The AlumNUS Apr-Jun 2016 by NUS Alumni Office

ALUMNI MAGAZINE OF THE NATIONAL UNIVERSITY OF SINGAPORE • A P R – J U N 2 0 1 6 / I S S U E 1 0 5

AN ISSUE DEDICATED TO NUS ALUMNAE WHO BREAK NEW GROUND

The AlumNUS clinched this award in the category of Magazines, Journals & Tabloids — Custom-Published

ALUMNI MAGAZINE OF THE NATIONAL UNIVERSITY OF SINGAPORE • A P R – J U N 2 0 1 6 / I S S U E 1 0 5

CONTENTS APR–JUN 2016

COVER STORY MY WORD “Do What You Know is Right”

HE JANUARY 2016 REPORT on the employability of tertiary graduates put NUS as the second

ONCE UPON A MEMORY

highest in Asia after the University of Tokyo. While the alumni of other universities face great problems in securing employment, NUS alumni should be satisﬁed and pleased about their job security. Job security undergirds the conﬁdence of our alumni and their contributions in many ways to both nation and their alma mater.

Home Away from Home

CHANGEMAKER Young and Restless

ALUMNI SCENE Sustainability in Action Volleying for a Good Cause

ALUMNI SCENE GIVING Mabel and Soon Siew Kwa Scholarship The Pharmacy 110th Anniversary Endowment Bursary

Ms Denise Phua (Arts and Social Sciences ’83)

Ng Peck Lian and Tan Teng Hian Scholarship

PURSUIT OF EXCELLENCE Storytelling Re-invented

U@LIVE Professor Ada Yonath

36 46 48

19 22 24

DEAR ALUMNI AND FRIENDS,

Leaving a Legacy

WHAT HAS DRIVEN ME TO DO WHAT I’VE DONE IS THAT I DID NOT ACCEPT THE FACT THAT, WHILST SINGAPORE BOASTS EXCELLENCE IN MANY THINGS, THE SAME CANNOT BE SAID OF THE EDUCATION OF THOSE WHO ARE DIFFERENT.

IN THE NEWS NUS makes it into the World’s Top 10 for 13 Subjects and is Asia’s Best for 25 Subjects The Unveiling of Jubilee Whale Chinese New Year Appreciation Dinner 2016 NUS Campus Couples Valentine’s Dinner 2016 Thirsty Thursdays Canadian Film Festival 2016

AN ISSUE DEDICATED TO NUS ALUMNAE WHO BREAK NEW GROUND

F I R ST WOR D

ALUMNI HAPPENINGS PERSPECTIVE LAST WORD

ADVISOR

Assoc Prof Victor R Savage (Arts and Social Sciences ’72)

EDITOR

Karin Yeo (Arts and Social Sciences ’97)

PRODUCTION ASSISTANT

Noreen Kwan

PUBLISHING CONSULTANT

Mediacorp Pte Ltd

CONTACT US Ofﬁce of Alumni Relations National University of Singapore 11 Kent Ridge Drive, Singapore 119244 Tel: (65) 6516-5775 Fax: (65) 6777-2065 Email: oarconnect@nus.edu.sg Website: www.nus.edu.sg/alumnet Facebook: www.facebook.com/nusoar

Corrigendum

The AlumNUS is published quarterly by the NUS Ofﬁce of Alumni Relations. The views and opinions expressed are those of the authors and do not necessarily represent the views of the NUS Ofﬁce of Alumni Relations or the National University of Singapore. For more information or to read The AlumNUS online, please visit www.nus.edu.sg/alumnet.

In the Jan-Mar 2016 issue, Ms Chang Rui Hua’s year of graduation was stated as Arts and Social Sciences ’12. Ms Chang graduated in 2002. We apologise for the error.

We dedicate this issue to our female alumni. NUS has a good representation of women graduates. While 48 per cent of our more than 260,000 alumni are women, 53 per cent of alumni below 40 years old are women. These ﬁgures demonstrate that NUS underscores gender diversity. We celebrated International Woman’s Day on 8 March 2016 with news that Singapore companies have increasing female representation in board rooms – 9.5 per cent of women are on company boards in 2015, up from eight per cent in 2012. Our female executives certainly want to move up the corporate ladder. In a recent survey, 69 per cent of women in Singapore ﬁnd their employers attractive if they offer mobility opportunities. Many of our alumnae have done us proud – these include our second female full minister, Ms Grace Fu; Temasek CEO, Ms Ho Ching; former UN administrator, Dr Noeleen Heyzer; ambassadors such as Prof Chan Heng Chee and Ms Foo Chi Hsia (current High Commissioner of Singapore to the United Kingdom); as well as corporate leaders such as Ms Mavis Kuek (Senior External Relations Advisor, Group Issues at Shell, based in the Netherlands) and Ms Wong Lee Lin (Executive Vice President of Repairs and Upgrades at Sembcorp Marine). We hope that our alumni will continue to support their Faculties, Schools and Halls as well as OAR in the varied alumni activities. Besides students and faculty members, alumni provide an enduring and extended pillar of the university’s branding and benchmarking internationally. Through the many accolades alumni receive for their sterling contributions to their professions, social services and nation, the NUS spirit of excellence is embodied. We look forward to our alumni’s active participation, engagement and support of alumni activities at the Office of Alumni Relations (OAR). I would like to end this message on a personal note. I will be stepping down as Director of OAR come 30 June 2016. As I retire officially from NUS, I have a lot of Kodak moments to remember in my senior years. I would like to thank everyone for their cooperation, advice and help in making OAR a lively organisation. My successor, Mr Bernard Toh, will assume the Directorship on 1 July 2016. Bernard is no novice to NUS senior management and I am sure he will take OAR to new heights. Please give him your utmost cooperation and help.

ASSOC PROF VICTOR R SAVAGE Arts and Social Sciences ’72 DIRECTOR, NUS OFFICE OF ALUMNI RELATIONS APR– JUN 2016

IN TH E NE WS

NUS MAKES IT TO THE WORLD’S TOP 10 FOR 13 SUBJECTS, AND IS ASIA’S BEST FOR 25 SUBJECTS The University is in the top five in the world for Civil & Structural Engineering as well as Chemical Engineering As Singapore builds up world-class research capabilities in areas that are critical to the nation and the economy, NUS is well-poised to contribute its leading expertise to address national challenges and improve the lives of Singaporeans. PROFESSOR TAN ENG CHYE (SCIENCE ‘85) NUS DEPUTY PRESIDENT

(ACADEMIC AFFAIRS) AND PROVOST

he National University of Singapore (NUS) has been placed among the world’s 10 best universities for 13 subjects, across various subject areas from engineering and technology, natural sciences, arts and humanities, as well as social sciences and management, according to the latest QS World University Rankings by Subject 2016. This is up from 11 subjects last year. NUS is also Asia’s best across 25 subjects, up from 21 subjects last year. The University is ranked among the world’s top five universities in two subjects — third for Civil & Structural Engineering, and fifth for Chemical Engineering. This year, QS introduced six new subjects to the rankings, bringing the total number of individual disciplines ranked to 42. The new subjects are: Anthropology, Archaeology, Engineering — Mineral & Mining, Nursing, Performing Arts, and Social Policy & Administration. Among these new subject areas, NUS has been placed among the world’s top 10 for Social Policy & Administration. NUS was ranked in 34 of the 42 subjects relevant to the University, making the top 30 worldwide for a total of 33 subjects. NUS also improved in the rankings for 16 subjects, rising on average 3.7 places for each course. Professor Tan Eng Chye, NUS Deputy President (Academic Affairs) and Provost, said, “We are pleased with the progress we made in the latest QS World University Rankings by Subject, which is a strong recognition of NUS’ strengths and expertise as a comprehensive university in a diverse range of subject areas, such as engineering and technology, the natural sciences as well as social sciences and management. In particular, we are honoured to be among the world’s top five for Civil & Structural Engineering and Chemical Engineering. As Singapore builds up world-class research capabilities in areas that are critical to the nation and the economy, NUS is well-poised to contribute its leading expertise to address national challenges and improve the lives of Singaporeans.” He added, “This also reaffirms our dedication to quality education, and cutting-edge research and innovation at NUS. I am proud of our talented cadre of faculty and students, and their strong commitment to excellence, and together we will continue to make an impact as a global university centred in Asia.” The QS World University Rankings by Subject is published annually and ranks Asia’s top universities based on surveyed opinions of 76,798 academics and 44,426 employers, alongside analysis of 28.5 million research papers and over 113 million citations attributions.

The full results of the 2016 QS World University Rankings by Subject are available at http://www.topuniversities.com/subject-rankings. 2

Admiring the whale exhibit at the launch were (from left) Prof Tan, Dr Balakrishnan, Ms Ho, Mr Dhanabalan and Prof Ng (partially hidden).

THE UNVEILING OF JUBILEE WHALE ubi Lee’, the nearly complete skeleton of the 10.6-metre female sperm whale that was recovered off Jurong Island on 10 July 2015 — the first time that the marine mammal has been spotted in the coastal waters around Peninsular Malaysia — has been mounted at the mammals section of the Lee Kong Chian Natural History Museum (LKCNHM). Unlike most other whale exhibits, the skeleton is displayed in a diving pose, with its skull just one metre above the ground. As it was found during the nation’s Golden Jubilee year, the animal was fondly nicknamed ‘Jubi Lee’ by the museum staff. The museum intends to use the exhibit to help educate visitors on the biology of, and the threats faced by, these mammals, as well as highlight the importance of keeping the oceans healthy. The Jubilee Whale Exhibit was officially unveiled on 14 March 2016 by Ms Ho Ching (Engineering ’76), Chief Executive Officer of Temasek Holdings. Other distinguished guests at the opening included Dr Vivian Balakrishnan (Medicine ’85), Minister for Foreign Affairs; Mr S Dhanabalan (Arts ’60), Chairman of Temasek Trust and Mandai Safari Park Holdings; Professor Tommy Koh (Law ’61),

Ambassador-at-Large and Chairman of the Museum’s Advisory Board; NUS Trustees Madam Kay Kuok and Mr Ng Wai King (Law ’90); NUS President Professor Tan Chorh Chuan (Medicine ’83); Professor Shen Zuowei, NUS Science Dean; and Professor Leo Tan (Science ’69), Director (Special Projects), NUS Science. More than 250 donors and supporters also attended the event. NUS has raised over S$1.3 million under the Jubilee Whale Fund. Half of the funds raised went towards the restoration of the whale and setting up the exhibit, while the remaining half will be used for marine biodiversity education, research and conservation. Professor Peter Ng (Science ’83), Head of LKCNHM, lauded the tireless efforts of staff, volunteers and various government agencies in enabling LKCNHM to secure the whale specimen and make the impressive exhibit possible in just eight months. APR– JUN 2016

IN THE NEWS

Chinese opera performance directed by Mrs Joanna Wong Quee Heng (Science ’63) and performed by Ms Eunice Mak Lai Theng (Dental Surgery ’83), left, and Ms Janet Wong Man Ying.

NUS Pro-Chancellor Mr Po’ad Mattar (Accounting ’71) (centre) enjoying a stage performance. From left: Mrs Mattar, Mrs Lim, Prof Lim Pin, Associate Professor Victor R Savage (Arts and Social Sciences ’72) and NUS Pro-Chancellor Mr Po’ad Mattar.

From left: NUS alumni Mr Yeo Keng Joon (Business ’85), Mr Tay Ping Hui (Arts and Social Sciences ’96), Ms Ng Pheck Choo (Business ’94), and Mr Peter Tay (Business ’74) enjoying the celebration. 4

NUS President Professor Tan Chorh Chuan (Medicine ’83), holding the scroll from the lion dance performance.

Chinese New Year Appreciation Dinner 2016 he NUS Office of Alumni Relations (OAR) takes the opportunity every Chinese New Year to show appreciation to alumni leaders, volunteers and partners for their support throughout the course of the year. This year’s Chinese New Year Appreciation Dinner was held on 16 February 2016, and attended by 200 guests comprising alumni, faculty, staff, students and collaborative partners. The festivities began with a spirited lion dance at the lobby of the Shaw Foundation Alumni House, performed by the NUS Lion Dance troupe. After the performance, guests were ushered to the National University of Singapore Society (NUSS)

Guild House for a traditional Lo Hei and eight-course Chinese dinner. Guests were treated to a Chinese Opera Performance directed by Mrs Joanna Wong Quee Heng (Science ’63), a recipient of the 2015 NUS Distinguished Alumni Service Award. Notable VIPs for the evening included the three NUS Pro-Chancellors, Mr Po’ad Mattar (Accountancy ’71), Dr Chan Sek Keong (Law ’61) and Mr Ngiam Tong Dow (Arts ’58), NUS President Professor Tan Chorh Chuan (Medicine ’83), NUS Deputy President (Academic Affairs) and Provost, Professor Tan Eng Chye (Science ’85), and NUS Deputy President (Administration), Mr Don Yeo. APR– JUN 2016

IN THE NEWS

NUS Campus Couples Valentine’s Dinner 2016 n conjunction with Valentine’s Day, the NUS Campus Couples Alumni Group (CCAG) held their annual Valentine’s Night Dinner on 12 February 2016. Close to 200 alumni participants consisting of campus couples and VIPs enjoyed a sumptuous four-course Western dinner at the Della and Seng Gee Guild Hall at the National University of Singapore Society (NUSS) Kent Ridge Guild House. Facilitated and supported by the NUS Office of Alumni Relations (OAR), CCAG was formed to create an effective social platform for alumni to meet others who are also campus couples. CCAG was initiated by alumnus Mr Yeo Keng Joon (MBA ’85), who met his wife, Mdm Kong Yuet Peng (MBA ’86) on campus while studying for their first degrees at the University of Malaya, in the 1970s. Mr Yeo serves as the Adviser of CCAG and also chairs the NUS Campus Couples Bursary Fund, which was established in 2015 to raise funds for NUS undergraduate students in need of financial assistance. The event was jointly organised by the CCAG, OAR and the NUS Development Office, and also serves as a recruitment platform for the alumni group. Professor Wang Gungwu (Arts ’53 ’55), Chairman of the East Asian Institute and University Professor at NUS, and his wife were Guests-of-Honour at the event. Guests were asked to come in matching attire, and the Best Dressed Award was given to campus couple Ms Cassandra Leong (Pharmacy ’13) and Mr Teow Tingwei (Arts and Social Sciences ’09).

