April 09, 2008

NUS Hostel Problem

Bing De said:

There was a strong feeling of wanting to remove Singaporean students from the hostels, to accomodate all the IS. Yes, IS are poor things, far from the comfort of their families. However, we locals are already suffering so much to accomodate you guys!

2-year protection. Tuition grant for everyone. Fully-paid scholarship with no bond (funded by our income tax, GST and ERP), just work in Singapore for 3 years. Less hostel rooms for locals. NOT TO MENTION, THE NEGATIVE EXTERNALITIES WHEN U TALK AROUND LOUDLY AND DIRTY OUR HOSTELS' TOILETS WITH YOUR THIRD-WORLD HYGIENE HABITS.

Singapore is already becoming a place by the foreigners, of the foreigners, and for the foreigners. What else you want? First, chase us out of OUR hostel to let YOU stay. Second, speak in your accent so you can understand us? Third, clean our toilets so YOU can dirty them?

Recommended by Anonymous Coward: "do all singaporeans think this way? "

Link

Submitted by Anonymous Coward on April 06//3:14pm and published by jseng, tinkertailor :: 12585 reads | trackback (1)
Comments 51

I wish to join my daughter in nus when i visited singapore in the last year. when i read the hostel problems in nus sp. i started to join my daughter in chennai itself. here there is no ragging and teasing in tamilnadu india. sp. govt. gives good opportunity to talents in sp. and they expected tobring morality people to singapore as citizens . Any one tamil girl student who is studying in nus give coments to me about this nus hostel problems. will she give me assurance for the safety to the girls studying in nus sp. this will help most of the innocent student who are coming to singapore for their future studies expecting good and actual position of the students by the voice of tamil and malayalam students as early to join my daughter in nus s.Ravi. chennai india

Posted by Anonymous Coward* on 30 May, 2009 - 10:05pm

An well educated international student/talent can repay watever offers given by the singapore goverment and TAX given by ur parents after 3 years working for singapore registered company, and most likely more than that. You are assuming the singapore goverment leaders are idiots. Why do u think the singapore goverment gives so much intensives to IS? Did u ever think before? IF u understand english u would know PM Lee has told u IS and foreign talents can contribute to singapore, thats why we are nurtering them now. The singapore goverment has done many things for u.. u got almost free education till UNI.. SO, I HOPE u can contribute more to singapore than some "THIRD WORLD CITIZEN" u have mentioned. MIND ur words

Posted by Anonymous Coward* on 16 May, 2009 - 8:59pm

This blogger is completely insane. First of all, the phrase ''THIRD-WORLD HYGIENE HABITS'', whats up with that. It is not a foreigner's fault he or she had been brought up differently from ours. anyway, i think a lot of singaporean students are spoiled, stucked up brats. students from overseas at least work hard to achieve their goals. i don't see much singaporean students doing that. All they do is to smoke, have sex and join gangs. thankfully not all of them are like that

coo cool cooll .................good man!......


err... i like to comprang ah!
why hostel room so many windows ah?
people see me fwapping then call office and comprang ah!
i cannot help it ok?
i like to fwap.
it feel good.
prease make hostel affordable for local ok?

fwapa! fwapa! fwapa! fwapa! fwapa! fwapa! fwapa! fwapa! fwapa! fwapa! fwapa! fwapa! fwapa! fwapa! fwapa! fwapa! fwapa! fwapa! fwapa! fwapa! fwapa! fwapa! fwapa! fwapa!

err... i like to comprang ah!
why hostel room so many windows ah?
people see me fwapping then call office and comprang ah!
i cannot help it ok?
i like to fwap.
it feel good.
prease make hostel affordable for local ok?

fwapa! fwapa! fwapa! fwapa! fwapa! fwapa! fwapa! fwapa! fwapa! fwapa! fwapa! fwapa! fwapa! fwapa! fwapa! fwapa! fwapa! fwapa! fwapa! fwapa! fwapa! fwapa! fwapa! fwapa!

err... i like to comprang ah!
why hostel room so many windows ah?
people see me fwapping then call office and comprang ah!
i cannot help it ok?
i like to fwap.
it feel good.
prease make hostel affordable for local ok?

