Prof Su Guaning steps down as President of NTU

So after 8 rather tumultous years, Prof Su Guaning steps down as President of NTU.

It seems not to have been an easy time for him managing the transition between the past and the future. I guess it never is. But NTU has always seemed like it lacked the ability to learn from the 'mistakes' NUS made during her transition. It had clearly been a painful process for the NUS, and NTU proceeding half a step behind could have avoided some of the pitfalls that NUS appeared to have made, but somehow it did not, and in the process, generated a lot of unnecessary heat and heartaches.

Not a good thing when you want to cultivate supportive alumni.

So I wish the new President, Prof Bertil Andersson all the best, though I am not too hopeful as he seems to have developed a reputation for being far more brutal and cold in his approach towards academic excellence; perhaps good for university rankings, but not necessarily best for students and staff.

Do we need to be concerned that 3 out the 4 local universities have foreign Prezzies? Nahhh....It's not a big deal. Locals are not necessarily more considerate of local cultures and needs, since they can be just as cold and heartless in their pursuit of institutional KPIs.

I am actually far more concerned that all 4 of our varsities have missions to be at the top of their league. This is not necessarily a bad thing, but it means we will have no universities that cater to the average students who do not necessarily want to be Nobel Prize winners. Take for example, the medical schools we have. If all of our 2 + 1 medical schools strive to train clinical researchers par excellence, then who will train good doctors; doctors who care, but do not necessarily win academic awards, and chase fame and fortune?