3 July 2007

Commencing a personal odyssey

POMP AND CEREMONY: Commencement 2007 opens, presided by NUS Chancellor and Singapore President, Mr S R Nathan.

"I see today as the commencement of your personal odyssey in an uncertain world. How you pursue this personal odyssey becomes more important than the destination, for the reward of the journey is the journey itself."

This was NUS President Prof Shih Choon Fong's message for the graduating students at the opening ceremony of Commencement 2007 (3 July).

Referring to Homer's epic poem, Odyssey, Prof Shih spoke of how King Odysseus' character was shaped by his journey home after fighting in the Trojan War. Battling trials and tribulations, Odysseus grew in wisdom and self-awareness.

Prof Shih said: "Odysseus' journey has symbolic truth for us all. You now step out to make your mark, to claim your rewards, to fight your battles in the rough and tumble of the working world. It's not just what you accomplish in the external world of achievement which counts most. It's what happens to your character which matters."

Expressing his belief that NUS is transformed and enriched by its alumni's personal odysseys, Prof Shih encouraged the Class of 2007 to be guided by their values, beliefs and passions. He urged them to chart their own course in life, and to do it with wit, creativity, resilience, passion and integrity.

HONOURED GUESTS: VIPs at the opening ceremony include (front row, starting fifth from left) Mr David Chong, Faculty of Law (FOL) Advisory Board; Prof Andrew Nee, NUS; Mr Michael Palmer, Member, Government Parliamentary Committee (GPC) for Education; Prof W Schowalter, Senior Advisor, NUS; RAdm (NS) Lui Tuck Yew, Minister of State, MOE; Dr Tony Tan, Chairman, National Research Foundation; Prof Sir Richard Friend, NUS Centennial Professor; Dr Mohd Amin Kurdi, Royal Embassy of Saudi Arabia and Dean of Diplomatic Corps; Prof Louis Chen, NUS Centennial Professor, Dr Muhd Faishal Ibrahim, Member, GPC for Education; Mr George Lim, FOL Advisory Board;Prof Ir Dr Siti Tapsir and Dr Azlan Bin Abdul Rahman from Universiti Teknologi Malaysia.

Law Dean Prof Tan Cheng Han speaking to graduating law students at the first ceremony also urged students to keep in their hearts, memories of the "proud history of your alma mater". His parting words were that there are no shortcuts to the world of success, but hard work and strong morals.

LAW AND ORDER: Class of 2007 law graduates with their Dean, Prof Tan Cheng Han (centre, front) and other faculty members.

Commencement 2007 saw the graduation of more than 8,250 students -- 5,727 receiving bachelor degrees and 2,557 receiving their higher degrees. It also presented the first batch of graduates for nine new degrees:

• Doctor of Philosophy in Chemical Engineering
  (NUS-University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign Joint Degree Programme)
  
  
• Doctor of Philosophy
  (NUS-Karolinska Institute Joint Degree Programme)
  
  
• Master of Science in Infectious Diseases, vaccinology and drug discovery
  (NUS-Basel University Joint Degree Programme)
  
  
• Master of Science (Industrial Chemistry)
  (NUS-Technical University of Munich Joint Degree Programme)
  
  
• Master of Science (Computational Engineering)
  (Singapore-MIT Alliance)
  
  
• Master of Science (Advanced Materials for Micro-and Nano-Systems)
  (Singapore-MIT Alliance)
  
  
• Master of Science (Intellectual Property Management)
  
  
• Master of Science (Systems Design and Management)
  
  
• Bachelor of Music
  (Yong Siew Toh Conservatory of Music)