NTU: A history through the eyes of its founding president
In the 10 years before Nanyang Technological University (NTU) came into existence in 1991, there was first Nanyang Technological Institute (NTI).
As a newly set-up university, then Prime Minister Lee Kuan Yew took a special personal interest in its development, at times even visiting the compound privately without the staff's knowledge.
“One Sunday afternoon, when he was here, he felt this area was a bit too hot. So he thought that we should have a cover, not only to make it cooler, but also useful for students' gatherings and whatnot,” said Professor Cham Tao Soon, former president of NTU.
When Mr Lee was in Paris and saw the cloud structure in La Défense, Professor Cham thought that the cloud structure was a nice cover if the university had it.
“We in fact managed to get the architect who did it and he did a rough sketch for us and did the costing which we submitted to the Ministry of Finance for funding. The reply from the ministry was that it's cheaper to give every student an umbrella and so that's the end of the cloud structure,” said Professor Cham.
In its place was a simpler structure designed by the architect of the campus, Kenzo Tange, which cost one-fifth of the cloud structure.
But that episode was the tip of the iceberg -- one of many skirmishes Professor Cham had with bureaucracy, which he revealed in detail in his book "The Making of NTU".
The Nanyang Technological Institute was set up in 1981 at the premises of the former Nanyang University, also known as “Nantah”, a Chinese university established by the Chinese community in 1955.
But as it became increasingly difficult for Nantah graduates, who were mainly Chinese-speaking, to gain employment, Nantah closed its doors in 1980 and was merged with the University of Singapore.
As president of the new university in 1981, Professor Cham also had the unenviable task of managing backlash from Nantah alumni.
"I can see they have a point because if I put myself in their shoes, I would feel equally unhappy,” he said.
“So I learnt to listen, to empathise with them and see… if I can make an accommodation... But if I can't, I have to be frank with them to say that this is not within my own powers.
“So I meet them very often… That means they know that I do not ignore them… They know that the current president is listening to them although he cannot help too much, but at least I think this is the part where future presidents of NTU would have to do that."
But the greater challenge was to quickly create a steady stream of engineers to meet Singapore's workforce needs.
The university soon gained a reputation for its practice-oriented teaching style.
NTI's earliest accolade came within four years of opening -- the Commonwealth Engineering Council named it one of the best engineering institutions in the world.
Today, NTU produces the highest number of engineering graduates in Singapore, offering a range of engineering specialisations from aerospace to maritime studies.
Professor Cham said he hopes the discipline can continue to attract top students by showing them that the engineering is not like it was in the old days when engineers “labour in the sun” or “fiddle with very dirty machinery” and showcasing “some of the very successful people who are actually engineers by training".
Professor Cham stepped down in 2002, after 22 years at the university's helm, but he remains as a special advisor to NTU's third president.
As the university grows to become a research-intensive global university, Professor Cham said he hopes it will also continue to focus on teaching.
"When we started, we wanted our degrees to be well-accepted by the industry, the businesses. So my emphasis at that time was more on undergraduate training, and to make sure that our first degree is accepted because by and large, 90 per cent of them (graduates) look for jobs,” he said.
“But of course, we're well past that phase -- now the university works towards ranking through research and I think this is a very natural development.”
“The only thing that they must not forget is teaching -- because after all, if you look back at the history of universities, the university was started 500 years ago to teach students. So that role would be still important."
~News courtesy of Channel Newsasia~