fwapa! fwapa! fwapa! fwapa! fwapa! fwapa! fwapa! fwapa! fwapa! fwapa! fwapa! fwapa! fwapa! fwapa! fwapa! fwapa! fwapa! fwapa! fwapa! fwapa! fwapa! fwapa! fwapa! fwapa!

err... i like to comprang ah!
why hostel room so many windows ah?
people see me fwapping then call office and comprang ah!
i cannot help it ok?
i like to fwap.
it feel good.
prease make hostel affordable for local ok?

fwapa! fwapa! fwapa! fwapa! fwapa! fwapa! fwapa! fwapa! fwapa! fwapa! fwapa! fwapa! fwapa! fwapa! fwapa! fwapa! fwapa! fwapa! fwapa! fwapa! fwapa! fwapa! fwapa! fwapa!

err... i like to comprang ah!
why hostel room so many windows ah?
people see me fwapping then call office and comprang ah!
i cannot help it ok?
i like to fwap.
it feel good.
prease make hostel affordable for local ok?

fwapa! fwapa! fwapa! fwapa! fwapa! fwapa! fwapa! fwapa! fwapa! fwapa! fwapa! fwapa! fwapa! fwapa! fwapa! fwapa! fwapa! fwapa! fwapa! fwapa! fwapa! fwapa! fwapa! fwapa!

err... i like to comprang ah!
why hostel room so many windows ah?
people see me fwapping then call office and comprang ah!
i cannot help it ok?
i like to fwap.
it feel good.
prease make hostel affordable for local ok?

fwapa! fwapa! fwapa! fwapa! fwapa! fwapa! fwapa! fwapa! fwapa! fwapa! fwapa! fwapa! fwapa! fwapa! fwapa! fwapa! fwapa! fwapa! fwapa! fwapa! fwapa! fwapa! fwapa! fwapa!

err... i like to comprang ah!
why hostel room so many windows ah?
people see me fwapping then call office and comprang ah!
i cannot help it ok?
i like to fwap.
it feel good.
prease make hostel affordable for local ok?

fwapa! fwapa! fwapa! fwapa! fwapa! fwapa! fwapa! fwapa! fwapa! fwapa! fwapa! fwapa! fwapa! fwapa! fwapa! fwapa! fwapa! fwapa! fwapa! fwapa! fwapa! fwapa! fwapa! fwapa!

err... i like to comprang ah!
why hostel room so many windows ah?
people see me fwapping then call office and comprang ah!
i cannot help it ok?
i like to fwap.
it feel good.
prease make hostel affordable for local ok?

fwapa! fwapa! fwapa! fwapa! fwapa! fwapa! fwapa! fwapa! fwapa! fwapa! fwapa! fwapa! fwapa! fwapa! fwapa! fwapa! fwapa! fwapa! fwapa! fwapa! fwapa! fwapa! fwapa! fwapa!

err... i like to comprang ah!
why hostel room so many windows ah?
people see me fwapping then call office and comprang ah!
i cannot help it ok?
i like to fwap.
it feel good.
prease make hostel affordable for local ok?

fwapa! fwapa! fwapa! fwapa! fwapa! fwapa! fwapa! fwapa! fwapa! fwapa! fwapa! fwapa! fwapa! fwapa! fwapa! fwapa! fwapa! fwapa! fwapa! fwapa! fwapa! fwapa! fwapa! fwapa!
err... i like to comprang ah!
why hostel room so many windows ah?
people see me fwapping then call office and comprang ah!
i cannot help it ok?
i like to fwap.
it feel good.
prease make hostel affordable for local ok?

fwapa! fwapa! fwapa! fwapa! fwapa! fwapa! fwapa! fwapa! fwapa! fwapa! fwapa! fwapa! fwapa! fwapa! fwapa! fwapa! fwapa! fwapa! fwapa! fwapa! fwapa! fwapa! fwapa! fwapa!
err... i like to comprang ah!
why hostel room so many windows ah?
people see me fwapping then call office and comprang ah!
i cannot help it ok?
i like to fwap.
it feel good.
prease make hostel affordable for local ok?

fwapa! fwapa! fwapa! fwapa! fwapa! fwapa! fwapa! fwapa! fwapa! fwapa! fwapa! fwapa! fwapa! fwapa! fwapa! fwapa! fwapa! fwapa! fwapa! fwapa! fwapa! fwapa! fwapa! fwapa!

