Engaging the World

Our Rector, Professor Tommy Koh, declared early in the college’s history that he intended to “Bring the world to Tembusu, and bring Tembusu to the world.” Tembusu has since become a college with a global reputation, and one that aspires to make its members – whether local or foreign – feel part of a global community. That means, among other things, acting and productively cooperating with those different than ourselves. Each year we take in a cohort of foreign exchange students from a wide variety of countries, and likewise encourage our Singaporean students to spend time abroad, either though university programs or special opportunities we have created as a college. Our fellows also span the globe in their national origin and life-time experiences. And of course having Singapore’s Ambassador-at-Large as our Rector means that diplomats and figures of international reputation are regular visitors to the college.