25th Singapore French Film Festival

2nd – 11th Oct 2009,
Gala Premiere: Paris 36
Tay Huizhen | benediction.jay@gmail.com
theridge transmedia
A NUSSU Publication

http://www.showbizcafe.com/public/images/upload/poster_large_544.jpg

It began as Singapore’s very first foreign film festival, and in 2009, the Singapore French Film Festival is now into a remarkable 25th year. As part of “Encore! The European Season”, the festival line-up exhibits an overt aim to ‘reflect French cultural diversity,’ in offering diverse film genres ranging from romantic comedy to the police drama and even animation. In his opening speech at The Grand Cathay, the Ambassador of France to Singapore, H.W. Olivier Caron also highlighted a unique showcase of the ‘ongoing vitaliy of French cinema’ through this year’s focus on debut directors.

Kickstarting the festival is “Paris 36” – the highly-anticipated film by director Christophe Barratier after his critically-acclaimed box office-hit, “Les Choristes” (2004). To be released commercially in Singapore on the 8th of October, the film depicts the struggles of the workers of a small-time vaudevillian theatre in a Parisian faubourg in 1936.

While the recognizable plot outline has already been done countless of times [recall “Le Dernier Métro” (1980), and a more distant but recent example in “Synedoche, New York” (2008)], Barratier’s tribute to the golden past of Paris makes for a decent outing at the movies.

Fans of Christophe Barratier do not go to his film screenings expecting an edgy portrayal of Parisian life. The director is known more for portraying feel-good, heart-warming themes of camaraderie and the French spirit à contre-courant. These are again re-visited in “Paris 36”, in which the humble workers of La Chansonia, as the theatre is called, are given a month to succeed and rescue their theatre and ‘the love stories it has seen’ from ruin.

What we have come to anticipate from Barratier, instead, is his skill for drawing the viewer into the heart of the action in as enchanting and magical a way as possible that carries with it the whimsically nostalgic attraction of French sensibilities. In the film, he fully exploits this charm in painting lush, picturesque depictions of Parisian life circa 1936.

Images of quaint café scenes and romantic rooftop sequences abound and set the mood for a visually-rich film. Other than brief references to historical and political changes of the time, however, the audience is given a taste of Paris straight out of fanciful sketchbook pictures and nothing more. If such is exactly his focus, Barratier nonetheless artfully executes through some deliciously breathtaking camera angles and affords the film visual depth through multiple experiments with the long take in many scenes.

Given the overwhelming success of “Les Choristes”, comparisons must undoubtedly be made and the somewhat safe, ‘storybook’ tale of “Paris 36” does not quite carry the authentic emotional poignancy of its predecessor. While it is also hard to tell if the soundtrack of “Paris 36” will in time be as memorable as “Vois Sur Ton Chemin”, there are some notable musical numbers in the former which echoes Barratier’s beautifully simple compositions.

Most of these are delivered by the reel starlet and novice songbird named Douce (Nora Arnezeder). Arnezeder’s clean, penetrating vocals in playing the part are a perfect fit for Barratier’s songs. Her energy in both intimate and spectacular scenes – including one with a slight Berkleyesque reference – is a force that lights up the entire film.

http://www.allmoviephoto.com/photo/2009_paris_36_004_big.html

Barratier also brings back familiar faces Gérard Jugnot (Clément Mathieu), Maxence Perrin (Pepinot) and Kad Merad [Chabert, but who also starred in the previous year’s festival highlight, “Bienvenue Chez Les Ch'tis”] from Les Choristses, with the first two, continuing their chemistry as reel-time father and son Pigoil and Jojo Pigoil.

With award-winning films and many of which Singaporean audiences do not usually get to see on the local big screen, the French Film Festival is indeed a highlight of the local arts calendar. Here’s to hoping that the organisers will bring “Le Petit Nicolas” to 2010’s.

Paris 36 is now showing in cinemas.

For more information, please visit: http://www.alliancefrancaise.org.sg/

Donation Drive Initiated for NUS Student

Fabius Chen | fabiuschen@nus.edu.sg
the ridge news
A NUSSU Publication

Mar 12, 2009

Xiao’ou remains cheerful despite her predicament. Photo from Facebook.

