blue and Gold.

from the rest of the student population when approaching problems in school that everyone shares. Instead, after asking for our votes during election and after the relationship is sealed with their successful election, our elected student representatives seem to lose interest very quickly in communicating with the constituents who gave them the mandate in the very first place. It seems that they would rather hibernate in their respective rooms, planning and organising for the next big event that is along the way. The communication in the relationship is lost. One does not need a marriage counsellor to remind us that while planning and organising for beautiful anniversaries are important and definitely much appreciated, communication within a marriage is crucial. Secondly, increased communication can allow constituents to better understand the functions of elected student bodies/organisations and generate more interest amongst competent people to stand for elections when the time comes. In this authors view, when one takes office, there are two immediate concerns: How to do your job well and, how to nurture a talent pool to take over you to ensure continuity and success. After all, we do not want our hard work to go to waste. Over the long term, when people know what is being done and how things function, transparency can breed support and even appreciation from fellow school mates about the tough realities of the job. Non-transparency can only create harm and distrust. At the end of the day, transparency and sufficient communication between students and their elected student representatives can only be a good thing. If done properly, active and enthusiastic communication channels can improve student life and generate understanding and appreciation for the job.

This author recommends that it should be the tagline adopted by all elected student representatives, namely the SMUSA Exco, the Excos of constituent bodies (CBds) and in particular, the Students Association Council (SAC), which is the highest student body representing student interests. Currently, there is an endemic lack of transparency and accountability at all levels in our elected student bodies. Except for the commendable emailers from SMUSA President Rachel Kok publicising what SMUSA has been doing, the rest of our student representatives have been silent throughout their terms. No minutes of any of the general meetings are uploaded for access and scrutiny. No emails providing information about what is happening behind the scenes of negotiation with the school administration. Little publicity on what new initiatives are being considered except for the one-time SMUSA Students Feedback Survey. In a nutshell there has been little sustained effort in using other avenues in the solicitation of feedback. Future Excos might want to channel their energies into addressing this serious problem that has been left unaddressed by their predecessors. It is serious not only because nothing has been done about it thus far, but because of the resulting consequences. Communication Firstly, increasing transparency and widening the different forms of communication channels can help generate new solutions, initiatives and help improve overall student life. No one person or group can monopolise creative thinking. A plurality of different views and opinions should be sought

Accountability But, most importantly, transparency of information allows us to hold our elected student representatives accountable for their actions or inactions. How do we know who is actually really doing something and who is not? Perhaps it is time for a reminder that student leaders are ultimately responsible to the entire student population. Elected student representatives hold a mandate for office and are vested with power from the electorate to carry out functions in their respective offices. Any lack of communication with the electorate ultimately undermines its own legitimacy and will erode the trust that fellow students have in student bodies/organisations. It might also explain the apathy that many students have with our elected student bodies. There is no need for any marketing campaign to sell our own choices back to us. Just tell us the truth.

Read more student viewpoints on The Blue and Gold blog at theblueandgold. wordpress.com.

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Viewpoint
SA replies to Students, take action if you want change

refer to Kenny Tans commentary (Students, take action if you want change) that was published in the 6th issue (August 2009) of The Blue and Gold and would like to offer the views of the 5th SMU Students Association Council (SAC) and the 9th SMU Students Association Exco (SA Exco). First of all, on behalf of the 5th SAC (which constitutes the members of the 9th SA Exco and the Presidents of the 10 CBds), I would like to thank Kenny for sharing his views and opinions on student life and rights in SMU. It is heartening to know that our students have such deep concerns for the well-being of their fellow students. Through this reply I hope to address some of the issues that Kenny raised in his letter, and hopefully help him and the rest of the student population obtain a better understanding. Regarding Kennys concern that the SAC is co-opted by the offices to help enforce and communicate to students the decisions of the administration, I would like to assure all students that is not the case. It is important for me, and I believe for all students, to highlight that the SAC is elected solely by the student population, be it through the various elections for the six school Constituent Bodies (CBds), the four CCA CBds or the SA Exco. There are various opportunities such as the public dialogue session conducted during the SMUSA Elections or through interactions with the candidates via face-to-face chats or through online media, for students, to converse with candidates regarding their campaign, visions, and objectives of running that will help you make an informed decision before you cast a vote. However, although we are not puppets of the administration, we do strive to work closely with them as well as various other stakeholders, to better and more efficiently advocate your rights and to ensure that the quality of student life is constantly improving. I would also like to thank Kenny for his suggestion on how we can better communicate with the students. This is an area in

which we have been, and will continue to try to improve on. However we seek the student populations understanding that although we are constantly engaged in various endeavours, seeking benefit for students, we may not always be able to communicate every step in the progress we make (we also hope not to be perceived as bragging). However you may like to know that the SA Exco has tried to constantly update and engage the student population on various issues of immediate concern, and perhaps this would be a good opportunity to highlight to you some key areas we have worked on with the relevant stakeholders for improvement: (1) GSR issue We heard the students concerns and negotiated a compromise

Write to us if you have

something interesting about school or school life you would like to share with us. Your article should preferably be less than 1000 words. Send us an email at pubcomm@sa.smu.edu.sg.
tration and the Leasing Business Unit to share the concerns of the affected students stemming from the significant increase in hostel rates. Taking into consideration that the hostel is located on prime land and a booming property market at that time, we successfully negotiated a deal that saw a minimum increase in hostel rates. We are also currently working with the various offices and the hostel management committee to ensure that any decision regarding the hostel is discussed with us before any form of implementation takes place. We are also seeking ways to improve the security of the residences at Havelock Road. (4) Lack of classes for Term 1, Academic Year 2009/2010 The SAC and SA Exco engaged Professor Pang Yang Hoong, Vice Provost (Undergraduate) and Dean, School of Accountancy as well as the Registrars Office (RO) to address the pressing issues that drew more than 500 emails into the SMUSA inbox in this fairly recent issue. Although it was too late into BOSS Bidding to invoke 180 degree changes, we managed to get the various schools to open up additional classes for more than 10 modules to help alleviate the situation. We are currently working with the administration to further rectify the issue before the next round of BOSS Bidding. (5) H1N1 situation The SAC and SA Exco worked with the various offices to ensure that every possible safety precaution was deployed to protect the students while simultaneously ensuring that student life is not affected and that camps and other events were allowed to carry on. Apart from working on such issues and fulfill-

would also like to thank Kenny for his suggestion on how we can better communicate with the students. This is an area in which we have been, and will continue to try to improve on.
that would see the system maintained generally at a status quo. The only change made was the need for a second student to confirm the booking of the GSR. (2) Grade breakdown Based on the results of the most recent SMU Students Survey conducted in early 2009, we worked with the various schools and offices to ensure that from Term 1 of Academic Year 2009/2010, it is mandatory for all professors to give a complete grade breakdown to all students for each module, thereby increasing the transparency of the grading system. (3) Revision of hostel fees Working together with the Hostel Management Committee made up of a group of students staying in the SMU Residences @ Prinsep, the SA Exco had numerous dialogues with the Vice President, Finance and Adminis-

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Viewpoint
ing our usual duties, we have also endeavoured to identify and implement new initiatives and projects with the aim of bringing the quality of student life and rights to a higher level. Some of these initiatives and projects include: (1) Formation of an Environmental Sustainability Workgroup consisting of students and admin staff (2) IT initiatives such as SMUeets, Wiki @ SMUSA, revamping of the SMUSA website to eventually become a onestop centre for student life and the free hosting of club websites on the SMUSA server (3) Establishment of SMU Wall where students can publicly raise their concerns and views on various issues (to be launched by late September/early October) (4) Launch of SMU Merchandise (January 2009) (5) Freshmen Quiz to educate the freshmen on various facts related to SMU and student life (6) Finance initiatives such as the implementation of the Direct GIRO Claims System, Student Manual on SMUSA Financial Procedures , SMUSACBd Finance Dialogue Sessions and the SMUSA Online Claims System (which will be in operation in January 2010) Once again we apologise if communication of our work has been insufficient and I hope that by listing some of the issues we have worked on, it will help paint a clearer picture for all students. The suggestions made by Kenny with respect to the workings of the SAC and the SA Exco are indeed significant. The SA Exco and the SAC have established formal and informal channels of communication with the various schools and offices such as the Office of Facilities Management, Office of Finance and the Office of Student Life. Six monthly and quarterly dialogue sessions are held with the various offices to discuss and resolve pertinent issues relevant to the various stakeholders. In addition, quarterly meetings are also held with Professor Howard Hunter. Aside from these pre-arranged regular meetings, we also constantly (and quite often) engage them on various issues as and when these issues come up. To address the suggestion to increase the number of sub-committee members for the various standing committees, the SAC and SA Exco have always looked forward to and strongly encourage students to step up and join the various committees under the various CBds or the SA Exco. We implore students to join these sub-committees to and opinions. Without you highlighting issues or concerns to us, we will never be able to cover as much ground as we can. While some students have a concept that banging tables is the only method the SAC and SA Exco should employ to improve student life, I take this opportunity to highlight the fact that diplomacy and open dialogue should always be the first steps to creating change. The SAC continuously attempts to make the best use of all the networks and connections that we have to reach out to all students in SMU. Communication within the SAC is free-flowing, hence students can always contact any of the SA Exco or CBd Exco members to air your grievances, be it through email or stopping us along the concourse. It does not matter who you raise your issues to as the strong relationship and network of communication would see your concerns being channeled to the appropriate person responsible. In addition, students can email the SA Exco at our generic email address at smusa@smu. edu.sg which is maintained by Rachel Seah (Honorary General Secretary, SMUSA). If you have any initiatives or projects that are beneficial to the SMU community as a whole, do contact our Student Initiatives Secretary, Tan Yin Yin at initiatives@smusa.smu.edu.sg. Once again, we assure you that the SAC and the SA Exco will always remain committed and will strive towards improving student rights and life. It is crucial however, that all students and stakeholders maintain a solid symbiotic relationship in order to move forward.
Humbly yours, Avnish Desai Honorary Finance Secretary For and on behalf of the 5th SAC and 9th SA Exco

nce again we apologise if communication of our work has been insufficient and I hope that by listing some of the issues we have worked on, it will help paint a clearer picture for all students.
not only contribute to student life activities but also to exercise your rights to shape and influence the direction that student life is heading towards. We strongly believe that, together, we can work towards making the life of all students in SMU better. The SAC would like to extend its appreciation to students who have given us their feedback. However, there is still more room for support. As Kenny has aptly stated in the title of his commentary, only with the actions and support of the students will the SAC and SA Exco be able to invoke change. Therefore, the SAC and SA Exco strongly urge all students to participate and respond to the various surveys, information sessions and dialogue sessions conducted where ample opportunities are available for students to share their honest feedback

