By Mahima Hari (Philosophy, Politics, and Economics + Gender Studies + NUSC’26).
Ziqin’s book club meetup during Halloween.
Ng Ziqin is no stranger to trying new things. She laughed: “I have this mentality of doing it for the plot. I think it makes me more willing to try new things and get out of my comfort zone.
And when I go through challenges, I remind myself that it’ll make a good story in maybe a few months’ time, even if it doesn’t seem that way right now.”
As a NUS Law student, Ziqin was active in the Law community, and has helmed various projects, such as Project Legal Awareness for Youths (PLAY). The programme works with SHINE Children and Youth Services to conduct holiday workshops for at-risk youths. These workshops seek to enhance the youths’ legal awareness, equipping them with mediation and public-speaking skills, supporting SHINE’s overall goal of building up the youth’s confidence as leaders and fostering a healthy relationship between the youths and the law.
Ziqin got involved almost by chance; she spotted a Telegram message asking for volunteers. The first year was challenging, she recalls, because it was difficult to teach the kids over Zoom during the Covid-19 pandemic. But her seniors were there to guide her and help out with the workshops. “Before I knew it I was in Year 3. I was one of the most experienced volunteers who had come back for multiple years for the programme.” Naturally, she was offered the Project Director role, settling the administrative aspects of the programme. She said: “I found it quite meaningful because I got to be involved at different stages of the initiative: as a teacher, as a group leader to other volunteers, and finally as an administrator.”
This approach of taking things slowly and playing the long game is evident in the way Ziqin commits to her other pursuits as well. In her first year, to connect with fellow coursemates and foster community, she started a book club. It did not start off successful; for the first session, none of the participants (including her) had pre-read the material.
Ziqin rethought her approach and selected graphic novels and short stories which the participants could read during the session itself, avoiding the need for doing extra homework. Using the Pop-Up Club Fund offered by the NUS Law Faculty, she also bought snacks and drinks to encourage bonding between the participants.
Her love for literature transcends beyond just organizing book club sessions. In between graduating from junior college and starting university, she started writing a book, Every School a Good School, about the trials and tribulations of the Singaporean education system. The book was published by Epigram Books, a local publisher. It even emerged as a finalist for 2022 Epigram Books Fiction Prize, and Ziqin was invited to several panel discussions.
One such event involved Sebastian Sim, winner of the 2017 and 2021 Epigram Books Fiction Prize for The Riot Act and And the Award Goes to Sally Bong! respectively. Ziqin considers Sebastian Sim as one of her literary heroes: “I used to read his books in the school library, and he was one of my first exposures to Sing Lit.”
“When my publisher contacted me to ask whom I wanted for praise quotes when Every School A Good School was about to be printed, I said, Sebastian Sim, because I love his work. Then there was a panel at Kinokuniya that I was involved in, where he was the moderator. For the pre-interview, we went to his house to play board games. Somehow I’ve just kept going back to play board games with him, and I even brought an NUSC friend along!” she said. “My book has helped me forge a lot of friendships that I otherwise wouldn’t have.”
Ziqin’s last year in university was inspired by her time on her exchange semester at the University of Edinburgh. The usual approach of jet-setting all over Europe was not the best for her due to logistical constraints, so she decided to explore Edinburgh instead, picking a new area to wander around every week.
“When I came back to Singapore, I wanted to hold on to this attitude of discovery, wonder, and joy. It’s easy to feel disillusioned and cynical about university life in Singapore, compared to being on exchange.”
Hence, she decided to stay on campus in Year 4, and actively participated in NUS College activities. “I wanted to try as many unique activities as possible. Partially because my campus is at Bukit Timah, so living [at University Town] was novel and exciting.” She remembered visiting the NUS Museums, waking up at 3am for the intertidal walk for the Invertebrate Innovations module, and watching a movie with fellow college-mates at the Saga courtyard.
Even the seemingly mundane things turned special. She recounted, “In Saga College, there’s one industrial-looking washing machine, and I kept seeing people always using it. So l wanted to try using that washer too!”
