and then one thing led to another and we started discussing about hall and marginalization of it's occupants/inhabitants and i thought of this post i wrote, a very long time ago...
but after reading it,
i think to myself,
have things changed?
here it is:
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One of my hall friends came under the spotlight recently after blogging a post in which he modeled the hall social system after the south Indian caste system. He said earlier on he was inspired by the mathematical logic-sets diagram I had posted earlier illustrating the social relationships of the 3 major groups of people in our hall:
I applaud his wit, effort and bravery, but it is not without caution that he should proceed, because of his standing, which is a sensitive one. Both he and I should be cautious, simply because we are not in the best of positions to produce any literary material on such subtle precarious things that eusoffians have been holding on to. Some skeletons are simply meant to be left kept inside the closet.
Perhaps we have all know of this, we have all lived with, perhaps some of us, complained, expressed with a bitter distaste, with disdain. But it has been a system underlying the fundamental functioning of our hall, which is, in itself, a mini society. Without all these so called ‘law’s functioning, our hall would not be functioning well and supporting the so-called ‘livelihoods’ of us hall residents as of now.
But perhaps these sensitive matters have been kept silent for too long, and it is time for the skeletons to be taken out of the closet, because they have been collecting dust inside for too long. The time is ripe for us to bring things out in the open, to question, to search, to answer.
Contrary to what I had earlier believed, the difference between hall and non-hall residents [for eusoff hall] doesn’t seem to be the simply the fact that hall residents stay on campus. Even for those who stay in hall, and those who stay in non-hall residences, there seems to be differences in terms of prestige, status, etc.
What I had earlier believed, was that members of hall are a subset of university, as shown below.
This implies that for those staying in hall, their status would be as follows: their status as a student of NUS comes first, followed by their status as a member of so-and-so hall.
However, the actual reality seems to be closer to the diagram depicted below:
For some members of hall, the identity and status as a member of so-and-so hall is closely tied to that of being a student of NUS. For some, being a part of his or her fact in fact is more important, i.e. they would identify themselves as members of their hall first before identifying themselves as part of NUS. I suspect that this sense of identification and belonging to hall has something to do with the fact that students who make up the hall community are closely-knit due to various activities they do together.
Firstly, members of hall stay in the same hall share various facilities such as the laundry room, kitchenette, toilet and shower areas. It is without doubt that communal living would bring members of hall closer to each other. Daily activities such as having meals and even brushing one’s teeth in the washroom are chances for social interaction. All these work together to help a hall member integrate to become a part of the hall community.
The second point also happens to explain the difference between being a member of a residence and a member of a hall. It has been part of the practice of the school and hall administration to organize various competitive activities that require the participation of hall members to win prestige for the hall they belong to. These activities include the annual rag and flag, the inter-hall games, and various hall productions. These provide avenues for hall members to get to know each other, to exercise their expertise and demonstrate teamwork. The process of working together for the sake of hall also inevitably bonds the hall members together and gives them a sense of belonging to their hall. On the other hand, there is no requirement for members of residences to participate in any similar activities, which explains the different attitudes of hall members and members of residences when it comes to their sense of belonging to their hall or residence. This also explains the level of prestige associated with being a member of a particular hall as compared to being a member of a residence.
Within hall, there is an underlying hierarchy system due to the level of prestige attached to different activities and the differing emphasis of various halls.
For example, Kent ridge hall is known as a cultural hall. The hall places a high level of emphasis on cultural activities, thus there is an accompanying high level of prestige attached with being a member of e.g. their performing groups such as choir and dance, and those who are involved in activities such as the annual rag and flag. This relates to the high level of desirability of being a part of such activities, which in turn explains the long queues of hundreds during the rag interviews.
On the other hand, halls such as temasek and eusoff are known as sports halls. These halls pride on being able to produce competitive and strong sportspeople who win trophies and bring glory to their halls during the inter-hall games. It should also be noted that a large number of the sportspeople from these sports halls also represent the university in inter-varsity sports. The system of these halls explain the reason why sportspeople in these halls are placed right at the top of the hierarchy system, because they command power and are able to produce what the hall wants.