October 2009

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Some say the 80 hours of compulsory community service differentiates SMU from the other local universities. Nine years on, we see how much heartware we have gathered.
By Fu Yingliang and Kate Lim

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Cover Story

Nurturing the heartware in SMU

Views on the 80 hours of compulsory community involvement projects
Additional reporting by Hu Nian Bo, Ephraim Loy, Shobana Nadaraja, Alexandria Neo, Ankita Prasad, Senthil Sukumar, Owen Tan and Wang Sha.

Third-year social science sTudenT ashley liew, who has clocked 353 hours of community service amidst a flurry of commitments every, sees community projects in support of disability sports as a platform that weaves together his passion for endurance sports with a personal conviction to serve.
He is one of 3,443 students who have done more than 90 hours of community service hours to date. The notion of community service imposed through compulsory CIP hours during our earlier years of education has to change, said Ashley. Community service in school Since its inception in 2000, SMU has implemented a community service program for its students. Modelled after the American system, SMU highly regards the community service program as an avenue for students to attain a holistic education. As part of the program requirement students have to complete at least 80 hours of community service before they are allowed to graduate. While most will gladly do it, OCS notes that there will always be a certain 5% to 10% who will hate it.
October 2009 THE BLUE AND GOLD

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One common reason cited by OCS Manager Emily Hogan is failure. When plans fall through due to the lack of experience, students are disappointed. Rejection from public or dull response also leads to students feeling deeply disheartened and sometimes even insulted. But students have to learn from it and move on. It makes you a better person only if you learn from it and have a teachable spirit, she emphasised. Added Tan Gek Cheng, Assistant Manager, Office of Career Services: It doesnt matter if they fail or pass. This is after all a training ground. It is hoped that from failures, students can learn to humble themselves and learn from their experience. Only then, can they emerge as a stronger person. SMU has been promoting this program as a way to encourage the practice of CIRCLE values and at the same time, connect students to their emotional side. Often caught up in the rat race, a strong focus on academic achievements can take a toll on students emotional health. The OCS has realised that it is equally important for students to be equipped with heartware as a preparation to face challenges in the working world.

(Students) will crumble if they are not emotionally strong, said Ms Hogan. She added: People do not want to admit that this is the differentiating factor of our students. But this shows that our students have a heart and have compassion for the people around them not being metallike or devoid of feeling. Nine years after the implementation of the program, reception from students have been increasingly positive. There has been a steady rise in the number of hours contributed by the student population. As at May last year a total of 4,629 SMU students have given 370,320 hours in community service according to a report in the SMU Hub. In fact recent statistics from the Office of Career Services (OCS) show that more than 40% of students do more than 80 hours of community service. Local or overseas? Community service projects are usually divided into local or overseas projects. Some students have shown much passion by initiating projects to champion their own causes. The vast scope of community service projects targeting social issues like teen pregnancy, gambling and the underprivileged shows students engagement to the society. It also highlights awareness of social issues (see other report on awareness of problem gambling). Students who have taken part in or initiated

community service projects say such contributions have helped them in more ways than one. I have learnt that there are things more important than academic work and making money. Trips overseas have opened my eyes to the inequalities in existence, making school-related stress insignificant. I have seen parents begging incessantly for their children to be entered into our 10-day educational camp, Indian children as young as three years old memorising alphabets and English nursery rhymes repeatedly to us. To them, we were their only hope. How can I go back to getting focusing only on that GPA of mine? If we were willing, there are many things that we can do to help, said Denise Lim, leader of Project Kolkata 2008. Third-year social science student Winnie Su, also thinks that the experience working and learning in a high-performance team is invaluable. SMU promotes group projects and most of us probably think that we already have so much teamwork experience. But living with each other for three weeks and running the whole show on our own in a foreign land was vastly different. In a straw poll of 40 students on community service some felt that a different approach was

Should SMU have 80 hours of compulsory community service?

Number of students doing local and overseas community service projects (2005 to 2009)
* Note: Statistics as at September 2009 A student can do more than one project

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necessary instead of making it compulsory. Said final-year business student Lin Tingwei: Although it is a win-win situation, it is like putting up a show. The notion of compulsory volunteer work is an oxymoron. It goes against the meaning of volunteerism. Volunteer work (such as community service) should be something that is done at ones own will and not by force. Third-year social science student Pearlyn Yap feels that if community service is made compulsory, the heart would not be present most of the time. It gets irritating when people just rush through things just to clear their 80 hours. The good thing is that at least the work gets done. With all these CSP hours, it breeds in students the whole idea that if I serve you, I will get something back kind of mentality. But I guess it has to start from somewhere, she explained. Encouraging community service within CCA groups The latest move by OCS is to introduce a new initiative for office bearers in community service centered Co-circular Activities (CCAs). In the past, members of such CCAs

could not include their hours contributed in their clubs towards the community service requirement. This was because hours contributed could only be use either for CCA requirements or for the community service programs and not both. Now, with a new rule implemented, office bearers can gain recognition for their contributions from their 81st hour onwards. This means, the first 80 hours of contribution would be excluded as it is the expected responsibility of an office bearer. After which, contributions would be recognised. We hear students feedback for improvement but we too, need time to act on them, said Ms Tan. The OCS welcomes students views and assures that everyone would be given due consideration. Despite this, OCS stands by the policy that they would not compromise on fixed rules. This is to ensure fairness in the system. Community service makes education in SMU holistic. And that is probably why the American system of university education is built upon that.

Learning to play it right community service with a difference Page 14 >> Community service with a splash Page 15 >>

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Cover Story

Learning to play it right community service with a difference

Recreational Gaming Club tackles gambling addiction By Owen Tan

ambling on occasion can be a stressreducing pastime but, without control, getting cards dealt to you can become a painful addiction. This was the reason why Tee Wei Jie, the co-founder of the Recreational Gaming Club (RGC), decided to organise Project Play It Right (PIR), to educate the public on the dangers of problem gambling. Wei Jie had a friend who was an avid gambler, betting amounts of up to $1,000 for one soccer game. Initially, he was quite lucky, he said, But as his luck grew out, he started losing and started to owe amounts of up to $50,000. Fortunately, but with much difficulty, his friend worked part-time and had the financial support of close friends to pay off the debt. The symptoms of problem gambling are colourless and odourless unlike alcohol or smoking abuse. This makes it dangerous explained Wei Jie. He reasoned that gambling addiction does not destroy ones social life since it does not typically affect a persons appearance with bloodshot eyes or bad breath. Loh Shu Yi, the vice-chairperson of PIR and also a member of the RGC, also believes that the rise of the integrated resorts in the next few years can impact gambling habits on the youth. The tendency for youths to try out gambling will be higher especially if the casino is so close to you, she noted. Therefore, PIR is targeted to generate awareness amongst youths. The first phase of PIR was held from 19 to 21 August outside the Li Ka Shing Library, and

this awareness exercise was also held at the other varsities (such as NUS and NTU). PIR, also endorsed by the National Council of Problem Gambling (NCPG), successfully reached out to more than 12,000 undergraduates. The people who participated in and supported the project, called Cause Champions, were mostly recruited during freshmen matriculation. Asked about how successful the project has become, Wei Jie takes a modest stance. He feels that the pilot run was good, but not great, but believed that closer ties with the NCPG have been forged. This would be a larger platform for the RGC to increase awareness of problem gambling. Shu Yi added that a better spread of booths across different campuses, instead of a central area, would better capture the student population, especially for the bigger varsities like NUS and NTU. The key agenda of the second phase of PIR, Wei Jie said, would be to spread the message. He explained that taking small baby steps and achieving PIRs objectives would be better than being overly ambitious. Finally, Shu Yi maintained that PIR is not against gambling per se, but it is important to know the difference between social and problem gambling. The RGC, after all, still organises weekly gambling sessions for recreation. As the tagline of PIR goes, know the difference, know the signs, and most importantly, know your limits.

