Author: gwynethtyt

I was part of the NTU Students’ Union 28th Executive Committee in AY2018/19 as the Corporate Communications Executive (Relations). I am here to share my story.

OK, now that I’ve got your attention, this post is not about any particular individual or even a set of people. It is about the NTU Students’ Union as an institution and mode of government.

I will not name anyone in this post because I know my peers would rather not be entangled in this matter, not to mention that they have moved on with their lives anyway. (Crucially, I am not interested in being SLAPPed with a lawsuit.) I’m only here because I’ve been in NTU for longer than most people I know – first as an undergraduate and now as a graduate student.

This post is a singular reflection of my experience with the Students’ Union: what I thought it was, what it really was then, what it is now, and what it could be.

Therefore, a confession of sorts, though I have nothing to be ashamed of, as you will see.

What the Students’ Union was to Me, Part 1: The Introduction

I was peripherally involved with Union activities in Year 1. I was a member-minion of the Open House Committee, and my task was to secure partnerships with external organisations. The Open House work was basic, but I enjoyed seeing the event coalesce via that invisible thread of camaraderie interlacing it. Through that opportunity, I met others, some of whom would eventually become my teammates in the 28th NTUSU Executive Committee (henceforth SU/Union and Exco).

When asked to consider running as an SU Exco member in Year 2, I was starry-eyed at the prospect. And why wouldn’t I be? It promised to be an avenue for me to create change as I envisioned it. And I had dreams: I wanted to revitalise the floundering Union magazine, U-Insight, and transform it into an avenue where students could express themselves. I wanted to improve the communication channels between SU and the student body, mainly so that student feedback, previously scattered across sources, could be consolidated into a single place to amplify its voice.

Here’s a part of my presentation script that I used in the 28th Council Election Rally (2018) in standing for the role of Relations Executive. If you’re wondering about its authenticity, note its dated nature – for example, the Nanyang Chronicle was quietly discontinued after 2019. Yes, I am old. Yes, I called it Nanyang Chron.

• I will now elaborate on my aims and goals should I be elected to this role. First, I want to expand and distinguish U-Insight. It was moved online fully since last year and now has its own unique platform, rather than being integrated on the NTUSU website, but it’s still relatively rudimentary. Currently, it has 11 posts over 5 months, mostly focusing on events and new initiatives that NTUSU pushed out in the previous academic year. As you can see from the picture, it has a grand total of 2 tabs or sections. So what I want to do is expand what the editorial has to offer in a direction that distinguishes us from the other editorials/magazines in NTU, such as Hey! Magazine and Nanyang Chronicle. My vision for the magazine is a platform that represents the voice of the students – on top of sharing news about policies and events, we also make students feel like they have a part to play in the growth of this editorial. Currently, what I am looking at is including more sections in the editorial, and some that our student-members can contribute directly to. This may include opinion pieces, Q&As, interviews, and so on. I will work closely with my committee to achieve these goals. If possible, we may even look towards collaboration with other student-run editorials like Nanyang Chron.
• Feedback is one of the most important things for me, and as such will be a priority. I understand that we currently have a feedback link that is attached to all the EDMs [electronic direct mailer, i.e. fancy way of saying emails] blasted by the SU. There is another link that is pasted on a few bus stop posters asking students to provide feedback, but that link does not work. What I want to do is clean up and simplify the feedback process by standardising it, as well as putting this link up on more platforms. To achieve this, my proposed committee includes the position of online engagement officer, whom I will work with to collect feedback across a variety of platforms and analyse it.

I had dreams, and I wanted to achieve them. The position of Relations Executive offered me just that; it gave me power – the ability to influence events in the direction of my will.

And who wouldn’t want that?

So off I went to the elections, full of hope and ambition.

What the Students’ Union was to Me, Part 2: The Election

Let me explain how the Union (Executive Committee) electoral process works. Again. Because I’ve done this before, but let me do it again.

The SU Executive Committee is not elected by the students. The Union Council is elected by the students. The Executive Committee is elected by the Council.

Some context is necessary.

Anyone who glances through the NTUSU website might think the Council is the Executive Committee. It is not.

