The Kathy Ong Prize is awarded based on student nominations. Launched in 2019 to commemorate the spirit of our late student, Kathy Ong, the Kathy Ong Prize recognises proactive students or groups at Tembusu College who have contributed to or helped in promoting the cause of biodiversity in Singapore or elsewhere in the region. These efforts can include educational, activist, or practical projects dealing directly with conservation issues or projects that indirectly engage environmental causes serving non-human species.
Every year a panel of judges comprising Fellows awards prizes for the best student work conducted through the University Town Education Programme (UTCP) in the Calendar Year at Tembusu.
These prizes are for the Best Essay, the Best Creative Work and the Best Miscellaneous Work.
The Best Essay Prize is for an individual work that involves a substantial amount of written text, with a clearly recognisable ‘voice’ that presents an argument – an idea or conclusion arrived at by working through certain materials. Essays will be considered in terms of how well they are written and the risks they take, as well as their originality and intellectual engagement.
The Best Creative Work Prize is for an individual or collective work that ventures into the space of art and engages its audience in that manner. This could be installations, interventions in public space, creative writing, performances with or without proposal, visual design, painting, object, video, photograph, poster, website, magazine, etc.. The work should be original, aimed at provoking thought and questions, and technically well executed.
The Best Miscellaneous Work Prize is for all kinds of student work that do not fit into the Essay and Creative Work categories. Given the potentially very varied nature of submission, the onus is on the lecturer to highlight how the student work they nominate meets the standard of excellence that operates in their particular module and the assignments associated with it.
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The winner for AY2021/2022 is: Wee Chin Ray, Edric.
Well done Edric!
Despite the restrictions posed by Covid-19 SMM, Edric managed to keep our student body informed of Singapore’s rich biodiversity and on appropriate behaviours when appreciating nature in our nature spaces. He accomplished this through facilitating guided walks at Pasir Ris mangrove, HortPark, and the Imbiah Trial in Sentosa. Apart from the guided walks, Edric also helped with the research and curation for tWild’s Mangrove Exhibition to improve our knowledge on mangrove species and ecosystem. Well done Edric for your commitment in increasing our eco-literacy!
The winner for AY2020/2021 is: Dennis Tan Wei Jie.
Well done Dennis!
Dennis has a deep passion for conservation and believes in engaging his peers personably to change not just their minds, but their hearts on this important issue. Besides inviting guest speakers to share on the theme of conservation, he also organized nature walks and created opportunities for Tembusians to participate in conservation work, such as through the habitat enhancement project in Bukit Timah Nature Reserve. For his sustained commitment towards the conservation cause, and impact on those around him, we want to recognize Dennis for his sincere efforts.
The joint winners for AY2019/2020 are: Tan Kian Long and Willis Lau Weisong.
Well done Kian Long and Willis!
Both Kian Long and Willis have done Tembusu College proud through their conservation work both within and outside of the college, and in using social media effectively to connect diverse groups and get the conservation message out. Specifically, we commend Kian Long for his leadership in making conservation an accessible, educational and engaging activity for all at Tembusu College. Refining the Tembusu Takes a Walk series, he engaged experts to share their in-depth knowledge not only on the flora and fauna in Singapore, but also on how our everyday choices can impact conservation efforts, particularly in Southeast Asia. As for Willis, we applaud him for his many on-the-ground conservation and environmental efforts. In particular, for his ability to create interesting activities for Tembusians through his external contacts and, conversely, to tap on internal events, such as the Tembusu Vertical Marathon, to raise funds for the Animal Concerns Research and Education Society (ACRES).
The winner for AY2018/2019 is: Lee Hui.
Congratulations Lee Hui!
As the Chairperson of tWild, Lee Hui spread the love of biodiversity and nature in Tembusu College by introducing initiatives such as the Tembusu Takes a Walk (TTW) series and organising TembuZoo alongside her co-heads. Under her leadership, tWild converted Conservation Week and Rector’s Shield into a large, cohesive programme of Conservation Month that provided multiple perspectives on conserving our biosphere, not only through animal conservation, but also through recycling, upcycling and sustainability efforts. As the Enrichment Director of the tWild Japan Expedition, Lee Hui created a holistic learning journey on biodiversity and environmental issues in Japan for both participants on the trip and the college at large post-trip. She spearheaded an interactive exhibition about their learning journey, with sections dedicated to how some of the experiences of Japan could be applied and transferred into the context of Singapore. For her passionate love of the environment and biodiversity, her dedicated and effective leadership, Lee Hui is most deserving of this award.