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The symptoms of problem gambling are colourless and odourless unlike alcohol or smoking abuse.
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Community service with a splash: SMU Aquatic Sharks Club has raised approximately $1,000 for a community service project, Race to Raise, to teach underpriviliged children how to swim in December. Photo by Ephraim Loy
October 2009 THE BLUE AND GOLD

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School Events
Sports Fiesta reveals new trend of student participation
By Elvin Ong

Putting participants first that was the overarching mantra adopted by the Sports Fiesta Organising Committee throughout their planning and implementation phases for the annual event held at Campus Green. As Chairperson of the Organising Committee, third-year accountancy student, Jacintha Tan said, From the very first meeting, our committee decided that we wanted to have an inclusive, family, carnival atmosphere to allow as many people to participate, sportsmen and nonsportsmen alike. To achieve that, this years Sports Fiesta held on 4 September 2009, included many fringe games such as jousting, sumo wresting and bungee running, in addition to the usual competitive games such as dodgeball and floorball. To satisfy hungry stomachs, there were also many food stalls offering goodies such as snacks from Cedele, ice cream from Icekimo, and the students favourite Ramly burgers. Students were further pampered with free popcorn, free donuts, and free 7UP Revive isotonic drinks sponsored by Pepsi Co. At last count, more than 700 cans of 7UP Revive were distributed free by the sponsors. One wonders whether the overall calorie intake by students was more than the energy expended by participating in the games. Furthermore, there were also generous cash and kind sponsorships from the Automobile Association of Singapore and KIA Motors. Both Jacintha and the Vice-Chairperson,

third-year business student, Fu Shu Qi, agreed that their success in gathering so many more games, food vendors and sponsors, despite a budget cut, could be attributed to the fact that planning for the event started extremely early way back last semester. Shu Qi said, Starting early is the key. It gave us enough time to take everything into consideration, foresee problems and plan for contingencies. It is also worthwhile to note that most members in the organising committee had to juggle the organisation of Sports Fiesta along with their internships throughout the entire summer vacation. When asked for her opinions about the organisation of the event, fourth-year business student Michelle Goh, whose team successfully defended their title as Dodgeball champions, noted, Overall it is ok. It really depends on the individual CCAs that are in charge of each game. I can see that they are trying to make it a more carnival atmosphere as opposed to last year. Karen Chong, a third-year business student said, This year there seems to be much less participation from the year 1s as compared to previous years. Most of the students participating are year 2s, 3s and 4s. I think it is a trend that we can see from the low enthusiasm in Convocation to the low sign-up rate for CCAs in Vivace. Indeed, the low participation rate of the year 1s in the many activities outside of classrooms has been a point of concern for many senior students. Shu Qi concurred, This years Sports Fiesta is definitely an anomaly. For previous years, the majority of teams participating would be year

1 teams. This years teams were dominated by year 2s, 3s, and 4s. Whether this will remain a persistent trend remains to be seen over the next few months, but future organising committees for other school events may want to take this into consideration and devise more innovative marketing tactics to tap on this seemingly dormant section of the school population. For now, Jacintha, Shu Qi and the rest of their organising committee are still basking in the after-effects of a successfully concluded Sports Fiesta. Not only did they have a worthwhile experience learning many things while organising the event, they also managed to preserve and spread the importance of sports in the overall, wholesome student life of an SMU student.

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This years Sports Fiesta is definitely an anomaly. For previous years, the majority of teams participating would be year 1 teams. This years teams were dominated by year 2s, 3s, and 4s.
Fu Shu Qi, Vice-Chairperson, Sports Fiesta Organising Committee

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School Events

Eight questions for Freshmen Bash 2009 winners Sean Wong and Natalie Pua
By Shobana Nadaraja

1. What was your most unforgettable experience during the bash period? Sean Wong: It was the photo shoot with my partner Nathalie Tan. We were supposed to have a tango pose in which we took the longest time to finish our photo shoot as compared to the other pairs. We kept having awkward pauses which we later laughed about. The whole photo shoot lasted for one whole day. Natalie Pua: I agree with Sean. Both my partner and I are very shy in nature. We only spoke a little during the shoot. We wanted minimal body contact. Besides, he was not feeling well on that day. If I am not wrong, I think we stood back to back in the photo sent out as emailers. However, I liked the informal shot even more. The funniest part was when Jonathan being a quiet person had to keep saying big money, big money while rolling the dice in a casino setting whilst I was standing there with an evil grin. 2. Were there any behind the scenes drama during your preparation for the bash or on the day itself? Sean: Honestly, there was no drama from the guys side. Everything went on smoothly. Natalie: I will not really call it drama but more of a hassle on the girls side. We had to wear our dresses and run outside the car park before entering the entrance of Zouk. After which we had to run back into the dressing room through the car park to change into our next dress. We were pretty

much on the move on that day while the guys had no such hassle. Sean: Well, thats true. The guys stayed around the same area as we had curtain dividers for changing. Thus, the guys could remain put while the girls were running around. 3. What is the most vivid thing that you can remember on the day of the bash? Sean: I remember vividly when the emcee introduced me as Mr Sean, the 16 packs guy. I was too shocked to say anything. Even now, my friends would sometimes teasingly refer to me as 16 packs guy. Natalie: The emcee teased me too. The emcee asked me, What are the things you will not do someone you love? After answering the question, the emcee asked me if my special someone was in the crowd. My friends started chanting my boyfriends name. He came onto the stage to say Do your best and passed me a bouquet of flowers. 4. What do you think made you stand out compared to the other competitors in winning the title? Sean: I think I showed much showmanship. I was spontaneous and most of all I had fun while performing for SMU students. This was especially evident while performing the rehearsed dance. Natalie: I enjoyed the rehearsed dance too. Frankly speaking, I am still shocked that I won the competition. The other girls were really very good. Sean: She is just being modest. She won three

titles. She won Ms Photogenic, Ms Hot Body and Ms SMU. Natalie: Sean did too! He won both Mr. Hot body and Mr. SMU. 5. How are you like during normal school hours? Sean: I used to be quieter. However, now I am a bit more outgoing. I am pretty much the same guy that people perceive me to be in SMU bash. Nevertheless, I still treasure my own space. Furthermore I think the SMU bash fiasco would die out very soon as the new school term has kicked in with people rushing to complete their projects and assignments. Natalie: I am generally quieter in real life. I tend to stick to my comfort zone. I will not just go to a stranger and say Hey, whats your name? More likely than not, I will just crawl back into my own hermit shell. Not forgetting that I am like any other SMU student. Stress has kicked in and now I am more focused on academic work. 6. What are your outside interests? Sean: I like dancing. I have joined Eurythmix, a hip hop dance CCA in school. Natalie: Me too! I have joined SMU Samba Masala. I feel that dancing is a good avenue to express myself. 7. How is school generally for you? Have you become more confident after the whole SMU bash experience (for example during class participation?) Sean: School has been generally ok. For class

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participation, I am participating as much as I can. It is alright as long as people genuinely contribute to the learning of the whole class as opposed to saying something unrelated for the sake of marks. Natalie: I am terrible at class participation. I will take time to get used to it. Sean: However, we still get the attention in class because of our friends. My friend introduced me as Mr SMU. Natalie: My friend did the same thing. She called me Ms SMU while I was introducing myself to my group members. That was embarrassing.

8. Any last comments? Sean: Deep inside, everyone is a pageant winner in their own ways. I would like to end by sharing this FTB quote. Always remember there are no strangers here only friends, whom we have not met. Natalie: We are like any other SMU student with or without the title. Remember to enjoy the process of reaching somewhere as it is the journey that matters and not very much the destination.

Newly crowned: Ms SMU Natalie Pua (left) and Mr SMU Sean Wong (right). Photos by Edwin Chong

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Delight-ful issues: Tripartite gap within SMU?

By Esther Yeo

hat started off as an issue between a tenant and the Leasing Business Unit (LBU) quickly turned into a student petition, coupled with a PR nightmare thrown in for good measure. If anything, the Delight saga was a proof of the breakdown in communication between the school management, students, and the student bodies a tripartite system. Delight is the only food and beverage tenant at the School of Accountancy and School of Law building. It sells snacks and drinks to the students at affordable prices, and it is a popular outlet among students. It is not unusual to see long queues at the stall during the breaks throughout the day. Hence, it was natural that students were upset when they found out that Delights lease was under the threat of not being renewed after it expires in November. The allegations against Delight are the sale of stale food, long queues, and fire safety issues. Students were understandably upset at the non-logic of two allegations cited, mainly that of long queues and stale food. This led to the circulation of an email among students and a strong response online a Save Our Beloved Delight @ SOA/SOL! group on Facebook was started by student Nicole Oh. The group has 248 members to date. Wrote Ronald Lan: Whos gonna make my teh bing or kopi-o in the morning? The food is not stale, and the drinks are value for money. The reason why there are long queues is because of the fact that students come in waves. How do you expect them to handle 50 plus students going for break when their break lasts only 20-30 minutes?

Responsibility lies with you, or you? In an interview with the Office of Facilities Management (OFM), it was interesting to note that the LBU who is in charge of this matter was not present. OFM was quick to point out that no official statement in black and white was issued to Delight from LBU on the allegations cited. Investigations found that Delight had some fire safety issues. The stall had received a summons from the Singapore Civil Defence Force for violating fire safety regulations. However, when pressed further, it was clear that OFM had little or no say on this issue, simply because this was not under their scope. There was suggestion that the allegations made against Delight were baseless and groundless, but what is mystifying is that if such accusations made had no truth, why would they even be circulated in the first place? It is difficult to imagine that Delight or any student would come up with accusations against the school from nowhere. Such allegations could potentially damage the reputation of Delight as well. What The Blue and Gold did find out was that these allegations cited came from LBU itself and were delivered verbally to Delight. While it is commendable that OFM dared to take a step forward to be interviewed on a potentially explosive issue, it must be noted that the responsible unit involved has yet to comment on the situation. Are appropriate feedback channels appropriate? While this issue was a small one, it exploded in the faces of parties involved as it signalled the growing undercurrent of unhappiness among students with the respective student bodies as well as the school management. The first question and possibly the biggest

question that the school management has and rightfully should have asked was why the discontent had not been reflected through the appropriate feedback channels instead. The most high-profile feedback channel would appropriately be through the SMU Students Association (SMUSA). Unfortunately, the Delight saga has exposed the lack of use of these feedback channels. A student involved in the petition to save Delight shared that it seemed like SMUSA was unable to respond quickly to feedback, which led to a decision to bypass SMUSA. When contacted, SMUSA President Rachel Kok had acknowledged that she was aware of the issue. She had hoped that LBU and Delight would solve the issue privately. In addition, Rachel said that she was waiting for an appropriate time to discuss the issue.