For Zhang Xiao’ou, the next two months should be spent dreaming about how far her First Class Honours in quantitative finance will take her.

Instead, the 24-year-old scholar from China is struggling to come to terms with the news that she is suffering from Acute Lymphocytic Leukemia (ALL), a life-threatening disease.

ALL is a rapidly-progressing cancer which fills the bone marrow with immature white blood cells and prevents the normal, mature cells. The cancerous white blood cells then spread to other organs, making the patient extremely vulnerable to illness.

It is sobering news, indeed, for someone described as “a lively and amiable” person who was involved in the Students’ Union Welfare Committee and various community service projects.

Since the diagnosis just over a week ago, a website has been set up to spread the news of her illness, while the university has set up project groups committed to raising funds for her treatment.

It will cost up to S$400,000 to treat the disease, an exorbitant amount for her middle-income family to have to bear.

Her father earns an average of S$400 a month, while her mother is unemployed.

Approximately S$35,000 has been raised toward Xiao’ou’s cause to date, thanks to funds transfers to her bank account and a one-day collection booth set up in the Faculty of Science.

While raising S$5,000 a day may sound impressive, it is still a long way short of the amount needed and efforts are being made to accommodate donations from overseas.

Through groups set up on the popular social networking site Facebook, the news of Xiao’ou’s illness has spread, with many sympathisers from around the world expressing interest in making a donation and showing her support.

A Paypal account will soon be made available to accept donations from those residing outside of Singapore.

That strangers from faraway countries have read about Xiao’ou and felt inspired to offer a few words of encouragement and make a donation is a testament to how moving her story really is.

And if someone in Scotland or Australia, who has never heard the name Zhang Xiao’ou prior to her illness, can show their support, it is surely not asking too much for her fellow NUS students to do their part as well.

A copy of Xiao’ou’s medical report. Photo from Facbook.

More information about Xiao’ou and how to make a donation can be found at: www.blessxiaoou.net

Link to Facebook event – http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=72596300490&ref=nf

Engineering a New Education Paradigm

Fabius Chen | fabiuschen@nus.edu.sg
the ridge news
A NUSSU Publication

Mar 11, 2009

The National University of Singapore’s (NUS) Faculty of Engineering has announced a new, Design-Centric Engineering Curriculum (DCC) that will begin in academic year 2009/10.

With the world confronting challenges like climate change, natural disasters and ageing-related healthcare, the DCC will equip engineers of tomorrow with the skills required to solve complex and multidisciplinary problems.

This progressive engineering programme will allow students to grasp in greater depth the connections between theory and practice, from component to systems level.

Thematic design projects, revolving around the themes of Future Transportation Systems, Engineering in Medicine and Smart Cities will provide the foundation of students’ understanding of engineering concepts.

In addition, students will have the flexibility to choose between technical and non-technical modules, in order to specifically address the design aspects they have been assigned.

Together, these will encourage students to identify and acquire relevant knowledge through self-learning.

Professor Chan Eng Soon, Dean of the Faculty of Engineering, said: “Such a design cum problem-based learning approach will encourage creativity and thinking out-of-the-box.

“The increased exposure to systems thinking and engineering technology management made available in this new learning environment will better equip graduates to handle large-scale complex technical problems of the future.

“Moreover, these projects will make students recognise the importance of profit-cost issues and inspire them towards innovation and entrepreneurship.”

As a catalyst to the DCC, the Faculty of Engineering will be establishing an Engineering Design and Innovation Centre (EDIC).

This will provide a platform for both staff and students of different disciplines to interact and exchange ideas to address projects that require a wide spectrum of expertise.

The EDIC will be managed and run by academic staff with particular skills and experience in handling, teaching and supervising multi-faceted design problems.

Finally, a Global Engineering Programme (GEP) will be put in place to nurture the top engineering students of each cohort.

Selected students will receive a Bachelor of Engineering (B.Eng.) degree from the university after three years, followed by a graduate engineering degree from a partner university at the end of the fourth year.