err... i like to comprang ah!
why hostel room so many windows ah?
people see me fwapping then call office and comprang ah!
i cannot help it ok?
i like to fwap.
it feel good.
prease make hostel affordable for local ok?

fwapa! fwapa! fwapa! fwapa! fwapa! fwapa! fwapa! fwapa! fwapa! fwapa! fwapa! fwapa! fwapa! fwapa! fwapa! fwapa! fwapa! fwapa! fwapa! fwapa! fwapa! fwapa! fwapa! fwapa!

err... i like to comprang ah!
why hostel room so many windows ah?
people see me fwapping then call office and comprang ah!
i cannot help it ok?
i like to fwap.
it feel good.
prease make hostel affordable for local ok?

fwapa! fwapa! fwapa! fwapa! fwapa! fwapa! fwapa! fwapa! fwapa! fwapa! fwapa! fwapa! fwapa! fwapa! fwapa! fwapa! fwapa! fwapa! fwapa! fwapa! fwapa! fwapa! fwapa! fwapa!

Sure, I scored 4 As and got two S papers too. And I worked for the two years in JC. I own two businesses but I didn't go overseas for studies or take a scholarship due to the fact that I'm patriotic. Also, I want to expand my businesses.

And all of the above was totally and completely fake. But I can inflate my accomplishments since I'm an Anonymous Coward, like you. Get my point?

By the way, I wasn't the one to whom you responded to. I'm just a busybody. This part is true.

Sure, I scored 4 As and got two S papers too. And I worked for the two years in JC. I own two businesses but I didn't go overseas for studies or take a scholarship due to the fact that I'm patriotic. Also, I want to expand my businesses.

And all of the above was totally and completely fake. But I can inflate my accomplishments since I'm an Anonymous Coward, like you. Get my point?

By the way, I wasn't the one to whom you responded to. I'm just a busybody. This part is true.

Sure, I scored 4 As and got two S papers too. And I worked for the two years in JC. I own two businesses but I didn't go overseas for studies or take a scholarship due to the fact that I'm patriotic. Also, I want to expand my businesses.

And all of the above was totally and completely fake. But I can inflate my accomplishments since I'm an Anonymous Coward, like you. Get my point?

By the way, I wasn't the one to whom you responded to. I'm just a busybody. This part is true.

Sure, I scored 4 As and got two S papers too. And I worked for the two years in JC. I own two businesses but I didn't go overseas for studies or take a scholarship due to the fact that I'm patriotic. Also, I want to expand my businesses.

And all of the above was totally and completely fake. But I can inflate my accomplishments since I'm an Anonymous Coward, like you. Get my point?

By the way, I wasn't the one to whom you responded to. I'm just a busybody. This part is true.

Sure, I scored 4 As and got two S papers too. And I worked for the two years in JC. I own two businesses but I didn't go overseas for studies or take a scholarship due to the fact that I'm patriotic. Also, I want to expand my businesses.

And all of the above was totally and completely fake. But I can inflate my accomplishments since I'm an Anonymous Coward, like you. Get my point?

By the way, I wasn't the one to whom you responded to. I'm just a busybody. This part is true.


"You know, with real expression, and a real life." Define real expression, define real life. You implying Singapore got none of that? Who are you to judge? You don't even have 2 experience to compare. The "real life" argument is the lamest stupidest crap I've consistently hear.


"You know, with real expression, and a real life." Define real expression, define real life. You implying Singapore got none of that? Who are you to judge? You don't even have 2 experience to compare. The "real life" argument is the lamest stupidest crap I've consistently hear.

"You know, with real expression, and a real life." Define real expression, define real life. You implying Singapore got none of that? Who are you to judge? You don't even have 2 experience to compare. The "real life" argument is the lamest stupidest crap I've consistently hear.


"You know, with real expression, and a real life." Define real expression, define real life. You implying Singapore got none of that? Who are you to judge? You don't even have 2 experience to compare. The "real life" argument is the lamest stupidest crap I've consistently hear.


"You know, with real expression, and a real life." Define real expression, define real life. You implying Singapore got none of that? Who are you to judge? You don't even have 2 experience to compare. The "real life" argument is the lamest stupidest crap I've consistently hear.