The students need to understand that the SA may at times have other pressing issues on hand. In this instance, we wanted to let LBU and Delight resolve their differences.
The students need to understand that the SA may at times have other pressing issues on hand. In this instance, we wanted to let LBU and Delight resolve their differences. She said that she could have responded to the email on Delight that was circulating on hindsight but added that no formal email was sent to the SA regarding this matter. She added that ASOC President Athena Wang had emailed LBU regarding the issue.

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It is acknowledged that SMUSA is an active organisation, having organised the various Freshmen Team Building (FTB) Camps as well as numerous student initiatives. However, one could not help but question whether SMUSA should step up on its efforts to promote the welfare of students. Another student argued that SMUSA should follow the Singapore political system of Member of Parliaments listening to constituents views and raising such views to the authorities, rather than take on the role of a school event organiser. The student further proposed strengthening the links of this privileged feedback channel to ensure student views are aired via SMUSA to the school management. Of course, it is not entirely fair to pin the responsibility on SMUSA alone, seeing that it is not easy to manage and filter out petty complaints from real issues. The focus then turns on the other supporting Constituent Bodies (CBds). These faculty associations are wellpositioned to help SMUSA since they would be able to raise issues pertinent to the interests of their respective faculties. This would probably explain the presence of their Presidents in the Students Association Council. Unfortunately, efforts from these groups have seemingly accumulated to little more than faculty camps and bashes, which once again begets the question of whether these CBds are devoting resources to the less important areas. However, it must be acknowledged that SMUSA has a track record of resolving pertinent issues. The most recent effort was the negotiations between SMUSA and OFM on the sharing of the Group Study Rooms (GSRs). Response to the issue was swift and

a stream of updates from SMUSA reassured the students that their welfare was being looked into. This is the kind of action that students want, and it must be remembered that student associations did indeed deliver when needed. Two sides to the coin, both hands need to clap For such feedback channels to work, the school management has to be equally receptive to hearing out what the student bodies have to say. Unfortunately, what the Delight saga has only showed was that not the entire school management has been primed to be in such a position. It is unfortunate that such an incident has caused a fracture in this necessary system despite the excellent track record of the majority of the school management. What is needed from the school management is a commitment to hear the voices of the students through SMUSA and the various CBds, as well as a concrete timeline to be set in stone for resolution of issues. Putting a workflow in place to ensure that issues raised will eventually get to the discussion tables of the respective departments at their periodic meetings, and finally a decision is made and then announced will restore confidence in students that the school management is determined to make such a system work to improve their welfare. There is little use for SMUSA and other student bodies to spend time and effort on gathering student views if the school management makes little effort to act upon issues raised. How now brown cow? The Delight saga is but a small representation of the fundamental problems of

appropriate communication between students, student bodies and the school management. Whatever the outcome of the saga is with regard to whether Delight gets its lease renewed. One thing is certain more of such Delight-ful issues will arise if the fundamental problem of the breakdown in communication of the tripartite system is not resolved quickly.

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Higher Learning
In writing, theres No Looking Back
Owen Tan listens to stories, the past and the hopes of writer Robert Shearman

man whose wife suddenly dies on his wedding day is asked to make a heroic trip to Hells gate to rescue his damsel in distress. Hades agrees to return his wife to him when he hears of his tragic tale, even though the husband himself doesnt feel it was that tragic. He tells the man that he must walk out of Hell without looking back or he will lose his wife forever. Throughout this journey, however, the man does so, and often more than once Robert Shearman read to the ironic laughs of the audience of about 50 students and staff at the Li Ka Shing Library. Robert Shearman certainly hides his credentials well behind his self-effacing self. An established scriptwriter for over 10 years in theatre including having a play produced by the legendary Francis Ford Coppola before switching to writing scripts for television, he currently writes fiction as well for leisure. One of the stories in his first book, No Looking Back, was selected for the READ! Singapore campaign this year and printed in English, Chinese, Malay and Tamil. Not many will know, however, that he struggled with stuttering as a child. Yet, despite this obstacle, he still wanted be an actor so he signed up for drama in school. But, he admitted, he never had much talent for acting. Some people over-act, and some people under-act, but I was never quite in the middle, he deadpanned. But it was in drama where he discovered that he had another calling scriptwriting. This was where he spent a majority of his writing career, and continues to do so. In spite of a successful career in theatre scriptwriting, he decided to branch out

after a decade to different genres of writing. This was how he ended up writing an episode of the hugely popular BBC science fiction series, Doctor Who, which was nominated for a Hugo Award in 2006. Lucky Robert Shearman admits that he was very, very lucky. He said that he took for granted the opportunities that were presented to him. By the time he graduated, he recalled, he was accepted as a dramatist. On hindsight, he realised, his case was not a norm of the writing industry, but really the exception. But at the end of the day, he says that the most important reason he writes is because he enjoys it. (The story is) for me, and even if no one likes it, I like it. And I win, he paused. I think. His delve into fiction was almost accidental, and he had never thought of himself as a bestselling author. While scriptwriting to him seemed like work, I have to stop myself from writing fiction. It was fun. Finding the way back Students had an opportunity to ask the author about writing and he debunked some myths while providing solid advice for aspiring writers. Once I start writing, I try not to think of my audience, he said. The important thing about a story is about having the basic theme and the emotions, rather than the story itself. And, he said half-seriously, avoid being bored when youre writing. Unlike some authors, he does not start with a particular agenda when he writes, preferring instead to start with an image. Sometimes Ill think of a really funny paragraph, but thats it I might only continue with it a year later,

he said. Also, he believed it was important in fiction to give readers space to interpret the story, not merely to present it to them directly. He also admits that there have been low points in his career, where he suffered from writers block, something he thought never existed when he was a younger scriptwriter. I thought I could just pick up a pen, he said with typical British wit. Perhaps, in line with the story that he read to us at the beginning of the talk, he told us how he overcame the obstacle of a lack of inspiration: You will find your way back, he smiled, when you have a reason to find your way back.

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Higher Learning

Copenhagen: Unavoidable management?

By Alexandria Neo
Like a disheveled doomsayer that everyone avoids, climate change activists have been trying for decades to get people to wake up to the fact that we are slowly but surely destroying our planet. There has been overwhelming evidence that rocketing carbon dioxide emissions are contributing to unnatural alterations in Earths climate, the most prominent of which is global warming. Everyone knows that a cut in emissions is essential for future sustainability. But when you are rushing to finish a report at 2am, do you honestly care that it took 420kg (a volume equivalent to 650,000 green tea bottles) of carbon dioxide to produce your beloved MacBook Pro? To many of us here in Singapore, the concept of global warming is as alien as a free GSR in SMU on a weekday. A common belief is that climate change rests solely in the jurisdiction of the government, which has the power to impose environmental mandates. However, this complacency may have severe repercussions. A report published by the Institute of Public Policy Research stated that the rationing of carbon emissions among individuals may become necessary if present policies fail to curb the rising carbon levels. Can you imagine if your electricity and gas usage is rationed like food? It is improbable, but not impossible. As the risk of abrupt and irreversible shifts in climate increases, every minute spent arguing over saving the planet raises the cost and ambition of contingency actions. Since the 1997 Kyoto Protocol, international climate change negotiations have often been stormy and fraught with deadlocks. A lack of trust between developed and developing

o many of us here in Singapore, the concept of global warming is as alien as a free GSR in SMU on a weekday. A common belief is that climate change rests solely in the jurisdiction of the government, which has the power to impose environmental mandates.
countries, the wide range of greenhousegas emitting activities and the unanswered question over who should bear the largest cost of climate maintenance provide ample ground for stalemates. The difficulty of regulating climate change lies in the fact that it is a global public good. Long-term commitment of all nations is required, but as the benefits are uncertain, it is difficult to attain an adequate level of commitment to address climate change. International agreements begin to unravel when countries refuse to participate, and emission production gets shifted to these countries leading to carbon leakage. As scientists increase their demands for greater emission cuts under the mantra that inaction is inexcusable, there is an increased pressure on the upcoming United Nations Climate Change Conference in Copenhagen to deliver a concrete and effective response to the threat of climate change. With tensions mounting over whether a viable plan will emerge from a decade of ineffective plans as well as increasing pressure on the Obamas administration to show its

seriousness and commitment in combating climate change. So what exactly will go on behind the scenes at this critical conference? As a youth delegate to Copenhagen, I will be bringing you live updates from the conference. Not only will there be key insights as to what goes on in global negotiations, there is even a daily humiliation ritual called the Fossil of the day award, which is given to the top three countries that hinder the progress of climate change policy. As time is quickly running short, simply burying our heads in the sand and ignoring the state of carbon emissions spells disaster. It is time for us to shape up and act, before personal carbon rationing becomes an irreversible part of our lives.

Read live updates by Alexandria Neo from Copenhagen on The Blue and Gold blog at theblueandgold.wordpress.com.

