Monday, September 10, 2007

A quote from desmond s blog

“Andrew Carnegie paid $64,000 to a consultant who gave him two ideas:

1. Write down what you must do today.

2. Do the most important first. ”

The school contains or rather is a nurturing haven for scholars and educators. I will not seek to undermine the academic side of the school. However, I feel that certain decisions and actions say it all about how well a school carries itself. I am putting forth a serious tone yet i feel its is justifiable.

Why, in the face of bigger and more urgent problems, did anyone choose to spend money to install a giant screen outside NTU. Are we running a live cast or turf club?Maybe something big is brewing? Perhaps a NTU-in assocation-with-PIE starlight cinema in the making?

I see it as a problem of perception. To me, a serious matter might be something trivial but common. For e.g, NTU students flood the interchange everyday, seemingly trying to break the Guiness Record for longest bus queue. If a school administrator sees and knows the issue, maybe a better response might be paying slightly more for shuttle buses to extend their services to Boon Lay, lakeside or Jurong Interchange. If need be, students can chip in extra than to create a indefinite queue everyday at the BL interchange.

Another classic example is the availability of canteens. I got a hunch that the supply of food is no longer sufficient to meet the demand of NTU humans( students-workers-professors-alike). Everyday, we queue 15-30 minutes for food. Come on, please do a URECA on the resources availability (are we stretched? overstretched? or heavily damped in resources?). Is NTU taking in people at such a fast rate that resources are not longer sufficient to justify the $6k every year in school fees.

Maybe sometimes a bottom-up approach is far superior than a top-down approach. People should starting addressing imminent problems before real packaging comes into place.

Top see down, see down no up. Down see up, cant see so high.