Within halls, the social standing of members is determined by 3 major factors. These are power, priviledge and prestige. Power is associated with being able to have influence over decision-making, and being able to benefit from decisions. Priviledge is associated with the availability of chances, quality of life, and material advantages. Lastly, prestige is closely tied to titles and social standing.
Within eusoff hall,
the social standing of hall members, as i have observed from the allocation of hall points, seems to be as follows:
Perhaps we have all know of this, we have all lived with, perhaps some of us, complained, expressed with a bitter distaste, with disdain. But it has been a system underlying the fundamental functioning of our hall, which is, in itself, a mini society. Without all these so called ‘law’s functioning, our hall would not be functioning well and supporting the so-called ‘livelihoods’ of us hall residents as of now.
But perhaps these sensitive matters have been kept silent for too long, and it is time for the skeletons to be taken out of the closet, because they have been collecting dust inside for too long. The time is ripe for us to bring things out in the open, to question, to search, to answer.
Contrary to what I had earlier believed, the difference between hall and non-hall residents [for eusoff hall] doesn’t seem to be the simply the fact that hall residents stay on campus. Even for those who stay in hall, and those who stay in non-hall residences, there seems to be differences in terms of prestige, status, etc.
What I had earlier believed, was that members of hall are a subset of university, as shown below.
This implies that for those staying in hall, their status would be as follows: their status as a student of NUS comes first, followed by their status as a member of so-and-so hall.
However, the actual reality seems to be closer to the diagram depicted below:
For some members of hall, the identity and status as a member of so-and-so hall is closely tied to that of being a student of NUS. For some, being a part of his or her fact in fact is more important, i.e. they would identify themselves as members of their hall first before identifying themselves as part of NUS. I suspect that this sense of identification and belonging to hall has something to do with the fact that students who make up the hall community are closely-knit due to various activities they do together.
Firstly, members of hall stay in the same hall share various facilities such as the laundry room, kitchenette, toilet and shower areas. It is without doubt that communal living would bring members of hall closer to each other. Daily activities such as having meals and even brushing one’s teeth in the washroom are chances for social interaction. All these work together to help a hall member integrate to become a part of the hall community.
The second point also happens to explain the difference between being a member of a residence and a member of a hall. It has been part of the practice of the school and hall administration to organize various competitive activities that require the participation of hall members to win prestige for the hall they belong to. These activities include the annual rag and flag, the inter-hall games, and various hall productions. These provide avenues for hall members to get to know each other, to exercise their expertise and demonstrate teamwork. The process of working together for the sake of hall also inevitably bonds the hall members together and gives them a sense of belonging to their hall. On the other hand, there is no requirement for members of residences to participate in any similar activities, which explains the different attitudes of hall members and members of residences when it comes to their sense of belonging to their hall or residence. This also explains the level of prestige associated with being a member of a particular hall as compared to being a member of a residence.
Within hall, there is an underlying hierarchy system due to the level of prestige attached to different activities and the differing emphasis of various halls.
For example, Kent ridge hall is known as a cultural hall. The hall places a high level of emphasis on cultural activities, thus there is an accompanying high level of prestige attached with being a member of e.g. their performing groups such as choir and dance, and those who are involved in activities such as the annual rag and flag. This relates to the high level of desirability of being a part of such activities, which in turn explains the long queues of hundreds during the rag interviews.
On the other hand, halls such as temasek and eusoff are known as sports halls. These halls pride on being able to produce competitive and strong sportspeople who win trophies and bring glory to their halls during the inter-hall games. It should also be noted that a large number of the sportspeople from these sports halls also represent the university in inter-varsity sports. The system of these halls explain the reason why sportspeople in these halls are placed right at the top of the hierarchy system, because they command power and are able to produce what the hall wants.
Within halls, the social standing of members is determined by 3 major factors. These are power, priviledge and prestige. Power is associated with being able to have influence over decision-making, and being able to benefit from decisions. Priviledge is associated with the availability of chances, quality of life, and material advantages. Lastly, prestige is closely tied to titles and social standing.
Within eusoff hall,
the social standing of hall members, as i have observed from the allocation of hall points, seems to be as follows:
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