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Higher Learning

China will rule the world a Western insight into Chinas rise
Owen Tan finds out more at the Foreign Correspondents Associations Morning Talk

n recent years, the media has spoken so often about the rise of China that any news about it seems almost clichd. But Martin Jacques, a journalist and an academic, has added a fresh perspective to the projections and asserts in his new book, When China Rules the World, that the worlds most populous country is on a more prosperous route as compared to the Western countries. Statistics that provide an insight into Chinas rise are not unfamiliar to a regular news reader: China is quickly catching up with the rest of the world in terms of economic prosperity, and by 2025 the worlds biggest country will become only second to the United States in terms of gross domestic product (GDP) per capita, claimed Mr Jacques. By 2050, China will have become the most prosperous country in the world in terms of the same measure. But Mr Jacques also noticed that hitherto, books about China have always been about the economy. Although the route to modernisation for China might have similarities to the one that the Western countries followed there will be significant differences according to Mr Jacques. He provides a lesson on history to back up this claim during the Foreign Correspondents Association Morning Talk on 18 September. The civilisation state When the Soviet Union was founded in 1917, the state was made up of people of diverse cultures. China, he maintained, is a civilisation-state: a country where people identify themselves more as a race than as a state 92% of Chinese people regard themselves as Han Chinese. He also cited the thousands of years of the assimilation of the Han Chinese as a cause.

Race is really a cultural, not biological concept, Mr Jacques said. Yet, the idea of uniformity of race means that the Chinese people and especially the ruling party have a weak concept of race and racial differences. He gave the recent uprisings in Xinjiang and Tibet as examples and suggested that the lack of recognition of (racial) differences is something that will certainly impact Chinas development. Democracy? One question that inevitably comes up once China is discussed is in its political system. Does the opening up of China in the last 20

provides legitimacy to rule sovereignty lies with the state and not with its people. And coupled with the fact that there is no competition for power in the state, there are practically no boundaries by which the Chinese Communist Party can operate. Chinas modernisation: A good thing? Can Chinas ruling of the world be a good thing to the other states? For sure, economies around the world will benefit from Chinas increased consumption over the next few decades it is already the biggest consumer for almost every country around the world. And it is a good thing that China is growing to become a global superpower. Mr Jacques implicitly stated that the modernising of China is a sign of globalisation and he believes that globalisation is advantageous to all other countries. He ended the talk in an optimistic fashion: with a picture of Columbus ship, the Santa Maria, in comparison to (and dwarfed by) Admiral Zheng Hes Chinese junk that sailed south in the Ming Dynasty. Even for the cynics of the boon in Chinas growth, the picture sums up the inevitability in which China is going to change and, as Martin Jacques proclaimed, rule the world. The Singapore political system and Chinese hegemony At the question and answer session after the talk, Mr Jacques brushed off the idea of China developing into a model which is similar to Singapores political system. It really isnt fair to compare Singapore with China, since Singapore is such a small city-state that it can be run like a company, by a very powerful family. I think its a tricky question I dont think it can be a model for China. But, I think there are characteristics of Singapore than can potentially be beneficial

he Chinese people treat their political rulers more than the rulers of the state, but also as the guardians of their civilisation. This provides legitimacy to rule sovereignty lies with the state and not with its people.
years towards more transparency suggest, for instance, that the Marxist ideology was gradually being shed in favour of a monetarist approach, la Milton Friedman? Mr Jacques applauded the efforts of China towards this transparency, but also said that there is a lot of way to go before they start to look like democratic system. He believes, however, given enough time, China might look like a democracy, though he doubts that it will ever behave like a Western democracy. The Chinese people treat their political rulers more than the rulers of the state, but also as the guardians of their civilisation. This

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to be part of Chinas. Of course, there is the question of the nature of democracy we have to talk about. Im not fool enough to say that the European democracy is applicable to every country in the world, he added. Speaking to The Blue and Gold after the talk Mr Jacques shed light about the title of his book When China Rules the World: The Rise of the Middle Kingdom and the End of the Western World and also talked about a possible Chinese hegemony when asked about the optimism of how the West could benefit from Chinas rise. The West has dominated the world for over 200 years. But recently there has been a shift in the relative power of countries and China has risen from this to become a superpower.

Of course, there is a profound sense of loss for the West after all, there are advantages to dominating the world. We are not saying that the Western world will end, but rather that China will displace the West from its position of power, he said. Mr Jacques added that the book is about Chinas future and its possible hegemony but not in a negative way. Still because of the nature of China, there is a possibility that they could ignore other countries, or get people to accept their terms. When asked about the obstacles that could stop China from developing into the global superpower in 2050 Mr Jacques qualified that it would be a likely reality. The only obstacle I foresee is if there is a

In conversation at the FCA Morning Talk: Juergen Kremb (left) and Martin Jacques (right). great convulsion. Over the centuries these convulsions or implosions within China have caused it to fall. Whenever there was divided governance, given the size of the country, it just became fractured. But, I suspect that even if it will happen, it will probably not happen within this century. It is not likely that it will happen, but we cannot exclude this possibility, he explained.

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Worldscope
Obamas healthcare plan 101
Esther Yeo gives a summary of what you should know

hen Obama was first swept into office, one of the first few pledges he made was to come up with a comprehensive healthcare plan and to ensure that all Americans are protected adequately. The proposed healthcare bill has been a messy process, thwarted by vetted interests, a lot of arguing and shouting between Democrats and Republicans, a ballooning trillion dollar government deficit and occasionally a heckler or two. Healthcare The facts The costs of healthcare in America are by far one of the most expensive in the world, with an estimated expenditure of US$6,096 per capita in 2004 according to a 2007/2008 UNDP Human Development Report. Comparatively, Singapore spends US$1,118 instead. There is no specific reason as to why healthcare costs are sky-high; rather, the reasons are many and inexplicably linked. But one of the largest reason is that healthcare is an industry owned by the private sector, with little intervention from the government. In other words, there is no nation-wide healthcare plan available to the general public from the government. Thinking in terms of the Singapore context, there is no American equivalent of our Medishield plan, or polyclinics for that matter. Ineveitably, without subsidies from the government, the cost of healthcare would be much higher. One of the main reasons the government took so long to respond to the rising costs of healthcare was because the healthcare insurance industry took care of the problem. Insured Americans were able to afford such healthcare because they were

backed up by insurers. Slightly more than half of American citizens are insured by their employers, a reminder of the strong power unions and employees had over employers. But that is something that seems to be fading quickly into the past. Increasingly, more employers are reluctant to pay for health insurance due to rising premiums and wage inflation. Unfortunately, the average American is unable to afford to purchase their own insurance, with the figure standing at 9%. What is clear is that the system of the non-regulated healthcare industry has led to Americans having to pay more for their healthcare which worked previously due to employers purchasing insurance is breaking down slowly. Obamas super healthcare plan The principles A key part of Obamas healthcare plan is to create a public-insurance plan by using the foundations of the current Medicare plan. Medicare only covers certain demographics of the population, namely the young and the elderly, war veterans, disabled and the poor. The idea is for to use Medicare as a platform for the government to set premiums and services, effectively meaning that the government now becomes a health insurance provider. This is meant to compete with the private insurance companies to force them to offer competitive rates. However, what both the Democrats and Republicans are in favour of is that the government will clamp down hard on existing private insurance providers, ensuring that premiums are not raised excessively and mandating that no one with a pre-existing illness or medical condition be turned away from getting insurance. In short, existing insurance providers will be monitored closely and regulations will be drafted to ensure that

insurance companies provide affordable and adequate coverage. In addition, Obama has proposed setting up an insurance exchange, a marketplace of sorts where people who are not insured are able to compare existing prices and plans insurers provide, and purchase health insurance at competitive plans. Yet another critical part of the plan involves cutting costs in the industry through an independent Commission set up by doctors and medical experts to identify wastage, fraud and abuse in the healthcare system, almost like an audit committee of the healthcare system. This committee will be given teeth to cut costs where they deem fit (at least in the government hospitals and schemes such as Medicare), bypassing the problem of the endless bickering from Congress. Additionally, Obama has pledged in his speech to Congress on 9 September that the healthcare reform plan will cost US$900 billion, but the money comes not from raising taxes but from cost-savings measures put in place by the independent Commission. It is a bold step forward to decentralise decision making from Congress, which is good for the healthcare system which cannot afford to wait for people to stop fighting. The key players (And no, Obama is not one of them) The main group responsible for drafting the healthcare bill is known as the Gang of Six. The Senates Finance Committee is a bipartisan committee, yet another of Obamas promise to be as bipartisan as possible, is split evenly between the Democrats and Republicans. The Chairman of the committee Max Bacus (you should do well to remember his name), a Democrat has tried hard to ensure talks are continued despite the deep ideological differences between the two parties on the issue.

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Opinions on the effectiveness of the Gang of Six are highly varied, tending to be on the negative unfortunately. The Republicans are seen mainly to be the culprits to stall the progress of any deal being cut, particularly Charles Grassley and Mike Enzi. The Democrats have signaled their exasperation by stating they are ready to go ahead with their proposal with Ms Olympian Snowe, the only Republican who has shown support for proposals put forward so far. The main deadlock on the bipartisan healthcare plan is over the public option, to which the Democrats have signaled their willingness to compromise. In other words, the public option will be dropped. The American public is undoubtedly angry that such a win-win scheme is not being considered and the question many have been asking are why the Democrats are pandering to the whims of the Republicans. If anything,

the Democrats actually have the power to pass any bill they want in Senate with the 60 votes they have, (51 votes are required to pass a bill in Senate currently). In theory, they could pass healthcare legislation through the Senate without the Republicans support. Healthcare muddled with politics The Republicans have been doing nothing but throwing cold water on the reform plan, with accusations of Obamas proposed independent commission turning into death panels, who decide who gets priority treatment in an effort to cut costs. While such accusations may have some truth, one cannot help but wonder if the Republicans are just trying to stop Obama from championing the change he promised to the American voters. If anything, the words of the deceased Senator Edward Kennedy who championed

healthcare reform tirelessly for years are a stark reminder to all who are caught up in the politicking to step back and reflect, At stake are not just the details of policy, but fundamental principles of social justice and the character of our country. Obama has stated very plainly that he wants, and needs healthcare reform to be pushed through soon and with the topic at a fever pitch among Americans, this space is certainly worth watching.

