Faculty club misused NUSSU stamp

Audrey Ng | audrey_a@nus.edu.sg
the ridge news
A NUSSU Publication

Jan. 31, 2008

Chinese New Year and Valentine’s Day are coming and students see advertisements selling barbequed pork and valentine roses as they traverse the corridors in the National University of Singapore.

Wait a minute, why are these posters of non-student activities pasted all over campus?

(Photo by Audrey Ng)

It is even more peculiar when some of these advertisements are stamped with the NUS Students’ Union official stamp.

According to the director of marketing Li Xiang, the Union is very clear and strict about advertisements that are put up on campus; they must be related to student event.

Publicity material such as posters and banners have to be approved by the Union and have an official NUSSU stamp on them before they are allowed to be displayed.

However, according to Li, the advertisement posters promoting barbequed pork and roses were not approved by them.

He said that one faculty club misused the NUSSU stamp and approved the barbequed pork poster and the executive committee is “very unhappy about this issue.”

He also said that Michelle Lam, the Union’s publication secretary had previously declined to approve the advertisement.

Each faculty club has their own stamp to approve posters and to save them the inconvenience of going to Yusof Ishak House, where the Union office is located, to get approval for their posters.

Li has declined to name the faculty club that has crossed the line.

According to the NUS Publicity Regulations – Terms and Conditions of Display of Publicity Materials on NUS Campus at Standard Area, point 9.3 states that:

“For publicity materials located within the jurisdiction of the faculties and schools, the applicant and its appointed contractor shall obtain prior clearance on the appearance and content of the publicity materials from the faculties and schools before displaying it.”

Li said the NUSSU exco will “reinforce the publicity guideline in the coming council meeting” and enforce stricter use of the NUSSU stamp in different clubs.

The Union has also informed the respective faculty clubs to take down the barbequed pork posters as soon as possible, Li said.

Benjamin Tan, a second-year political science major, agrees that regulation is needed “in case anyone puts up content that is unsuitable”, but thinks that not all posters have to be school-related.

Tan added that “clubs and societies especially should have some independence.”

However, it appears that not many students know they have to seek the Union’s approval before they are allowed to put up their posters.

King Edward Hall VII resident Andryl Foo had placed posters about the sale of roses for Valentine’s Day in order to raise funds for the hall’s Dinner & Dance.

Foo was unaware that she had to get the Union’s approval before putting up the posters.

Similarly, second-year School of Computing student Joanne Lee, did not know about the policy either.

Lee is not against placing commercial advertisements on campus but said that “as long as NUSSU approves the ads, it should be alright, although I probably won’t even look at them.”