The Council is composed of:

• The Executive Committee
• The Academic Constituent Clubs (a fancy way of saying “school clubs”) – e.g. School of Social Sciences Club, Biological Sciences Club. All students are part of the club whose name matches their school.
• The Non-Academic Constituent Clubs (i.e. the Big Three Clubs that seem to pervade every aspect of CCA life) – WSC, Sports Club, CAC. All students are members of ALL NACCs (bet you didn’t know that! And that’s why you can vote in their elections, even if you don’t participate in their activities or volunteer).

The power distribution within the NTUSU Council has baffled me, though certainly, I had no interest in pursuing the matter given that the arrangement benefited my position. How I understood it during my time was (might be inaccurate):

• The Council, as a totality, is concerned with all student members. They discuss things sporadically. The duration between successive meetings can span up to months.
• ACCs and NACCs are more concerned with things happening within their student sections. They primarily run events for their own members.
• Exco is concerned with all “26,000 undergraduate students of NTU” and counting. They implement the decisions of the Council, kind of. They organise events for and represent everyone. They are the closest point of contact to the NTU management.

(If you’re wondering about the postgraduate students, they’re covered by another group entirely irrelevant to this discussion – the Graduate Students’ Association [GSA]. There are also the non-constituent clubs, which are the smaller clubs catering to more specific interests.)

When I write about it that way, there seems to be an overlap between Council and Exco. Hmm. The Council makes some decisions, but the Exco makes others, though the Exco is responsible for most of the legwork. Another interesting factoid: the current Constitution says that the Council “has the power to” exercise control over the Executive Committee. I am not sure how it works in practice.

I digress. Back to the electoral process.

Again: The SU Executive Committee is not elected by the students. The Union Council is elected by the students. The Executive Committee is elected by the Council.

There are two “levels” of elections happening here.

• The first election, at the NACC/ACC level. Students vote here for the Committee Members of their NACC/ACC Club. This is what you vote for on Union Day. The President of the ACCs at this level – and only the President, not other committee members – becomes a Council Member. For NACCs, two (President and VP/Hon Gen) become Council Members.
• The second election, at the council level. Council members, empowered by students as representatives of their clubs, vote here to decide which specific council members become members of the Executive Committee.

In other words, students do not elect anyone in the Executive Committee. The Presidents of their Clubs do.

A more concrete example to illustrate – myself. Students elected me as the Union Representative of the School of Social Sciences, and I became a Council Member. (That, or at least a temporary member who could stand for elections in the Council. The definition of a Union Representative is wonky.) Then, I was voted in by the 28th Council Members to become a member of the Executive Committee. If by any chance the Union Rep is not elected due to lack of confidence or a contesting candidate winning, they are required to resign from the Council basically immediately. In case I get questions on this, yes, my role was uncontested. (But I’m sure you’d vote for me even if it was contested. :-))

I noticed a lot of fanfare on the ground over students being unable to directly elect the Exco. Note that this election process is neither unfair nor problematic per se. The Prime Minister of Singapore is chosen similarly. The Prime Minister is defined as the leader of the Parliament, and the leader is decided through a “consensus among peers” involved. The voting public has limited influence over the final decision of who is selected as the PM – though, of course, it can have its preferences, and its opinions are sought by the government. A Mothership video explains it better than me here (unfortunately).

By the way, I can’t find the past Students’ Union Council Rally meeting minutes. The election archives (which I had to google to find and which doesn’t seem directly accessible from the main NTUSU website) only have the results of the ACC/NACC-level elections. If anyone can find the past Council meeting minutes, please leave a comment below, thanks. It is 5:51 a.m., and I am not in the headspace to search for gold in the desert.

What the Students’ Union really was: The Exco and its Jurisdiction

I learned following my successful election that there were limits to my power. To give some perspective, I guess my role at that time is the equivalent of the current Public Relations Executive in AY2022/23. I had to report to my Vice-President, who was accountable for my actions; they had to report to the President, who was accountable for our actions. The President, in turn, was accountable to stakeholders with various interests.

I don’t want or need to elaborate on how the Union is aligned vis-à-vis the university management regarding decision-making. I am sure there are plenty of posts out there that can paint a picture for you. I will say that the Union is dedicated to protecting the peace of the status quo. This is hardly surprising; it would be surprising if it were anything else.

My role was mainly limited to communicator ex post facto rather than decision-maker, given the limits of my power. So I could consolidate feedback and I could attempt to persuade, but I had no say in the final decisions made.