David Chan Weizhi
University Framing in Singapore Media
UTS2116: The University Today
Li Zihan
The Scandal of Stamford Bridge
UTC1102G Proof: What’s Truth Got to Do With It
Tan Jo Shin
To You, 3000 Years From Now
UTC1115: Engineering Marvels
Li Zihan
The Scandal of Stamford Bridge
UTC1102G Proof: What’s Truth Got to Do With It
The essay is an enjoyable read. While steeped in the language of football (which can be quite unfamiliar and unsettling to a non-sport oriented reader), the author managed to express his point through an accessible prose and an engaging explanation of what transpired in the 2009 semifinals between Chelsea and Barcelona. The author skilfully examines evidence and the historical context of football to illuminate the case under investigation. What comes out is an exposition that arrests that reader’s attention and that offers a nuanced position on the sports event in 2009.
Tan Kangde Andrew
Reflection 1
UTS2105: Singapore as ‘Model’ City?
Lucidly and coherently written, this reflection essay demonstrates synthesis of ideas from critically examining cases, relevant interdisciplinary literature, and the author’s nuanced position on the relationship between urban planning and public space creation in Singapore. The paper is well structured and brings in relevant literature to situate the reflection in the ongoing conversations on public spaces. The essay problematizes the dominant perspective on urban planning in Singapore, critiques current practices, while acknowledging current possibilities of departure from these current practices. The paper is nuanced enough to capture the complexities of public space planning and creation in Singapore while firm in its position to advocate for a more inclusive and participatory place making.
Davina Sitoh Yingrui
Situating the Smart University: A Study of NUSmart Dining as a Digital Artefact
UTS2116: The University Today
Ho Chung Tat Rangi
Basis of Authority: Challenges on the Social Contract through Feminist and Familial Lenses
UTC2113: Gaming Life
Tarinnya Ramaravikumar
Reflection 2
UTS2105: Singapore as ‘Model’ City?
Davina Sitoh Yingrui
Situating the Smart University: A Study of NUSmart Dining as a Digital Artefact
UTS2116: The University Today
The essay is a cogently written piece that offers a compelling argument on the smartization of university as a way to equip students to be digitally fluent and as a way to brand the university and Singapore as a leader of innovation. While critical in its perspective towards smartization in the university and national levels, the essay takes a balanced and nuanced approach by acknowledging the practicality and practicability of adopting smart technologies given the demands and constraints of the times. What comes out of the paper is a solid argument, drawing on multiple perspectives, that shows how a digital artefact used in the university setting is both reflective and constitutive of the agenda that Singapore has been pursuing for some time.
Aayush Sharma, David Chan Weizhi, Fiona Tan Yu Xuan
The Future University: G.L.O.B.E University at Sea
UTS2116 The University Today
Chen Le, He Yuxin, Tan Zhao Yu, Nick, Holmes Thomas Stuart
Intervention Project: StreetStage
UTS2105: Singapore as ‘Model’ City?
Chen Le, He Yuxin, Tan Zhao Yu, Nick, Holmes Thomas Stuart
Intervention Project: StreetStage
UTS2105: Singapore as ‘Model’ City?
This project is an innovative public intervention that reimagines urban space through structured play and performativity. StreetStage transformed an underutilized bench installation at the Urban Redevelopment Authority (URA) into an interactive theatre for puppetry, fostering public engagement and dynamic storytelling. By integrating red curtains, feltboard exteriors, and interactive puppet performances, the project invited visitors—students, tourists, and working professionals—to transition from passive observers to active participants. The intervention successfully enlivened the atrium, encouraging spontaneous creativity while respecting the site’s existing character. The team’s mixed-methods approach, including public observations, semiotic analysis, and participatory data collection, allowed them to work across and combine different disciplinary methods and provided valuable insights into urban engagement.
Angel Lee Xuan Xuan, Jared Wong Jing Jie, Ong Peng Kai, Velmurugan Sriharshidha
Twilight Tunes
UTS2105: Singapore as ‘Model’ City?
Lim Pei Han, Amanda
Reduce me, Complicate me: Playing Academia
UTC2113: Gaming Life
Lim Pei Han, Amanda
Reduce me, Complicate me: Playing Academia
UTC2113: Gaming Life
The student’s submission is an example of creative academic work that challenges the relationships between language, meaning, and accessibility in academia. The work innovatively uses the twin cinema poetic form, allowing multiple readings—both vertically and horizontally—mirroring the layered complexity of academic discourse itself. The student’s work bridges multiple disciplines, critical thought, and artistic expression, making complex ideas both thought-provoking and experiential.