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Human rights in ASEAN: An economic perspective

By Cheong En Min

he Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) was inaugurated in 1967, during an era of regional conflict and political irascibility, when relations between the pre-nascent memberstates were strained. Aside from the internal discord, extraneous forces such as the Cold War and Chinas Cultural Revolution created instability and threatened the security of Southeast Asia. With the diminishing strength of diplomatic ties between the countries in Southeast Asia, the region became even more exposed and vulnerable to the effects of external developments. The establishment of ASEAN addressed this quandary by galvanising its first members around the shared objective of achieving economic strength in hopes of encouraging integration and further cooperation in other areas. Since its inception, ASEAN, now ten member-states strong, has progressed to a point where the sustainability of cohesion in Southeast Asia is significantly influenced by its activities. Through multilateral collaboration within the bloc as well as engagement with other international organisations and countries, ASEAN has augmented its authority and credibility within the international community. Unfortunately, its long-standing policy of non-intervention has affected the ability of member-states to agree upon sensitive issues such as the pooling of sovereignty and human rights. Also, the lack of constitutional emphasis upon these concerns in the Bangkok Declaration (the founding deed of ASEAN) accounted for the lack of political will in defining concrete terms of reference, particularly in the aspect of human rights.

Despite constant pressure from the international community to accord legal recognition to human rights, resistance remained high because the hierarchy of rights was constructed disparately within Asia. Most ASEAN leaders considered economic rights to be the most fundamental, while political and civil rights a privilege only to be taken into account when society had satisfactory access to the former. Nation-building was prioritised above individualism, and there appeared no need to change a formula that was fuelling rapid economic progress and improving the standards of living, which ASEAN governments believed was their core duty of care. However, as ASEAN member-states continued to grow and develop economically, the bloc became a focal area for investments. Naturally, an increase in critical attention was expected to be paid to governance as well as treatment of citizens within the region. ASEAN countries could no longer ignore the fact that it was a constituent of the global commune and needed to strategically juxtapose its traditional ideals against moulding a diplomatic profile acceptable to the international community. This revelation led to the tacit acknowledgement among ASEAN member-state that steps towards demonstrating a heightened willingness to share international concerns needed to be taken. This commitment culminated in the drafting of the ASEAN Charter, following the 1993 Vienna World Conference on Human Rights, which aimed to delineate the much anticipated human rights mechanism, among other clauses in the document, thereby signalling the formal accordance of importance to the issue. The objective of the Charter was to address the difficulties faced by ASEAN member-states in handling human rights violations that had manifested in Cambodia

and Myanmar, given the blocs policy of nonintervention. Regrettably, even with the Charter, ASEAN still has no concrete working mechanisms that can guarantee that all its agreements are strictly adhered to; punitive measures for non-compliance do not exist. The only mention of possible disciplinary action is embodied within the statement, In the case of a serious breach of the Charter or noncompliance, the matter shall be referred to the ASEAN Summit for decision. Yet, another clause presents an opposing stance, clearly premised upon the concept of non-intervention; As a basic principle, decision-making in ASEAN shall be based on consultation and consensus. Therefore, if a member-state disagreed with any recommendation, an impasse would likely occur, impeding the ability of ASEAN to respond appropriately to infractions. Such a dilemma has resulted in the unrelenting insubmission of Myanmar, which regularly breaches the norms of human rights; most recently in August 2009, when the military junta government extended the house arrest of Aung San Suu Kyi by another 18 months, effectively preventing her from participating in the proposed democratic elections of 2010. Interestingly, as much as it was the obstacle to moving forward on human rights, the key to resolving the moral inconsonance is economic in nature. With increased and sustained economic cooperation, the rich-poor gap among and within ASEAN member-states will narrow, leading to the emergence of a larger, educated and more politically-sentient middle-class, which would rise up against socio-political injustices, compelling governments to act responsibly.

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Also, growing economic interdependency could well encourage a more rules-based environment within which to operate, spilling over into other areas such as human rights, thus reinforcing positive developments in that area which might already have been set in motion by grassroots movements and eventually shifting political attention to human rights as an issue to focus on independently. Of course, human rights must not be entirely neglected during this process. It is imperative that access to basic resources such as food, shelter and education is unfettered because sustainability in development is contingent upon the fulfilment of those provisions to society. However, the imposition of a certain human rights ideal on any particular entity should be discouraged; adoption has to be left to occur in a manner best suited to the socio-economic environment of that country or region. Essentially, ASEAN will indeed reach a juncture in its progress where human rights will no longer be considered insignificant or tangential to the lives of its regional citizenry, so long as efforts to enhance economic integration persist. That is after all, the foundation of social stability and advancement.

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Travel
Taiwan: An often overlooked gem
By Putra Muskita

aiwan is appallingly underrated. As the worlds interest in Hong Kong and Macau surged, it stayed under the radar for the most part of this decade. Nicknamed Formosa (beautiful island) by the Portuguese, Taiwans charm is its combination of a vibrant metropolis and natural beauty, all in an island that is only 34,507km2 or almost 300 times smaller than mainland China. While it doesnt offer Macau-like casinos, its shopping destinations have prices that rival those of Hong Kong. Mountains and hot springs are also easily reached from Taipei; trains to the hot spring town of Jiaoshi, for example, leave every half hour and generally take only one-and-a-half to two hours. This lack of publicity, however, will soon be erased with internationally-renowned pop star Jolin Tsai (below, centre) and director Wu Nien-Jen (below, right) now serving as Taiwan tourism ambassadors.

The capital city of Taipei is the epitome of modern Taiwan, with the usual skyscrapers dotting the city centre. However, the Taipei 101 is a sight to behold. Holder of the prestigious tallest building in the world title until the Burj Dubai finishes construction in December 2009, its presence garnered international attention, and it remains the most popular tourist attraction in the country. With 101 stories spanning a whopping 509.2 meters, it houses the offices of several international firms, such as ABNAmro Bank, KPMG, and Jones Lang LaSalle, among others, and also a mall. The Indoor Observatory on the 89th floor and the 91st floor Outdoor Observatory offer stunning 360-degree views of the city of Taipei, with tickets costing NT$400 or S$18. The Shilin district of Taipei houses the renowned Shilin Night Market, another popular attraction for visitors and natives alike. It is known for its variety of fashion-

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able goods, from bags to shoes to hats; the typical games that you normally see in night markets; and, of course, food. The night market is famous for its sauted crabs, grass jelly soup, congealed pig blood, and especially the recognisable stinky tofu. For those of you who have never heard of it before, the stinky tofu is basically tofu that has been marinated in brine that is made from meat, vegetables, and fermented milk, and then either fried, grilled, or added into a soup. The smell of the stinky tofu permeates the whole night market, so be prepared. For bargain shopping, pop star Jolin Tsai recommends Wu Fen Pu, an area located in the Hsinyi district. It is well known for its shopping street, a place like Singapores own Bugis Street, in which small shops sell fashionable outfits, shoes, bags, accessories, and others at cheap prices. More upscale boutiques can be found in the Taipei 101, but of course those boutiques are also present in most other large cities in Asia, including Singapore. The other main tourist attraction in Taiwan would be its natural beauty. Director Wu Nien-Jen recommends the Yushan National Park, the site of Yushan, or Jade Mountain, which happens to be one of the highest mountains in East Asia with a height of 3,952 meters. Its sheer height, its pristine beauty, and the stunning views attract not only hiking enthusiasts, but also the general public. The routes are in good shape, with strategic camping grounds, water sources, and signs to ensure no one gets lost. To do all five peaks of Yushan, however, would take about five days. Organised hikes are also available twice a month from October to December, costing NT5000 or S$200. Abundant hot springs, with therapeutic effects, are also very popular and located in almost every part of the country. The small town of Jiaoshi, located just off the coast and also well known for its three-layered waterfall, has hot springs producing salty, odourless water at 60 degrees Celcius. The springs in Taian, located in a remote corner of southeastern Miaoli County, produce alkaloid carbonic water at a temperature of about 47 degrees Celcius. These are said to be good for arthritis. However, Taian suffers frequent landslides and thus should be avoided after heavy rains or earthquakes. Taipei spoils its visitors with numerous accommodation choices; from homestays and B&Bs to upscale hotels like the Sheraton and the Grand Hyatt, Taipei has it all. Mountains or hot spring towns also offer numerous types of lodging, including camping and small lodges. The MRT is a cheap and convenient way to get around Taipei, and trains or buses are always available to shuttle visitors from Taipei to the outlying areas of the island.

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Campus Arts
Love two be part of art
Emile Law has a sneak peek of art in the heart of SMU

t is normal to find art installations lining the galleries of schools and museums. But what has a business school like SMU got to do with hosting a group of resident artists? The answer lies in the two studios that have been set aside for this purpose SMUs pioneer artist residency programme. Kai Lam, a performance artist, thinks that SMU offers a fresh perspective towards the world of art. And that in itself is a unique opportunity. He says: Its interesting that its happening outside of the art context. Unlike when you go to art school and people all have preconceived notions, I think the mentality is very different (in SMU). The SMU-ASEAN Artist Residency Programme is organised by SMUs Office of Student Life (OSL) in partnership with The Substation to give students better insights and get them involved the world of visual arts. It also aims to expose students at SMU to a wider array of experiences outside of the school curriculum. While the Ministry of Community Development, Youth and Sports and the National Youth Council are also helping to fund the event, the residency programme also runs parallel to SMUs upcoming 10th anniversary which features an arts festival. Both events will help bring out the vibrant culture of SMU. The programme started on July 13 this year and will continue until January 2010. During this span of time, SMU will showcase nine contemporary artists and Kai is one of the nine artists participating in this ongoing artist residency programme.