CCAG initiator, Mr Yeo Keng Joon and Mdm Kong Yuet Peng.

Best-dressed couple, Mr Teow Tingwei and Ms Cassandra Leong.

Guests-ofHonour, Prof Wang Gungwu and Mrs Wang.

APR– JUN 2016

IN THE NEWS

Thirsty Thursdays he first Thirsty Thursdays for the year was held on 14 January 2016 at the Fullerton Hotel’s East Garden. Themed ‘Alumni Mentor Mixer’, the session provided young alumni with opportunities to network with volunteer alumni mentors from various industries. 181 young alumni, including 12 alumni mentors attended the event. Mr Arulnathan John (Science ’93) was one of the alumni mentors present. The Correspondent at Singapore Press Holdings who has 15 years of experience in journalism said, “I am happy to contribute to my alma mater by sharing life experience, relevant knowledge and circles of contacts with alumni that could be useful in their career and development. [I am also pleased to share] life tips not just for their careers, but [on how] to be a good, well-developed, all-rounded person.”

Her Excellency Ms Heather Grant, High Commissioner of Canada to Singapore giving her opening address.

Canadian Film Festival 2016 or the sixth consecutive year, the NUS Office of Alumni Relations (OAR) and the High Commission of Canada to Singapore collaborated to present the annual Canadian Film Festival. The festival was held from 14 to 16 March 2016 at the Shaw Foundation Alumni House. Over 1,100 alumni and friends turned up at the festival to enjoy Canadian films The Trotsky, Gabrielle and What If. This year’s selection aimed to showcase the best of Canadian films that would resonate with and inspire the young, as well as the young at heart. Her Excellency Ms Heather Grant, High Commissioner of Canada to Singapore, graced the opening event. At the end of each evening’s screening, one lucky participant walked away with a gift hamper filled with Canadian goodies, courtesy of the High Commission of Canada to Singapore.

From left: Associate Professor Victor R Savage with Ms Heather Grant and Professor Leo Tan, Director, Special Projects, Faculty of Science.

APR– JUN 2016

TH E WO M EN O F N U S

BY THERESA TAN

mong the 57 graduates at the first convocation of the University of Malaya — precursor to the then-University of Singapore — in 1950 was Mrs Hedwig Anuar née Aroozoo (Arts and Social Sciences ’50). Mrs Anuar went on to attain her honours degree in English Literature in 1951. Probably one of the first multi-hyphenates to emerge from the University, Mrs Anuar is best remembered for her transformative years as the first Director of the National Library, but is equally celebrated as a founder-member and former president (1989 to 1991) of the Association of Women for Action and Research (AWARE). She joined the University of Malaya library as an Assistant, and was seconded to the National Library in 1960 as Director. Mrs Anuar held this post until 1988 when she retired. She contributed to the literacy of a young Singapore, laying the foundations for a modern library system. From one library, she created a network of nine libraries throughout the island during her time (there are now 27) that made reading materials readily accessible to

the library’s growing collection. After her retirement, Mrs Anuar served as the chairman of the National Book Development Council of Singapore, which today, gives out the biennial Hedwig Anuar Children’s Book Award to authors and illustrators of children’s literature in Singapore. Mrs Anuar received the Pingat Pentadbiran Awam (Emas) (Public Administration Medal, Gold) in 1969 for her contributions. In 2007, she received the Lifetime Contribution Award from the Library Association of Singapore. Mrs Anuar, who is currently working on a book about her family history, was a forerunner for future generations of women to graduate from NUS who have left their mark on their indu industry, society and the world. Singa Singapore is now seeing an increa increasing percentage of graduate graduates. The 2010 census showed 1165,555 female local university graduates, higher than the number of male loca local graduates which was 16 164,186. NUS reﬂects a sim similar pattern: over th the past two decades, th there have consistently be been more females than m males being enrolled in into NUS — 9,193

Singaporeans. Her passion for bringing books to the masses demonstrated itself in innovative ideas such as Molly, the mobile library bus that, starting from 1960, brought books to children in over 30 schools; Our Library, a programme publicising books and library events on Radio Singapore; and the Young People’s Service, which served readers in the 15 to 19 age group. Library membership grew from 43,000 to 330,000 during her 28-year tenure. Singapore also has her to credit for implementing the Printers and Publishers Act to ensure that copies of all new published material would be deposited with the library. Mrs Anuar also he Singapore National initiated the phy to keep track of Bibliography M RS HEDWIG HEDW IG ANUA R ANUAR

CURRENTLY WORKING ON A BOOK ABOUT HER FAMILY HISTORY, MRS HEDWIG ANUAR WAS A FORERUNNER FOR FUTURE GENERATIONS OF WOMEN TO GRADUATE FROM NUS WHO HAVE LEFT THEIR MARK ON THEIR INDUSTRY, SOCIETY AND THE WORLD.

GLOBAL INFLUENCE Professor Chan Heng Chee (Arts and Social Sciences ’64) was Singapore’s ambassador to the United States from 1996 to 2012, the ﬁrst female representative to the US from East Asia. The relationship between Singapore and the US was markedly strengthened during her tenure, and in 2003, the US-Singapore Free Trade Agreement was signed between the two countries. Today, Prof Chan serves as Ambassador-at-Large with the Singapore Foreign Ministry. Among her many positions, she is Chairman of the National Arts Council, a Member of the Presidential Council for Minority Rights, a Member of the Constitutional Commission 2016 and Deputy Chairman of the Social Science Research Council. She is a member of the Board of Trustees of NUS and a member of the Yale-NUS governing board. She also chairs the Lee Kuan Yew Centre for Innovative Cities at the Singapore University of Technology and Design. Prof Chan attained a ﬁrst-class honours degree in Political Science from NUS and her PhD, also from NUS, in 1974. “Getting a university education was a major opportunity in itself,” she tells The AlumNUS of life at the university in the ’60s. “It was a treat to be exposed to so many new ideas and ways of looking at things. The campus was quite political in those days, with the merger [of Singapore and Malaysia] being discussed, and the Socialist Club organising forums on the quad. There were lively

MORE FEMALES THAN MALES ENROLLED INTO NUS OVER THE PAST 20 YEARS Photo of Mrs Hedwig Anuar TRIBUTE.SG

The impact that female graduates of the National University of Singapore create spans not just society and industries, but nations around the world. The AlumNUS speaks to some of them.

females out of a total of 17,100 undergraduates in academic year 1995/1996; 14,719 females out of 28,311 undergraduates in 2015/2016. According to a 2013 article in The Straits Times titled “The rise and rise of women in higher education” by Associate Professor Jessica Pan from NUS’ Department of Economics, the fact that women have now overtaken men in university completion in many countries around the world does not necessarily equate to equal pay or job opportunities as male graduates, but as Assoc Prof Pan wrote, “the closure of the gender gap in education is likely to narrow other forms of gender inequity in the labour market”. “In the past, women spent far fewer years in school because higher education conferred few benefits due to labour market discrimination, societal norms and the division of labour in households,” she wrote. This has changed, but there is still inequality. Assoc Prof Pan noted in her article that “despite the fact that women have seen a faster increase in the benefits to a college education relative to men, women have yet to catch up with men in enjoying the full benefits of such education. Women’s earnings and hours worked continue to be lower than that of men, suggesting that men continue to reap more benefits from higher education than women.” Be that as it may, it has not stopped women who have graduated from NUS from improving the world around them.

ACADEMIC YEAR

1995/1996

2015/2016

9,193 14,719 OUT OF A TOTAL OF

OUT OF A TOTAL OF

17,100

28,311

GETTING A UNIVERSITY EDUCATION WAS A MAJOR OPPORTUNITY IN ITSELF. IT WAS BEFORE WOMEN’S LIB — I DID NOT FEEL THAT NUS DID ANYTHING SPECIAL TO LEVEL THE PLAYING FIELD FOR WOMEN. WE DID NOT ASK [THAT] OF THE UNIVERSITY EITHER. IN MY POLITICAL SCIENCE CLASSES, MEN AND WOMEN WERE TREATED ALIKE. I NEVER FELT DISCRIMINATION. Professor f Chan Hengg Chee

and interesting professors and students.” “I went beyond my class requirements and developed my interests in film and drama at the university. I read film magazines from the library and there was an active University of Singapore Drama Club or Society.” Prof Chan notes that when she was in University, “it was d not feel before women’s lib — I did ecial to that NUS did anything special level the playing field for women during my student days. We did not ty either. ask [that] of the University We pursued our interests and got our degrees.” attered Gender differences mattered little, she recalls. “In my Political Science classes, men and women ofessors were treated alike. My professors ecause I had a lot of time for me because

Continued on page 12

APR– JUN 2016

TH E WO M EN O F NU S

was a responsive student. I never felt discrimination. I just thought women were different. In Honours class, there were two women and one man in the first batch. I remember once I went to the library and found two very good articles, which my professor, K J Ratnam, had not recommended in my Federalism course in the Honours class. I showed him the articles and told him I thought they were good and important. To his credit, Professor Ratnam thanked me. He later read them and then included them in the reading list. The articles were by Rufus Davis, an Australian professor who was known for his work on the ‘Federal Principle’. The professors liked that initiative. They did not put me down. So

Adviser for Timor-Leste, the Executive Secretary of the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP) from 2007 to 2014 — the first woman ever to hold this role since its founding in 1947— and the longest-serving Executive Director of United Nations Development Fund for Women (UNIFEM), from 1994 to 2007. Under her leadership, UNIFEM was transformed from a small entity into a powerhouse working on gender equality and women’s empowerment. If being a woman posed any constraints on one’s ability to affect change, clearly, nobody told Dr Heyzer.

I DIDN’T FEEL THERE WAS RESISTANCE TO MY LEADERSHIP AS A WOMAN. EVEN IF I FACED IT, I DIDN’T TAKE NOTICE OF IT.” Dr Noeleen Heyzer

I always thought it was okay to propose ideas, come up with initiatives.” “Later in my work, sometimes, what I read in the books in courses came back to me. When I needed to get a reference, I knew exactly where to go,” she says. A VOICE FOR WOMEN Dr Noeleen Heyzer (Arts and Social Sciences ’71) remembers her lecturers’ encouraging initiative. “As a group my lecturers were exceptional,” she remembers. “They encouraged us to go out and learn about our own society. They removed that fear of reaching out and engaging. They showed us what was possible.” Until recently, Dr Heyzer was the Under-Secretary-General of the United Nations. During her 30-year tenure at the UN, she assumed a multitude of roles, including the Secretary-General’s Special

“I didn’t feel there was resistance to my leadership as a woman. Even if I faced it, I didn’t take notice of it,” she says. Among the many things she worked for was the redefinition of “peacebuilding” by the UN Security Council. “It used to be that peace-building simply meant ceasefires,” she said at a recent seminar on women in conflict-affected countries and peace-building. Today it is recognised that peace is more than the absence of violence; it increasingly means an inclusive political process and a commitment to justice and reconciliation. And that the exclusion of a gender perspective from peace-building and recovery processes weakens the foundations for sustainable peace and security. “Sexual violence has been one of the most neglected areas of international law. We fought to make sexual violence recognised as a war crime. That means

DR ANG SWEE CHAI

sexual violence in war now demands security-military and political responses, and action by war crimes tribunals,” she states. Starting in 2002, UNIFEM has been supporting policies and actions that protect the rights of Afghan women, including the “National Action Plan for the Women of Afghanistan (NAPWA), the adoption of a quota in the national Constitution; laws and policies to combat violence against women and girls at the national and local level; and mainstreaming gender in the Afghanistan National Development Strategy,” says the UN Women website. Among Dr Heyzer’s powerful weapons were the networks that she consistently built — she worked the ground tirelessly in each country, meeting with women’s groups and leaders and supporting their call for change. She is quick to point out that all that has been accomplished under her leadership is not the work of one person but of those on the ground. At a Yale-NUS talk last May, Dr Heyzer summed up the importance of women’s well-being to national development, and perhaps the motivation behind her life’s work: “The condition of women in a country is a barometer of peace and security, and is associated with better governance and functioning states,” she said. SERVING SOCIETY Female alumni from the Medical School have served Singapore for decades, with much passion and foresight. Dr Oon Chiew Seng (Medicine ’48), 100, entered the Edward VII College of Medicine in DR OON CHIEW SENG WAS THE FIRST GYNAECOLOGIST TO ENTER PRIVATE PRACTICE. IN 1991, AT THE AGE OF 75, SHE RETIRED FROM FULL-TIME CLINICAL WORK BUT SOON EMBARKED ON SETTING UP SINGAPORE’S FIRST PURPOSE-BUILT HOME FOR DEMENTIA PATIENTS, APEX HARMONY LODGE.

DR OON C HIEW SENG

(Medicine ’73)

There is also Dr Ang Swee Chai, whom the Singapore Council of Women’s Organisations inducted into the Singapore Women Hall of Fame in March this year. London-based Dr Ang is an orthopaedic surgeon and also a medical aid worker who once continued operating on Palestinian patients in war-torn Lebanon until she was forced out of the camp at gunpoint. She and her late husband set up Medical Aid for Palestinians (MAP), which aids at-risk Palestinians, an effort that earned her the Star of Palestine. She is the only Asian and non-Palestinian to ever receive one.