Audrey Goh Wen Xuan, Lee Jie-Ren Benedict, Ng Yi Jiat
Navigating Crisis: Carrie Lam and the Challenges of the 2019 Protests
UTC2107 Negotiating in a Complex World
Lin Shuowang, Gerald Oh Qin Sheng, Poh Sher Yin, Deanna
A Race Against Extinction: The Vaquita’s Last Stand
UTC2107 Negotiating in A Complex World
Audrey Goh Wen Xuan, Lee Jie-Ren Benedict, Ng Yi Jiat
Navigating Crisis: Carrie Lam and the Challenges of the 2019 Protests
UTC2107 Negotiating in a Complex World
This work is a compelling interdisciplinary exploration of the tensions and complexities inherent in governance during periods of civil unrest. The team addresses a crucial real-world crisis and effectively captures the intricate dynamics between political authority, public resistance, and external influences, making it a valuable academic and practical resource for understanding crisis management.
Andre Foo, Rubesh Suresh, Diane Teo Min Xuan, Sam Nicole Elizabeth
Living Legacies; Leaving Legacies
UTS2114: Technologies and Ageing in Singapore
Huang Jiachang Brian, Leong Jing, Wesley, Lim Ying See, Cheryl, Tran Ha Thu
Addressing Excessive Salt Intake among Singaporean Youths Through Enhanced Nutritional Labelling
UTS2103: Health and Community in Singapore
Poh Jing Cheng Desmond, Sitoh Yingrui, Davina
The Citizen in the Smart Nation: Models of Citizenship and Participation as Seen Through the Digital Display
UTC3102: Tembusu Undergraduate Research Opportunity
Ong Ping Din
listen up: a guide to critical music listening
UTC2113:: Gaming Life
Huang Jiachang Brian, Leong Jing, Wesley, Lim Ying See, Cheryl, Tran Ha Thu
Addressing Excessive Salt Intake among Singaporean Youths Through Enhanced Nutritional Labelling
UTS2103: Health and Community in Singapore
This work demonstrated a strong case for Best Other Work, with exceptional clarity and impact on top of tackling a national health concern. By designing an innovative front-of-packaging label and grounding their proposal in community-based participatory research, the team bridged a critical health gap involving excessive salt intake, with an elegant solution that helps one visually observe their dietary intake. Most importantly, their methodical approach, combined with deep analysis of these findings, mapped with behavioral motivators, showcase how simple visual representations can have wider influence on policy implementation. This work ultimately sets the stage for tangible, long-term benefits to Singapore’s increasingly aging population.
Alan Selvin Anand, Lin Wenkang, Siew Ting Fung
How Global AI Futures Matter: Qualitative Insights at Scale
Supervisor: Dr Connor Graham
Michele Pek Jia Hui, Esther-J. Yoong, Lim Ying See, Cheryl
“Red Light, Green Light”: Examining the Marginalities and Belongings of Geylang as a Red-light District
Supervisor: Dr Priscilla Koh
Alan Selvin Anand, Lin Wenkang, Siew Ting Fung
How Global AI Futures Matter: Qualitative Insights at Scale
Supervisor: Dr Connor Graham
Alan, Wenkang, and Ting Fung worked on analysing 199 interview responses to the question “From now to 2050, what impacts do you think AI will have in shaping your society?” They designed a detailed series of GPT prompts to code these interview responses, produced the script for visualizing clusters of codes with similar meanings, and analyzed these clusters for the way they sketched out imagined future utopias. Both ambitious and adventurous, this project succeeded in deriving ideas of ‘futures’ through a rigorous methodology from a large qualitative data set. More so than previous similar student projects, this SLE3 project has attracted interest from an external research institute, as cutting edge work that contributes to the broader knowledge and research community in the area.
Faith Chng
Mentoring a Year 2 Creative Project
Mentor: Dr Connor Graham
Faith mentored Year 2 students in the Senior Seminar Singapore as a ‘Model’ City. She demonstrated high commitment to this program, prepared well for meetings with her mentees, and showed initiative in contributing to discussions. Faith approached her mentorship with earnest introspection and a humble openness to personal growth in service to her mentees, improving in the clarity and depth of her own communication skills over the course of the semester. As her investigative focus, Faith drew on scholarly literature, while thoughtfully collecting and evaluating evidence for the effectiveness of different kinds of feedback she gave mentees. Her experiences not only shaped her own engagement with students, but also helped to inform and improve on pedagogical practices in future iterations of the SLE4 Mentorship program.