One of my first projects was consolidating feedback via Union channels. As I promised in my rally, mind you! The hot topic that year was the issue of being unable to see the results of your S/Ued options, unlike NUS’s practice.

Ultimately, this was the end result we communicated to students. Relevant extract copied below.

Context: the bolded sentence is a question asked by a student we received via our newly released feedback channel. We gathered recurring themes and officially responded to them via our editorial website, U-Insight (responses in point form below the question).

Why can’t we see our results before choosing to S/U it? What has NTUSU done regarding this issue? – MECH/4

• The University Management’s stance is that the S/U option is part of the broad level efforts undertaken by the University to nurture a holistic learning environment that puts less emphasis on grades and focuses more on learning and exploring courses beyond their core disciplinary studies. The University Management believes that the current S/U declaration period up to two working days after the last exam paper of the semester gives students sufficient time to weigh their choices of either opting for grade or S/U notation, rather than as a means to pull up their GPA […]
• In AY14/15, after hearing from students, NTUSU successfully pushed for the S/U option to be available after exams, when it was previously available only before exams. NTUSU is constantly engaging both students and the management on this matter.

Note how the response is phrased. I leave the interpretation up to you, but I can tell you I oversaw its creation. By the way, the last sentence is true, even as it is broad. The point here is that students are given access to the outcomes of discussions involving the Students’ Union. As for the process, which is fundamental to participatory decision-making… that’s up to you to decide.

What the Students’ Union is, Now?

A few comments on the selection process based on my experience.

I was recruited due to my past experience as a member of a Union Committee before running for Executive. I believe this is a reasonable expectation to have for someone who is expected to represent the interests of students; aside from a desire to serve, it helps to have prior experience. But beyond demonstrating ability through your previous work, it is because you have made connections through your shared experiences.

“Connections” sounds like a dirty word, huh? But is it really? We know elected positions in the Council and across clubs, halls, and societies are almost always uncontested. It is the rule, not the exception. People ask why, but there really is no question. The simple answer is that succession planning occurs. Imagine you are a leader of some club or society. You would hope to leave it in good hands. You are now faced with a decision. Who do you pick to succeed you?

We can argue that the system is flawed if, and only if,

(1) Students are not given an equal opportunity to run for these positions, AND/OR

(2) Students who do apply are not evaluated fairly.

It is hard to argue (2) because most positions are uncontested. So, we focus on (1).

Now for the million-dollar question: did (1) happen with the transition of power from the previous Union Executive Committee to the current one?

I don’t know. Neither do I want to make any claim with absolute certainty.

What we can do is to look at the information we’ve been presented with, and you can decide for yourself.

What the Students’ Union Could Be?

Before evaluating what we have, consider this fascinating observation of mine.

The circle is closed, yes, but it is not impenetrable.

In the same Union Rally I attended to be elected, another position in the Exco was contested. Two people ran for it. One of them was unexpected. The unexpected one was dazzling in their purity, and I say that in the most respectful way possible. They had seen the club elections notice, and with pure hope, they had run for Union Rep, got elected by their students, and decided to run for the Exco with whatever they knew. Of course, the other candidate had done the same, but with a longer preparation runway. Only one of them was elected that night. Guess who won? You’d be surprised.

In the latest AY2023 Union Rally, the role of President was contested by the Union Rep of the Welfare Services Club. However, it seems that a technicality did not allow them to rally before the incumbent President was elected. Hmm… (It’s all reported on Soapbox – not my words!)

These two examples are few and far between. Still, they are sufficient to establish that theoretically nothing stops students from running for elections, whether as Union Rep at the club level or Exco members at the Council level. Theoretically. Please do not take this to mean that I am defending the current state of affairs.

The next question is: assuming students care enough to run (high bar in itself btw), do they know enough to run? If they do not know enough, can we argue that this results in unequal access?

Information Asymmetry, Example 1

Let’s backtrack into the election process again.

I knew I had to be elected into the SSS Club as Union Rep to become an Exco member later. I knew this because I was familiar with the election procedure. And I knew this because I knew someone who knew this. Of course.

I suspect that many students are not aware of this requirement.