Photo of Dr Noeleen Heyzer by WILSON PANG

Continued from page 11

Singapore in 1940, but her education was interrupted by World War II. She eventually returned to the College in 1946 after the war, and graduated with a Licentiate in Medicine and Surgery in 1948. It was the next year, in 1949, that Edward VII College and Raffles College merged to form the University of Malaya. The University of Malaya had two campuses, one in Singapore and one in Kuala Lumpur. Eventually in 1962 the two campuses became autonomous and the University of Singapore was established. Dr Oon was the first gynaecologist to enter private practice, opening her clinic in Armenian Street in 1959. In 1991, at the age of 75, she retired from full-time clinical work after 32 years, but soon embarked on setting up Singapore’s first purpose-built home for dementia patients, Apex Harmony Lodge. The home was visionary in its approach to residential care for dementia patients. In 2011, 20 years after Dr Oon founded Apex Harmony Lodge, Prime Minister of Singapore Lee Hsien Loong spoke during his National Day Rally speech of setting up an open village for dementia patients that would enable them to live with dignity in relative PRO F freedom while enjoying IVY N G proper healthcare. Apex Harmony has to a large extent already been providing a similar environment to its clients. Dr Oon has been recognised time and

again for her contributions. She was awarded the Public Service Medal (PBM) in 2000, the Distinguished Alumni Service Award (NUS) in 2009, Her World Woman of the Year Special Award in 2010, Hospital Management Asia (HMA) Lifetime Achievement Award by the Ministry of Health in 2011, the Public Service Star (BBM) in 2013, and the President’s Volunteer and Philanthropic Award in 2013. Dr Oon has also given back to her alma mater in the form of the Oon Chiew Seng Fellowship in Medicine (Women’s Health and Ageing Science) at the Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine (YLLSoM), and also the Oon Chiew Seng Distinguished Visitor Programme, which brings in world-renowned experts to impart knowledge to the academic staff as well as members of the public. DEFINING HEALTH Professor Ivy Ng (Medicine ’82) is a paediatrician by training, but beyond that she has proven herself a management powerhouse. She spent eight years as Chief

ONE OF PROF IVY NG’S MOST IMPORTANT CONTRIBUTIONS MUST BE HER IMPARTING OF KNOWLEDGE TO NEW GENERATIONS OF HEALTHCARE WORKERS. AS CLINICAL PROFESSOR AT THE YONG LOO LIN SCHOOL OF MEDICINE, SHE TEACHES AND SHARES HER EXPERIENCES WITH MEDICAL SCHOOL UNDERGRADUATES.

Executive Officer of KK Women’s and Children’s Hospital (KKH), transforming the institution from one known chiefly as the place where babies are born, to a hospital offering comprehensive medical services to women and children, including the Breast Centre, the KK Gynaecological Cancer Centre and the Child Development Clinic. Prof Ng became the Group CEO of Singapore Health Services, or SingHealth, in 2012. SingHealth is the largest healthcare group in Singapore comprising Singapore’s two oldest hospitals — the Singapore General Hospital and KKH — five national specialist centres (National Cancer Centre Singapore, National Dental Centre Singapore, National Heart Centre Singapore, Singapore National Eye Centre and National Neuroscience Institute) and nine Polyclinics across Singapore. It also partners Duke-NUS Graduate School of Medicine in research and training. One of Prof Ng’s most important contributions must be her imparting of knowledge to new generations of healthcare workers. As Clinical Professor at YLLSoM, she teaches and shares her experiences with medical school undergraduates, and is well-loved by them. Dr Oon and Prof Ng are by no means the only medical school alumnae who have made a difference. Among the many others is Professor Leo Yee Sin (Medicine ’83), head of the Institute of Infectious Diseases and Epidemiology of Tan Tock Seng Hospital and Clinical Director of the Communicable Disease Centre. Prof Leo is most known for being the one who led her team in the battle against outbreaks like the Nipah virus (1999) and SARS (2003) and the current dengue onslaught. She is part of the 13-person National Outbreak Response Team formed on 1 March this year. MAKING A DIFFERENCE THROUGH POLITICS In a December 2015 Today newspaper report, titled “Big strides made by women in Singapore: Experts”, it was noted that there Continued on page 14

APR– JUN 2016

TH E WO M EN O F N U S

Continued from page 13

are only 22 women in Singapore’s Parliament out of 92 seats, which deﬁes the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women, which says political representation by women should be at least 30 per cent to impact political style and content of decisions. NUS has produced a number of female politicians over the years. Alumnae who are current

WHAT HAS DRIVEN ME TO DO WHAT I’VE DONE IS THAT I DID NOT ACCEPT THE FACT THAT, WHILST SINGAPORE BOASTS EXCELLENCE IN MANY THINGS — OUR ECONOMY, INFRASTRUCTURE, MAINSTREAM SCHOOLS, PUBLIC HOUSING — THE SAME CANNOT BE SAID OF THE EDUCATION OF THOSE WHO ARE DIFFERENT. Ms Denise Phua

members of Parliament include Madam Halimah Yacob (Law ’78); the ninth Speaker of Parliament; Dr Amy Khor (Estate Management ’81); Senior Minister of State in the Ministry of Manpower and the Ministry of Health; and Ms Grace Fu (Accountancy ’85), the second woman in Singapore to hold the status of full Minister, after Mrs Lim Hwee Hua who exited politics after the 2011 General Elections. Ms Fu is the Minister for Culture, Community and Youth. She is also the first woman to ever be appointed Leader of the House. Ms Fu told Today that “with more women coming on board the political landscape, we hope to have a greater voice for women. There are issues that women can probably relate to better. For example, when it comes to childcare issues — balancing family as well as career. Also, specific issues such as children’s education, somehow as a mother, women have a stronger voice or certain opinions that may be slightly different from the fathers.” CHAMPIONING INCLUSION Ms Denise Phua (Arts and Social Sciences ’83) is one politician who shines the spotlight on the challenges and needs of the disabled. Before entering politics, she worked for multinational corporations like Hewlett-Packard and the Wuthelam Group, and later set up the regional training firm, the Centre for Effective Leadership. Upon her son’s autism diagnosis at the age of three, Ms Phua set about researching how to help her child. This research resulted in the founding of WeCAN, a training service that equips thousands of professionals and caregivers of persons with autism, and an internationally-accredited early intervention service for pre-schoolers with autism. Ms Phua later became the president of the Autism Resource Centre, or ARC, and in 2004, cofounded Pathlight School,

which teaches mainstream school academics, vocational and daily living skills to children and youths with autism. Pathlight is now the largest special school in Singapore serving more than 1,000 students. That same year, Ms Phua was approached by the People’s Action Party (PAP), and in 2006 was part of the winning PAP team that took Jalan Besar GRC. Ms Phua continued her volunteer work and in 2009, spearheaded a team that helped turn the former Singapore Autism School into Eden School, which teaches children with moderate to severe autism . Today she supervises all services in two charities as a volunteer: ARC and Autism Association Singapore (AAS). Ms Phua’s drive towards a more inclusive society permeates her life both inside and outside of politics. “I strongly believe that regardless of one’s background or ability, every person should have equal access to what I see as ‘essential services’ such as education, healthcare, transport, housing and security,” she tells The AlumNUS. “What has driven me to do what I’ve done is that I did not accept the fact that, whilst Singapore boasts excellence in many things — our economy, infrastructure, mainstream schools, public housing — the same cannot be said of the education of those who are different,” she adds. Despite her initial reluctance to take up PAP’s invitation to join the party, after praying and consulting with mentors, Ms Phua finally decided that she “ would use Parliament as a platform to give back and to voice the needs of those who are disadvantaged or vulnerable”. She is happy to have the “freedom to speak up” on topics she feels strongly about — casinos, ministerial pay, education and schools of the future. Her appointment in 2014 as Mayor of the Central Singapore District put two-thirds of Singapore’s rental flats and a high number of elderly within her care, something she saw as a chance to serve more. “My team and I launched a series of 30 programmes in my first year as Mayor covering four groups — children, youths, adults and seniors — and four causes — arts, health, special

BEING IN MINORITY NUMBERS, WOMEN POLITICIANS CAN INSPIRE AND BRING MORE COLLABORATIVE APPROACHES TO THE TABLE. Ms Sylvia Lim

needs and the environment,” she says. “My interest in closing the gaps for those who have and who have-nots, resulted in free offerings such as Camp Explore (holiday programmes to occupy kids meaningfully), Ready For School (ﬁnancial aid for children from needy homes at the start of the school year) and Silver Outings (volunteers reach out to immobile seniors and take them on outings).” What she seems happiest about are The Purple Parade, an annual celebration of the abilities of those with special needs and to support inclusion; and The Purple Symphony, a 100-member orchestra comprising musicians with and without special needs. “As Mayor, I am happy that I could take the special needs movement to a new level, level,” she says. N NUS is also the alma mater of The Th Workers’ Party (WP) chai chairman Ms Sylvia Lim (Law ’88). A practising pr lawyer and a former polic police inspector, Ms Lim joined WP iin 2006 and is a Member of Parl Parliament today, representing A Aljunied Group Representation Constituency (GRC). “Party poli politics is not for everyone, eespecially oppositio politics, opposition due tto its inherent co competitiveness and public nature,” she says. “Being

in minority numbers, women politicians can inspire and bring more collaborative approaches to the table. At the same time, we have to manage our genetic makeup — hormones and emotions especially. In terms of personal development, I have found myself being challenged and stretched, to reach a higher level of wholehearted living.” Ms Lim admits that her years as a law undergraduate in the ’80s were “tumultuous”. She explains: “While legal knowledge was undoubtedly useful for life in general, I was struggling with how a legal career could be a meaningful contribution to society. I contemplated leaving and made plans to leave law studies in my Third Year to pursue a career in healthcare, but retracted my plans after my family intervened.” MAKING IT IN “A MAN’S WORLD” Some female NUS graduates have made inroads into industries that y. are traditionally male territory. nd Ms Wong Lee-Lin (Arts and cutive Social Sciences ’74) is the Executive nd Vice President of Upgrades and Repairs for Sembcorp Marine.. “It is a highly unusual industryy for a female to be involved in and I understand that I am thee st only female holding such a post he in a major shipyard group in the world,” she admits. ed Post-NUS, Ms Wong worked

for the Ministry of Home Affairs, and in 1975, was offered a job in Sembawang Shipyard (now renamed Admiralty Shipyard, Sembcorp Marine) in the Human Resources Department as an Administrative Assistant. She was then sent to London to be trained in the marketing agency office. From 2004 to 2015, Ms Wong was the Executive Director of Sembawang Shipyard, and was credited for building and maintaining many longterm partnerships with ship owners. “We developed the alliance concept in 1998,” she recalls. “Prior to that, we had so-called ‘alliances’ that were mainly termed contracts. What we offer our partners is the development of trust and commitment through joint alliance processes which ensure that all the key requirements like health, safety and environment (HSE), quality, schedule etc, are met for their ship repairs and upgrades in our shipyard.” Ms Wong graduated with a Social Science degree but found her niche in a technical industry by learning on the job. Still, the challenges would have daunted a lesser woman. “Firstly, there was the challenge of being accepted in a largely maledominated industry which, just a few decades ago, had a lot of bias against women,” she says. “You just have to prove and show them that you are as good if not better than them. Most of the time, the customers before they met me, would address me as ‘Mr Wong’ in their emails — faxes in the earlier years. Who would have had expected a lady to be in this sort of job? I let them continue to address me as ‘Mr Wong’ but when they were about to meet me, I always told them not to expect to see a lady with a moustache.” That said, Semb “That Sembcorp Marine is actually a very advanced aand enlightened com company when it comes to having wome women in top positions as the be company believes in equality aand Continued on page 16

MS WO N G LE E-LI E- LI N

APR– JUN 2016

TH E WO M EN O F N U S

Ms Mavis Kuek Continued from page 15

diversity. I would like to see more women willing to take on the men to make their mark in the industry. “The second challenge I faced was this: The ship repair business is a cyclical business, hence the challenge is how, in a downturn, we can use some innovative ideas to spur the business. ‘We don’t have the experience nor the knowledge?’ Go get them or create them. I remembered we had hardly any liqueﬁed natural gas (LNG) ships in the yard 15 years ago and therefore, hardly any experience nor knowledge. But we prepared for their arrival. One year, two, three went by. People were telling me, ‘Nothing, Lee-Lin, you must be hallucinating the demand!’ In the fourth year, six LNG ships came into our yard, and for the last three years, we have been the world’s Number One ship-repairer of LNG ships, servicing 34 LNG ships in 2015.” NEW PERSPECTIVE Ms Mavis Kuek (Arts and Social Sciences ’81) is the Senior External Relations Advisor, Group Issues at Shell’s headquarters in The Hague, The Netherlands. “Companies like Shell which promote gender diversity and inclusiveness don’t just hire to fulﬁll a gender ratio. They look at whether you are the best person for the job. That means looking at how the individual can add value to the organisation and to the team,” she says.

But that was not the case with an early job she had as the PR manager for Asia Pacific Breweries. “The beer industry is predominantly male-oriented. When I joined the company, I was one of a few women on the management team,” she recalls. But Ms Kuek decided to capitalise on her minority status. “I brought up the rise of anti-drink driving sentiments aka Moms’ against drunk driving (MADD) as an emerging issue for the company to address. Despite the initial challenge and pushback, I eventually succeeded in getting nt to support the management ce’s (TP’s) ‘Anti Drink/ Traffic Police’s ramme as part of our Drive’ programme ocial responsibility corporate social lieve APB was the efforts. I believe mpany to do first beer company mber, this so — remember, was in the mid 1990s as quite and APB was progressive to take his day, this on. To this ues to be APB continues porter a major supporter -Drink/ of TP’s Anti-Drink/ aign. It’s Drive campaign. something I’m very ve played proud to have a part in.” egional Doing regional ions for public relations ver, APB, however, MS JASM INE Ms Kuek SER exual witnessed sexual ion discrimination first-hand. “I was

SPORTING WOMEN NUS has, particularly in the last decade, supported its athletic undergraduates in their pursuit of sporting excellence. Ms Jasmine Ser (Business ’14) represented Singapore in sharp shooting at the 2012 Olympics and will be doing so again at the upcoming Olympics in Rio in June this year. Ms Ser was competing professionally while she studied for her Business degree. “My main challenge was the juggling studies and sports,” she admits. “In my first year, there were many times when I felt really exhausted after my training sessions, and couldn’t keep up with the tutorials. After the first semester, I was called up by the Dean’s Office because I had missed too many lessons and was struggling with my results. I guess it took a bit of trial and error before nailing the right balance. “In Year Two, instead of skipping AS A PROFESSIONAL lessons, I SPORTSMAN, decided to take I AM CONSTANTLY a semester APPLYING off with the blessings of the COMMUNICATION faculty to fully SKILLS, MAKING concentrate DECISIO AND DECISIONS on shooting PLANNI AHEAD, PLANNING and then come back to fully A GLAD AND I AM concentrate [M DEGREE THAT [MY] on studies. EQUIPP ME WITH EQUIPPED That worked THE ALL THESE. very well for me as both Ms Jasm Jasmine Ser my studies and shooting got really well back on track.” Ms Ser may be a full-time sportsperson, but she finds the skills she obtained doing her Business Administration degree applicable. “Today, as a professional sportsman, I am constantly applying communication skills, making decisions and planning ahead, and I am glad that my degree equipped me with all these,” she says. What Ms Ser benefitted most from was the flexibility accorded to her from the NUS Business School. “Personally I feel that I