We study hard for a place in a local university just to see a huge number of places being reserved for foreigners. This is unlike some who does not have to study just as hard and have his parents pay astronomical fees for an education in Melbourne.

The person who does not encounter the difficulties faced by local students in local universities is the one making most noise about it. If you have the grades, then study in a local university. Then again, I wonder why he didn't attend local university? Standards too low? It's not like Melbourne is any better. Then again, I didn't know that logical arguments really become more convincing with the use of expletives.

That really proves the point that empty vessels make the most noise. Mr Holier-than-thou can migrate to Melbourne for all we care. Most of us Singaporeans will be seeing you there anyway, so there's no escape from the evil demons you make of your own kind.

Posted by Local Student* on 13 April, 2008 - 10:20pm

Sigh. How wrong you are.

Here in Melbourne, Australian students are consistently losing their places to foreigners. Sound familiar?

Paying for my own fees btw. Working two jobs as well as studying.

I scored two As and a B in my A Levels, just fyi. I came to Melbourne because I wanted a real university experience. You know, with real expression, and a real life.

And if you're going to have a problem with me just because I swear, and not read my actual arguments, then in the words of a great Singaporean philosopher, fuck your couch.

Go back and re-read what I said before chucking me on the pile with the worthless overindulged morons who shame our country and don't know how easy they have it.

Posted by Anonymous Coward* on 14 April, 2008 - 10:13am

"You know, with real expression, and a real life." Define real expression, define real life. You implying Singapore got none of that? Who are you to judge? You don't even have 2 experience to compare. The "real life" argument is the lamest stupidest crap I've consistently hear.

Posted by Anonymous Coward* on 16 April, 2008 - 9:45am

Sure, I scored 4 As and got two S papers too. And I worked for the two years in JC. I own two businesses but I didn't go overseas for studies or take a scholarship due to the fact that I'm patriotic. Also, I want to expand my businesses.

And all of the above was totally and completely fake. But I can inflate my accomplishments since I'm an Anonymous Coward, like you. Get my point?

By the way, I wasn't the one to whom you responded to. I'm just a busybody. This part is true.

Posted by Anonymous Coward*** on 15 April, 2008 - 4:57am

err... i like to comprang ah!
why hostel room so many windows ah?
people see me fwapping then call office and comprang ah!
i cannot help it ok?
i like to fwap.
it feel good.
prease make hostel affordable for local ok?

fwapa! fwapa! fwapa! fwapa! fwapa! fwapa! fwapa! fwapa! fwapa! fwapa! fwapa! fwapa! fwapa! fwapa! fwapa! fwapa! fwapa! fwapa! fwapa! fwapa! fwapa! fwapa! fwapa! fwapa!

An "anonymous coward" calling people cowards.
oh, the irony.

Posted by b0b* on 12 April, 2008 - 6:43pm

Nothing disgust me than everytime i visit this page, over and over i am attacked by the same message: "singaporeans hate foreigners". whether "the international student who take all that belong to singaporeans" or "foreign talents steal our girls"... different complains, same nature. Shame!

As for this particular topic: you live in a country that takes only half an hour to drive from one end to another. And you even need to live on-campus???? All this xenophobic, foreigner trashing just so you can please your non-essential?

Get out of yourself!

Posted by Anonymous Coward* on 12 April, 2008 - 9:52am

No worries, "nothing disgust me than" reading your message.

Posted by Anonymous Coward*** on 12 April, 2008 - 10:11am

I thought it summed things up quite nicely actually, despite the rough English. The guy's got a point.

Time and time again a niggling issue with foreigners brings out a disgusting amount of xenophobia from tomorrow.sg users. What worries me about that is how many Singaporeans are harbouring these repressed feelings towards the very foreigners they smile and wave at every day?

I'd much rather you shout at foreigners on the street and actually deal with the confrontation than hide behind a computer and cowardly diss people under the safety of anonymity and knowing you won't ever have to deal with a rebuttal. Or a fist to the face.

That's what I can't stand, more than anything - it's the cowardice.

Posted by Anonymous Coward* on 12 April, 2008 - 3:42pm


As a wise man once said, "Just Suck Thumb, Lor!"

