Mr Ronnie Lai Zhen Foong

Resident Assistant Tembusu College National University of Singapore

Ronnie is a fourth year undergraduate in FASS, with a major in Geography and a minor in Urban Studies. An avid lover of nature, Ronnie has always been interested in how the environment interact with humans.

Beyond the academics, Ronnie enjoys growing organic vegetables at home, so do hit him up any time for a good vegetable “shabu-shabu” buffet. In his free time, he enjoys taking long walks in Singapore’s parks, or exploring new neighbourhoods through what he terms as “urban hikes,” other times you may see him on his rollerblades as a de-stressing activity.

In the last three years, Ronnie served as a member of the Ora House Committee 19/20, Vice-President of the 11th CSC and was also Project Director for TWW2021. His green fingers were trained further as the President for Tembusu’s Urban Farmers, taking care of the Misty Garden at Level 3. As a theatre kid (for most of his life, at least), Ronnie was also one of the IG head for Slate. He believes that his involvement in various student bodies and interest groups in Tembusu College has taught him a lot and is excited to give back and continue learning from the community.

Now, his fourth year in Tembusu College, Ronnie hopes to continue to involve himself in various activities and make friends with people around him. A self-proclaimed extroverted-introvert, Ronnie feels he can connect well with people, so please feel free to hit him up whenever you need a little chat or a cutting of his plants.

The Tembusu (Fagraea fragrans) is a large evergreen tree in the family Gentianaceae. It is native to Southeast Asia. Its trunk is dark brown, with deeply fissured bark, looking somewhat like a bittergourd. It grows in an irregular shape from 10 to 25m high. Its leaves are light green and oval in shape. Its yellowish flowers have a distinct fragrance and the fruits of the tree are bitter tasting red berries, which are eaten by birds and fruit bats.