MS C H ER IE TA N

had received great support from the School. They have, not once but many times, allowed for ﬂexibility in my studies and given me encouragement with letters and emails. The moral support continued even after I graduated — it’s always nice to have someone backing you.” Ms Cherie Tan (Engineering, ’12) has similarly glowing things to say of her alma mater. “NUS has been kind to me and generously allowed me to take time off my studies to actively pursue bowling,” she says. “Besides that, I’ve learnt that one cannot accomplish everything without the help of others. I had a lot of help during my time in NUS from my peers and professors, for which I’m thankful.” Ms Tan is a full-time bowler currently on the Sports Excellence Scholarship or spexScholarship. The scholarship provides an enhanced level of support for athletes, providing both ﬁnancial and programme support to prepare athletes to excel at Major Games. It also supports athletes in their education, career and personal development. Last September, Ms Tan displaced a male bowler at the Euro-Med Storm International Championships. “I’m lucky to be in bowling where the females and males can compete with each other,” she says. “In fact, tournaments in Europe are all open and females have to compete with male bowlers, albeit with a handicap. In bowling, although the male bowlers have a slight advantage in terms of rev rate, speed and strength, this does

not necessarily translate to higher pinfalls all the time. Therefore, I feel bowling is almost an equal sport.” “Women bring a different perspective to both bowling and engineering,” she adds. WOMAN TO WOMAN “My advice to the women undergraduates is to follow your passion,” says Prof Chan Heng Chee. “Follow your heart. Do what you want. You must love what you do and you will do well. Don’t worry about what others say. If you should be lucky to ﬁnd love embrace love, but look after yourself.” In their pursuit of a life of value after graduation, female graduates would do well to consider Ms Denise Phua’s “5Cs”: “Character: always do the right thing even when no one is watching. Competence: seek to develop skills that would help you contribute. Compassion: don’t ignore your conscience and don’t be hardened. Conviction: stick around and fend off distractions once you’ve decided on your path. Contribution: switch on the ‘contribution’ mode and stop complaining.” NUS is merely the stepping stone — as all these women have shown — to an extraordinary life. Ms Phua puts it best: “In an age where shelf-life of knowledge is so short, no one graduates from learning. Develop a humility and curiosity for learning and you will never run out of any chances of constantly adding and creating value in your life.”

APR– JUN 2016

Photos of Ms Jasmine Ser and Ms Cherie Tan GETTY IMAGES

MORE THAN HAVING RELEVANT WORK EXPERIENCE, IT’S ABOUT HAVING THE RIGHT ATTITUDE AND BEING AUTHENTIC. IT WILL SHOW VERY QUICKLY IF YOU ARE GENUINELY PASSIONATE AND POSITIVE ABOUT YOUR WORK.

often told, albeit respectfully, when I was on these business trips that it was inappropriate for me — as a female — to visit these drinking establishments. But I wanted to see the working environment of these ‘Beer Ladies’ and to understand the societal constraints they were operating in. Only then could I work to position the company against any public criticism or recommend initiatives or policy changes as necessary.” Now, Ms Kuek takes an “outsidein” view of Shell to identify “all current and potential reputational risks and the impact they can have on the company and we ﬁnd ways to mitigate them before they become crises,” she explains. Working in Shell is “like the United Nations,” she says . “You are exposed to a diversity of cultures, nationalities and as many perspectives.” She was selected among global applicants to ﬁll her current position: “It may also have helped that I can bring a nonEuropean perspective to the role.” “One of the highest compliments I’ve ever received was when I was told ‘I want you on my team’,” says Ms Kuek. “More than having relevant work experience, it’s about having the right attitude and being authentic. It will show very quickly if you are genuinely passionate and positive about your work.”

Do What You Know is Right

M Y WORD

Dr Noeleen Heyzer (Arts and Social Sciences ’71), former Under-SecretaryGeneral of the United Nations and former Executive Director of UN Women’s Development Fund, on a career shaped by conviction and compassion, and the ability to turn crises into opportunities. BY THERESA TAN

Photo Wilson Pang

“

OF ALL THAT I’VE DONE — as Under-Secretary-General of the United Nations, Executive Director of UN Women’s Development Fund, being the first woman to serve as Executive Secretary of the UN Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP), being Special Advisor of the Secretary-General to Timor-Leste — I’m proudest of the opportunity to be at the frontline of change and of being able to use the values and power of the United Nations to contribute to a more inclusive and sustainable world. The UN is committed to this and none of us can achieve this but with a team — I’m a team-builder. I believe in building strong institutions that can deliver, and strong networks of people that will continue the work beyond me. I was very pleased to be part of Mr Kofi Annan’s (immediate past Secretary-General of the UN) team, APR– JUN 2016

MY WO R D

AHEAD OF THE CURVE My ﬁrst job was as an executive officer at the Standard Chartered Bank. I was about to be sent to London for further training, but I won a research scholarship to return to University to do my Masters. I was the top student in Sociology for my year. After my Masters, I went to Cambridge University to do my PhD in Social Science. After that, I was offered a job at the Institute of Development Studies at Sussex University (in Brighton) where I was a Fellow. That was a rich experience because it exposed me to the best development thinkers of our time: Professor Hans Singer, Sir Richard Jolly and many others, people who have made a difference in the 20

WHEN YOU BRING ABOUT CHANGE, YOU HAVE TO DO IT IN SUCH A WAY THAT THE CHANGE IS SUSTAINABLE... YOU NEED TO MANAGE CHANGE, YOU NEED TO MAKE IT ROOT PROPERLY SO IT CAN GROW. Dr Noeleen Heyzer

develop a multiplicity of skills and to know how to use them to navigate uncertainties and complexities. What sort of resistance did I face? Even if I faced resistance, I didn’t take notice of it. I was driven by a cause and also by the desire to make a difference. I didn’t feel there was resistance to my leadership as a woman.

Dr Heyzer – who was then Executive Secretary of ESCAP consoles two young girls who survived China’s earthquake (2008) in the province of Sichuan.

development world. They made me realised that the work I was doing was ahead of the curve. I was examining international production systems, the value chain that’s very much talked about today, what it was doing to the nature of growth, to labour and skill formation. I concentrated on women and work, on workers and employment, and the International Labour Organisation (ILO) published my work. Eventually, I was drawn into the World Employment Programme of the ILO and into the world of policy-making. After Cambridge and Brighton, the UN offered me a job in Asia. I focussed on youth unemployment as well as helping the regional arm of the UN to prepare for the Third World Conference on Women. As I was doing that, the 1979 Iranian Revolution happened. The Asia-Paciﬁc Centre for Women and Development Centre in Tehran was closed down — this UN entity had been developed at the UN’s First World Conference on Women in Mexico in 1975. It eventually found a home in Kuala Lumpur, and I received the offer to head that programme, looking into women’s economic security and rights, and empowerment issues. That work made a very big difference to the advancement of the women’s rights in the region. I headed that programme for 10 years, and covered the whole of the Asia-Paciﬁc. The contract was initially for one year; I negotiated for full freedom to run the programme and to raise the resources for it. I was on that contract for 10 years and it became the biggest programme of that

centre. We were very innovative in terms of research and analysis, communitybased policy-making, and linking people from the socialist countries to other parts of our region. I was able to create very strong networks that exist till today. That work prepared Asia for the Fourth World Conference on Women in 1995 in Beijing. We were able to turn the preparations for this conference into a mobilising force, from the ground up, and that made a difference. Because of that I was headhunted to be the Executive Director of UNIFEM (United Nations Development Fund for Women) in 1994. ESTABLISHING LEADERSHIP When I was appointed, I was surprised to find that the institution was facing a financial crisis. I thought I was being appointed to lead the fund into the Fourth World Conference on Women in Beijing in 1995. But I discovered within two weeks of my appointment that I actually had to manage the financial side of the Fund and to get it out of financial crisis through an intergovernmental process. So, it required an entirely different set of skills. At that time, my banking background and the fact that I knew finance did help a lot. I was given three years to bring the Fund back to zero balance. I did that in eight months. After that, I was able to put into action a business plan and inspire the donors, and eventually the Fund grew ten-fold and into quite a powerhouse on gender equality and women’s empowerment in the UN system. It quickly established my leadership and reputation in a complex bureaucracy. The message there is that there are a lot of ‘unexpecteds’ and it’s useful to

Photos AARP and UN.ORG

especially at the 2001 donor conference on the reconstruction of Afghanistan, chaired by Madam Sadako Ogata, former UN High Commissioner for Refugees. It was my test case for the implementation of Security Council Resolution 1325 on Women, Peace and Security that we had formulated with the Security Council. Also, when I started the UN Trust Fund to End Violence Against Women, Mr Annan provided his humanitarian award to the Trust Fund. I had a fruitful relationship with him. In 2007, Mr Ban Ki Moon (current UN Secretary-General) appointed me as Under-Secretary-General and I worked extremely closely with him. I accompanied him on many trips, including going into Myanmar after Cyclone Nargis. I was there with him for the Asean Summits, and when he visited some very difficult countries with human rights abuses. I’ve worked very closely with three Secretary Generals including the late Boutrous Boutrous-Ghali — it was under his term that I led the UN Women’s Development Fund and prepared for the Fourth UN World Conference on Women. When I left University, I never imagined the paths that could open up. I’ve never planned for a career; I have always worked out of conviction and passion with very strong empathy. Maybe it was my family and school upbringing, the values I acquired, especially compassion. The [teaching order of the] Convent of the Holy Infant Jesus instilled in me ethical values that I’ve carried with me all my life. The quality of teachers in Katong Convent — where I attended secondary school — was very good. All in all I had a good holistic education. I always had a sense of responsibility, that we need to be able to contribute to society and be able to address not just the people who shine but also those who are excluded from the opportunities that society gives.

FACING DIFFICULT ISSUES I’ll tell you what I faced. Many of the issues I brought up were difficult issues. Even in the UN at the time, to put issues on ending violence against women was a big challenge, because you were actually holding member states accountable and making them face facts, that there were human rights abuses impacting women’s lives that they were not taking responsibility to stop. Then there was working with the UN Security Council (SC) to get agreement that women, peace and security should be on their agenda, and that the SC and the whole UN system must be accountable for its implementation. Our work leading to SC Resolution 1325 addressed the changing nature of conflicts, highlighted serious problems of justice and exclusion, and offered practical solutions to deal with fragile peace and fragile recovery. In the 1990s, many conflicts instead of targeting soldiers, targeted civilians. Sexual violence was used as a weapon of war to destroy communities and traumatise them beyond recovery. We witnessed this in Bosnia, in Rwanda, in the Democratic Republic of the Congo and in Timor-Leste. Yet the types of violence women experienced were not treated as war crimes. When it came to peace-making and recovery, mediators frequently perceive the peace process as ceasefires and the silencing of guns, often at expense of long-term peacebuilding. Women were therefore excluded from the peace table, and from post-conflict decision-making. We succeeded with the

SC but also realised that for long-term implementation we needed a much stronger gender architecture at the UN. My team and I decided to convert UNIFEM to UN Women, to be headed by an Under-Secretary-General. This turned out to be the major outcome of UN reform by 2011. I was pushing the boundaries of the UN bureaucracy and working against the grain, getting voices and solutions from the ground. I was told, ‘Noeleen, this is not the traditional way the UN operates, it’s an intergovernmental forum.’ I said, ‘We are the UN of the future!’ And now I see that the practices my team and I put in place were the future, and all the issues we had advocated and been ﬁghting for all those years, are now actually taken as the pride of the UN. So, of course I’m very satisﬁed. It was worth it, but it was a struggle. The message is, do what you know is right. Don’t be afraid to push boundaries, but you must know how to manage entrenched interest and power play. When you bring about change, you have to do it in such a way that the change is sustainable, and that you’re able to deal with resistance and win, so that there are no counter-forces. So you need to manage change. You don’t want it to blow up in your face and affect your team. You need to make it root properly so it can grow organically. It’s not like I went in and heard, ‘What she’s doing is so great!’ A good example is our experience of putting women’s empowerment on the Afghanistan Agenda. The Special Representative of the Secretary General (SRSG) at the time had difficulties bringing stability, self-rule and security to the country and advised me to postpone the issue of gender equality and women’s empowerment to some future date in the hope that it would be easier to handle. On my side, I knew that ensuring gender equality in Afghanistan’s legislative, judicial and policy frameworks is an essential starting point for building the new future. But that message had to be heard convincingly from the ground. All we

can do is be a catalyst and support the people, who in the end, must shape their own future. The voices of women were eventually heard, the SRSG became our champion and we managed to include equal citizenship rights of women in the constitution. The big struggle remains in the implementation. We need to be aware that there is the growing influence of extremist forces working to close down democratic spaces and mobilising against women’s human rights. Our work is definitely not appreciated by them. At the end, it’s not just about women; societies function better when they use the skills and the gifts of all the population, when they do not waste or subjugate their people. SHARING EXPERIENCES For me, it’s now time to get back to the academic side of things and to share my experiences more widely. I’m honoured to be on the Board of Trustees of the National University of Singapore. I’m also the Visiting Distinguished Fellow at the S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies at Nanyang Technological University, Distinguished Fellow at the Singapore Management University and at the Asia Global Institute, Hong Kong University. I’m also on the Board of Trustees of the Asia Foundation. I’ve been asked to speak a lot and share the work I’ve been involved with, and to discuss topics like building Asia’s leadership on global issues, how do we turn crises into opportunities? Many of these issues are transnational issues: inclusiveness, sustainability, building resilience. Through dialogues we build common understanding. This is the time for me to reflect on and share my experiences. I hope that my experience can in some small way inspire the younger generation to contribute to a more peaceful, secure and sustainable world.”

