By Kooi Xiu Min (CHS + NUSC ’26)
The NUS College (NUSC) curriculum is synonymous with being interdisciplinary. But how many students truly understand what the term means? To Prof Cheong Koon Hean, Rector of NUSC, interdisciplinary is realised through doing.
“It is not head knowledge,” she says. “It’s something that you learn by doing. There’s a lot of difference.”
A Colombo Plan scholar with an extensive portfolio, she was most notably Chief Executive Officer at the Urban Redevelopment Authority and Housing and Development Board. In her time in the public service, Prof Cheong has worked with many people from different backgrounds and sees the importance of interdisciplinary collaboration.
She uses the example of planning a neighbourhood with low carbon emissions. As an architect, Prof Cheong requires the expertise of engineers and urban planners to come up with a holistic solution that goes beyond a single discipline. “I can’t do this alone. Different parties need to come together to work out a holistic solution. If you just ask each of them to give you a solution, they will give you a solution that is very different from each other,” she says.
In a similar spirit of coming together, Prof Cheong likens her role as Rector of NUSC to being a “bridge” connecting the educational, perhaps more academic environment of the College with the outside world. With her wealth of experience as a public servant who has worked with both the public, private and people sectors locally and internationally, she has strong connections and takeaways to sharewith students.
“University [can be] a nice cocoon, but it shouldn’t be,” she states frankly. Instead, Prof Cheong believes that by actively connecting both students and academics to a larger network, they will gain valuable inspiration and exposure to the real world. She describes her responsibilities as one to provide students “a broader perspective”, encouraging them to look beyond their books and to cultivate insights and experiences that they will gain from immersing themselves in College and University life.
Prof Cheong also works closely with the Dean and his team to improve the programme and student life for both current and future batches. She is in regular contact with NUSC’s Management Committee, and recently started the first edition of her Rector Series, speaking with students on the topic of navigating Singapore’s unique challenges.
“It’s all about the students,” she reiterates throughout the interview. “A University doesn’t exist for itself; I think we sometimes forget that. It exists for the students.” Collecting student feedback is therefore a vital aspect of her interactions with them.
Now that NUSC is halfway through its second year, Prof Cheong reflected on the inclusiveness and financial viability of the programme; goals that the Deanery set out to achieve. Students of 28 different nationalities are now offered a slate of 54 majors, and the programme fees have been adjusted to increase affordability. She is pleased with the progress the College has made in that regard.
In particular, she notes that the College supports students’ Interest Groups (IGs), as long as a small group of at least five students bandtogether over a common interest. Moreover, with such a large range of IGs, students are given the independence and freedom to pursue their passions on their own accord, greatly enhancing their College experience.
That being said, Prof Cheong maintains that NUSC has plenty of room for growth. When asked how well the College has achieved the goals it set, she does not miss a beat. “It’s on the way. It’s a work in progress,” she says, acknowledging once more that as the students are the beneficiaries of the programme, she hopes to receive lots of feedback from them in the process.
Ultimately, Prof Cheong foresees that the College’s goals will evolve with the aspirations of our students. But the main question she poses to them remains the same: “Are we (NUSC) opening up the world to you to give you better insights beyond your books?”