Amadeus Emmanuel Lam Tze Min
A Review on Stylistic Images used in Greenwashing in Comparison to Scientific Images used in Demonstrating Human Impacts on the Environment
UTC1102D: Images
Esther-J Yoong
Way Back Home
UTS2105: Singapore as ‘Model’ City?
Heng Junxiang
Why N is Queer – a Critical Analysis
UTC2113: Gaming Life
Sitoh Yingrui, Davina
Structure, Mobility and Social Engineering: An Inchoate Rendering
UTS2105: Singapore as ‘Model’ City?
Esther-J Yoong
Way Back Home
UTS2105: Singapore as ‘Model’ City?
Esther-J Yoong’s “Wayback home” is a beautifully structured piece that starts by posing a simple question, “why aren’t the kids playing outside?” and explores that question in thoughtfully constructed layers. It interrogates pre-conceived relationships between children’s use of technology and their exploration of the built environment. The piece culminates with primary fieldwork that offers a nuanced analysis of two walking routes that primary school students pass through as they travel from home to school. Esther argues in her paper that the built environments are commendable for creating safe and convenient spaces for children, but they constrain spontaneous physical exploration and social connection. Using a comparative analysis of photographed spaces taken from the author’s primary fieldwork, the author guides the reader visually through impressively highly engineered walking spaces that are well intentioned but in practice antithetical to playful, relaxing and exploratory engagements that children expect. The paper offers the reader a unique experience by effectively putting together words and images that bring her thesis to life.
Lim Wei Hern
B&W Photography: Light Is All You Need
UTC1102D: Images
Loke Jee Kuen
Perceptions and Visibility
UTC2117: Skin
Tessa Foo
Deconstructing the Visual Signs of Power in Zhang Yimou’s Raise the Red Lantern
UTC1102D: Images
Tran Hieu Nghia
The Precarity and Paradoxes Faced by International Students in the City-State
UTS2105: Singapore as ‘Model’ City?
Loke Jee Kuen
Perceptions and Visibility: How My Identity Is Formed
UTC2117: Skin
The author offers a vivid exposition that demonstrates how personal narratives critically interrogated can create compelling intellectual insights. Through self-ethnography, he presents an incisive analysis and interpretation of his personal experience. The piece explores the personal daily inconveniences and tensions between personal freedom and the curation of image, and builds on these events to explore the impacts on relationships with friends, family and the medical system. Drawing insights from his reflections on his own narrative, interviews, and relevant scholarship, the author arrives at the decision to reclaim his agency. This is impressive in its self-awareness of his own limitations, and as daring as his honest revelations through his self-ethnography. Well-written and cogent in its idea development, the paper effectively communicates its point.
Alexis Seto Zhen Yi
Issues in Crime Investigation
UTC2118: The Anatomy of Crime
Andre Liang, Lim YingXuan, Aung Khant Myat, Esther-J Yoong
Lie Lie
UTS2015: Singapore as ‘Model’ City?
Aryaman Sharma
Jazz: An Evolving Meta Game
UTC2113: Gaming Life
Baey Shin Ee, John Chew, Sharon Gong, Michael Huang, Amanda Lim
Fortune-Telling Machine
UTS2105: Singapore as ‘Model’ City?
Insyirah Iman
Under the Skin
UTC2117: Skin
Ria Dedhia Nair
Untitled
UTC2117: Skin
Alicia Ng Yan Leng, Justin Ho, Krista Yeo Su-Anne, Sidney Madeline Lawther
Hidden in Plain Sight
UTS2105: Singapore as ‘Model’ City?
Aryaman Sharma
Jazz: An Evolving Meta Game
UTC2113: Gaming Life
In a series of three YouTube videos titled “Levels of Deviation” Aryaman Sharma interrogates the identity of a musical composition through iterations of Jason Mraz’s song I’m Yours — progressively varying the musical key, rhythm, and melody, while selectively adding notes or kinds of percussion beats, until what emerges bears less and less resemblance to the original. The judges marveled at the depth of conceptual thinking, as well as the technical excellence that effectively and pedagogically poses the questions: Is this still the same song? What part do composers, performers, and audiences have in the identity, interpretation, and expression of a work of music, or of art more generally? Aryaman’s charismatic performance at all ‘levels of deviation’ constitutes not merely an aesthetic garnish, but a powerful emotional argument that Jazz musicians are not ‘cheaters’ who violate rules, but authentic expressers of the lived moment in the meta game of Jazz.
Cai Shimin
How I Met Your Father
UTC2113: Gaming Life
Dorothy Yuan
Mind Portraits
UTC2117: Skin
Sofia Marliini Heikkonen
KANGEN or Where do we Put These Bodies if Not Home?