Welcome to the Real World. Gone are the days when being Singaporean meant you had a place at NUS et al. Unless you are good enough for a scholarship, it becomes a 'lucky draw'.

If you happen to have applied for a place where there was limited demand, you will get it - and a path of mediocrity awaits you my friend, where you live to pay your debts and you incur debts because you crave entertainment to overcome the stress of working in Singapore.

If it's a good course, then there will be all those 'eager-beavers' from the entire South-East Asia vying for the places. Chances are, most will go to these 'underprivileged' applicants simply because, upon graduation, they will work harder, be content with a lower starting pay, and certainly whine less than any Singaporean.

As ketsugi hits the nail on the head - we ARE second-class citizens so don't let the door hit your arse on the way out guys...

Speaking of whining and being spoiled...

Being Singaporean never meant that you 'had a place at NUS'. I mean really? Is there a seat waiting for you no matter what? So exams are a formality, is that what you mean? Local unis are finally becoming competitive enough to draw an international student pool. That means more prestige for graduates, because the name is recognized and sought after in more places. For the less bright ones reading this, that's a GOOD thing.

If you have what it takes, this wouldn't faze you one bit. If you're not willing to earn your place, however, of course you'll be up in arms about people stealing 'your' (hehe) entitled spot. In this world, it's sink or swim, buddy. If you want everything handed to you on a silver platter, then don't complain about becoming mediocre and 'second-class'.

Posted by robot chick* on 12 April, 2008 - 11:21pm

That's carrying it a little too far. Only a foreigner who comes to Singapore to study will find a need to get a prestigious degree, because his degree will have to be measured up against the degrees of his home town, should he choose to return home to work.

conversely, if jobs in Singapore which needed degrees were filled exclusively by Singaporeans who had studied in Singapore, there might not even be a need for Singaporeans to find overseas unis. hypothetically.

this poses problems of course.

Posted by b0b* on 12 April, 2008 - 11:39pm

Sometimes, we're simply spoilt.

And that applies for both parties. We Singaporeans do not demand guaranteed housing on campus when we study abroad, and do our due diligence in securing accomodation off-campus first and foremost.

So pray tell, if an international student doesn't do his/her math and realise he can't afford off-campus housing for the 4 years of education, why should he/she be given another stab at the pie?

Lack of proper planning and fiscal analysis, that's what. You don't study abroad and hedge your funds based on the lowest cost outlay, and hope everything goes well. It's this entitlement mentality that's really irksome. If there's anything provincial, it's the attitude of a portion of international students at the moment.

Oh yes, and for goodness sake, is it that great to stay in hostel for four years? It's almost a compulsion, looking at some of my friends..Bedok is not that far. Perhaps there's just a lack of time discipline and an unlucky path littered with 8am tutorials aye?

So, yes. Both parties have to share the blame of overexpectation.

Secondly,

i'm not very surprised at the author's provincial outlook. Afterall, he apparently only did well enough to get into NUS/NTU.

Posted by Anonymous Coward* on 10 April, 2008 - 5:18pm

huh wat the fish? so from overseas uni is atas isit? damn wat am i doin here dennn??

What "fish"?
What "atas"?
It's "then," not 'damn."
It's "what" not "wat."
So stupid. I think you failed to even enter ITE.

It is not always a good idea to keep the lid over a boiling pot
-
`She shared the boxers' loathing of the foreigners in china and was astute enough to realise 2 things: first, the boxers could help her sweep the hated interlopers out of china, and second, their genuine social and economic grievances had to be harnessed or they might be turned against her and the manchu dynasty. It proved her greatest mistake`

Trackback from Small Corner of Mine:

really speechless... hopeless already~ next semester have to camp in front of OSA....

We're second-class citizens abroad, and we're second-class citizens at home.

Nothing to see here, move along.

agree completely! priority should be given to local students first. foreigners who complain about this and that - just go to university in your OWN country. these foreigners had a choice, they didn't have to come to Singapore, so there. if you made the decision to move abroad to study, you should jolly well be prepared to take on the task of finding your own accommodation and not expect to be babied around. this influx of foreigners is really making locals feel like we're being pushed out. competition isn't always bad, but these foreigners should just suck it up and behave appropriately instead of making a fuss and causing so much unhappiness. with this kind of behavior, there will always be a clear segregation between both camps.