For the past 10 years in Singapores art industry, Kai Lam has travelled extensively as a performing artist. One of his notable works includes a performance at the Singapore Art Museum where he placed Vietnamese and Singaporean art books into a washing machine, blending them into a pulp. The laundering of the art books was to symbolise the fusion of Singaporean and Vietnamese art, as well as the harmonious relations between the countries. Indeed his works border on being politically-charged at times. This time round, while deciding on what he would produce during his residency programme, Kai Lam kick-started his residency with a sound walk. As part of his effort to involve others with his art, he conducted a procession for participants to walk in total silence, where they had the opportunity to observe the sights and sounds from their surroundings. While not being sure of the kind of effect his work will bring to the participants, he describes it as a way to explore our senses. For all of the nine artists who will be part of the artist residency programme, their experience in SMU is going to be a challenging one. Being in a business-oriented school like SMU, the artists will find themselves void of many art facilities familiar to them. The nine artists will churn out and explore ideas from two studios that have been prepared for them as their art space. But according to OSL Manager Khairuddin Bin Hori, theres no real pressure on the artists. The idea is just for them to hang out (at their studios). By design, this programme is itself unique enough, as students wont just get to see art work all the time, but instead the people who produced them. Its for people to

have real relationships with the artist, not just to see their artwork and not know who they are, he adds. Kai Lam believes that his residency in SMU will be a good process for him to see what he can do as an artist. He adds that it would be nice to have some students working with him in the near future. For students interested to get to know Kai Lam or the rest of the artists, they can check out the two studios where the artists will hang out which are located next to the dry cab (opposite CIT), and next to the clinic at the T-Junction. Artists from other regional countries such as Malaysia, Thailand, Vietnam and Indonesia will be involved in this initiative as well. Among the ideas in the pipeline is to have artists become mentors to students who are interested to participate in next years arts fest. Conceptual artist Zack Razak is planning to collaborate with some students for his work. For those who are interested in the art industry, the artist residency programme is a great way of getting up close and personal with contemporary artists right in the heart of the SMU Concourse.

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Art takes flight: Sticks and strings and plastic bags too from this years SMU Visual Arts Festival. The work made from recycled materials was an installation by artist Kai Lam and SMU student Ephraim Loy. Kai Lam is one of the nine artists involved in the SMUASEAN Artist Residency Programme.

Being in a business-oriented school like SMU, the artists will find themselves void of many art facilities familiar to them. The nine artists will churn out and explore ideas from two studios that have been prepared for them as their art space.
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Adding colour to Noahs Ark III
Leandra Chee reports on the recent painting overseas community service project by the SMU People for Animal Welfare

n 25 July, SMU People for Animal Welfare (PAW) went down to Noahs Ark Natural Animal Sanctuary in Johor. This was our third trip but this time, we were armed with 25 volunteers, paint brushes, newspapers and paints; all ready to give Noahs Ark a well-deserved new coat of paint. For the uninformed, Noahs Ark Natural Animal Sanctuary is an animal shelter based in Pekan Nanas, Johor Bahru (Malaysia). It is home to more than 1000 animals; dogs, cats, rabbits, guinea pigs, horses and even monkeys most of them abandoned by their previous

owners or found as unwanted strays. Noahs Ark does not euthanise the animals but lets them live out the rest of their lives in happiness and eventually, pass on with dignity. With so many lively animals at Noahs Ark, its no wonder the shelter needed a new coat of paint! We started the day early, leaving for Johor at 9am from SMU and reaching just in time for a short introduction of the sanctuary and its history by the Noahs Ark volunteers. Mr Raymond Wee, founder of Noahs Ark, shared with us some funny anecdotes about the animals there and some sad stories of abandonment as well.

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brush looked cleaner and clearer. Some of us even splattered paint all over the floor! So it was clear that most of us had never painted before but we did manage to learn on the job. Knowing that we were doing this for the animals made us work even harder. But what made the trip just so much fun? The energetic dogs that kept running around us while we were busy re-coating the walls! Every now and then, a few mischievous ones would dip their noses in the paint or smear their bodies with wet paint, so at the end of it, not only were the shelters painted, the dogs were too! My group managed to finish the horse stables early, so we took a stroll around the sanctuary. We visited the various dog areas, the two-storey indoor cattery and outdoor cattery, as well as the new rabbit sanctuary the second group was assigned to paint. Being a cat lover, I naturally spent most of my time at the catteries. The cats are allowed to roam freely and given an abundance of scratch poles and cute toys to play with, although most of them preferred lazing around. At about 5pm, we gathered everyone back to the Main House, took a few group shots together with the PAW banner and said our thank yous and goodbyes to the kind people at Noahs Ark. As we left the compound, the dogs came bounding over to say their goodbyes too. The cats were too busy cleaning themselves. The trip was definitely a fun and fulfilling experience for all of us. We had a chance to meet the animals, play with them and we managed to help make their sanctuary a nicer place. And if there was one thing we learnt, it was that no matter how cruel their past owners might be or how much pain they caused the animals before, whenever people visit them at Noahs Ark, they are always so loving and welcoming to them. Indeed, to err is human, to forgive, canine.

Photos by Noahs Ark CARES After the informative session, we were split into three main groups in charge of three different areas the main house, the new rabbit sanctuary and the horse stables. I was tasked to paint the horse stables with six other volunteers. The stable area was tucked in the lush green space near the end of Noahs Ark, at the bottom of a gentle slope. Some of us had walked there before and knew the way. For others, it was all new to them but we soaked up the beautiful scenery all the same. One of the Noahs Ark resident helper was already at the stables waiting for us. When he saw us approaching, he started preparing the paint for us by mixing a portion of the thickened paint with some water. Then he slowly stirred everything together. It was finally time to do our jobs; painting! Each of us took a brush of our pick; rollers looked the easiest to use compared to the smaller brushes. But when I tried and compared the walls, the part done by the

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Friendship redefined
Eugene Tan Jia Rong questions the notion of being a friend

s a fourth-year student, I often find myself in the following situation: Random Familiar-looking Person (RFP): Hey! Long time no see! How are you? Me (sees RFP but struggles to remember her name): Hi! I am fine! As usual, I have been very busy with school work and project meetings. I have to look for job now too. How about you? (I try very hard not to mention RFPs name in my conversation) RFP: Same here. The job market is so bad now. I am going for many career talks. Say, are you going for the talk later... Me (thinking to myself): (Where have I seen her before? Was it at FTB? Econometrics class? Oh man, what is her name?) RFP: and I will be graduating next semester. Ok got to go now, see you around! Bye! Me (still have not figured out RFPs name): Ok! Great to have seen you. Hope to catch up with you soon! Bye!

What is the probability that I will intentionally meet up with RFP? Almost zero, given that I have forgotten RFP, and her name is lost somewhere in my mobile phones memory card, MSN contact list or Facebook Friends list. The person may have been in my project group or class eons ago but, unless I am able to familiarise myself with the person on a future occasion and at a deeper level, it is unlikely that the person will become more than an acquaintance to me. While I do confess that I have a bad head for names (especially for non-English names), it is not an issue that I want to dwell on here. Rather, I wish to raise a

reality that most of us often neglect or rather, not face. The uncomfortable truth is that many of us assume that we have many friends; when in reality, many of these friends are but mere acquaintances. Yet, in our society where politeness and public etiquette is highly valued, we often introduce and regard everyone and anyone we barely know as friends. Even if this person was from an orientation camp group three years ago whom we have never spoken to again, most of us would choose to call him or her a friend for our mental comfort.

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Generally, most like the idea of having many friends. Many of us would like to see our Facebook Friends list hit 1,000 contacts and have as many people in school to know us. We want to be accepted by everyone. This can probably be traced back to our younger days, when as children and teenagers, we felt happy when we had many friends. Personally, as the chairman of my Primary 3 class, I liked to believe that everyone in my class was my friend (I was the teachers pet after all). Projecting this mentality into adulthood, we may have unfortunately taken the idea of friendship too loosely and miss out on what authentic friendship is. While knowing people and networking is good (we never know who the next CEO will be), I would like to challenge us to rethink what a friend means, and to take proactive steps to cultivate these friendships. If a friend is someone that is trustworthy, reliable, unafraid to antagonise the relationship to correct you and, as the proverbial saying goes, helps you when you fall down, we may realise that we may not have that many friends. Wealth brings many friends, but a poor mans friend deserts him. As such, I would rather just have three close buddies than have a thousand friends whom I just have a hi-bye relationship with. I am thankful that I have managed to cultivate a few meaningful friendships in my last few years of school. As a member of SMU Campus Crusade for Christ, I have

formed firm friendships with at least three other like-minded Christian men who have journeyed with me through many of lifes ups and downs. They have rejoiced with me in my triumphs, stood with me in my failures, comforted me in times of heartbreak and corrected me when I was in the wrong. These are the kinds of friendship that I have learnt to cherish over the years. Friendship takes time to cultivate and grow. It will also take a lot of courage as it would mean being vulnerable to one another, letting him or her see our not so friendly side. However, as I have shared, these friendships are worth the while and make life more purposeful. As the saying goes, no man is an island. As such, all of us have been created to want to intimately connect with others. So, lets do ourselves a favour and look for people whom we know will become friends, and not just mere acquaintances. These people may not be the most like-minded and agree with everything we do.

However, they should be able to speak truth into our lives and help us when we fail. While such friendships take time and effort to cultivate, the payoffs are far greater than having a full contact list of names of people that we dont really know.