UTC2117: Skin
Sofia Marliini Heikkonen
KANGEN or Where do we Put These Bodies if Not Home?
UTC2117: Skin
This project explored how biracial people interact with their dual identity, their cultures, and communities. The result, “Kangen or Where do we put these bodies if not home?” is a deeply reflective auto-ethnography that draws together anthropology and psychology, poetry and photography. The judges were impressed by this creative work’s expansive and ambitious scope, its innovative uses of the zine format and mixture of cut-and-pasted images with original works of multilingual poetry. In this seminar, students are tasked with “making skin strange”. Sofia Marliini Heikkonen achieves this goal by transporting the viewer through a family archive: images of many generations, holiday snaps, and ghostly apparitions on the natural landscape of, presumably, her home. The judges felt that this was a creative work that could stand on its own merits, outside of the context of a university assignment, as a published work, and one that sheds light onto the unique experiences of biracial people.
Hung Jing Rong, Joyson, Keh Jing Jing, Ruth The Ru Qi
YouthCare Connect, You Can Connect.
UTS2114: Technologies and Ageing in Singapore
Jeremy Too Yun An
Video Essay
UTC1102D: Images
Tiffany Koh
Ethnographic Project
UTC2117: Skin
Rubesh Suresh
> echo “I FEEL PAIN”: An Exploration of Artificial Consciousness
UTC2113: Gaming Life
Sharon Soh
How is the Theme of Man Versus Nature Explored in The Lorax (2012) and Princess Mononoke (1997) through the Film Elements of Light and Sound Design?
UTC1102D: Images
Louis Teo
Ethnographic Project
UTC2117: Skin
Val Chong Jia Xuan, Tran Hai A, Kwek Zhong Wei, Isaac
To What Extent Should Countries Endorse E-cigarettes as a Viable Smoking Cessation Aid?
UTC2101: Biomedicine and Singapore Society
Rubesh Suresh
> echo “I FEEL PAIN”: An Exploration of Artificial Consciousness
UTC2113: Gaming Life
A rigorous and unrelenting experimentation of artificial consciousness, the work stages the scene of man’s ontological anxieties over the creation and mastery of his tools. The startling and disconcerting insight advanced by the work contributes to urgent debates surrounding machinic epistemology and automated reason. The confrontation with a technical “being” that stakes a claim on pain and suffering offers moments of slippages from use, which William Burroughs identifies with the act of using tools, to control, which operates on the condition of the autonomy of the controlled. Painstakingly acknowledging the different layers of abstraction that make possible this work, complete with a caveat of the limitations of programmatic rules, the work boldly simulates two programmes with very different recourses to their encounter with pain. The work forces us to reckon with an image of a machinic entity into whose phenomenological relation we have barely begun to grasp.
Jeremy Too Yun An
Video Essay
UTC1102D: Images
This was an impressive and careful analysis of an unusual genre, analytically rigorous and demonstrating craft and skill in the selection and comparison of excerpts. Its insights were notable: positioning analogue horror with relation to recent American history, it drew on scholarly literature to create a compelling final product.
Hung Jing Rong, Joyson, Keh Jing Jing, Ruth The Ru Qi
YouthCare Connect, You Can Connect.
UTS2114: Technologies and Ageing in Singapore
A highly ambitious undertaking to raise awareness about caregiving for the elderly, the project is conscientious and thoughtful in its execution. Remarkable adaptations when plans were frustrated demonstrated the students’ flexibility and quick-thinking. The strength of the project lies not in its flawless execution by the students but rather in the students’ receptivity to possible alternatives and resilience in starting over when an idea fell through. From the meticulous design of the project to the serious reflections during the course and after its delivery, the project remained unrelenting in the pursuit of long-term goals and the sustainability of the collaborations forged.
Ignatius Choong
Judo, Putting Skin in the Game
UTC2117: Skin
Dayna Cardona Naidu
Beyond Brown Beyond Brown: The Role of Skin Colour in Shaping the Lives of Brown Youths
UTC2117: Skin
Jolin Che
How do the Animated and Live Action Movies of Beauty and the Beast Differently Portray the Theme of Female Empowerment
UTC1102D: Images
Nie Yi and Chan Jia Yi
Expert in Theory
UTC2108: Knowledge and Expertise
Soh Ern Yi Max
Scientists Investigate That Which Already Is. Engineers Create That Which Has Never Been
UTC1102D: Images
Dayna Cardona Naidu
Beyond Brown Beyond Brown: The Role of Skin Colour in Shaping the Lives of Brown Youths
UTC2117: Skin
A thoughtful and careful investigation into diverse perspectives of skin colour, the work draws on an impressive range of scholastic traditions—from postcolonial literature and theory to socio-cultural theories of skin colour—in order to derive a deeper understanding of the experience of coloured skin. The work painstakingly unpicks misconceptions and deftly navigates thorny issues surrounding the experience of skin colour as it pertains to identity, beauty, and culture. The penetrating insight offered by the work contributes to scholastic conversations about problems that have obtained for decades such as decolonisation and cultural imperialism. The work stands as a cogent reminder of the politics and ethics behind (re)claiming skin.