Dr Heyzer (second from left), with women representing different cultures, hold the “peace torch” at the UN Fourth World Conference on Women in Beijing in 1995. APR– JUN 2016

More than 50 years later, Mrs Tan fondly remembers the many activities that filled her life at the hostel. “It is always a delight to reunite and reminisce with old friends during Homecoming events,” she says. And her ties to her alma mater are as strong as ever – save for one or two short breaks, she has served as a Non-Resident Fellow of Eusoff College and now Eusoff Hall, since 1973.

O N C E U P O N A M E M O RY

Home Away From Home

A STUDENT REPRESENTATI VE

Eusoff College was named after the late Dr Haji Mohamed Eusoff (1897–1957), a member of the Carr-Saunders Commission which oversaw the formation of the University of Malaya in 1949. At the time of his death, he was Chairman of the University Council (from 1953) and Pro-Chancellor of the University (from 1954).

1958

A BRIEF

HISTORY

As a member of Eusoff College’s Junior Common Room Committee, I helped to organise social and sports activities for residents. These included the annual ‘Rag and Flag’ to raise funds for charity, tea dances or hops, and high-table dinners for which we had to dress formally.

Mrs Tan Suan Imm (Arts ’61) looks back on the happiest years of her youth as a resident at the long-closed Eusoff College.

EUSOFF COLLEGE, THE UNIVERSITY OF MALAYA’S FIRST HALL OF RESIDENCE FOR WOMEN, IS FOUNDED AT BUKIT TIMAH CAMPUS.

BEHIND THE SCENES In 1959, I auditioned for the part of a fairy in a student-run theatre production of Henry Purcell’s The Fairy Queen. Tryouts were held at the lounge of our college. Although I didn’t make the cut, I still wanted to be involved somehow. So I took a backstage role as a wardrobe mistress, making sure the right costumes were given to the right cast members.

BY WANDA TAN ASK STUDENTS AT NUS’ BUKIT TIMAH CAMPUS about the former Eusoff College

site at Evans Road, and they will tell you it houses nearby eateries where one can conveniently grab a bite or hang out in between classes. But for Mrs Tan Suan Imm (née Chew), it was home for four happy years. “I was among the first batch of students to move into Eusoff College when it opened in September 1958,” she recalls. “It was so new that sawdust was still in our rooms!” After graduating in 1961 with a BA (Honours) in History, she extended her stay until January 1962 to complete a Diploma in Education.

BOYS VS GIRLS We got up to our fair share of hijinks such as water balloon fights against the ‘boys’ from Raffles Hall just down the road, who retaliated by staging ‘panty raids’. One day, we woke up and saw our lingerie items hanging from the University flagpole and from the tree branches in front of Oei Tiong Ham Hall [now Oei Tiong Ham Building] – much to the chagrin of University authorities and to the amusement of passersby!

1984 THE COLLEGE BECOMES A CO-ED HOSTEL.

1988

RESIDENTS MOVE TO THE NEWLY-OPENED EUSOFF HALL AT KENT RIDGE CAMPUS. THE COLLEGE IS SUBSEQUENTLY OCCUPIED BY INTERNATIONAL STUDENTS FROM OTHER TERTIARY INSTITUTIONS AND NUS FOREIGN POSTGRADUATE STUDENTS.

END OF AN ER A On 24 March 2001, I joined more than 100 Eusoffians to bid a final farewell to the red brick building. Blinking back tears, we linked hands and sang ‘Auld Lang Syne’ as the Eusoff College flag was lowered for the last time and the main door was ceremoniously closed. Various memorabilia, including a signature board with our names, are kept at Eusoff Hall.

Mrs TTan (right) with fellow residents in front of Eusoff Eu College, c. 1960.

MRS TAN SUAN IMM AR T S ’ 6 1

Eusoff College 2001 closes for good. The land is returned to the Government.

ADVOCATE OF EDUCATION Mrs Tan joined former residents for a reunion at Eusoff College in 2013. Main Photos By Ealbert Ho; Eusoff College Photos Courtesy of UM Memory.

Mrs Tan (second from left) with former residents at the Eusoff College closing ceremony in 2001. 22 22

Like her college’s namesake, Mrs Tan has also made an indelible contribution in the ﬁeld of education. She spent 33 years as a teacher and educational administrator, retiring as Principal of Temasek Secondary School in 1995. Her outstanding achievements were recognised in 2009 when the University awarded her the NUS Distinguished Alumni Service Award and in March 2015, when she was one of eight individuals to receive NUS’ inaugural Distinguished Arts and Social Sciences Alumni Award.

APR– JUN 2016 23

CHA N GEMA K ER

Young

Ms Ngeow at the Orchard Gateway Megafash store.

Restless &

BY THERESA TAN

YOU’VE BEEN INVOLVED IN STARTUPS SINCE YOU GRADUATED. WHAT ATTRACTED YOU TO START-UPS IN THE FIRST PLACE?

I like the fast pace of start-ups, where you can create a lot of value and have it translated into results in a very short period of time. DID YOU START OFF EARLY RUNNING LITTLE ‘BUSINESSES’ at university?

As far as I can remember, I’ve always been quite game to start new ‘businesses’. Before I entered University, I sold clothing online and from pushcarts. When I was in NUS, I worked for a start-up as an intern. Since then, I’ve always been interested in working with start-ups or starting my own. I’m quite restless. I am always doing something. HOW DID YOU BALANCE WORKING AND STUDYING?

I did a three-month internship at FlickEvents and then continued on as a part-time intern. So yes, during my last two semesters at NUS, I was working and studying at the same time. I did a bit of everything — copywriting, user-testing, marketing, content creation — whatever the founders needed help with. YOU’VE GONE FROM STARTING AN E-ZINE CALLED FEVER AVE AFTER GRADUATING, TO LAUNCHING FASHION SITE CHIC KISS LOVE, WHICH HAS NOW EVOLVED INTO MEGAFASH. WHY THESE TWO AREAS: EDITORIAL AND ONLINE SHOPPING-MARKETING?

These categories are my ﬁeld of expertise, so by venturing into areas I am good in, I am able to pick up new trends faster and create value for the industry and ecosystem as a whole. TELL US HOW CHIC KISS LOVE GREW INTO MEGAFASH, AND HOW MEGAFASH HAS GROWN IN THE PAST TWO YEARS SINCE INVESTORS CAME IN?

We ran Chic Kiss Love as a fashion marketplace focussed on ﬂash sales. While traction was great, we had feedback from our brands that the competition within the marketplace was just too stiff: in order to ﬁght for customers, they had to push their prices really low. At that point we also thought about increasing our product range and catering to a more affluent and varied audience, so it was a timely opportunity to rebrand. HOW IS MEGAFASH CHANGING THE FACE OF RETAIL AND ONLINE SHOPPING?

Megafash started in 2014 as a platform for independent brands in Singapore to reach customers across the world — a more affluent and varied base of buyers — with great products and strong branding. My co-founders and I are proud that we have since started working with overseas brands and designers. We have brands from Hong Kong, the Philippines, Malaysia, Thailand, Indonesia and even Europe working with us. We have expanded our team overseas as well. Our teams work

I WANTED TO CHALLENGE MYSELF. I WANTED TO SEE HOW RESILIENT I COULD BE, AND HOW FAR I COULD TAKE A BUSINESS BUILT FROM SCRATCH. Ms Ngeow Jiawen

with the indie producers to curate items and brand themselves. Also, in 2015, we ventured from being purely an online store to a brick-and-mortar store. We currently have stores in 112 Katong, Orchard Gateway and Bugis Junction — and we’re opening more. WHAT IS YOUR VISION FOR MEGAFASH IN THE NEXT THREE TO FIVE YEARS?

We are aiming to be the preferred shopping destination for consumers looking to seek creative and authentic goods made by makers. DID BEING IN NUS HELP YOU DEVELOP YOUR IDEAS OR GIVE YOU ANY SORT OF IMPETUS TO START A BUSINESS?

I was from the Department of Communications and New Media (CNM), so I deﬁnitely picked up technical skill sets like writing a press release and analysing research data, both of which have been very helpful. The interesting thing about studying CNM is that there’s also a focus on soft skills. These are aspects that a lot of professionals in the work force are just not prepared for, such as how to motivate an employee,

how to confront a workplace miscommunication, how to negotiate with an angry client, etc.

Main Photo Wilson Pang

Ngeow Jiawen (Arts and Social Sciences ’11), 27, founder of online and retail store Megafash, shares her road to serial entrepreneurship.

YOU HAVE TAKEN A PATH THAT FEWER CHOOSE. WHAT GIVES YOU THE COURAGE TO DO SO AND WHY ARE YOU WILLING TO TAKE THE RISK?

I wanted to challenge myself. I wanted to see how resilient I could be, and how far I could take a business built from scratch. There have been so many challenges, different ones coming at me at

different times, leading me to ask myself hard questions. The most common ones, in a nutshell, are not making enough money (“How do I make money?”), making some money but not enough (“Is this worth doing?”), making money but being unable to hire the right people (“Am I a bad leader?”) and after months of growth, suddenly experiencing decline (“Is the market weeding us out?”). But I plan to take Megafash as far as I can. IS AN ONLINE BUSINESS EASIER TO ENTER THAN A BRICKS AND MORTAR BUSINESS?

One isn’t tougher than the other. Megafash is considered an omnichannel company, so we know pretty well the challenges of online business

and brick-and-mortar business. Both come with their unique set of challenges. In terms of sustainability, it’s much easier for an online business to reach breakeven due to the low cost of starting up, but it’s also very challenging to reach a certain scale. Megafash sells fast-moving consumer goods, so we will last for as long as the market needs us or finds us interesting. At some point, we may need to rebrand or change because consumers are fickle and market taste changes fast. We will also test out our business model in other countries, so we may find that our business model is more suitable for developing nations, in which case we may restructure and scale down on operations here. WHAT ARE YOUR THOUGHTS ON THE FUTURE OF BUSINESSES IN SINGAPORE?

Starting out in Singapore is necessary because the business environment here allows you to set up fast and validate fast, but to continually grow, it’s important to think beyond our shores. Singapore businesses need a regional or global strategy. It’s going to get more challenging to run a business here, with costs rising and the market being small. WHAT ADVICE WOULD YOU GIVE UNDERGRADS OR NEW GRADS WHO ARE THINKING OF STRIKING IT OUT ON THEIR OWN?

It’s okay to fail.

A MEGA IDEA CHALLENGES ABOUND, BUT MEGAFASH STAYS ON-TREND, SETTING UP POP-UP STORES AND BEING WHERE THE CUSTOMERS ARE.

The idea behind Megafash is for it to connect independent brands and creative projects worldwide so that they can seamlessly share, showcase and sell both their story and their products.

S$400,000 Megafash bootstrapped until it generated enough traction to secure funding — S$400,000 to date from venture capitalists and angel investors to help the company expand into Malaysia and Indonesia, and to tap into exponentially growing demand. APR– JUN 2016 25

ALUMNI SCENE TEXT BY WANDA TAN

(VOLLEYBALL)

VOLLEYING

Join Us!

FOR A GOOD CAUSE

ALL MEM GRADUATES, including foreigners, automatically become NUS MEM Alumni members. Email Er Sin at sinyt@singnet.com.sg to find out about the group’s events. A website will also be launched later this year.

(MEM)

SUSTAINABILITY IN ACTION ome November, the NUS Master of Science (Environmental Management) (MEM) programme will celebrate its 15th anniversary. This milestone is keenly anticipated by its 270-strong alumni group, a platform created in 2005 for graduates to stay in contact with one another and with current students, while also advancing the environmental agenda. Er Albert Sin (Design and Environment ’05), Senior Project Manager for the Land Transport Authority, a founding member of the NUS MEM Alumni, has served as its President since 2012. Under his watch, the group has organised nature walk sessions around Singapore as well as ﬁeld trips to destinations such as Mount Kinabalu in Sabah, Malaysia. It also collaborates with other environmental groups to hold

ABOVE Er Sin (left) led an expedition to the summit of Mount Kinabalu, Malaysia in 2014.

The NUS Master of Science (Environmental Management) Alumni is committed to addressing the world’s environmental woes. public seminars on topics like recycling and climate change. Another key event is the warm welcome extended every August to incoming MEM students. To give them a course preview, NUS MEM Alumni members plan and conduct interesting role-play activities for new students. These ‘simulation games’ are based on real-life

scenarios, ranging from tackling the seasonal haze to conserving Malaysia’s Cameron Highlands. “Planet Earth is facing multiple challenges, causing ecological imbalance. People tend to be more concerned about obtaining economic gains than preserving the environment,” says Er Sin. “We need to act responsibly. Every living being has a part to play.”

Mr Leong (front row, kneeling, far right) with fellow NUS Alumni Volleyball Club members at the 2013 Kent Ridge Alumni Family Day.

Members of the NUS Alumni Volleyball Club are not just sporty but also active in community outreach. BELOW LEFT NUS MEM Alumni members on a 2012 field trip to Mawai Eco Camp in Johor, Malaysia. BELOW RIGHT The group organises environmental seminars that are open to the public.

Join Us! THE NUS ALUMNI VOLLEYBALL CLUB is open to all alumni! If you are interested, leave a message at www.facebook.com/NUS-AlumniVolleyball-Club-265665463604533 or email Mr Leong at joelleong08@gmail.com.

aving founded the NUS Volleyball Club during his undergraduate years, it was perhaps inevitable that Mr Joel Leong (Engineering ’10) — a former varsity team player — would go on to set up the NUS Alumni Volleyball Club in 2012. Made up mostly of those from the undergraduate club, the latter group provides an avenue for alumni to enjoy the sport while catching up with friends. Club members (80 to date) play together every Sunday at NUS University Town and take part in alumni sports challenges during the annual Kent Ridge Alumni Family Day. Sometimes they hold friendly games with corporate teams, which serve as an excellent networking platform.

Volunteering with Beyond Social Services to coach disadvantaged children.

Visiting an orphanage in Batam, Indonesia in January 2016.

The Club is also involved in community service. “I envision the Club to be one where friendships are forged, where passion for the sport burns bright, and where opportunities exist to give back to society,” says Mr Leong, 30, who works in investment banking. As volunteers for local charity Beyond Social Services, Club members coach less-privileged children to play volleyball while teaching them the importance of teamwork. On 30 and 31 January 2016, four members joined 14 other NUS alumni on an overnight trip to Batam, Indonesia where they visited an orphanage and took the children out to a theme park. APR– JUN 2016 27

ALUMNI SCENE GIVING

PHARMACY COMMUNITY LENDS A HELPING HAND TO STUDENTS

From left: Ms Kwa Kim Hwa (Arts and Social Sciences ’73), NUS President Professor Tan Chorh Chuan (Medicine ’83), Assoc Prof Kwa Chong Guan (Arts and Social Sciences ’68), Mrs Nelly Kwa (Arts and Social Sciences ’89), and the synchronised swimming performers from the Ang Peng Siong Swimming School.