Posted by Anonymous Coward* on 10 April, 2008 - 9:52am

Local students, by the way, get plenty of perks that foreign students don't. The ability to work, for a start. And I'm pretty sure your fees are subsidised. Or is that not good enough?

Posted by Anonymous Coward* on 11 April, 2008 - 6:16am

"Local students, by the way, get plenty of perks that foreign students don't."
-what perks?

" The ability to work, for a start."
-erm.. foreign students have no ability to work? no wonder they need all the HELP they need.

"And I'm pretty sure your fees are subsidised. Or is that not good enough?"
-all students, local or international, have their fees subsidised at the same rate for the longest time. the different rates will only set in next academic year. for international student to get the subsidy, they are only bonded to work in singapore for a couple of years, at any company they wish to work in. it can even be an outpost job in their home nation as long as their work contract is listed in singapore terms. but then again, most of the international students don't even have to pay school fees as they have the cover-all scholarship from singapore. free hostel, $500 allowance every month, additional textbook allowance. so effectively, we are paying for them to study in singapore with all the additional perks. a lot of singaporean students don't even get $300 allowance a month.

anyone can tell me which other countries apart from singapore gives scholarships to students who are not even citizens or permanent residents of their country?

the original article was not presented in its whole and the offending part was cut and pasted to made singaporeans look bad. the student rebutted as he was offended by the actions of the IS in the forum. for those who think singapore can be travelled from one end to another in half hour obviously haven tried travelling via public transport. most uni students who live in the east takes about 2 h to get to nus or ntu. return trip will take 4 h.

Posted by haiz..* on 12 April, 2008 - 12:56pm

Don't you know that your country have been using this tactics to attract new proffesional workforce? If every locals are smart enuf they dun even need to do so...Do you know how many benefits SG have got in China(projects,contracts,and lots of contract) for just letting PRC student come to sg to study?And Sg is in the forefront of globalization and you guys are trying to lock your tiny little island?

Posted by I.S* on 28 June, 2009 - 10:10pm

"-erm.. foreign students have no ability to work? no wonder they need all the HELP they need."

No, they don't. A student pass has a specific condition clearly stating the holder cannot engage in employment, paid or unpaid.

"anyone can tell me which other countries apart from singapore gives scholarships to students who are not even citizens or permanent residents of their country?"

hahahaha. Every fucking modern nation has international student scholarships.

"most uni students who live in the east takes about 2 h to get to nus or ntu. return trip will take 4 h."

Two hours? FOUR HOURS? Walking is it?

"most of the international students don't even have to pay school fees as they have the cover-all scholarship from singapore."

Where's your statistics? MOST international students? Back that shit up or gtfo.

Posted by Anonymous Coward* on 12 April, 2008 - 2:21pm

Try to search for international scholarships, grants and fellowships at freetoapply.com. There are many to sort through.

"No, they don't. A student pass has a specific condition clearly stating the holder cannot engage in employment, paid or unpaid. "

I have seen many ISs with student pass working in resturants and hotels as waiter/waitresses. i doubt ur stated condition is valid unless you want to tell me that hotels are hiring illegally.
Anyway the previous post refers to finding work after graduation. Whereas you are refering to working while studying. Different context.
I am sure many IS can work "legally" after graduation right?

Posted by Anonymous Coward* on 24 April, 2008 - 5:49pm

actually, i think, for jobs that are paid on adhoc basis(waitering jobs), fnb outlets are able to get around the restriction.

if you eat at a chinese restaurant, you'll see many chinese students who're moonlighting as waiters. you can ask them.

but ya, the rule is there. it's supposed to prevent the student pass status from being abused as a free ticket into singapore.

Posted by b0b* on 24 April, 2008 - 11:11pm

"Two hours? FOUR HOURS? Walking is it?"

Obviously you haven't had this happen to you.

Bus ride + waiting time to get to Pasir Ris/Tampines/Bedok MRT Station via feeder service: ~1/2hr on lousy days

Train ride to Boon Lay: 1 hr (not counting 7 minutes or more waiting time if off-peak)

Bus ride + waiting time from Boon Lay Interchange to NTU campus: ~1/2hr on lousy days.