Liew Yung Jun for “Lessons from the Cross Island Line Debate” (UTC2105/UTS2105 Singapore as a ‘Model’ City?)
The essay is generally well written and offers the reader a balanced perspective on the debate on heritage preservation versus land development using the case of the Cross Island Line project. The paper does well in contextualizing the problem at hand and in bringing to the surface the arguments put forth by the state, the environmental activists, and the residents affected by the project. The author succeeded in synthesizing these arguments to allow the reader to have a glimpse of the competing perspectives that have arisen due to the issue. The final paragraph reveals the position of the author on the debate. It is a position informed by a more global and future sensitive perspective on the subject matter. The paper commits a few grammatical errors, but they do not get in the way of comprehension. Despite minor issues of organisation and citation, the paper fulfils its purpose and communicates its ideas in substantive and cogently written manner. It is a strong and compelling defence of the protection of Singapore’s natural heritage against an ever-expanding economic impetus.
Tan Yan Rong Eilun for “Time Diary (March to April)” (UT2101 Time and Life)
The essay commands attention, demonstrates reflective intelligence, and impressively brings to the fore insights based on personal experience, readings, and interactions made in class. The essay offers a well-written prose that holds the reader’s attention to anticipate what ideas will unfurl next. The writer demonstrates her capacity to synthesize ideas from an impressive range of sources—academic and literary texts, personal experience, and class discussions. Her language is sophisticated, yet easy to follow. The cadence of her words enables the reader to journey with her, meander through her thoughts, and empathize with her struggles and tentative resolution to these struggles. This is a cogently and coherently written time diary that demonstrates the student’s capacity to exercise reflective intelligence. It reveals ideas that resonate with any thinking reader. These are ideas that suggest vulnerability, tentativeness, humility, and thoughtfulness. The beauty of this essay lies in its honesty expressed in a lucid and vivid prose.
Andrew Lee Ruo Zun and Chan Chee Meng for “Cash Love Clout” (UTC2105/UTS2105 Singapore as a ‘Model’ City?)
This installation provokes a conversation about happiness and satisfaction at our university. Where do we find it? What does it feel like when we think we found it? What obstacles to happiness do we meet? What are the relationships between happiness, wealth, experience, and achievement? The creators choose to highlight the, in their words, “amorphous” nature of their topic by constructing a plywood structure that, when viewed from different angles, reveals different purported symbols of happiness and quotes from fellow students at NUS. We were impressed by the dedication shown by the creators in bringing their vision to fruition, rebuilding after the destruction wrought by a particularly fierce storm, and their ambitious engagement with the assignment brief to draw our attention to shared experiences.
Recio Anne Kaila for “Memories of the Self” (UTC2101 Time and Life)
This project engages in a creative and deeply sensitive way with one of the core themes of the module: how memory (and people and places inhabiting it) shapes our sense of self and time, becoming a sort of home, an anchor which provides comfort and continuity between past, present, and future. To reveal this, the author removed friends from images, leaving their silhouette behind, and filled the empty space with the images of memories that shaped that person’s identity. The images are paired with quotes from interviews the author had with the participants. We are impressed by the time, effort, and enthusiasm the student put into the creation of this project and praise the fact that she gifted to other students the chance to reflect about important people and places in their lives.
Gabriel Waikin Loh Matienzo, Goh Yu En, Liang Yuzhao, Zhou Yirui for “Intelligence Expo and Discussion Paper” (UTS2100 Intelligence and Singapore Society)
This group set out to investigate an ambitious question about the effects of musical education or musical intelligence on creativity. Deriving data from a questionnaire and test, the report made a convincing argument based on a systematic analysis of data and clear substantiation.
Beatrice Lee, Gavin Neo, Tyler Wu, Zhang Yue for “A Qualitative Study of Research Motivations in NUS” (UTC/S2116 The University Today)
This is a small but highly original qualitative research project which responds plausibly to a gap in the academic literature. It gives an insightful account of the factors influencing academics’ research trajectories at NUS. Among other things, the project points towards the inadequacy of explaining academics’ research choices in terms of a dichotomy between intrinsic and extrinsic motivations. Impressive and thorough independent research underpins all aspects of the work, and findings are presented in an accessible and thought-provoking way.