The above does not mean that students are not allowed to run in club elections. In my case, the SSS Club elections in my time were open to all, and people were free to run for whatever positions they desired (- I think!). There was at least an email informing people that applications were open. There was an open “candidate evaluation process” which consisted of them pasting applicants’ entry forms onto big boards displayed in the foyer for passersby to gawk at. Was mine there too? I can’t remember – it’s been years. The devil may be in the details, but I don’t remember anything amiss.

But that’s missing the point.

Information Asymmetry, Example 2

Another thing I noticed is that the NTUSU Instagram page (managed by the Exco only, the Communications department in particular) does not list the names of the Union Representatives contesting for Exco positions. I chalked it up to lack of transparency initially, but on second thought, it makes sense in a pedantic way. The Union Reps have yet to officially hold any positions in the Council/Exco. So, there is technically no need to declare your interest in a specific Exco position until you get to the Council Rally, which is a closed-door event anyway. (This feels like the kind of argument phrasing that got the current SU PR department in hot soup.)

To be even more pedantic, one could argue that students have access to information regarding who their Union Reps are – you can find out via the results release of the elected positions via the ACC/NACC club documents. They’re just not widely publicised, so it takes a lot of effort to find out.

I repeat: information asymmetry.

Anyhoo, if we’re focusing on improvement, I would love to see more details of Union Reps interested in Exco positions being released by NTUSU moving forward. After all, if someone is going to represent my interest and that of 26,000 others, I feel like they deserve a certain level of public scrutiny and evaluation. Let me hear your pitch! Let me see your résumé!

To summarise, one thing is clear: there is a gap between the current communication of the SU’s election/decision-making procedures and students’ understanding of it.

The equation is simple: if students don’t know what to do or how to do it, they cannot do it.

I would say both the Union and the students share a responsibility on this matter – the former for conveying information, and the latter for seeking information. But suppose I am right in assuming that a severe information asymmetry is present at the moment. In that case, the onus is on the SU (led by the Exco) to resolve it. (This post is an attempt to rebalance this asymmetry, but I am old and retired!)

Conclusion: For Students, by a Student

Institutions – especially established ones – always tend towards inertia. There is little incentive to change what works if it has been working fine for the people who benefit most. But at some point, we will be knocked off our feet and then forced to recalibrate – who is this system benefiting? And if there is a discrepancy between what was promised and what is, how do we fix it? I can’t offer anything else more feasible, but I am genuinely encouraged to see that more students are challenging what we’re used to in hopes of something better. It may seem disingenuous for me to say this as someone who was part of “the establishment”, but after all… the goal of the Students’ Union was always to represent students’ interests, right?

If you’ve read this far – thanks, even if you skimmed everything. Here, I just want to share something personal. I didn’t know if I should post this or even start writing this. But acting almost on compulsion, I sat down at 2am in front of my laptop and started typing anyway. It is now 7:46am. I could not stop once I started. I guess I’ve wanted to say something for a long time, and after a long while, the time has finally come. Whatever it is, I hope students can continue to speak up on what matters to them.

P/S: If you think I’m doing this for attention – well, maybe. I could have posted this anonymously, but with the level of detail I went into, it was bound to be a matter of time before I was doxxed anyway. If there’s something in it for me (aside from more readers <3), I believe this post captures the transparency I wanted to achieve in my time in the NTUSU. Regardless, I hope there’s something that you can take away from this.

And those conclusions are for you to hold and act on, not me.

Final disclaimer: I tried my best to be accurate, but let me know if anything is false. I will revise my post, where reasonable, with credits to you. (Please don’t sue me.)

If you’re interested in something similar I wrote before, read this. It’s basically a precursor to this post.

Exclusive section for blog readers only, haha~

Just some additional sharing on a personal note. I was inspired to write this post by Lee Kuan Yew. Yes, you read that right. I was watching one of his speeches from the CNA Special “Lee Kuan Yew: In His Own Words” – specifically, his speech at the Swearing-in Ceremony on 13 September 1988.

In this speech, he delineates three criteria for evaluating political leaders. It struck a chord with me, which moved me to write this post. It’s cheesy but it’s true.

I am unsure if I can quote him here on this blog due to copyright concerns, so I will link the YouTube video with the timestamp instead for your leisure viewing (28:53-29:25). Watch with captions!

Alternatively, you can also find his full speech via this document publicly available for viewing (see page 2).