The Deck overwhelmed by rain; flooding in some areas

Lim Chen Guo | u0601220@nus.edu.sg

Sep. 1, 2007

I am almost certain that you will agree to my saying that the entire Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences (FASS) population was looking forward to the opening of the newly built and “ATAS” Arts Canteen (a.k.a The Deck). No more long travels to other canteens, or have our luncheons under the tent age at the car park facilities outside Lecture Theatre 11 (LT 11). The situation becomes stickier when rain begins to lash mercilessly on students sitting at the edge of the makeshift café.

So herald in the new Deck! The state-of-the-art architecture, the luxury of the air-conditioned second storey with Burger King and the spacious environment provide a better location to have lunch after a hard morning of academia pursuits. But it all fell apart when the rain lashed mercilessly, once again.

While the new Deck boasts of its superior ventilation, it had nevertheless failed to keep the rain out of the premises of its shelter. As the rain and wind aligned their powers, the seats along the railings facing the Alumni Guild house and Faculty of Computing were abandoned and drenched.

As the rain continued to batter down, the Muslim stall, which was situated at the corner, was left without any customers as the rain attacked the queue of patrons. It rained relentlessly and began to take over the inner rows of tables, forcing students to evacuate tables that were being consumed by the rain.

In a span of half an hour, the rain had left a quarter of The Deck empty, and the corners of canteen began to flood. Cleaners had to sweep the water out of the crockery clearing point, evidence of the incapability of the drainage system. Not to forget, all this occurred during the busiest time - lunch hour. Most importantly, these problems had not occurred at the Old Deck. Now, after an hour of downpour, The Deck is in a bad shape.

Photos: Lim Chen Guo

That is, however, not all there is to this wet episode. Walking out of the deck towards AS 1 is a narrow covered walkway that leaks, causing a slight congestion as students lunged and maneuvered their way to avoid getting drenched.

Further down towards AS 3, water overflowed from the drainage systems onto the walkway. Another persistent problem is the incapability of the shelters along the covered walkways all around the faculty. When the downpour gets more intense, rain splatters into the shelters, damaging properties on top of drenching students.

These are just some of the problems observed during this monsoon season. I plead for attention to these matters as soon as possible before the return of the next monsoon. As heretic as the weather can become due to global warming and climate changes, the problem promises to escalate with each returning monsoon. I thereby suggest that the authorities could put in place supplementary installations such as retractable shelter to reinforce the existing shelter. In addition, drainage systems of the school could be covered with concrete slabs so as to prevent the overflowing of the water.

Therefore at this point, while the problems remained unresolved, I can only search for other alternatives. Rihana’s umbrella perhaps? Ella Ella Eh Eh Eh…

The Chief Editor appreciates Mr. Lim’s initiative in providing this article, and encourages university administrators to handle the issue more proactively, including providing a covered walkway between the bus stop and the Arts Forum.

“Atas” Arts Canteen

Tan Tze How Kelvin | tzehow@nus.edu.sg
The Ridge News
A NUSSU Publication

July 11, 2007

Students can expect to see new food outlets like Burger King, Lerk Thai and Olio Dome at the renovated “The Deck” located at the Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences.

Opening on August 13, 2007, the highlight of the new canteen is the air-conditioned “atas” dining area where the three new food outlets are.

After eight months of renovation, the (new) Deck will provide about 1,250 seats, up from the 966 seats previously. Ventilation is enhanced with the design of high ceilings. According to the Office of Estate and Development (OED), all 13 previous vendors will be back in full force.

The new canteen is also “more than just a place to dine.”

Gary Png, deputy director of OED, told The Ridge that the new canteen is designed for “students to do project discussion and chit-chat.”

Movable seats are installed at the al-fresco dining, and sofa sets will also be placed on the second floor dining area. The designs will increase flexibility of students’ movement within the canteen.

Dining, Retail and Housing Manager, Ong Sock Hwee said that the designs and planning are the result of working with the canteen vendors, NUS Students’ Union and the feedback from students.

“We do take into account students’ point of view,” she said.

Atas in Singlish means high-class. The term is derived from its meaning in Malay – upstairs.

extension of car park hours a problem?

Dear Editor,

I don’t own a car, but I do get to drive the family car. I study in the library during weekends thus park at carpark infront of Eusof Hall.

During weekends, not many cars are in that carpark. Even in the carpark infront of AS7 (which is charging at $0.08/min now), there are only a few cars. It is stated that “this revision will also enable more season parking passes to be made available for staff and students”
(http://www.nus.edu.sg/oed/services/csd/transportation/krcParking/index.htm)

Staff and students who apply season parking park in campus during working hours, thus I am unable to see how does the extension of operation hours help in this way. All in all, is the extension of hours during weekdays and charging during Saturday necessary and beneficial for NUS/NUS staff/NUS student?

Yours Sincerely,
Hong Si Min
Undergraduate of NUS