Warwick votes against Singapore campus

Mr Soh SG

http://news.ft.com/cms/s/39f13dfc-3c9b-11da-83c8-00000e2511c8.html

Warwick lecturers vote against Singapore campus
By John Burton in Singapore
Published: October 14 2005 11:57 | Last updated: October 14 2005 11:57

Senior lecturers at Warwick University in the UK have voted against setting up a branch campus in Singapore due to worries about limits on academic freedom, dealing a possible setback to the city-state's ambitions to become a regional hub for higher education.

Singapore requires international educational institutions operating in the city-state to agree not to conduct activities seen as interference in domestic affairs.

The lopsided 27-13 “no” vote by Warwick's senate this week is believed to be the first time a foreign university has rejected the conditions set by Singapore. Although the vote is non-binding, it is likely to put pressure on the university council to abandon the Singapore plan when it makes a final decision on October 18.

Warwick and Australia's University of New South Wales are the only two foreign universities selected by Singapore's Economic Development Board to set up a full-scale campus.

The city-state has succeeded in attracting smaller schools operated by several top institutions, including Insead and the University of Chicago Graduate Business School, in an effort to triple the number of university students to 150,000 in the next decade.

The Warwick vote came as the outgoing US ambassador to Singapore warned in a farewell speech that Singapore's limits on expression might cause the government to “pay an increasing price for not allowing full participation of its citizens”.

Faculty and students at Warwick have questioned the costs of the nearly £300m ($525m) project and the university's ability to attract quality students and staff to the Singapore campus. But much of the criticism has focused on limits on academic freedom and civil liberties, including curbs on gay rights and high execution rates for criminals.

Warwick recently sent a letter to EDB asking that its students in Singapore be exempt from strict laws limiting freedom of assembly, speech and the press, and the removal of bans on homosexuality and certain religious practices on campus.

It also sought guarantees that staff and students would not be punished by the Singapore government for making academic-related comments that might be seen “as being outside the boundaries of political debate”. EDB said it would not comment.

The demand that the Singapore campus enjoy the same degree of academic freedom as in the UK came in response to an advisory report by Thio Li-ann, a law professor at the National University of Singapore, which said freedom of “speech is permissible as long as it does not threaten real political change or to alter the status quo”.

She warned that “the government will intervene if academic reports cast a negative light on their policies” but said the presence of Warwick in Singapore could “serve as an impetus for continued liberalisation”.

no_1_idiot SG

Top local student wan go nus ,ntu and smu wad,,,.Ha only e crap ppl will go their Uni wad ..Dats why.dey dont wan lously student. Laughing

Mr Soh SG

the issue is not top uni.
the issue is if sg wans to become a edu hub, it meed to attract unis around the world to set up shop here.....if warwick does not want.....what of MIT, Oxford ect?

Fatum SG

well … warwick is not some sungei road uni …....

alexkusu SG

oh.. i thought it was my writing pad company

no_1_idiot SG

Ya. Very Happy But will e top students come,,please get real..Most likely top american and european students will call u go fly kite if u invite dem here.Look at ntu nus and smu ,mostly a lot of china students lorh(gd example).And if those chinese student can go top uni in us or europe ,u think dey will come here.. Surprised This education hub thingy is to make money only lorh.PLease..

Mr Soh SG

because ang moh don like opressed societies like us

Salman SG

Alamak, Warwick is a nonsence university lah. Don't make me laugh man.

What academic freedom are they talking about? I know very well what they mean by academic freedom in western countries. The academics want to indoctrinate you with their liberal views instead of teaching you the subject. I've seen it all in the west and its hypocritical to the core. We Singaporeans don't need all that westerners crap.

rascallyun SG

Knowing how to write is rather different from know what to write. Wink What do you mean by liberal? Is liberial ideals neccessarily bad? Is it an evil? Sometimes its good for the individual.

vito_corleone SG

which university are you from, may i ask? Laughing

LazerLordz SG

Rather a liberal university than one that tells you what's good for you.Anyone who does the latter can very well call himself a HYPOCRITE.

NuLife SG

They are only taking the chance take advantage of Sg government
weakness and showoff abit of their liberty.

I grad from UK. I tot warwick is jus an avg uni there only?!?
Dun think they can attract top students also. haa.
(err...any warwick grads ard???)

