CHRONICLE The urbane man PAGES 18-19
THE NANYANG
NO V EMBER 2, 20 0 9 | V OL 16 NO 5 | IS SN NO 0 218 -7310 | W W W. N T U. EDU. S G / C HRONIC L E
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Ballerina underwater
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A lesson in cooking
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Hall security breaches: who is to blame GOH KAI SHI HALLS of Residence 3 and 16 are known for having the tightest security of all the hostels, with locked entrances to all their blocks. But even they are vulnerable to intruders. Ironically, the people making it easier for unwanted guests to enter are more often than not the students. Notices asking residents to stay alert and take precautions against outsiders are displayed on every floor in Hall 3. However, they generally go unheeded as some students take a more relaxed stance towards security. Besides locked gates and doors, the security guards of the two halls have hourly patrols where they inspect every floor of every block. They arrive for their shift at around 7pm and leave at 7am the next morning. Jasper Tan, 21, a Hall 16 resident, feels that because the two halls have the greatest amount of security measures, people tend to take security for granted. As a result, these tougher measures are compromised when some stairwells are deliberately left unlocked, and paper is stuffed into the locks of doors to prevent them from snapping shut. Students are often behind these security infringements, according to Mr Michael Ee Tan Chee, the security guard at Hall 3. “Students are lazy. They are afraid of losing or forgetting their access cards so they leave the doors open to allow themselves to come back in,” said the 65-year old who has been working as the security guard there for three years. Therefore, despite the heavy security surrounding Halls 3 and 16, there have been serious breaches. Just last year, two separate incidents of
peeping occurred in the female bathrooms of both halls, as confirmed by Mr Ee and other hall residents. More than 20 peeping tom incidents have been reported on campus in the past nine years, according to a report in the Nanyang Chronicle earlier this year. The Chronicle has observed that it is easy to bypass the security system and enter by trailing a resident with the access card when he opens the gates. There have been incidents where residents let strangers enter without questioning them, even if they do not look like students. Siau Ming En, 19, a Hall 3 resident, recalls letting in a middle-aged man previously. “I thought he looked like someone’s father, so I didn’t question him,” the first-year student at the Wee Kim Wee School of Communication and Information said. The presidents of the Junior Common Room Committee and Senior Hall Fellows of both halls have declined to comment. Dean of Students, Professor Lok Tat Seng, also the Senior Hall Fellow of Hall 3, said the “security of halls is an important aspect of residential living and we take any breach in security very seriously”. Improvements have been made in the wake of those incidents, such as the installation of locks on the toilets of more halls over the past two semesters. Since the Nanyang Chronicle began its investigations a month ago, residents of Hall 3 noticed a sign warning students against wedging the exit door, threatening eviction for non-compliance. Hall 16 resident Tan feels these reminders and warnings are a timely way to ensure their blocks remain safe. “The hall office can send reminder emails from time to time to reinforce security issues and keep residents alert,” he said.
WIDE OPEN: Most students don’t question strangers waiting to be let in. PHOTO ILLUSTRATION | NG JUN SEN