An agreement has already been established with the Massachusetts Institute of Technology’s School of Engineering, while arrangements with both Cambridge and Oxford universities are being finalised.

Through the specially-tailored Undergraduate Research Opportunities Programmes, Students will also gain early exposure to research at top universities.

This will afford them contact with leading researchers in the field and the chance of future PhD studies under their supervision.

Meanwhile, those with an interest in entrepreneurship can choose to participate in the NUS Overseas Colleges programme, where they will gain experience in technology start-ups at overseas colleges like Silicon Valley.

Elaborating on the key features of the programme, Prof Chan said: “Students will enjoy full scholarship support by NUS, in partnership with external agencies. This will cover the B.Eng degree at NUS as well as one year of graduate studies at a top overseas university.

“The faculty will encourage GEP students to pursue a PhD in order to maximise their potential. We are interacting with research agencies to source for support for students who elect to do so.

“GEP students will be mentored by a select pool of faculty members and will be able to participate in a rich myriad of co-curricular activities that will enrich and enhance their communications skills and leadership.”

Fairer Bidding? CORS 23MC Change

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

One week before the new term begins at the National University of Singapore (NUS), the air is filled with anxiety.

Students are logged into the Centralised Online Registration System (CORS), playing a strategic game of module bidding.

From the second semester of the academic year of 2008/2009 onwards, CORS’ new workload policy caps the maximum workload that a student is allowed to take at 23 Modular Credits (MC).

Previously, the workload policy set the limit on the number of modules a student could bid for during Rounds 1 and 2 at five.

Students could only bid for a sixth module from Round 3 onwards.

However, despite the new change in policy, students are still not allowed to bid for a sixth module before Round 3.

This is because most modules are worth four MCs, and bidding for a sixth module would amount to 24 MCs, exceeding the cap of 23 MCs.

Exceeding the new 23MC workload (Photo By: Audrey Ng)

According to CORS, the change in the workload policy is “to ensure fairness in bidding across all Faculties.”

Despite this, most of the students the ridge spoke to felt that this new policy would not make much of a difference to their bidding plans.

“I do not think that there is much of a difference from before,” said Lee Wei Lin, a second-year Sociology major.

“As most modules are four MCs, we are still unable to bid for a sixth module until Round 3 as it exceeds the 23 MCs limit.”

Similarly, second-year Engineering student, Chan Yin Tat felt that any change is minimal.

According to him, the new cap does not help much in securing the sixth module.

This is because the purpose of taking an extra module is to take an additional four MCs on in the semester to fulfill graduation requirements.

For Ng Yong Kuan, a first year Engineering undergraduate, the change also had little impact.

As a first-year undergraduate, “it is generally recommended that we take five modules at the most, as a sixth module is too taxing for most undergraduates.”

As for Don Sim, a third-year Communications and Media major at the School of Computing, who is taking an 8 MCs module this semester, the limit of 23 MCs has not deterred him bidding for other modules.

“I do not want to do too many modules this semester as I’m already taking one 8 MCs module so I’ll just go for summer term to make up for it,” said Don.

Lin Jiamin, a second-year Arts undergraduate, agrees that the new change would not make much of a difference to her bidding plans and to FASS students as most usually do five modules each semester.

Third year Philosophy major Charlene Koh, however, recognized the fairness the new system was seeking to inculcate.

According to her, it is “fair for everyone if the sixth module is bid for in Round 3”.

This is so that all students can attain sufficient MCs in the ‘standard’ five modules per semester, instead of being outbid by those who bid for the extra module but might perhaps not be as necessary.

She added that everyone would still have an equal chance of getting the module they want, regardless of the 23MCs cap.

As stated in the CORS website, this change in the workload policy seeks to ensure that all students “are given an equal chance in securing their choice modules” during the first two rounds of bidding.

Real Estate undergraduate Chen Yong Jie felt that CORS bidding makes students more competitive.

According to him, it is not necessary to have different bidding rounds as some essential modules can be pre-allocated and that even with bidding, people would still use the appeal function to get the modules they want.

Central Forum Lockers: A Necessity or Nuisance?

