Where’s the fun in fund-raising?
Deny or debate it, the success of overseas community involvement projects (OCIP) and any other charitable projects are usually measured by the extent of their fund-raising attempts. However, I find that there is little thought put into how funds are raised in fund-raising “attempts” by OCIP or charitable project committees recently -the organisers failed to...
Copenhagen: Unavoidable management?
Like a disheveled doomsayer that everyone avoids, climate change activists have been trying for decades to get people to wake up to the fact that we are slowly but surely destroying our planet. There has been overwhelming evidence that rocketing carbon dioxide emissions are contributing to unnatural alterations in Earth’s climate, the most prominent of...
Falling attendance at Vivace?
For the freshman, Vivace is close to the final round of initiation to the Singapore Management University. It is the last day where you are (most likely) going to stick together with your Freshman Teambuilding (FTB) camp group, before the tons of schoolwork start to hit you and you start spending more time with your...
Communication is key in student engagement
ELVIN ONG “Because the students need to know” – that is the tagline adopted by The Blue and Gold. This author recommends that it should be tagline adopted by all elected student representatives, namely – the SMUSA Exco, the Excos of constituent bodies (CBds) and in particular, the Students’ Association Council (SAC), which is the...
A joke or a disaster?
What may have started as a joke has become a detriment to the success of future SMU graduates.
Lessons from APEC WLN
Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Women Leaders’ Network Meeting. Saying that in one breath was definitely a challenge but I guess it started to roll of all our tongues with much ease by the time the conference had started. Before we got to the conference however was a series of training that all of us...
SMUSA replies: “Students, take action if you want change”
I refer to Kenny Tan’s commentary (“Students, take action if you want change”) that was published in the 6th issue (August 2009) of The Blue and Gold and would like to offer the views of the 5th SMU Students’ Association Council (SAC) and the 9th SMU Students’ Association Exco (SA Exco). First of all, on...
A foreign-local divide
Last weekend, my Filipino friends and I played ultimate Frisbee at Bishan Park. There was also a family sharing the field with us as they engaged in kite flying. At times, the mother or one of the kids would stand in the middle of the field where we were playing, and we’d call out “Excuse...
Unpredictability the key to LTB
OWEN TAN The Leadership and Team Building (LTB) course, compulsory for all SMU students, is a class that “offers an opportunity for students to learn by doing in giving them hands-on experiences that facilitate the learning of leadership and team dynamics in real-life situations”, as mentioned in the course description.
How international students can integrate into the local community
A group of international students from the same country sitting together in Koufu is not an unfamiliar sight. How many international students become good friends with local students? Or better yet, anything besides classmates? We stick to our groups of people, don’t we?
Distinguished teaching in SMU
TOBIAS YEO I first became interested in SMU four years ago, in my second year of polytechnic. The emphasis on projects and class discussion appealed to me, an enhancement of a similar system I was enjoying so much. Of course, my excitement was tempered by the thought of library camping, endless project meetings, high expectations...