Tan Yan Rong, Eilun for “Knowledge and Intelligence as Communities in Cooperation” (UTS2100: Intelligence and Singapore Society)
This is a beautifully-written, accessible, yet thought-provoking comparative analysis of collective versus individual intelligence. We were impressed by Yan Rong’s originality and the diversity of interesting examples she used to build her thesis. The essay displays an impressive breadth of knowledge about literary and theatrical works. The critique advanced against the education system is cogent and incisive – there are many insightful comments, verging on the poetic, that elevate the argument. Overall, the essay succeeds in raising further questions about intelligence at the intersection of culture, history, and education. The stance taken by the essay is lucid and compelling.
Wong Mun Yee for “Digital Legacies: Do You Believe in Life after Death?” (UTC1102S: Living and Dying in the Internet Age)
The essay advances a highly sophisticated reading of humanity and technology. The thesis is strong and the delivery is coherent. It deals critically with Forster’s short story and provides a compelling interpretation of the future of humanity against the backdrop of a ‘technologically mediated life’. Sources are used strategically—the essay’s mobilisation of media theorists like van Dijck is convincing and adds layers to the argument. Overall, the essay not only succeeds in engaging with Forster in an incisive manner, it has also managed to overturn Forster’s critique of technology without reducing it to a specious ‘man vs machine’ divide. Turning a critique into a celebratory discourse requires a high level of awareness and sensibility.
Cheng Zaiyang Lucas for “Altered Motion: Biopolitical Influence of COVID-19 on Physical Behaviour” (UTC2113: Gaming Life)
Juxtaposing essay, photographs, drawing, and installation art, this project conveys a sophisticated and in-depth reflection on the Covid-19 pandemic and its repercussions on our life. We praise Lucas for his courage to explore a topic which, for its pervasiveness, might appear banal and over understood, and about which not much else can be said. He instead makes us see, and feel, to what extent this new normal is not normal at all; it is the product of bio-political regulations.
Rebecca Chong Shu Wen for “Territory” (UTC2113: Gaming Life)
Playfully adopting the form of a publication from an architectural firm, this work critically examines Tembusu College’s living space, drawing out from seemingly banal and familiar places a series of acute observations that are personal, self-aware, and relatable. The work is executed with a high level of care, aesthetic sensibility, technical knowledge, and humour.
Muhammad Shameer Bin Shiraj Abdullah, Samuel Ashwin Augustine, Rachel Ng Min Yee & Tan Su Yin for “Untitled” (UTS2100: Intelligence and Singapore Society)
This group came up with an innovative social experiment and presented a very detailed and convincing analysis of its findings in this research report. The conversational flows (Appendix F) was particularly interesting. There was also a good synthesis of findings. Relative to other nominations, this group work seemed to have expended a lot of effort in pulling this research off.
Alicia Chew, Hu Xinbei, Mikhail Faiz, Rachel Loh & Ong Yun Qi Vicki for “Intersectional Evaluations of Rental HDB Units in Eunos” (UTS2114: Technologies and Ageing in Singapore)
This was a meaningful project. It was a very well-researched study of how the void deck space in a HDB rental flat estate was used. Coherently written, it drew good links to the WHO framework and academic literature. The methodology in this project was well designed and justified. It provided strong evidence and anecdotal experiences of the elderly residents to make their case in this paper. The group also came up with good recommendations for how rental HDB void deck areas could be improved upon.
Tan Kian Long for “Nursing Home Infrastructure & Life Before Death in Singapore” (UTS2109 Senior Seminar – Asia Now! The Archaeology of the
Future City)
This essay lingers long after reading. It combines both a rational and lyrical contemplation of ageing, appealing to the reader both rationally in its argument for changes to care centres, and also emotionally through an evocation of the transience of life. The essay achieves its end not only through evidence, but also through drawing on relevant images and poetic quotes dotted throughout the coherent argument. The student voice is particularly clear and strong, and the representation of information is highly original.
Kingsley Kuan Jun Hao for “What is Truth? Divorcing Truth From Reality” (UTC1102G: Proof: What’s Truth Got to Do With It?)
Kingsley’s essay engages with difficult-to-understand abstract philosophical theories on the nature of reality and knowledge and weaves them into a convincing argument that we should keep truth and reality separate. It is a rare student work that keeps you thinking from start to finish and is all the more impressive as the work of a first year student.
