On Feb 5, TODAY reported that of late, tourists have been flooding the grounds of — nope, not Gardens by the Bay, nor the Singapore Zoo — local universities Nanyang Technological University (NTU) and the National University of Singapore (NUS). 

Why all the fuss? 

Much like Chinatown and Little India, NTU and NUS have long been identifying pillars of the Singapore persona. However, rather less like Chinatown and Little India, few would cite NTU and NUS as a top tourist destination in our city-state. 

That’s not to say that visitors to both university campuses haven’t always been a regular occurrence. But, as the Feb 5 report illustrated, the situation has escalated beyond all expectations (if there were any to begin with). Tourists are now pulling up to both campuses by the busload, several times a day. Students are struggling to find a quiet place to study and work, or even to find food in the face of canteen queues that would put the most popular 4D outlets to shame. 

There’s also a cost to human dignity here, with many students complaining online that they feel like “zoo animals” amid hordes of camera-happy tourists — and if Gen Zers are complaining about too many cameras, you know it’s a capital “P” Problem.

NO MONEY, NO HONEY?

To mitigate the outcry, NTU quickly announced the imposition of a fee on tour groups, without specifying exact amounts — a move that seems to only have generated more sharply divided opinions.

Many took to online platforms to applaud the move, calling for NUS to make haste and follow suit. Charge the fee, they say, and use the extra funds to better university students’ education by improving facilities, offering more bursaries, and so on.

(NUS, for its part, has said only that it’s “monitoring the situation”.)

However, another faction of netizens expressed their dissatisfaction, calling it “another cash grab” instead of an effective deterrent against eager foreigners already willing to fork out for airfare, hotel stays, tour packages and so on.

Some pointed out that only tour groups are affected by the fee, and there remains nothing to stop “individuals” wandering about campus in their own personal capacity.

The reality is that for NTU and NUS, such a fee — or the lack thereof — is only the tip of the debate iceberg.

Both universities have always performed pretty well on the world stage, but in the last year or two, they’ve made particularly impressive climbs in global rankings. They’re hot commodities that are only getting hotter — why aren’t they acting like it?

MORE PRESTIGE, MORE PROBLEMS

Instead of focusing all attention on NTU’s proposed fee, it’s time to start discussing better ways to manage public visitor traffic in local universities.

For starters, NUS and NTU grounds may be “open to the public”, but should that access remain as free and unrestricted as it has up till now? What about areas more closely related to students’ ability to focus on learning and feel safe — lecture theatres, for instance? Public universities do have a duty to all members of the public as well as to their formally enrolled students — but what happens when one interferes with another? 

How else can local universities minimise disruptions and security risks for their students? Why not start offering guided tours throughout the year, as Oxford and Cambridge do, as well as many popular institutions in many other countries? 

If it’s a question of manpower constraints, would it be possible to engage the student body to conduct student-led tours, as Harvard and Seoul National University do? (Surely no self-motivated student would turn down the chance for an extra gold star on their record)? 

One Instagram commenter summed it up succinctly: “Suffering from success”. Unless Singapore’s universities plan on toning down their hard-won prestige anytime soon, these are the questions we will all have to face.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

Melissa Lee Suppiah is a deputy editor at TODAY where she oversees commentaries.