Doesn't include walking around from MRT station to bus interchange, or from bus stop to classroom...

Those who brush it off by merely saying "It's all a matter of waking up earlier" fail to realise just how much those 4 hours mean to many students who live in the east.

2 hours travel time is what I used to do as a teenager to get to school. Actually it is closer to 3hrs, one way, and I have to wake up at 5am to make it on time.

Once, I complained to my dad. He told me he have to *walk* to school 3 hours, one way, from his village and if I dont like it, I can quit school. Even today, traveling 2 hours to get to school is pretty normal overseas, be it Beijing or Tokyo. My dad called it "character building".

You get no sympathy because you have to travel 2 hours in Singapore. If you can't even take it while schooling, then you are probably the kind who turn down a job "because the office is in jurong and i live in east coast".

I'll take that proposal to all the foreign students here in Melbourne, shall I?

You're a fucking moron and all. Don't you think paying HIGHER INTERNATIONAL FEES brings a responsibility on the University to provide accomodation assistance?

Go to university in your own country, jesus christ. The xenophobia that non-issues like this brings out in my fellow Singaporeans is scary.

Posted by Anonymous Coward* on 11 April, 2008 - 6:14am

hmmm. maybe you ought to better your understanding before such a rebuttal. foreign students do not pay higher international fees here. they have the option to take up the govt grant as per local students. the situation here is completely different from that in melbourne where internationals are full-fee paying students (and still do not get as many perks and benefits as international students are getting in singapore). i dont see any xenophobia issues here as it is a fact, if you were a foreign student who CHOSE to come to study in singapore, you are in no position to expect preferential accomodation assistance. if you want to come, so be it, no issues there. but if you chose to come, not take up responsibility for your own affairs, and then complain about everything, then maybe you'll be better off living in the comfort of your own home.

Posted by Anonymous Coward* on 13 April, 2008 - 7:11pm

Other than the xenophobic tendency of the original post, I believe there is a point to be made in the post. Why is NUS treating the IS better than local students? There should be no bias against where one comes from, and even if there is, it should be in favor of the locals. Universities in US make a distinction between the tuition fees of in-state students (cheaper) as compare to out-of-state students, and it is simply logical and in no way an aggressive protectionist policy. NUS is giving out "2-year protection. Tuition grant for everyone. Fully-paid scholarship with no bond" - a hell lot of money; and in some faculties, you'll be surprised how pampered they are when NUS throws in free accommodation and stipends. NUS/NTU might not sound as attractive as other big schools, but come on, will there be a better deal than what's offered to them now? On the other hand how many Singaporeans are offered this same amount of benefits?
Look, I'm not advocating malice or hatred against the IS. I'm just saying NUS should spend more of their money on Singaporeans that will contribute to society and truly make a difference, and this is in no way unreasonable to anybody. NUS - be Nice to US.

Posted by Charlie* on 10 April, 2008 - 9:28am

Mice do not work for crumbs, but its the chef who decides where the crumbs fall
-
`Do you want three meals in a hawker centre, food court or restaurant?`

I think the matter at hand is do all foreigners think THAT way. I don't think its very nice to bitch about your host country, if its so bad here, why come all the way here. Its equal opportunity. It's the same for us Singaporeans going abroad.

When Singaporeans stop behaving just as bad as this, if not worse, abroad, then I'll start listening to this poor little fucker.

But as long as they swagger around universities abroad, complaining loudly about the country that has allowed them in to study, and pissing off every single local they find, then this moron can go and fuck himself.

And any fears about the influx of foreign students are clearly not taking into account how unattractive NUS and NTU are to international students.

Posted by Anonymous Coward* on 10 April, 2008 - 5:33am

oh they probably say the same things about us, just not as blatantly.
google "everyone's a little bit racist" and have a good laugh.

Posted by b0b* on 10 April, 2008 - 12:39am

I find it weird that NUS OSA didn't see the problem of insufficient hostel rooms when International Students have a '2 years protection'. If there is a known number of students , i.e. the IS, who will need the rooms in 1-2 years time, surely the Office of Students Affair can plan ahead?