This is undoubtedly a very intellectual and sophisticated attempt to illustrate how the abstract concepts of truth and reality can be made accessible through an unpacking of the everyday phrase “ he loves her”. Dialogic in approach, the writer draws on and reconciles very different philosophers (including Aristotle to build up a case.
Ow Yong Liu Qi for “Writing in Imperial China”(UTC2108 – Technology and the Fate of Knowledge)
This is an elegantly written and well-researched paper, which considers the role of writing as technology in a very specific period. What is striking is the writer’s comfortable application of theory to build a case with very concrete examples. Furthermore, although the scope is manageable and contained in the paper’s analysis of the Han dynasty specifically, the writer considers a far wider context, by referencing Ancient Greece and contemporary sites of writing in China. As such, this paper is about far more than writing and power in one particular era, but a philosophical contemplation of an ancient, and still contemporary, dynamic – beautifully written.
Nguyen Xuan Bach for “Spatial and Temporal Differentiation in Public Reception of Art: A Reflection on Anti-Semitic Art” (UTC1102P Junior Seminar – Murals: Expressions from/on the Walls)
This paper is a thoughtful and sophisticated contemplation around the concept of stereotyping. What struck us was how Bach considered the subtle dynamic around imposed stereotyping (by the majority on the outsider), and the embracing of difference in order to survive as a minority in foreign countries (which results in the deliberate pursuit of a self-imposed “stereotyped” identity). Bach manages to juggle many ideas, namely anti-semitism, cultural context and multiple identities, while retaining focus and bringing them all together in his conclusion.
Gurveer Singh Bhandal, Lo Ern Hui, Hannah, Ong Yun Qi, Vicki, Tan Bo Rong Jordan for “30 Years of the Great Union: A Celebration of the Real Global Power” (UTC2102 Climate Change)
Grounded on impressive research and a healthy dose of imagination, this project – which takes the form of an exhibition – is an invitation to imagine a potential future caused by climate change. The attempt is to highlight the main causes at stake (such as GHG emission), multilevel consequences (on energy, food chain, migrations, ecosystems), and possible solutions (an active role played by Sino-Indian Union). The project is thus at the same time informative, thought provoking and inspiring. Through the display of future news articles, artefacts, graphics and maps, the exhibition enabled the viewer to not only imagine but viscerally experience and problematize this possible future.
Angie Chong En Qi for “Grief: A Flipbook” (UTC2101 Time and Life)
This project uses a familiar, seemingly frivolous, object – a flipbook – to speak about the temporality of grief. The student exploits the form of the flipbook – stoppable, rewindable, hastened and slowed – to invite the viewer to experience an alternative to everyday linear time. Through this medium, the project reflects on the repetitive, cyclical experience of grief. The book is symmetrical, mirroring the way in which grief can be inescapable no matter the direction in which we look at it. The project is executed with care and empathy and is accompanied by thoughtful reflections that discuss the personal experience of grief in relation to themes and readings from the module.
Tan Wee Ning for :”I’m Not a Monkey”: West Papua’s Forgotten War Remembered” (UTC2107 Negotiating in a Complex World)
Wee Ning aced this assignment in every way – the research, the writing, the execution. The case study she wrote on West Papua’s struggle for independence was rigorously researched based on the best available source materials. All relevant facts, such as the background positions of key parties, are seamlessly woven into a streamlined and engaging narrative which brilliantly prepares the reader for participation in the teaching demonstration. In the Teaching Guide, Wee Ning identifies several interesting learning outcomes, meticulously planning each phase of the demonstration so that it contributes to one of these outcomes. In addition, Wee Ning offers an exceptionally thoughtful range of teaching aids, again demonstrating a flair for bringing a complex set of facts to life.
Isabel Chin for her Time Diary (UTC2101 Time and Life – Diary)
Isabel’s work is an academic essay deftly disguised as diary entries. The first thing to note is that Isabel is clearly a gifted writer. The composition is easy to follow and commands the reader’s attention. She writes with a certain personalised flair; and to borrow the words of her instructor, Isabel’s writing style is ‘aesthetically refined’. Two samples of her journal entries were submitted. In these entries, Isabel reflected on her own personal relationship with time while relating them the themes discussed in class. She showcased clear comprehension of the readings assigned in class by masterfully weaving the academic articles into the diary while documenting her personal life.
What made this particularly special – in addition to fulfilling the scholarly aspects of the assignment – was Isabel’s detailed and honest observations as she contemplated and imagined the various events and phases of her life (past and future) in these diary entries.
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