My parents were very supportive of all that we wanted or chose to do. MS KWA KIM HWA

SCHOLARSHIP FROM SENIOR ALUMNI HONOURING THEIR LOVING, SUPPORTIVE PARENTS

ssociate Professor Kwa Chong Guan (Arts and Social Sciences ’68) and Ms Kwa Kim Hwa (Arts and Social Sciences ’73) have made a gift to enable the National University of Singapore (NUS) to establish the Mabel and Soon Siew Kwa Scholarship in memory of their parents. “Our parents were members of the Pre-Pioneer Generation who laboured through the 1950s and 1960s into the 1970s, helping to lay the foundations that enabled Singapore to survive after the separation from Malaysia in 1965. The major portion of my father’s working career was with Chung Khiaw Bank founded in 1947 as the ‘small man’s bank’. He married my mother Ms Mabel Lim towards the end of World War II,” reveals Assoc Prof Kwa, who is teaching at the Department of History, Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences (FASS). Ms Kwa adds, “They were very supportive of all that we wanted or chose to do. I studied Social Work as my major; my mother’s friends asked her why she allowed me to do the course as social workers were not well-paid. My mother’s reply was that ‘if that is her area of interest, let it be as this is her life and I

trust her decision’.” Ms Kwa does not remember all the facts and ﬁgures and knowledge dished out during lectures and tutorials but she remembers the fun she had as an undergraduate — tea at the Students’ Union, chatting at the Upper Quadrangle, taking the nice shaded and peaceful walk on the road to classes; buying books at the Co-op store; pranks played in class, “choping seats” and queueing for ‘Red Spot’ books at the Library. What is important are the friendships forged and maintained after she had completed University, and that her education at NUS taught her to be resourceful and independent. The Scholarship will provide full-term ﬁnancial assistance to Singaporean undergraduates during their studies at the Yong Siew Toh Conservatory of Music, FASS or the NUS Business School. Assoc Prof Kwa hopes that the recipients will remember that the Scholarship is enabling them to realise their dreams, and at some time in their future,

From left: Assoc Prof Chui Wai Keung (Science ’87), Assoc Prof Rachel Ee (Science ’98) and Mr Kwan Yew Huat (Science ’82).

to reﬂect on enabling others to achieve theirs — in keeping with the spirit of the quote by William Penn that his father would have read every day: “I expect to pass through this world but once. Any good that I can do, or any kindness that I can show to any fellow creature, let me do it now. Let me not defer or neglect it, for I shall not pass this way again.” This gift was facilitated by Mr David Ho (Arts and Social Sciences ’72), President of the National University of Singapore Society (NUSS). Mr Ho and NUSS have been actively appealing to its members to support their alma mater, including contributing to the NUS Alumni Bursary Campaign. In recognition of the generosity of the Kwas, NUSS has named the Kent Ridge Guild House swimming complex the Mabel and Soon Siew Kwa Swimming Complex. Prof Kwa is an NUSS life member. Prof Kwa also hopes that their gifts will nudge senior NUS alumni reaching, or having reached the seventh decade of their life cycle, to reﬂect on the words of Confucius at the beginning of Book Two of his Analects: “At seventy I could give my heart-and-mind free reign without overstepping the mark.”

If you want to learn more about honouring a loved one, please contact askdvo@nus.edu.sg. Ms Mabel Lim and Mr Kwa Soon Siew

IN CELEBRATION OF 110 YEARS OF BEING AN INTEGRAL PLAYER IN the nation’s healthcare community, the National University of Singapore (NUS) Department of Pharmacy, home to Singapore’s only Pharmacy degree programme, established its first endowed bursary. The Pharmacy 110th Anniversary Endowed Bursary, made possible through collective gifts, will provide sustainable funds to support students in financial need. “We feel it is our social responsibility to assist needy students in completing their Pharmacy education without the added pressure of worrying about whether they can afford to pay their fees,” says Associate Professor Chui Wai Keung (Science ’87), immediate former Head of the Department of Pharmacy. Assoc Prof Chui was joined by Associate Professor Rachel Ee Pui Lai (Science ’98) in spearheading this fundraising initiative. Assoc Prof Chui was apprehensive at first when he started writing personally to alumni to appeal for gifts. To his pleasant surprise, however, many responded quickly and a few even asked their spouses — who are alumni — and their companies to contribute. Faculty and staff also responded to the appeal when

Now, I am empowered to pursue my dreams and work towards a rewarding career that I truly love. MS RACHEL LAW

Assoc Prof Ee provided updates on the fundraising initiative. Thanks to the support received, the Department managed to raise sufficient funds to establish the Bursary within a month of fundraising. Assoc Prof Chui believes that the success of the fundraising initiative is partly due to the fact that the Department has established good relationships with its alumni over the years, the fruit of excellent staff and student rapport as well as a strong class identity. Scholarship recipient and donor Mr Kwan Yew Huat (Science ’82) not only contributed personally to the Fund, but also champions the cause among his classmates. “I believe, as Pharmacy alumni, we must continue the spirit of giving back and help our younger generation achieve their goals and contribute to our profession,” he says. Bursary recipient Ms Rachel Law says, “Before I joined the Pharmacy programme, there was much concern and uncertainty as to how I could afford the tuition fees. Had it not been for the Bursary and other ﬁnancial aid offered by NUS, a university education would not have been possible for me. Now, I am empowered to pursue my dreams and work towards a rewarding career that I truly love.” With so much support from the community, Assoc Prof Chui hopes that recipients such as Ms Law will appreciate the generosity of strangers and be inspired to do the same for future generations of students when they are ﬁnancially able. APR– JUN 2016 29

ALUMNI SCENE GIVING Mrs Tan (left), with Prof Lily Kong, Provost, SMU, at an event held at the NUS Shaw Foundation Alumni House.

SCHOLARSHIP HONOURS BELIEF IN EDUCATION AS A TEACHER AND SCHOOL PRINCIPAL FOR many years, Mrs Tan Suan Imm (Arts and Social Sciences ’61) believes that nothing is nobler and more satisfying than helping bright, young and deserving students get a jump-start in life through education. She has accordingly over the Mdm Ng Peck Lian and years supported the National Mr Tan Teng Hian ensured all their children received University of Singapore (NUS)’s an education. Annual Giving campaign, which was launched in 2005 to engage alumni, faculty, staff and students and friends to seek their ongoing and father. It is fitting support for students. She has therefore that we should also contributed regularly to the set up this scholarship in Student Advancement Bursary their names to honour Fund at the Faculty of Arts and them and their legacy Social Sciences (FASS). to their progeny: a Together with her husband, legacy of honesty, hard Dr Tan Thian Hwee (Medicine work and frugality, time’62), who like her, was himself a honoured values of filial bursary recipient, she has made piety, a deep sense of a new gift to NUS to establish the responsibility and care Ng Peck Lian and Tan Teng Hian for kith and kin and for Scholarship, named after her late the less-fortunate parents-in-law, who always placed and needy.” a high premium on education. Mrs Tan, who was “My father-in-law was conferred the NUS educated at Raffles Institution and Distinguished Alumni MRS TAN SUAN IMM worked as a clerk. My mother-inService Award in 2009 law, a housewife, was a strong and remarkable woman and the FASS Inaugural Distinguished Arts and Social who — through frugality and resourcefulness and Sciences Award in 2015, spends her time helping NUS great personal sacrifice — was able, with my fatherand FASS reach out to alumni, to invite them to return in-law’s modest income and support, to put all her six to their alma mater to help build a culture of giving children — three elder daughters and three sons — and philanthropy. She also tries to engage and connect through school. My husband feels strongly that what friends whose generosity can make a difference in the he and his siblings are today, they owe to their mother lives of deserving students.

It is ﬁtting therefore that we should set up this scholarship in their names to honour them and their legacy to their progeny

APR– JUN 2016

PUR S U IT O F E XC E L L E N C E

Storytelling,

was more emphasis placed on checking and verifying facts, but she also had to work hard to change people’s perceptions of her. “Coming from the entertainment industry and being a woman, it took some time before I was taken seriously,” she says. Ms Ser is perhaps best known for her work as a broadcast journalist with Channel NewsAsia, where she hosted and produced the current-affairs TV series Get Rea! from 2004 to 2006. The job combined her previous experience in front of the camera with her investigative reporting skills. Needless to say, she thrived in that role and would have stayed longer if not for the birth of her first child. “I loved being involved with Get Rea!, but it took up a lot of time — time I knew I wouldn’t have after I became a mother,” says Ms Ser. She and her husband, actor-turned-bank executive Mr James Lye, are now parents to Jake, 10, Christy, eight, and Jaymee, five.

RE-INVENTED After more than two decades in front of and behind the camera, Ms Diana Ser (Arts and Social Sciences ’94) tells her own story to The AlumNUS.

ONE CONSTANT THREAD throughout Ms Diana Ser’s career has been her deftness as a storyteller. As a television presenter, journalist and now founder of an online portal, her ability to communicate with her audience and deliver meaningful messages has invariably shone through. She is, in her own words, “doing the same thing in a different form”. It is a practice she has in fact perfected for as long as she can remember. “I loved performing on stage when I was young, and won primary school storytelling competitions every year in both English and Mandarin,” recalls Ms Ser, 44. “The only exception was in Primary 5, when my school didn’t hold a competition that year!” She landed her first job as a co-presenter for a Channel 8 entertainment programme after entering NUS, where she was among the first cohort of Mass Communication students. “Because of my part-time TV work, my university grades weren’t as good as they could’ve been,” she muses. “But [the tradeoff ] was worth it. The work I was doing was directly related to my studies; I learned what really happens inside the writers’ room.” Ms Ser — who also took classes in Japanese Studies — says it felt “exciting and special” to be a part of the pioneer batch for Mass Communications. But it was not so much what she was taught as it was how she was taught that has left an impression on her. In particular, she remembers faculty members such as then-Professors Eddie Kuo, Ang Peng Hwa and Lee Chun Wah. “They were very kind, gave good guidance and never talked 32

Main photo courtesy of Eric Er, Attitude Photography

BY WANDA TAN

down to me,” she says. “They influenced the way I treat others to this day.”

Ms Ser and youngest daughter, Jaymee

GETTING REAL A big career change came in 2000 when Ms Ser left the entertainment world to pursue a career in journalism. Her early days as a newspaper reporter were rough. Not only

DIANA’S TIPS FOR SUCCESS

Find out your strengths. Stick to what you do best.

Work hard and put in 100 per cent effort. Talent and brains are not enough.

Have the humility to recognise that you always have more to learn.

PROFESSIONAL FULFILMENT MATTERS Being a mother was the inspiration for Ms Ser’s latest undertaking: an online portal aimed at promoting bilingualism. Called ‘Crazy About Chinese’ (www.dianaser.com), the website was launched in November 2015 and contains articles and videos on how parents can incorporate Mandarin into their daily lives with young children through games, activities and excursions. The idea for the website arose out of Ms Ser’s own attempts to teach Mandarin to her children in a fun yet immersive way, and she stars in the videos alongside her youngest child. She handles almost all aspects, from

I WANT TO SET AN EXAMPLE TO MY KIDS — ESPECIALLY MY DAUGHTERS — THAT ALTHOUGH YOU CAN’T DO EVERYTHING, YOU CAN DO ANYTHING. Ms Diana Ser

writing articles and video scripts, hiring and directing the video crew, as well as uploading articles and videos and finding sponsors. She also directs Jaymee. As of March 2016, close to 2,000 people have subscribed to her email alerts and YouTube videos, while she has amassed more than 1,000 ‘likes’ on her Facebook page. And she is looking to expand the content on her website through contributions from others. “Eventually, I hope it will serve as an online platform where parents keen to nurture bilingual kids can come together and share their stories and ideas.” But Ms Ser is motivated by much more than a desire to see the next generation pick up Mandarin. “As much as I enjoy being a hands-on mother, I need to actualise my professional goals as well. I want to set an example to my kids — especially my daughters — that although you can’t do everything, you can do anything,” she explains. Indeed, during the intervening period between Get Rea! and ‘Crazy About Chinese’, she was a partner at a public relations agency for a few years and also ran her own communications consultancy. “Technology has given working mothers a leg up. When I first started out in TV, I never imagined that I would one day set up a ‘onewoman show’ and be able to work remotely,” says Ms Ser of her current endeavour. “Thanks to the Internet, women can also form an online community — in addition to their close circle of family and friends — with whom they can bounce off ideas and get support.” APR– JUN 2016 33

U@LIVE

Charged with Curiosity

P R O F E S S O R A D A Y O N AT H NOBEL PRIZE WINNER FOR CHEMISTRY (2009)

Neither challenges nor naysayers could distract Nobel Prize winner Professor Ada Yonath from her breakthrough research on ribosomes. LIFTING T HO UGHT LEADERS HIP As of January 2016, U@live, our guest speaker series, will showcase global thought leaders. Hosted by Alumni Advisory Board member and veteran TV presenter Mr Viswa Sadasivan (Arts and Social Sciences ’83) at the Shaw Foundation Alumni House, the 1.5 hour session will also be streamed live on the U@live website. To register for future U@live events, visit www.nus.edu.sg/ualive.

Prof Yonath spoke to a packed auditorium.

WHEN PROFESSOR ADA YONATH received a phone call from Stockholm in 2009 informing her that she had won the Noble Prize in Chemistry, she thought it was a prank. Prof Yonath, now the Director of the Helen and Milton A Kimmelman Center for Biomolecular Structure and Assembly of the Weizmann Institute of Science in Israel, had bagged the award for her pioneering studies in the structure of ribosomes — large complex particles within each living cell that translate genetic information to create proteins. In other words, ribosomes, as she said, are the “basis of life” itself. Members of the audience who had turned up for this 50th U@live session — the ﬁrst in which a global thinker beyond the NUS fraternity

would be invited as a guest speaker — were treated to a crash course on cells, proteins, DNA and of course ribosomes, by the Nobel Laureate. Prof Yonath’s breakthrough research has continued to be fundamental in developing advanced antibiotics to ﬁght the growing problem of bacterial drug resistance. As pleased as Prof Yonath was to have found out that the call was in fact legitimate, she let on to her audience at the Shaw Foundation Alumni House that the feeling couldn’t be compared to how she felt when she and her team succeeded in creating the ﬁrst ribosome crystals in 1980 — after 25,000 attempts. “I had felt more overwhelmed and was buried deeper in happiness in that moment when I found the answers I was searching,” she said.

