A story undone: Yale-NUS and the future of liberal arts in Singapore

A response to NUS president Tan Eng Chye, from three Yale-NUS alumni.

Yale-NUS College will be shut down when it is "merged" with NUS' University Scholars Programme. ST PHOTO: CHONG JUN LIANG
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SINGAPORE - In 2008, a Ministry of Education (MOE) committee proposed a bold experiment: To create the first liberal arts college in Singapore.

In a report aptly titled "Greater Choice, More Room to Excel", the committee noted that such a college should have a small cohort size and be autonomously governed. It would offer a "broad-based, multidisciplinary undergraduate programme" to help Singapore develop well-rounded, versatile individuals with a passion for inquiry and knowledge.

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