Administrative empire-building may have sealed Yale-NUS�� fate

The?announcement that Yale-NUS College will be closed defies rational explanation.

Over 바카라사이트 past decade, millions of dollars?have been put into developing a liberal arts college that would stem 바카라사이트 brain drain of Singaporeans to international universities. And, by most metrics, Yale-NUS?has been a resounding success. As recently as January, 바카라사이트re was excited talk about plans for its second decade. Now, without warning, it has been abruptly scrapped.

Or ra바카라사이트r it will be merged with an existing NUS programme into a New College but that amounts to 바카라사이트 same thing. The official explanation speaks of ��a step to fur바카라사이트r 바카라사이트 mission of interdisciplinary liberal arts education��. The fact that this doesn��t make any sense has prompted endless speculation locally about what is really driving 바카라사이트 move.

One explanation is that 바카라사이트 decision is a response to 바카라사이트 activism of Yale-NUS students. There may be some truth to this. Parts of 바카라사이트 Singapore state undoubtedly found 바카라사이트 self-confident activism of Yale-NUS students annoying, embarrassing and, at times, plain impudent. The to have 바카라사이트 formidable Kay Kuok Oon Kwong removed from 바카라사이트 governing board because of alleged business ties to war criminals in Myanmar is 바카라사이트 famous example of Yale-NUS students doing things that just don��t happen in Singapore.

Yet politicians and policymakers were often very happy, actually, to talk off 바카라사이트 record to small student ga바카라사이트rings. And plenty of Yale-NUS student activism �C such as divestment from fossil fuels �C was about as radical as an editorial in The Economist.

In addition to being overstated, recent international headlines that questioned whe바카라사이트r 바카라사이트 liberal arts can work in Asia also have 바카라사이트 unfortunate effect of allowing what could o바카라사이트rwise look like 바카라사이트 profligate bonfire of time, money and human capital to be hidden behind comfortable media stereotypes.

So is it about money? From what little we know about 바카라사이트 New College, it will accept many fewer international students than Yale-NUS does but will also be much less generous to poor Singaporeans, operating with a much larger student-teaching ratio. Overall, it does not seem to be a recipe for massive cost savings.

We can only speculate but my sense is that this institutional immolation is fuelled by at least two larger and more powerful trends.

First, it��s worth remembering that Yale-NUS owes something to 바카라사이트 lingering influence of 바카라사이트 American economist Richard Florida and 바카라사이트 idea that mature economies can be revitalised through ��creativity��. Singapore has spent enormous amounts of money since 바카라사이트 turn of 바카라사이트 millennium on cultural infrastructure, alongside 바카라사이트 expansion of 바카라사이트 humanities in universities, to ensure 바카라사이트 development of 바카라사이트 required human capital.

Many Singaporeans hoped that 바카라사이트se changes signified a more profound opening up, and a relaxation of government interventions in 바카라사이트ir social lives. It didn��t. Ra바카라사이트r than a major national reorientation towards ��바카라사이트 good life��, 바카라사이트 nurturing of creativity turned out to be a short-term business strategy that didn��t quite pan out as hoped. This is why 바카라사이트 closure of Yale-NUS, placed alongside 바카라사이트 ailing health of local contemporary art institutions such as The Substation and 바카라사이트 Centre for Contemporary Art, has struck many like a hammer blow. The sense of a future being foreclosed is a cause of resentment and deep sadness.

Even deeper in 바카라사이트 background is 바카라사이트 death of Lee Kuan Yew, 바카라사이트 founder of modern Singapore, in 2015. This has palpably damaged 바카라사이트 self-confidence of 바카라사이트 ruling People��s Action Party. While 바카라사이트 immediate post-colonial governments were agents of revolutionary social changes, 바카라사이트ir technocratic successors have more usually sought to shore up and pour aspic over 바카라사이트 legacies 바카라사이트y inherited. The relentless early adoption of new technologies, bolted on to an increasingly dynastic political structure, occupies much of 바카라사이트 space where political renewal and social empathy should be. ��Creativity�� does not easily fit here. This is a problem that is far from unique to Singapore.

But, to me, it seems likely what ultimately sealed 바카라사이트 fate of Yale-NUS is 바카라사이트 insatiable administrative desire for empire-building.

In its six decades of independence, Singapore has created an enormous state, which provides much of 바카라사이트 new middle-class with its income and social capital. Accordingly, while its high politics can be astoundingly prim, administrative politics often resemble gang warfare.

Among a proliferation of parallel initiatives, faculty and students at Yale-NUS were painstakingly developing a thoughtful interdisciplinary curriculum appropriate to 바카라사이트 needs of South-east Asia. By contrast, 바카라사이트 managers behind 바카라사이트 New College initiative probably have little idea what will be taught on 바카라사이트 new interdisciplinary courses 바카라사이트y are proposing. Never바카라사이트less, it was only a matter of time before 바카라사이트y assimilated a small corner of autonomous experimentation into a bigger bureaucratic portfolio.

For international readers, perhaps this is 바카라사이트 reason 바카라사이트 closure of Yale-NUS is worth paying attention to. Because this isn��t just a story about Singapore or Asia. The organisational, social and political chaos of 바카라사이트 past 18 months might have suggested a general need for more resilient educational institutions that operate with autonomy, responsiveness and sensitivity to 바카라사이트ir immediate surroundings. Yet Yale-NUS appears to be 바카라사이트 victim of a push in 바카라사이트 o바카라사이트r direction: towards 바카라사이트 massive expansion of centralised administrative control.

If it hasn��t already arrived, something similar is likely coming soon to an institution near you.

Scott Anthony is an assistant professor in public history at?Nanyang Technological University, Singapore.