A year on & a fish funeral

It's been more than a year since I've updated this blog. Been busy, very busy ... Now, I've just claimed my blog through my Gmail account and I thought I might continue to write. Why not?

Between the last time (this blog was alive) and now: Yi Wen is now a sophomore at NTU (Nanyang Technological University); Yi Wei will be joining University of New Castle; and Kean Wah had celebrated his 11th birthday (with Uncle Kwong Teck) and his 12th birthday (where I made an ice-cream cake at home & we had Wagyu beef at Angus Steakhouse)...; I taught two semesters at the SIM University here in Singapore; we kept some tropical fish and even had a fish funeral a month ago...

Rudolf was our favourite ram in our tank and when he died, we made him a nice coffin and placed some flowers in it. The tank is never the same again, but that's life...

Oh, I almost forgot to mention -- Yi Wei's school (UNSW Asia) closed down and I wrote a letter to Sydney Morning Herald. I reproduce this letter here for those of you who missed it:

You must be joking, Professor Hilmer.

If the intent is to shock, Hilmer has definitely succeeded beyond anyone's imagination. The way the closure of UNSW Asia was announced was, to say the least, a public relations nightmare ("Red faces, millions lost as uni closes campus", May 24). While students were still having their examinations, Hilmer dropped the bombshell - UNSW Asia shall cease to exist in a month. The numbers aren't right, he claimed. But never mind those who have placed their trust in a reputed university and paid three to four times the fee charged by other local universities (in Singapore) in the hope of getting a UNSW education.

While efforts have been made to assist UNSW Asia students studying in the university, the second batch of students due to join in July were forgotten. Students studying the Foundation Year program at Temasek Polytechnic (including my daughter) were told of the shocking news on the last day of their final exams. (Many were affected when they heard the horrifying news in the media the day before.)

But never mind, the students shall be offered a place in the Sydney campus. Their parents can pay the extra $80,000 or so in living expenses (estimate $20,000 - $22,000 a year for the next four years); but the university will subsidise by paying a return air ticket to Australia (less than $2000).

The Foundation Year program costs $S20,000 ($16,000) and students were given a provisional offer to study either in UNSW Asia or its Sydney campus. The program is run by UNSW Asia. Does the university not have moral obligations to take care of the needs of these students? Is a return air ticket to Australia fair? Parents will need to fork out much more money and many have not budgeted for it. What can students under such circumstances do?

While Hilmer is already back in Sydney, the mess he left behind shall leave an indelible bitter aftertaste. So is this a joke, Professor Hilmer? Would you be writing another book, The UNSW Experience: What the Management Texts didn't Teach Me?

Chai Lee Fung Singapore