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Reflections from the 14th APEC WLN Meeting

By Sruthi Boppana

sia Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Women Leaders Network Meeting. Saying that in one breath was definitely a challenge but I guess it started to roll of all our tongues with much ease by the time the conference had started. Before we got to the conference however was a series of training that all of us went through. While I assumed introducing people to each other or taking them from place to place would be commonsensical, the trainings we were put through showed me that common sense as always is not as common, and that there were certain procedures and etiquette we needed to familiarise ourselves with. By day one however, we were all eager, with our best suits on, ready to impress as liaison officers, or in short LOs. Was it easy standing in court shoes for hours at hand for four days in a row? This is a pointless question to ask I am sure, the women reading this would have gone ouch, and the men, well, you get the idea. If you had asked me at some point during the holidays, when we were going through training sessions whether I thought this was going to be worth it, my answer would have been a no. But I stand here, two months on from the conference, and this is one experience I am grateful for. The conference itself was an opportunity to see women in action. Women who were representing their nations at the forum and women who were gathered to effect some form of positive change in the world and lives of fellow women in the Asia Pacific region. I had the opportunity to be a liaison officer for the most amazing delegate one could ask for. The word amazing

probably does not do her justice. How about cool, or maybe even awesome? Why the use of all these colloquial terms, because she was that down to earth with me despite having achieved so much in life. She was a living example as to how one should carry oneself, with dignity and poise and at the same time holding on to the ability to relate to anyone no matter how young or old, regardless of background. The highlight of the conference for me personally would have to be the time spent with my delegate, discussing her interest in classical music and the conversation somehow leading to us talking about Maroon 5 and singing This Love at the top of our voices, dangling 70m above sea-level, in a cable car. That moment made all the blisters on the feet worth it. My delegate was a 48-year-old mother of three, who somehow managed to balance travelling across three continents every month and time with her children. She was a role model and certainly an inspiration to this 20-year-old who is not always certain about her direction in life.

The other aspect of this experience that has left an impact on me would definitely have to be the time spent in the LO room. Resting the achy feet and discussing dealing with the delegates with fellow LOs created this weird bond between all of us strangers. We barely knew each other before this and the only common thread binding us was the fact that we were all from SMU. As clichd as what I say is going to be this common experience shared certainly formed the foundation of new friendships for some of us and for the rest a chance to spend more time with old friends. So I stand at the end of this journey, grateful for the people I got to interact with and the little lessons and memories I take from each of them.

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Left: SMU Ambassador Li Bo (first row, centre) at the 14th APEC WLN Meeting. Facing page: SMU Ambassador Sruthi Boppana (centre).

Li Bo shares 10 excerpts from his APEC WLN experience

1.

Effective communication is crucial in situations that require coordination with different parties.

2. let bad mood affect our job.

Learn from mistakes and never

3. both mentally and physically to

We need to prepare ourselves

me 5. It is aagreat honour forwho to be liaison officer

be more credible and professional (through training courses and role-plays).

4. interesting because we directly

This experience is also very

get ourselves involved in the real corporate environment. As a student, I find it really refreshing

is responsible for the first impression the delegates have on Singapore and SMU. I always treasure this chance and motivate myself in my heart.

6. initiative since waiting for

Its very important to take the others to give instructions is dangerous.

7.

No matter how limited the time is we should always think about contingency plans so that we can still keep things under control when a sudden change takes place.

8.

10. also had ushering duties. Ushers

are the heroes behind the curtain. The guests may not feel so welcomed without the ushers smile.

Besides being a liaison officer, I

I really enjoyed my experience of meeting and accompanying my head of delegates even though he was also the only delegate (Peruvian Ambassador). He made me feel less nervous by telling me jokes. Although the experience was very short as he only stayed for three hours, it was still an unforgettable experience.

9. video in the opening ceremony.

I learnt from it that we need to address womens rights in the world and also look up to those women leaders.

I was also touched by the

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Q.E.D. is about passion and zeal for Quantitative Finance

posed in the competition include the pricing and hedging aspects of exotic options, and students will then carry out quantitative investigations using cutting-edge numerical techniques and derivative pricing models and present their solutions. This year, Q.E.D. plans to make this challenge even bigger by expanding the competition to include students from universities all around Asia. Q.E.D. is an abbreviation of the Latin phrase Quod Erat Demonstrandum, which literally means that which was to be demonstrated. It is commonly written at the end of mathematical proofs to indicate that a proposition has been definitely proven. It also best demonstrates the passion and zeal with which the members of the society pursue quantitative finance not only as a challenge of demonstrating their capabilities but to spread the knowledge of this fascinating industry. It is this passion for acquiring and sharing knowledge that makes our society stand out. The Q.E.D. Quantitative Finance Society is the first student society dedicated to serving a major-related discipline, and was formed in August 2006 under the auspices of the

he Q.E.D. Quantitative Finance Society is the first student society dedicated to serving a major-related discipline. A major event organised by Q.E.D. is the DBS-SMU QF Challenge, which is a competition open to students from SMU, NUS, NTU and SIM. Participants will be put through two rounds of rigorous assessment of their quantitative ability by a panel of judges from DBS Bank. Problems

.E.D. is an abbreviation of the Latin phrase Quod Erat Demonstrandum, which literally means that which was to be demonstrated. It is commonly written at the end of mathematical proofs to indicate that a proposition has been definitely proven.
Quantitative Finance Unit of the Lee Kong Chian School of Business. Our main objectives include the inculcation of a sense of belonging among Quantitative Finance majors, as well as the promotion of knowledge within the fields of financial engineering and computational finance to interested members of the University. In addition to emphasising the highly technical nature of quantitative finance, Q.E.D. also indicates a conviction to execute, which we, as a young student society, adopt as our ethos. Our core business lies in organising seminars and talks by industry professionals, special projects that seek to raise the awareness of Quantitative Finance, and networking sessions that offer opportunities for students to meet up with industry leaders. We believe that through these avenues, we will allow the students to discover the inherent opportuni-

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ties in the industry for every major. Be it risk management or trading, quantitative finance is influencing every aspect of the financial services industry. To date, we have hosted seminars by Dr Paul Wilmott, world-renowned author of the Wilmott series of Quantitative Finance books, and risk management workshops and seminars to enrich students majoring in quantitative finance as well as interested students from other schools. We have also hosted industry leaders from companies such as the Government of Singapore Investment Corporation. Other planned initiatives include computer workshops aimed at promoting knowledge of basic programming with financial applications to all students, as well as possible collabo-

ration opportunities with the Office and Career Services to offer placement support for graduating QF students. All these activities provide a real valueadd for all Quantitative Finance students. Seminars complement course work at SMU and allow students a glimpse into how theoretical financial mathematics and numerical methods taught in the classroom are applied to areas like risk management and derivatives structuring. Moreover, the opportunity to meet up with industry professionals allows students a breadth of options for internships and jobs, thereby enhancing the information flow for employment opportunities. In addition, in doing our part as a student society to spread

knowledge and understanding of what has traditionally been as esoteric field, Q.E.D. undertakes the responsibility of exposing members of the SMU community to Quantitative Finance by encouraging participation in our events. Quantitative Finance, as an academic discipline, is a burgeoning field with exciting opportunities. We hope that as a young student society promoting the spread of this new field of study, we can provide an enriching, refreshing and rewarding experience for all interested students.

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Literati: We are novel

dedication to Michael Jackson, a book drive with Project Namaste and another with Project Kiron are just some of the activities that Literati has lined up for the year. They also have several interesting plans to be drawn up. That includes events and forums soon that are being planned out in collaboration with the National Library Board of Singapore (NLB). In addition, there will be several interactions with international and Singaporean authors who are famous around the world (we have talked, in the past year, with prominent literary figures such as Anita Desai, Ted Buzan and Rob Shearman) as well as forums and discussions with SMU professors. Script writing workshops, poetry writing and performing workshops are in the pipeline. Literati means The Literary Intelligentsia. As one of SMUs multitudinous CCAs, Literati made its humble beginning in 2008. Literati was formed by a group of passionate and dedicated readers who sought an outlet for their creativity and love for literature. As the year progressed, they began to formulate bigger plans. Literati decided to hold events that proved that literature can be expressed and appreciated in countless ways including performances, publications, and contributions to good causes. Although its logo resembles the wings of a bird, the metaphor goes deeper: it symbolises an open book, where each stroke of colour represents a page. Literati goes beyond pages and words. The first event organised by Literati was a Poetry Slam! in association with Wordforward (a literary organisation in Singapore.

A runaway success, the Poetry Slam! was greeted with acclaim by SMU students and faculty alike. This event was attended by a high energy audience and featured three elimination rounds to add a page to bring out a competitive element as well. Participants performed a poem in every round, and judges from the audience inked a score of their performance on a scale of 1 to 10 (like in the Olympics). The performances varied in type and degree loud, soft, dramatic, poetic, stoic, fast, slow, interactive, soliloquy, American, Asian and global. It also featured participants from outside SMU as well. Literati will be working closely with Project Namaste (a team of students who go to Nepal to work with underprivileged children) by holding a book drive this year. This book drive has now become an annual event. Through it, Literati and Project Namaste raise funds, compassion and support to help the project grow to its full potential. In early 2009, a new executive committee took over the helm of Literati. They look forward to doing even more to promote a literary culture; one that is not centred around the textbooks. Literati is also attempting to bring back the culture of reading for pleasure - something which they feel many have stopped doing with the onset of university life. No one denies that life gets busy when there is so much to juggle. But like the famous saying goes, we can never find time for things that are important to us, we can only make time. If reading (and thereby growing your knowledge and growing as a person) is important enough to you, then you will most certainly make the time for it. You can reach Literati at literati@smu.edu. sg for any questions regarding joining the club.

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