By planning I mean announcing to these students, both local and international, in advance (perhaps 6 months or more) that the 40 points will not be sufficient to get a room? This allows both international and local students to make further plans, e.g. cut down on the points earning effort since it's no longer useful, or start looking for alternatives?

If no advance warning is given, then the bad planning by OSA has resulted in the unpleasantness among the students. Quite sad. Having international students is partly to add to the vibrancy of local tertiary education, expose local students to a wider outlook, and foster better relations with future leaders (current students) of other countries. If bad planning by NUS caused such bad blood, then what is the point of having IS in NUS?

now the ratio of foreigner to singapore is at aaround 25:100 le.. i think 10 year down the road it would be 50:50 and we have no mroe say left

Posted by Anonymous Coward* on 10 April, 2008 - 12:18am

all i can say is, thank goodness locals in foreign universities do not think that way of IS students studying in their schools.

i guess the people commenting haven't been to an NUS hostel, or walked around NUS at night.

Posted by b0b* on 10 April, 2008 - 12:05am

its funny how singaporeans who cannot express the angst against the powers that be openly resort to attacking another group who they percieve as benefitting more than them instead. if you have a grievance, dont just rant. go to the right authorities and lodge a formal complaint. make sure you take your first-world hygiene with you as proof...

As much as I think the above statement is flamebait, I think that there are many other sections of the blogger's post which are more clear-headed and reasonable, and it is those parts which are more worthy of discussion, rather than just lashing out simply because he unfairly stereotyped foreigners. I think he was making these statements while keeping in mind some of the horror stories of 'ugly' hostelites we have all heard or even experienced for ourselves. So I guess it's more a case of "why should we bend over backwards to accommodate more people, when this is how so many of them already contribute to our hostel life and repay our willingness to coexist by being inconsiderate asshats and sometimes causing great inconvenience in general?"

The student housing issue is one that is a very serious issue, in particular for NUS and NTU; the location of these universities means that people who live in the North, East, and Northeast of Singapore get a really shitty deal where it comes to traveling back and forth between campus and home. Spending a total of 4 hours a day on traveling just for a 2-hour lesson is a most distasteful experience.

And while it is understandable that international students do need campus accommodation more than locals, this is a potential source of conflict that is in essence a microcosm of Singapore society at large; here too, we perceive foreigners as "competing" with us for limited resources, and infringing upon our so-called "Singaporean" way of life.

i think we should deal with the problem, not finding scapegoats and planting seeds of hatred. The problem here is that either we need more spaces on campus or less student admission every year. Period.

If there were no foreigners, the situation remained the same: local students competing for places on-campus. So why trashing the members of the crowd (and the nationality of the students) when the problem at root is "not-sufficient-capacity-planning"?

Why does the school take in more students than it can accommodate on-campus? Why not tackle with this?

Posted by Anonymous Coward* on 15 April, 2008 - 9:39am

the answer to this problem is opportunity costs. raise the price of hostel even more, till it is no longer feasible for local to stay on campus. if the price of campus acoomodation > transportation to and fro the furthest part of sg, then no local will stay on campus. but make it cheap enough so international students wouldn't complain. and dont even think about subsidizing it just for the international students while local pay full price. that will be just unfair.

Posted by Anonymous Coward* on 9 April, 2008 - 2:26pm

"if the price of campus acoomodation > transportation to and fro the furthest part of sg, then no local will stay on campus. "

the actual fact is, cost of transportation is actually LOWER than cost of campus accomodation. please do your maths. why locals want to stay on campus? so that they dun need to take 4 h each day for transportation. Many locals who live in the east who did not get hall actually have to source their own rental places near schools to save on transportation time. At a higher rent and increased inconvenience.

So why do we locals have to be so insignificant that priorities are given to foreigners and not compete on equal standing? Do you see us complaining about paying higher rents when we do not get halls based on our higher cutoff points? We are juz not happy that the IS have to think they are kings in our own nation. That they dun need to find alternative sources when they did not get a hall when there are MORE foreigners intake. Why blame us when it is due to MORE international students who are competing with your hall allocations?

Posted by haiz..* on 12 April, 2008 - 1:08pm

booooo! as much as I would like to understand the blogger's side, throwing a comment such as "third-world hygiene habits" to international students is really offending.

Posted by Anonymous Coward* on 9 April, 2008 - 2:25pm