nanyang university/nantah history
-
can someone explain to me briefly the history of nantah with relevance to the 1960s and books that i can seek reference to
-
www.ntu.edu.sg
-
To understand the history of "Nantah" or "Nanyang University", we will need to visit several reference sites available from the web.
The idea of a Chinese university in Singapore to provide higher education to the Chinese community was first mooted by Tan Lark Sye in 1953, then Chairman of the Singapore Hokkien Association. A fund was set up for this purpose, drawing donations from people of all walks of life, and with Mr Tan himself donating $5 million. The Singapore Hokkien Association donated 500 acres (2 km²) of land in the western Jurong area, which was then largely undeveloped rural land.
Nanyang University started classes on March 15 1956, offering courses in the arts, sciences and commerce. Construction of the entire campus was not completed until two years later. In 1958 the university held its official opening ceremony, officated by Mr Tan and Sir William Goode, then Governor of Singapore.
Nanyang University was merged with University of Singapore in 1980 to form the National University of Singapore (NUS), in part due to the government's desire to pool the two institutions' resources into a single, stronger entity. The merger was met with strong opposition from the university's alumni in particular, as well as the Chinese community, who consider the university a people's university due to their financial contributions, and who believe it is a bastion of Chinese education, culture, and social development. The promotion of a single educational system based on the English-medium of instruction in pre-tertiary eduation, however, severely reduced the student catchment pool of Nantah, thus hastening its demise.
With the merger, the Nanyang University grounds was taken over by a new technical institute, the Nanyang Technological Institute (NTI), in 1981. In 1991, the NTI was upgraded to university status as Singapore's second English-medium university, the Nanyang Technological University (NTU). Although technically a distinct institution from the old Nanyang University, NTU has gradually absorbed the rich heritage of the former institution, and there have been calls to rename NTU as Nanyang University to reflect this, particularly with the support of NU's alumni. The administration of NTU has long resisted this move, however, and the idea receives a lukewarm response from the almuni and current students of the new institution. Most opposition stems from concerns over confusion in the market, and the effect it may have on the goodwill NTU has cultivated over the years in the industry. Some alumni members of NU also object to the move, citing the distinction between the two institutions and the need to preserve the heritage of the old university. [1].
The NTU administration finally relented and announced the decision to rename Nanyang Technological University as Nanyang University in 2005, justifing the move based on the university's introduction of non-technology related schools and its expansion into a full multi-disciplinary university. A year before this came into effect, however, the administration backtracked and postponed the move [2].
In 2005, a Symposium titled "Paths Not Taken: Political Pluralism in Postwar Singpaore" was jointly sponsored by the Centre for Social Change Research at the Queensland Univerity of Singapore and the Asia Research Instititute at the National University of Singapore - several papers were submitted by leading researches from both universities.
From the synopsys of the papers submitted, will provide us with several snap-shots of the social-political period that led to the closure of Nantah:
2. All Quiet on Jurong Road : Nanyang University and radical vision in Singapore
- Dr Yao Souchou - Page 10 / 16
"Nantah was the first and only Chinese university in Southeast Asia and a triumph of Chinese education in Malaya and the region. In its short life, it came to shoulder considerable cultural idealism and political ambitions of the Chinese community, especially among the young students. But the way to understanding such idealism and ambitions is muddled by the labelling of Nantah as a place of 'communist-inspired radicalism' by colonialism and later the Singapore government. The chapter's attempt at de-mystification will argue two points of analysis.
First, there are recognisable traditional 'cultural forms' in the conception of Chinese education and communal support in the setting up of the university; it is these 'cultural forms' rather 'communist radicalism' that energised Nanth.
Second, the political tenor of Nantah is 'Chinese Modernity' as defined by the May Fourth Movement with powerful agendas of progressivism and anti-traditionism (especially Confucianism). In Southeast Asia, to these will be added anti-colonialism and nationalism and it can be demonstrated 'communism' is a minor player in this consternation - as it was in the May Fourth. To understand the political energy of Nantah, and the state suppression of it, we have to turn to the 'cultural influence of China' in the specific historical sense. Further it is necessary to bring the desire and ideological intentions of the colonial and post-colonial states to the center of analysis.
The sad fate of Nantah - creating as it has nostalgic memories of graduates in Singapore and overseas - has to be examined within the dialectic of these two modalities of 'influences' "
Other topics discussed at the same Symposium included the events in various socio-political segments of Singapore that preceded the closure of Nantah in 1980 - these included :-
"The Formation of a Local Identity: The South Seas Society of Chinese Intellectuals in Singapore, 1946 - 1971" - Mr Leaner Seah - Page 12 / 16
"Ambitious Chinese Merchants: The Democratic Party in the 1955 Legislative Assembly Election" - Dr Sikko Visscher - Page 12 / 16
"The Campus as Crucible: Student Activism in Singapore and Malay(si)a ?"
- Dr Meredith Weiss - Page 14 /16
[b]"Lawyers and Singapore Politics: 1945 1990"
- Dr Kevin Tan - Page 15 / 16 -
sorry where can i get these papers?Originally posted by Atobe:To understand the history of "Nantah" or "Nanyang University", we will need to visit several reference sites available from the web.
Other topics discussed at the same Symposium included the events in various socio-political segments of Singapore that preceded the closure of Nantah in 1980 - these included :-
[b]"The Formation of a Local Identity: The South Seas Society of Chinese Intellectuals in Singapore, 1946 - 1971" - Mr Leaner Seah - Page 12 / 16
"Ambitious Chinese Merchants: The Democratic Party in the 1955 Legislative Assembly Election" - Dr Sikko Visscher - Page 12 / 16
"The Campus as Crucible: Student Activism in Singapore and Malay(si)a ?"
- Dr Meredith Weiss - Page 14 /16
"Lawyers and Singapore Politics: 1945 1990"
- Dr Kevin Tan - Page 15 / 16 -
The reference sites were given in those key words with the url embedded, for your convenience simply click on the following word:Originally posted by delonicdevil:sorry where can i get these papers?
Symposium
Have fun. -
sorry the url u provided me has only the abstract i need the full papers if possible thanks!Originally posted by Atobe:The reference sites were given in those key words with the url embedded, for your convenience simply click on the following word:
Symposium
Have fun. -
Originally posted by delonicdevil:
As mentioned in my post, the contents were synopsys of the full paper that were presented by the different presenters at the symposium conducted in 2005.
sorry the url u provided me has only the abstract i need the full papers if possible thanks!
For the full paper contents, you will probably have to write to the organiser of that symposium, or perhaps visit the NUS Library.