A gruelling 14 hours on a Saturday morning. That is how long it took for a group of 60-odd student leaders and observers to nominate, grill and elect candidates to form the 34th NUSSU Executive Committee (EXCO). Many have criticised NUSSU as an unrepresentative student body lacking mandate and the voter turnout statistics for the internal elections held by the constituent clubs seem to bear out this truth. I confess that despite being a Year 3 student, this was my first time at a NUSSU election and, then, only because I had a vested interest to cover this event for the sake of students who could not attend the event. However, what I soon realised was that despite voter apathy, these representatives take the elections very seriously. Even uncontested positions require a 2/3 vote of confidence from the NUSSU Council made up of elected representatives from the various constituent clubs.
The 7 “constitutional positions” that were being filled during this election were the office of the President, Vice-President, General Secretary, Assistant Secretary, Financial Secretary, Communications Secretary and Welfare Secretary. Perception surveys done by the Public Relations Unit (PRU) in NUSSU suggests that a majority of students are still unaware of what NUSSU does. Anyone interested in finding out should go to NUSSU Website to read their constitution (http://www.nussu.org.sg/downloadspage/nussu-constitution). In a nutshell, there are 2 main groups of people who should be concerned with who gets elected into NUSSU: people who need funds to run their activities as part of their clubs and societies and people concerned about whether the welfare of students is being considered. For those who are unaware, each NUS student pays a compulsory $24 as subscription fees to NUSSU and should be concerned about how their $24 is being managed and spent.
The first position to be contested was the office of the President. Two candidates, Goh Ren Kai (Year 3, Economics) and Clovis Tan (Year 3, E. Commerce) staked their claim on why they should be President of the 34th NUSSU EXCO. It was often difficult to differentiate the two candidates. Each of them had significant experience in leadership positions both within their respective faculty clubs as well as in NUSSU EXCO. For example, Ren Kai is the outgoing Director of Marketing in the 33rd NUSSU EXCO while Clovis was the Director of Internal Relations / Director of Alumni Relations, also in the 33rd NUSSU EXCO. Both talked about ways to reach out and raise awareness of NUSSU within the larger student population. Ren Kai proposed a series of Town Hall meetings and emphasized that NUSSU was “more than a student organisation” while Clovis described a vision of “a union we can call ours”.
Perhaps, the only difference between the two candidates was their response to how they would deal with the potential scenario of not having a Welfare Secretary. In the run-up to the NUSSU Elections, nobody had indicated their interest in running for the position of Welfare Secretary. Ren Kai stated that if he was not elected President, he would not run for the position of Welfare Secretary but would help the Welfare Cell in collaboration with the two Assistant Welfare Secretaries. On the other hand, Clovis admitted that he had thought about running for the position of Welfare Secretary and would do so if not successful in his bid for the Presidency. Additionally, he repeatedly emphasized during his presentation that he sees “welfare as fronting most of the union’s efforts”. In the end, this difference may have proved decisive as Ren Kai won out during the voting by a mere 5 votes (4 void, 24 for Ren Kai and 19 for Clovis).
It is not surprising then, that Clovis was eventually nominated to be the Welfare Secretary. Inevitably, the question was asked whether he could work well with Ren Kai given his loss in his bid to be President.
“The competition [with Ren Kai] is something in the past… I don’t see that as a hindrance to our working relationship,” said Clovis, assuring all the present members of the NUSSU Council.
What really impressed me throughout the elections was the rigor of the question-and-answer sessions. Though many of those present knew the candidates in their own personal capacity, the interrogation was relentless. Queries ranged from “what are the top 3 things you would change about the previous policies of the outgoing cell” to “why should we vote for you over the other candidate?” The long contest was, in large part, due to the extensive questioning. Nevertheless, as Ren Kai commented during his nomination presentation, ” [there are] many more observers [at this year’s elections], so that’s a good thing.” The dilemma is that the more observers there are, the longer future elections are likely to be. However, for those who are genuinely concerned with the quality of student leadership in NUS, this is probably a happy problem.
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Short of going through all 14 hours of the elections, here are some choice quotes:
On his plans for the Union, Goh Ren Kai:
“I’m not starting a 10 year plan, I’m just continuing what somebody has started.”
On the need to engage student interest groups, Soh Yi Da:
“I’ve always looked to SMU, they have so many interest groups … sprouting like mushrooms.”
On his personal strengths, Wilson Deng:
“I am an honest person … and I have a sense of duty.”
On his inexperience, Ang Wei Xiang:
“I do not have EXCO knowledge but I’m willing to learn… [but] I have external experience”
Note: Wei Xiang is one of only two Year 2s that formed the 34th NUSSU EXCO.
On subscription fees, Cassandra Soh:
“I definitely don’t think that there is a need to increase [subscription fees] … it’s paradoxical [for the students] to be paying for welfare.”
On methods of publicity, Gladys Yeo:
“I would like to explore unconventional publicity … like flash mobs – low cost, high impact.”
On what welfare means, Clovis Tan:
“Welfare is not [about] pampering the students. the quantum [of welfare packs] is not to please the students but because we want to give back to the students.”
And so these are your elected representatives for the 34th NUSSU EXCO:
1. President – Goh Ren Kai (Year 3, Economics)
2. Vice-President – Soh Yi Da (Year 3, Political Science)
3. General Secretary – Wilson Deng (Year 4, Political Science)
4. Assistant Secretary – Ang Wei Xiang (Year 2, Psychology)
5. Financial Secretary – Cassandra Soh (Year 3, Life Science)
6. Communications Secretary – Gladys Yeo (Year 2, Life Science)
7. Student Welfare Secretary – Clovis Tan (Year 3, E. Commerce)
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For more details:
Watch video recordings of the elections via the Union’s Facebook Group:
http://www.facebook.com/nus.students.union
In addition, for more information related to NUSSU elections (eg. standing order), you can visit: http://www.nussu.org.sg/elections/