Jane Antony | janesakura@gmail.com
the ridge
A NUSSU Publication
 

Photo: http://blurqueen-me.blogspot.com//

Semester Two at the National University of Singapore started with a number of changes – including a new locker system in front of the Central Forum bookstore.

There is a new rule in place that restricts students from bringing their bags into the bookstore, creating the need for lockers to store their bags and backpacks.

“This is only a temporary arrangement. The locker system will be in place only until end of January. The main reason is the start of term rush for books and texts,” Mr. Bin Hafaiz, a store personnel said.

“While dealing with a large number of students, both graduates and undergraduates, it is necessary to be well organised and more efficient. This helps us ensure safety of their personal belongings,” he added.

“While there might be some inconveniences, this system helps us assist the students better,” Mr. Joel K. M., another store representative mentioned.

He elaborated, “With limited spaces and high stacks of books piled everywhere, there is chaos when the store is packed to the maximum. People walking in with big bags just add to the congestion.”

“Now with the lockers in place and the queue system where people are served in turn, we are able to get through the student’s demands in a more systematic manner and the store as such functions better. And it saves both our time and the customer’s,” he concluded.

Himavad Gopal, a second-year electrical engineering student said, “Last semester the store was really crammed and it took me ages to find what I wanted. This is a definite improvement.”

Akshita Ganesh, a first-year student from Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences said, “Though it may seem more practical it is a bit of a nuisance. I had to leave my bags in a locker and forgot my booklist was in there,”

“Also, it is difficult to browse through titles with my mobile and purse in one hand,” she added.

Zac Suresh, a first-year mechanical engineering undergraduate feels “It is fine they are taking measures to prevent shop theft considering the fact the forum sells expensive books, even if it may be a little inconvenient.”

“But a more proficient and less cumbersome method would be to mimic the screening procedure followed in the library,” he added.

Vani Goyal, a first-year undergraduate from the School of Computing said, “I guess security is important. It is better to face a little inconvenience than lose anything valuable.”

$10,000 Grant Awarded to NUS Researcher

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

Dr. Tang Kok Zuea has been awarded a grant for his research on the development of an intelligent physiotherapy system on Jan. 13.

The grant was awarded by the Mitsui Sumitomo Insurance Welfare Foundation (MSIWF), part of the Mitsui Sumitomo Insurance Group (MSIG).

Dr. Tang is from the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering in the National University of Singapore (NUS).

Fellow co-researchers involved are Dr. Huang Sunan, Dr. Lee Tong Heng and Dr. Tan Kok Kiong from the NUS Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering.

Dr. Tang’s research project is aimed at helping senior citizens ease the process of physiotherapy by developing a low cost and portable physiotherapy system.

The proposed system will have a programmable therapy routine that can be customized by a physiotherapist to cater to the patient directly.

In addition, there are no additional probes that need to be attached to the patients, thereby making the system easier to use and lower its cost.

Dr. Tang’s system will serve as an innovative apparatus for physiotherapy applications of proven medical utility for senior citizens and the handicapped.

A total of 48 grants were awarded this year with a combined value of JPY 42.6 million (SGD $7 million) by MSIWF, of which four awardees were from Singapore.

The grants awarded to Singaporean researchers had a value of SGD$ 10,000 each.

Two of the awardees from Singapore are from the Nanyang Technological University (NTU).

Their research works were about the design and development of mobility assistive systems for senior citizens and promoting exercise and healthy food consumption respectively.

Three of the projects from Singapore were related to the elderly while the other was on traffic safety.

MSIWF, which was founded by the MSIG in Japan, provides grants for research projects and facilities, and awards for academic papers in two areas.

These are Traffic Safety and Senior Citizen Welfare.

The grants and awards are targeted at budding researchers who need funding for their work if they encounter difficulties receiving aid from public organizations.

Despite the current economic downturn, MSIWF continues to practice Corporate Social Responsibility and give back to the community by the provision of grants to budding researchers, said Mr. Alan Wilson, CEO of MSIG Holdings (Asia)

Jan 2008 was the first year that the grant was extended to researchers outside of Japan.

MSIWF has provided 1572 awardees with grants amounting to about JPY1,967 million (SGD$ 33 million) since 1975.