But then again, their comments are good too.
At least one more criticism of sg government from foriegn voice.
This will help make them listen up sooner.
(except the gay part, think their lecturers must be gay...ha... jus joking)

But still, the comments make them look abit foolish.
Demanding ridiculous things. Only a university,
they think they can run their own legal system anyway they like here. haa.
Think they are only trying the chance to poke fun and
disgrace sg government only.

But still again, more such comments welcome.
Mr. Green

sgdiehard SG

Any Warwick graduates here? can tell us what is Warwick good at? engineering, business, IT, or in some humanity subjects, or what?

My boss was from University of Chicago and through him I came to know of the big and strong network among the top american business graduates, who are expats working in singapore and many are graduates from the University of Chicago Graduate Business School (UCBC). The success of the UCBC in singapore is greatly enhanced because of its connection with the local business community. This benefits the graduates from the singapore campus a lot.

Insead is one of the most prestigeous european business school with campus in Philidelphia and Singapore. Certainly Insead give singapore students a choice to study European managment and the international network of insead graduates is certainly a great plus.

So what is warwick, even among the brits, are they anything comparable to cambridge or oxford, or u of london?? or just another UK university? Time for warwick graduates here to speak out! Mr. Green

I find the demand by Warwick rather amusing, " its students in Singapore be exempt from strict laws limiting freedom of assembly, speech and the press, and the removal of bans on homosexuality and certain religious practices on campus. " Exactly what kind of education do they intend to bring for the benefits of singapore? The word "Liberal" alone is too broad a term to justify anything here, given the diversities in races, religions and the Asian cultures, confined within a physically very small Singapore.

Unless they have anything special to offer, I certainly do not want a bunch of foreign idiots here in singapore thinking they are more superior than average singaporean (morally they are certainly not, IMO), and they will come as "FT", wont they?

I won't loose my sleep because of warwick.

I wonder why EDB invite warwick. In cantonese I call this "chot chong yap si fat", meaning "sticking a worm into your own anus", looking for
trouble. Very Happy

macjoe SG

Whether it'll be warwick, oxford, standford, etc, it can't beat the "real" thing where it came from.

In chinese, it's called "mao4 pai2 huo4".

Rolling Eyes

iveco SG

Anyone who has been to a foreign university will certainly have noticed how politically-motivated and environmentally-aware the student unions are. Now that is what I call active citizenry. They dare to stand up and make the difference, even if that means going against the regime.

vito_corleone SG

no answer from salman.... Laughing

Salman SG

Yes sir, NUS grad. Locally made. Why?

Where are you from? which university?

sgdiehard SG

No disagreement with that. Anybody who has lived overseas for a period of time will be different from those who have not stepped out of the country. And those who graduate from UK will be different from those from US and Australia, academic achievements aside.

The problem is when you see many overseas grads speaking out only when they are out of singapore, but their focus turns to making money when they leave universities and come home.

Besides, not all who speak out against the government here are from overseas universities.

It is the local environment that is not condusive to speaking out, especially on political, racial and religious issues. The responsibilities for what you speak is greater and the price is higher. Want to fight the system then be more careful with what they say and be prepared to pay higher price. To ask for a protection or guanrantee on "free political will" from the singapore government
is naive and stupid, like the chinese says, "yu hu mou pi", asking the tiger for his skin. Mr. Green

If the university is protected by some agreements from the government, then what they do is not relevant to the local context, for the locals do not have the same kind of protection. We don't need people from the ivory tower. Those born out of the super clean room cannot survive even a flu virus in a normal environment.

A good university produces graduates who know how to practise they knowledge anywhere in the world. Imagine if a MIT grad demand the PRC governemt to provide protection or he would not be able to use his knowledge.

Outside of the university campus is the real world!

vito_corleone SG

nus still say warwick lousy, both are in the same league. Laughing 2nd tier trying to be world class..sigh...

sgdiehard SG

warwick and NUS no comparison!! warwick rank 203 to 300 in the world (together with 98 other universities ranking the same at 203 in the world). NUS rank 101 to 152 in the world.

warwick rank 20 to 30 among the universities in Britain; of course NUS rank no.1 in Singapore.

warwick rank 80 to 123 among European universities, NUS rank 9-19 among the Asian Pacific universities.

Not all first tier, but NUS is in 2nd tier and warwick in 3 tier!!

Still don't know why EDB wants warwick to set up here.