Most scientists want to look for critical answers, although some may want to inﬂuence. Every discovery and new answer adds to the knowledge of humanity — it adds to our wealth. PROFESSOR ADA YONATH

MANY DREAMS Many distinguished scientists had been skeptical about Prof Yonath’s efforts to determine the ribosome structure. She was deemed “the so-called scientist” and “the village fool” among other disparaging descriptions, some of which Prof Yonath said she agrees with “to a certain extent”. What then motivated her to press on in spite of the negative comments from the scientiﬁc community, U@live moderator Mr Viswa Sadasivan asked. “I have no time to listen to what people are saying. I had complicated work to do and focus on,” was Prof Yonath’s tothe-point reply. By her own admission, Prof Yonath has always been a dreamer. She was born in Jerusalem in 1939 to a poor family that shared a rented four-room apartment with two other families, Her father, who was a rabbi, died when she was 11. To help her mother, the young Ada took on a range of jobs including cleaning, babysitting and giving private tuition to younger children. In spite of her family’s struggles, her mother made sure that her daughter was able to further her

education. Prof Yonath completed her undergraduate and Master of Science studies in chemistry, biochemistry and biophysics at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. “My first dream was to survive,” said Prof Yonath. “I had also dreamt of being a writer. I had many dreams.” Those many aspirations however did not include becoming the first Israeli woman to win a Nobel Prize and the first woman from the Middle East to win such a prize in the Sciences — both of which she has accomplished. “Science is gender-independent. I’ve never felt disadvantaged as a female, but I’ve never been a male, so I can’t be too sure,” Prof Yonath said, to the audience’s amusement. When asked to elaborate on some of the challenges she had to face, Prof Yonath joked that getting into the details would cause her to miss her flight later that evening. She said matter-of-factly, “Difficulties are but a part of life.”

OF SCIENCE AND SCIENTISTS When asked by Mr Viswa to deﬁne the role of a scientist outside the realm of science, Prof Yonath

declined to do so, although she counts German-born theoretical physicist Albert Einstein as one of her heroes. “To put every scientist in one bag is not right”, she said firmly. “Most scientists want to look for critical answers, although some may want to influence. Every discovery and new answer adds to the knowledge of humanity — it adds to our wealth.” And scientific research requires time, money and support, Prof Yonath pointed out. Electricity, now the backbone of modern society, as well as gravity, took years to be discovered and understood. Scientists must also be in a position that enables them to advance their research, which means they need to be accorded laboratories to work in. This will be the driving force, said Prof Yonath, taking into account her own experiences, where support — in the form of infrastructure and collaborators — is made available. When asked if everyone, even the arts-inclined, should embrace Science, she said, “Science is for everybody. I’m for giving opportunities in Science at the wish of everybody, but it should not be forced upon [people].” In concluding the invigorating session, Prof Yonath expressed her gratitude to the various institutions including the Weizmann Institute and the Max Planck Society (a leading research institute in Germany), for enabling her to stay curious and supporting her research. She also thanked her colleagues and fellow collaborators, and gave a heartwarming shout-out to her family. More than a decorated scientist, the role Prof Yonath considers the most honourable and prized is being a grandmother to nine-year-old Noa. The young girl has recently awarded her with a “Grandma of the Year” award. Smiling, Prof Yonath said, “She has warned me that she will retract the award the moment I fall short of my duties.”

BY FAIROZA MANSOR Prof Ada Yonath spoke on 21 January 2016.

APR– JUN 2016 35

ALUMNI HAPPENINGS E V E NT S

ALUMNI APPRECIATION AND LO HEI DINNER The NUS Business School Alumni Appreciation Dinner appreciates alumni and student volunteers for their unwavering support and selfless contributions to the School. This year’s appreciation dinner was combined with a Lo Hei dinner held at the Royal Palm at the iconic Singapore Flyer on 29 January 2016. Alumni and students arrived

early to network with old and new friends before sitting down to a delicious meal. As a thank-you gesture, the Global Alumni Network Office of the School put together an appreciation video recapping the year’s events. The video highlighted the contributions of alumni and student volunteers who give their time and expertise in areas such as mentoring,

guest-speaking at the many talks and forums, and organising events such as the NUS Biz50 Charity Golf and NUS Bizad Charity Run. Deputy Dean Professor Hum Sin Hoon thanked everyone, saying: “The School is only as strong as our alumni [body] is strong. You all believe in the School, and for that we honour you tonight.”

NUS BIZAD CHARITY RUN 2016 The popular NUS Bizad Charity Run, the annual flagship event organised by the NUS Business School Alumni Association and Bizad Club, never fails to draw a huge turnout and this year was no exception. Despite the rain, more than 1,300 participants arrived bright and cheerful on a Saturday afternoon, ready to run in the name of charity. To date, more than S$160,000 in donations have been raised. The funds will go towards the NUS Business School Study Bursaries and two external beneficiaries, Boys’ Town and Muscular Dystrophy Association (Singapore). Already in its sixth year, the NUS Bizad Charity Run continues to cultivate a strong culture of giving among the Business School fraternity. “It’s a great opportunity for me to not only raise funds for the needy but also give back to the School that has helped to

shape me,” said Ms Maxine Teo (Business ’96), the emcee for the event. It was a sentiment echoed by many. Fellow alumnus Mr Mohit Khemani (Business ’15) even took it upon himself to rally more than 20 of his colleagues to participate in the run. “We frequently organise corporate events so I thought the charity run would be a great team-bonding activity,” he said. “What’s more, we get a chance to contribute to a meaningful cause.” This was somethingthat Guest-of-Honour Mr Teo Ser Luck (Accountancy ’92), Minister of State for Trade and Industry, touched on as well in his opening address. He also gamely joined in the spirit of the event, participating in the Fun Walk. Mr Peter Yap (Business ’86) added: “What matters is that I finish the run — I don’t have any particular target,” he said. “It’s all for fun and in the name of charity.”

WE FREQUENTLY ORGANISE CORPORATE EVENTS SO I THOUGHT THE CHARITY RUN WOULD BE A GREAT TEAM-BONDING ACTIVITY. WHAT’S MORE, WE GET A CHANCE TO CONTRIBUTE TO A MEANINGFUL CAUSE. Mr Mohit Khemani APR– JUN 2016 37

ALUMNI HAPPENINGS EVENTS

From left: Dr Alvin Lee (Dentistry ’06); Prof Tay Boon Keng (Medicine ’73), President Elect, Alumni Association; Prof Chew Chong Lin (Dentistry ’71); Assoc Prof Grace Ong (Dentistry ’79), Dean, Faculty of Dentistry; Dr Thean Tsin Piao (Dentistry ’95); Mr Ong Ye Kung, Acting Minister for Education; Prof Tan Chorh Chuan (Medicine ’83), NUS President; Assoc Prof Lai Siang Hui (Medicine ’96), Chairman Alumni Association Southern Branch; Dr Dominic Leung (Dentistry ’75); Dr Bertrand Chew (Dentistry ’01).

Dental Symposium

KENT RIDGE HALL PAST VERSUS PRESENT

The Alumni Association Dental Continuing Education Committee, together with the Faculty of Dentistry (FOD), held a Dental Symposium on 10 and 11 October 2015 to raise funds for the FOD Development Fund. More than 150 dental professionals attended the Symposium. A total of S$221,000 was raised in connection with this event. The Alumni Association presented the cheque to NUS President Professor Tan Chorh Chuan (Medicine ’83) at a dinner event on 17 February 2016. Kent Ridge Hall Past vs Present Organising Committee and alumni participants.

Kent Ridge (KR) Hall’s Past versus Present (PvP) is an alumni event hosted by KR Hall and the Alumni Relations Unit (ARU). The annual event aims to bring current and past residents of Kent Ridge Hall together on a day filled with various sporting events and cultural performances. About 100 participants turned up for this year’s event on 13 February 2016. ARU Chairperson Mr Javian Lim shared his vision of an official Kent Ridge Hall Alumni Group. He also hopes to reach out to more alumni through publications such as a monthly newsletter. Dr Ng Kah Loon (Science ’97), Master of KR Hall, echoed these aspirations as he shared about how he is working towards a more formal and structured way to strengthen alumni relations. “The message we want to send is that Kent Ridge Hall will always welcome you back. You may have left or graduated, but to us, you are never forgotten.”

Introducing The NUS Alumni SingAlong Group Bonded by a love for singing and music, a group of alumni from different disciplines has been meeting once a month at the NUS Alumni Sing-Along (NUS ASA) sessions over the past year. The fun and relaxing sessions provide alumni with

a platform to share musical talents and have fellowship with one another. Musical accompaniment is provided on the piano and guitar, and more recently, through a karaoke machine. The group also had the opportunity to lead guests at the Bukit Timah Homecoming 2015 on 4 July in a sing-along performance. On 14 December, the group celebrated its first Christmas gathering complete with Christmas carols and a delectable tea buffet. More interesting activities have been planned for the year ahead and the group hopes to have more alumni with similar interests join them. NUS ASA sessions are held at the Shaw Foundation Alumni House on the second Monday of each month from 3.30pm to 5.30pm. For enquiries, write to sing-along@alummail.nus.edu.sg.

APR– JUN 2016 39

ALUMNI HAPPENINGS EVENTS

SPOOKTACULAR RETREAT The Duke-NUS Alumni Relations Office collaborated with the new Duke-NUS Medical Alumni (DNMA) Committee to hold DNMA’s first retreat with a Halloween theme on 31 October 2015. The full-day programme included team-building games and strategic discussions on the work plans for the next two years. The retreat was held at Village Hotel Bugis.

Eusoff Hall Chinese New Year Reunion Dinner The Eusoff Alumni Association (EAA) organised its annual Chinese New Year Reunion Dinner on 20 February 2016 at the Eusoff Function Hall. The event was attended by 15 alumni; Associate Professor Goh Beng Lan, Master of Eusoff Hall; three Residential Fellows and four current residents. The attendees enjoyed themselves over a simple buffet dinner, sharing about their working lives, catching up on the latest happenings in the Hall and NUS community, and discussing future collaboration between EAA and the Hall Office. The event ended with a Lo Hei session as well as a free and easy networking session.

U@live is a quarterly speaker series that showcases global thought leaders. Apart from having a live audience, U@live will also be webcasted live. Viewers can send in real time comments and questions to the speaker.

moderated by Mr Viswa Sadasivan, Chairman of the U@live Organising Committee and Member of the NUS Alumni Advisory Board.

17 alumni, faculty and students from the School of Design and Environment (SDE) clinched the President’s Design Awards in December 2015, Singapore’s most prestigious design honour. Administered by the DesignSingapore Council of the Ministry of Communications and Information, and the Urban Redevelopment Authority, the President’s Design Awards comprises two categories – ‘Designer of the Year’ and ‘Design of the Year’. Three designers and 13 designs were honoured for their design excellence in 2015. Guest-of-Honour and President of the Republic of Singapore, Dr Tony Tan Keng Yam (Science ’62) presented the awards to the recipients on 11 December 2015 at the Istana. Mr Siew Man Kok (Design and Environment ’86, ’89), Co-founder and Chairman of MKPL Architects, was

named the ‘Designer of the Year’. He was recognised for his commitment and contribution through his designs to the architecture profession and societyat-large in Singapore. Together with his team, Professor Mok Wei Wei (Design and Environment ’82), Managing Director of W Architects Pte Ltd and Professor in Practice at the Department of Architecture, won the ‘Design of The Year’ award for their condominium project The Oliv. It showcases the creative use of sky terraces for quality high-density living. Some of the other recipients of the ‘Design of The Year’ awards were Mr Donn Koh (Design and Environment ’07), Lecturer from the Division of Industrial Design; Assistant Professor Hans Tan (Design and Environment ’05) from the Division of Industrial Design, and Industrial Design students Ms Ho Xin Yi and Ms Yong Zi Fong. Mr Siew Man Kok ‘Designer of the Year’

25 MAY 2016

WEDNESDAY 7.30PM

SHAW FOUNDATION ALUMNI HOUSE

Professor Alan Krueger Bendheim Professor of Economics and Public Affairs at Princeton University Former Chairman of President Barack Obama’s Council of Economic Advisers and Cabinet Member (2011 – 2013)

What Makes a Terrorist U@live Speaker Series is

SDE ALUMNI, FACULTY AND STUDENTS HONOURED AT PRESIDENT’S DESIGN AWARDS 2015

In his book, "What Makes a Terrorist: Economics and the Roots of Terrorism (2007)", Professor Alan Krueger argues that contrary to the assumption that terrorists come from impoverished, uneducated environments, they often have a middle-class, college-educated background. For an indepth discussion on the psychological motivation and the economics of terrorism, come for U@live.

Reserve Your Seats: www.nus.edu.sg/alumnet Join Us Online: www.nus.edu.sg/ualive

ALUMNI HAPPENINGS EVENTS

OVERSEAS CHAPTERS ALUMNI HAPPENINGS KUCHING

CHARLIE BROWN CHARITY MOVIE PREMIERE The Association of Women Doctors (Singapore) (AWDS), Singapore Film Society and NUS Medical Society collaborated to raise funds for charity at the premiere of Snoopy And Charlie Brown: The Peanuts Movie. The event was held on 10 December 2015 at Golden Village GVmax, VivoCity, as part of NUS Medical Society’s community involvement projects. Almost 600 guests attended the movie premiere, including underprivileged women and children from various organisations, such as Star Shelter, whose seats were sponsored by generous donors. Guests were treated to a series of activities prior to the movie, including a tour of booths set up by medical students showcasing their community projects. Three NUS

KUCHING OVERSEAS CHAPTER DINNER

Medical Society flagship projects were featured: the Neighbourhood Health Service, Public Health Service and Project Lokun. Mr Wong Wen Kai, President of the NUS Medical Society thanked donors for supporting Singapore’s longest-lasting representative body for university students. He said that for 67 years, the NUS Medical Society has sought to create a learning community that supports the holistic growth of medical students, helping them to develop into ethical, empathetic and competent doctors. The evening ended on a high note as guests left the theatre chatting excitedly about the adventures of Charlie Brown, with some even dancing along to the movie theme song, Meghan Trainor’s Better When I’m Dancing.

