On 20 November 2023, NUS College (NUSC) hosted representatives of Aligarh Muslim University (AMU) Alumni Association Singapore. Receiving our guests were our Dean, Prof Simon Chesterman, Adjunct Senior Lecturer, Dr Mustafa Izzuddin, and the recipient of the Syed Ahmad Khan AMU Prize, Zara Karimi (Sociology + NUSC ’23).
The AMU Alumni Association Singapore established the Syed Ahmad Khan AMU Prize in 2021. It is open to all students, and recognises well-rounded individuals who have demonstrated academic excellence and reflected a strong interest in the study and culture of South Asia.
The prize was named after AMU’s founder, Sir Syed Ahmad Khan, a philosopher, reformer and educationalist in nineteenth-century British India, who foresaw the importance of Western education in empowering Indian students; he then introduced revolutionary components to the Indian education system through AMU, offering a broad-based curriculum, and welcoming students of all communities.
Zara was selected for this year’s Syed Ahmad Khan AMU Prize for her honours thesis on Hindi teachers in Singapore which dove into issues of language, labour, gender, history, and migration. “My interest in South Asian studies originated from my frustration with my Hindi education in Singapore. My education at Sciences Po, as part of my Double Degree Programme, equipped me with post-colonial education and thought, where I was introduced to main Muslim reformers of education such as Sir Syed Ahmad Khan.”
She added that her time at NUSC and Sciences Po shaped the way she plans to approach the future. “My undergraduate years illuminated how little I know and how much there is to know. Empathy. Kindness.” Quoting the words of Gayatri Spivak, a post-colonial academic she looks up to, she said, “A humanities education is like public healthcare. When you teach people how to communicate, to make themselves heard, to think critically, it is a barrier against ignorance and bigotry. The humanities: to be able to, without trying, touch the inside of someone completely different from you.”
Zara plans to honour the award, sharing that she felt “a responsibility to represent and spread awareness on South Asian issues”, calling it a duty “[as] a person from a minority group, and now, [a person] in a position of privilege.”
Patron of AMU Alumni Association Singapore, George Abraham, expressed delight with Zara’s zeal. “Zara’s passion for South Asian studies, sharing it with her friends, should interest her peers and juniors, inspiring them to think about the horizon beyond NUSC.”
He noted during the meeting that such exposure will educate students that there can be much to learn from other countries within the region, agreeing with a saliant point raised by Zara that there will be significant amount of business opportunities in areas such as India. “Our students cannot be insular but should be open to venture overseas to the neighbouring regions.”
Prof Chesterman thanked AMU for imbuing global perspectives in our community through this prize, saying, “We are honoured and grateful for the belief placed by the AMU Alumni Association Singapore in NUS College. Our mission is very much aligned with Sir Syed Ahmad Khan’s vision: empowering society with inclusive, interdisciplinary, and values-based education.”
