Yale-NUS campus inauguration

This was the big day of the official inauguration of Yale-NUS.  The events today were presented to us as more formal than the events so far ... specifically, the other days were "business casual", but today was "business".  In terms of men's dress, we had decided that this meant the other days would be no jackets, but today jackets and ties.   I had a new suit myself, so happily wore that for the big occasion.  The prime minister was the guest of honor, so everything was planned to the nth degree.

We arrived early so that the part of our group who were participating could get their robes on for the academic procession.  The rest of us went through security and then entered the large auditorium .... I immediately recognized a beautiful Sol LeWitt painting in the lobby (which I subsequently learned was sponsored by Roland, Linda and Rick).  Then we had to hang around the auditorium for about an hour waiting for the ceremony to begin.

After the academic procession, there were short speeches by Pericles (president of Yale-NUS), Peter (president of Yale) and Chorh Chuan (president of NUS).

 Much to my surprise, Pericles walked up to the podium in shirt and tie, no jacket!  What?  After all the discussion about the difference between "business casual" and "business", and here he is with no jacket?  Then, Peter the same?  And Chorh Chuan?  Well, when the prime minister of Singapore, Lee Hsien Loong walked up with no jacket, we realized that clearly he was the one setting the dress standard that everyone would follow.  But I looked at all the rest of the audience, suffering in their jackets and academic robes, thinking it was quite ironic.  I learned later that shirt and tie with no jacket is standard business dress in Singapore given the intense heat and humidity.

The prime minister was quite impressive.  Sure, he was reading a speech that someone had written, but he really seemed to know a lot about the school and have an appreciation for it.

 

After the speeches, each of these 4 guys, plus the education minister, were given long blocks of wood painted orange (NUS color) to represent the towers of the campus.  We all were a little baffled as to what the heck they were doing, but they one at a time inserted these towers into a table which represented the campus, and when the prime minister put in the 5th tower, they all lit up, declaring the campus open.  Very nice little touch of drama and whimsy!  After the honchos left, there was a lovely dance performance by one of the students, and then a celebratory lunch in the Cendana College dining hall.

Although the organization of all of these events has been exquisite, there was one little lapse at this point, which there was no bus to take a few of us back to our hotel, as others were staying to do some other business.  We finally hijacked a bus going to another hotel and pretty much demanded that they do a second stop to our hotel afterwards.  I got the sense that generally people are not very flexible as to changed plans in Singapore, but one of the students helped us convince the driver to take us back.

Lenny and I then decided to visit the Gardens by the Bay which the group had seen yesterday.  We had not joined up for a variety of reasons, but they all had raved about it, so we decided to check it out given that we had some time.  However, it was pretty tough to try to visit in the heat of the afternoon, and we didn't make it very long before we abandoned the effort.  I did think it was pretty amazing to see the super huge dome that they created with a bunch of plants and flowers from all over the world inside. (Dad/Ann/Michael: memories of the Chicago World Flower and Garden Show!).

We then went over to the Raffles Hotel to sample an original Singapore Sling, a very sweet, syrupy liquor drink.  The hotel is gorgeous - a beautiful, white colonial masterpiece that really makes you think British East Indies.  Having a Singapore Sling was plenty of fun, although pretty outrageously priced.  You are basically paying for it as a tourist attraction.  

I decided to rename it as the Most Expensive Drink Ever (MEDE).  I had the champagne version of the MEDE while Lenny had the normal version (I liked mine better!).  We then returned to the hotel to shower (again ... and again and again) before dinner.

Dinner was at the Shangri-La Hotel.  The lobby area is quite dramatic with large chandeliers and dramatic flower arrangements.  The dinner was hosted by the owner of the hotel who is the board chair of Yale-NUS, a woman by the name of Kay.  She was a gracious and fun host.  There were multiple stations of different types of food to sample.  At the end, she brought around some bird's nest soup - apparently a real delicacy - for some of us to try.  I thought it was delicious.  I was surprised that it was cold - and it was a lemony flavor.

All in all, this has been a wonderful trip.  I'm very proud and happy to see the launch of Yale-NUS.  It is amazing that in only a few years, how much has been accomplished, and I think the impact will be far reaching.

We now will get ready for Part II of our trip - leaving for Japan tomorrow.

-- Donna