The NUS Kuching Overseas Chapter held a reunion dinner on 21 February 2016 at the Hilton Kuching in the iconic waterfront area of the city. The event was organised by the NUS Office of Alumni Relations (OAR) in collaboration with the Kuching Overseas Chapter. Alumni also met Associate Professor Victor R Savage (Arts and Social Sciences ’72), Director of OAR. The heavy rain in the region did not dampen the mood as the event kicked off with warm words of welcome from the Chapter Chair, Mr Paul Kho (Science ‘91) followed by a lively Lo Hei session to usher in the Year of the Monkey. Assoc Prof Savage shared the latest updates from NUS and the importance of NUS’ global alumni communities in helping the University reach greater heights. Approximately 30 alumni and their spouses attended the dinner.

Let's

Chill Out! Admission is FREE Venue: Shaw Foundation Alumni House Auditorium Time: 7.30pm Register at: www.nus.edu.sg/alumnet

28 april 2016

(PG-13)

23 june 2016

(PG)

FILM FESTIVAL 16-18 May 2016, 8pm SHAW FOUNDATION ALUMNI HOUSE

FREE Admission

For enquiries, please contact Ms Idy Lim at idylim@nus.edu.sg or 6516 1913.

To reserve your seats please register online at HS\TUL[ U\Z LK\ ZN L]LU[ PɈ Jointly presented by:

High Commission of India Singapore

PRIVILEGES & OFFERS Your complimentary AlumNUS Card entitles you [V H OVZ[ VM ILULÄ[Z HUK WYP]PSLNLZ Get your complimentary AlumNUS Card at HS\TUL[ U\Z LK\ ZN HS\TU\ZJHYK

ARTS SHOWCASE British Theatre Playhouse

10% discount on show tickets. W: www.britishtheatreplayhouse.com

SPORTS AND OUTDOORS Seletar Country Club

Seletar Lifestyle Membership - Receive S$100 F&B Voucher with every Seletar Lifestyle Membership sign-up. Corporate Incentives - Quote “NUS Alumni” and enjoy 5% discount on total bill for event booking. W: www.seletarclub.com.sg

We welcome alumni business owners to come on board as our AlumNUS Card merchant partners. Drop us a note at oarconnect@nus.edu.sg HUK THRL HU L_JLW[PVUHS VɈLY [V MLSSV^ HS\TUP

PRIVILEGES ON CAMPUS NUS Museum

20% discount on all NUS Museum’s publications and catalogues. S$20 for NUS Museum guided tour of 20 person maximum per group (usual price: S$50). W: www.nus.edu.sg/museum

FOOD AND BEVERAGE The Fullerton Hotel Singapore

25% off on daily dinner buffet at Town Restaurant. 25% off on dinner à la carte buffet at Jade. 25% off on daily Afternoon Tea at The Courtyard. W: www.fullertonhotel.com

Bookhaven

5% discount for all merchandise. W: nusbookhaven.myshopify.com

HEALTHCARE Healthway Medical

Health Screening Packages: Healthway Lite (Female/Male) at S$370.50. Healthway Essential (Female/Male) at S$550. Healthway Premier (Female/Male) at S$700. Healthway Luxe (Female/Male) at S$3300. W: www.healthwaymedical.com

Sentosa Wavehouse

1-1 Promotion: For every hour purchased on the FlowRider, the rider may choose to enjoy a complimentary 2nd or provide the complimentary hour for his/her companion to enjoy. W: www.wavehouse.com

The French Table

10% discount on à la carte items. W: www.facebook.com/TheFrenchTable

BEAUTY AND WELLNESS True Yoga | True Fitness | Bikram Original Hot Yoga

EDUCATION AND SELF ENRICHMENT Ishinomaki Grill and Sake

10% discount on à la carte items. W: www.facebook.com/IshinomakiGrillnSake

Intune Music School

10% discount on regular course fees, and waiver of registration and materials fees worth S$20 (one-time fee). W: www.intunemusic.com.sg

The Fullerton Bay Hotel Singapore

25% off à la carte food menu (dinner only) at La Brasserie. 25% off à la carte food menu (dinner only) at The Clifford Pier. W: www.fullertonbayhotel.com

Sign up for selected memberships and enjoy waiver of joining fee worth S$200. True Yoga: Enjoy 2 complimentary yoga sessions worth S$76. True Fitness: Enjoy complimentary 10-day access worth S$110. Bikram Original Hot Yoga: Enjoy 2 complimentary yoga sessions worth S$84. W: www.trueyoga.com.sg W: ÜÜÜ°ÌÀÕiwÌ iÃÃ°V °Ã} W: www.bikramoriginalhotyoga.com

Three by Table Concepts

10% discount on à la carte items. W: www.facebook.com/ThreeSG

FASHION AND RETAIL Pedro

NeNe Chicken

5% discount on total bill. W: www.facebook.com/ nenechickensingapore

Zakka

Woo Ricebox

5% discount on total bill. W: www.facebook.com/wooriceboxsg

10% discount on regular-priced items. Plus, receive a Pedro membership with minimum of S$180 spent in a single receipt. W: www.pedroshoes.com

TRAVEL AND ACCOMMODATION HotelQuickly

S$15 vv v À Ì i wÀÃÌ Ìi booking, no minimum spend. W: www.hotelquickly.com

10% discount on à la carte items. W: www.facebook.com/zakkamodernthai

;LYTZ *VUKP[PVUZ HWWS` ;OL 5<: 6ɉJL VM (S\TUP 9LSH[PVUZ HUK [OL AlumNUS *HYK TLYJOHU[Z YLZLY]L [OL YPNO[ [V HTLUK [OL [LYTZ HUK JVUKP[PVUZ NV]LYUPUN [OL VɈLYZ ^P[OV\[ WYPVY UV[PJL (SS PUMVYTH[PVU PZ JVYYLJ[ H[ WYLZZ [PTL =PZP[ www.nus.edu.sg/alumnet MVY [OL SH[LZ[ WYP]PSLNLZ HUK WYVTV[PVUZ

PERSPECTI VE

glassceiling I’ve never been subject to a glass ceiling in my profession. But what was crucial was being as STRONG AND EFFECTIVE as a man without trying to emulate a male style of attack. I also had to recognise that succeeding as a woman took more effort. You have to want it more, then you can

HAVE EVERYTHING.” STEFANIE YUEN THIO, (Law ’93), 46, Joint Managing Director and Head of Transactions at TSMP Law Corporation.

you climb “theAscareer ladder,

DR JANAKI SHAH, (Science ’01), 36, Polytechnic Lecturer.

the higher you go, the fewer women there are, especially in the STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) fields. We still have a long way to go before we get to the stage where there is equal representation of the sexes.” DR SITI M YAAKUB, (Science (PhD), ’14), 34, Senior Marine Ecologist.

“The fact that, in 2016, we are still talking about the ‘gender glass ceiling’ shows that this issue is alive and still happening! My personal career journey also had another glass ceiling... a racial glass ceiling or racial stereotyping. Realising that these two glass ceilings were never going away, I just worked hard and smart to rise above these man-made ‘impediments’. I made sure I was very proﬁcient and the most knowledgeable in my chosen area. Women can break through these glass ceilings. Just be very professional, dedicated and true to your chosen career.” ARUNO RAJARATNAM, (Law ’74), 66, Consultant for Financial Lines Practice Asia at Ince & Co

In some organisations, especially in academia, women are judged entirely on their merit and given their due. But in larger organisations, where more p oﬁtpro t bureaucracy exists orr proﬁ uss,, making is a larger focus, then the view does seem to be that w women are somehow e. less capable.

What is the state of workplace equality and gender diversity in Singapore? Some NUS alumnae share their thoughts.

PHOTO OF ASSOCIATE PROFESSOR THAM BY EALBERT HO, COURTESY OF LIFEWISE MAGAZINE

The gender

I am quite certain I have not been denied any opportunity simply because I am a WOMAN. As an emergency physician and medical educator, I have been able to access OPPORTUNITIES for learning and progression based on whether my capabilities are the right fit for the job. For EDUCATION and WORK opportunities, our medical students have equal access. Training opportunities after graduation are equal but women may shy away from some specialties compared to others. The reason is not a glass ceiling but a PERSONAL and LIFESTYLE choice.” ASSOCIATE PROFESSOR THAM KUM YING, (Medicine ’88), 51, Senior Consultant, Tan Tock Seng Hospital (TTSH), and Assistant Dean, Years 3 & 5, Lee Kong Chian School of Medicine. She also teaches NUS students at TTSH’s Emergency Department.

A HELPING HAND JUST FOR ALUMNAE NUS BUSINESS SCHOOL ALUMNI WOMEN’S WING Launched in 2015, it organises events that enable business graduates to network, share their experiences, and advise one another on everything from work-life balance to leadership skills. Register for membership at www.nusbsa.org

EXECUTIVE EDUCATION FOR ALUMNI The NUS Business School conducts several leadership programmes, including a three-day programme, Women in Leadership, which helps participants navigate the complexities of leadership

and overcome its challenges through self-reﬂection, exercises and peer learning. Visit Executive-education. nus.edu or contact programme advisor Joanna Li at 6516-7802 or Joanna.li@nus.edu.sg for course information.

WOMEN IN SCIENCE The Mechanobiology Institute’s Women in Science (MBI-WIS) initiative was started to increase the participation and advancement of women in science through mentorship, networking and outreach. Find out more at Mbi.nus.edu.sg/resources/ mbi-women-in-science APR– JUN 2016 47

L AST WO R D

Tell me a

Story

HOW SISTERS DADLANI MANOHAR HARSHA (ARTS AND SOCIAL SCIENCES ’02) AND DADLANI MANOHAR SEEMA ((ARTS ARTS AND SOCIAL SCIENCES ’05) GOT TO WRITING CHILDREN’S BOOKS.

BY FAIROZA MANSOR OR

SLICE OF

Life

“ B O O KS A R E L I K E …

t re a s u re c h e s t s !

And the treasures are the stories they hold. Stories play an important part in every child’s growing-up years. They provide valuable avenues to o understanding situations that children hildren face in their daily lives. Stories also so help a child express emotions, thoughts and opinions.”

“

H A R S H A SAYS

My son Amaan, now seven, seven had on occasions, asked for ‘ice-kacang’ at dinner, to which his elder sister would tell him it’s a dessert, not a meal. This is a scene in “Now May I Have Some Ice-Kacang, Please?”

he mothers read to their children regularly and would sometimes write the everyday experiences of the little ones into a story. Their five children (now aged between nine and three) took to the stories so well — and the Jayden and Janelle series of books were born. Comprising six books for children aged three to five years old, the largely pictorial series document the adventures of siblings Jayden and Janelle. The first-time authors often conduct story-telling sessions as well. Harsha, 36, works in banking while Seema, 33, is in the civil service.

“

.Dates to Remember ALUMNI EVENTS

A PR I L T O JU N E 2 0 1 6

APRIL 21 APR (THU) THIRSTY THURSDAYS 6.30pm, The East Bureau Register at alumnet.nus.edu.sg/ event/TTapr16 Enquiries: Ms Cassandra Lua at cassandraluaqy@nus.edu.sg

28 APR (THU) MOVIES ON THE HOUSE MISSION IMPOSSIBLE ROGUE NATION (PG-13) 7.30pm, Shaw Foundation Alumni House Register at alumnet.nus.edu.sg/ event/MMapr16 Enquiries: Ms Idy Lim at idylim@nus.edu.sg

MAY

25 MAY (WED) U@LIVE FEATURING PROFESSOR ALAN KRUEGER 7.30pm, Shaw Foundation Alumni House Register at alumnet.nus.edu.sg/ event/UALIVEmay16 Enquiries: Mr Samuel Tan at samuel.tan@nus.edu.sg

JUNE 23 JUN (THU) MOVIES ON THE HOUSE MINIONS (PG) 7.30pm, Shaw Foundation Alumni House Register at alumnet.nus.edu.sg/ event/MMjun16 Enquiries: Ms Idy Lim at idylim@nus.edu.sg

16-18 MAY (MON-WED) INDIAN FILM FESTIVAL 8.00pm, Shaw Foundation Alumni House Register at alumnet.nus.edu.sg/ event/iff2016 Enquiries: Ms Valerie Vincent at valeriev@nus.edu.sg

NUS PERSONAL DATA PROTECTION ACT (PDPA)

S E E M A SAYS S

As of 2 January 2014, in line with Singapore’s Personal Data Protection Act (PDPA) Do Not Call (DNC) Registry, you may indicate your preference for receiving marketing messages from NUS on your Singapore telephone number via the various methods.

The sights in n “Hello Hello Aunty! Aunt ty!! Hello U Uncle! ” are what my daughters (now ﬁve and d three), actually see when w we take them m for walks around d the neighbourhood. neighbourho o

If you wish to make changes to your preference, you can update at https://myaces.nus.edu.sg/DNC/index.do.

As of 2 July 2014, in view of Singapore’s Personal Data Protection Act (PDPA), the NUS Office of Alumni Relations would like to inform you that NUS will continue to engage you as an alumnus through the following ways: • Providing you information about the University and alumni-related initiatives and activities. • Sending you invitations to NUS- and alumni-related events. • Requesting you to update alumni information. • Sending you invitations to participate in alumni surveys. • Sending you alumni-related communication collaterals. If you wish to withdraw your consent to be contacted, please visit https://myaces.nus.edu.sg/PSR/index.do.

HARSHA

(left)

AND SEEMA

All information is correct at time of print and is subject to change without prior notice.

Bukit Timah

HOMECOMING 2016

Jeremy Monteiro & Band featuring Melissa Tham

Dawn Yip, Celebrity Alumnus (Arts â&#x20AC;&#x2122;86)

Co-hosted by:

Office of Alumni Relations

Faculty of Law Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy