Is NUS Watching You?
Text: Yip Wai Yan
Last semester, fourth-year National University of Singapore undergraduate Anokhi Vakil had her laptop stolen from one of the campus’s common study areas. Just two months later, a man trespassed into her dormitory bathroom and spied on her while she was showering.
Although Singapore is ranked eighth in the world in terms of personal safety by Mercer’s 2011 Quality of Living Survey, it is clear the country is not without crime. NUS, too, has faced reported cases of theft, unlawful alcohol consumption in dormitories and vandalism of school property.
In response to these acts, NUS is increasing its network of closed-circuit television.
Tan Hock Seng, deputy director of the Office of Campus Security, said his organisation has so far installed 740 cameras in exterior public spaces around NUS, such as car parks and around the peripherals of buildings. This figure does not include the additional cameras that other university management groups have installed along hallways and inside classrooms and elevators.
The cameras have been useful in helping campus security capture the culprits of such offences. The trespasser in Vakil’s residential hall, for example, was eventually identified by playing back the dormitory’s CCTV footage.
However, the pervasiveness of surveillance cameras has also raised privacy concerns and fears that NUS is becoming an increasingly watched society.
Chen Hui Ling, a fourth-year resident staying in Kuok Foundation House, said she is uncomfortable with the number of surveillance cameras in her dormitory. “I’m quite unlucky because I got a corner room so all the hallway cameras point directly at my door. I feel like I’m being watched each time I enter and exit as if I am breaking into my own room,” Chen said. “I don’t know how NUS uses the information they collect from the cameras and I would be pretty nervous if they decided to install even more CCTVs.”
Anna Holmes, a fifth-year law exchange student from the University of Western Australia, said the CCTV network in NUS is much denser compared to the one at her home university. “I feel like I see cameras pointing at me from every angle all the time. I am almost surprised there is not one in my bedroom!” she said.
Holmes said she did not understand why there were cameras installed in the laundry rooms and kitchens in her dormitory. “Like Singapore, there is no right to privacy recognised in the common law in Australia, but I feel my home university is better in terms of protecting individual privacy,” she said. “I don’t see the need to watch students doing their laundry or cooking. Sometimes I think NUS has gone a little over the top with its surveillance.”
Last semester, fourth-year National University of Singapore undergraduate Anokhi Vakil had her laptop stolen from one of the campus’s common study areas. Just two months later, a man trespassed into her dormitory bathroom and spied on her while she was showering.
Although Singapore is ranked eighth in the world in terms of personal safety by Mercer’s 2011 Quality of Living Survey, it is clear the country is not without crime. NUS, too, has faced reported cases of theft, unlawful alcohol consumption in dormitories and vandalism of school property.
In response to these acts, NUS is increasing its network of closed-circuit television.
Tan Hock Seng, deputy director of the Office of Campus Security, said his organisation has so far installed 740 cameras in exterior public spaces around NUS, such as car parks and around the peripherals of buildings. This figure does not include the additional cameras that other university management groups have installed along hallways and inside classrooms and elevators.
The cameras have been useful in helping campus security capture the culprits of such offences. The trespasser in Vakil’s residential hall, for example, was eventually identified by playing back the dormitory’s CCTV footage.
However, the pervasiveness of surveillance cameras has also raised privacy concerns and fears that NUS is becoming an increasingly watched society.
Chen Hui Ling, a fourth-year resident staying in Kuok Foundation House, said she is uncomfortable with the number of surveillance cameras in her dormitory. “I’m quite unlucky because I got a corner room so all the hallway cameras point directly at my door. I feel like I’m being watched each time I enter and exit as if I am breaking into my own room,” Chen said. “I don’t know how NUS uses the information they collect from the cameras and I would be pretty nervous if they decided to install even more CCTVs.”
Anna Holmes, a fifth-year law exchange student from the University of Western Australia, said the CCTV network in NUS is much denser compared to the one at her home university. “I feel like I see cameras pointing at me from every angle all the time. I am almost surprised there is not one in my bedroom!” she said.
Holmes said she did not understand why there were cameras installed in the laundry rooms and kitchens in her dormitory. “Like Singapore, there is no right to privacy recognised in the common law in Australia, but I feel my home university is better in terms of protecting individual privacy,” she said. “I don’t see the need to watch students doing their laundry or cooking. Sometimes I think NUS has gone a little over the top with its surveillance.”
Not all students, however, believe the NUS CCTV network is excessive. In fact, some even feel the university should increase its campus surveillance efforts.
Nirmalya Kundu, a fourth-year engineering undergraduate who was awarded a Certificate of Commendation by the Clementi Police Division for capturing a sexual harasser near the NUS Central Library, said there needs to be more surveillance cameras on campus.
“We take safety for granted in NUS and are unaware of dangerous people, especially at night when girls jog alone around school,” Kundu said. “At the time I caught the molester attacking the girl, I just happened to be walking by the area back to my dorm after staying up late to study. Otherwise, nobody would have seen them because it was in the middle of the night and there were no lights.”
Kundu suggested installing more surveillance cameras in less populated and less brightly lit areas, such as behind buildings and in the park behind the Central Library.
Office of Campus Security Deputy Director Tan said there are plans to expand the CCTV network but factors limit this process.
“Firstly, there is always a case of cost and budget. Secondly, OCS has to consider that there is another camp that lobbies for students’ privacy,” he said. “The management of dormitories, for example, often argues against placing cameras in residential hallways as this supposedly intrudes on students’ personal space.”
Vakil, the victim of laptop theft and voyeurism, said personal safety should always outweigh privacy issues.
“Security shouldn’t be compromised for the sake of privacy,” she said. “Study rooms, kitchens and hallways of dormitories are public spaces so people should not have anything to hide. It makes sense to install cameras in such areas because there are always cases of theft and peeping toms in girls’ bathrooms.”
Vakil added, “Maybe I am more aware of the need to have CCTV surveillance compared to other students because I personally experienced such incidents.”
Tan said the OCS tries its best to balance these divergent views on privacy and security. “The line between public spaces and perceived private spaces is quite blurry, especially in residential halls. We try not to cross this boundary but it is of course not easy to please every party and their different interests.”
Regardless of when and how the CCTV system will grow, Tan said students should remember that surveillance cameras are not entirely dependable tools for ensuring safety on campus.
“CCTV cameras are indispensible but can only do so much to help prevent crime, so I advise students to take steps to protect themselves,” Tan said.
“Students should be more aware of their surroundings and not simply leave their belongings unattended. I also advise students to study in groups at night. NUS is an open campus and unwanted characters can easily enter but surveillance cameras may not detect who these individuals are.”
Tags: feature
Nirmalya Kundu, a fourth-year engineering undergraduate who was awarded a Certificate of Commendation by the Clementi Police Division for capturing a sexual harasser near the NUS Central Library, said there needs to be more surveillance cameras on campus.
“We take safety for granted in NUS and are unaware of dangerous people, especially at night when girls jog alone around school,” Kundu said. “At the time I caught the molester attacking the girl, I just happened to be walking by the area back to my dorm after staying up late to study. Otherwise, nobody would have seen them because it was in the middle of the night and there were no lights.”
Kundu suggested installing more surveillance cameras in less populated and less brightly lit areas, such as behind buildings and in the park behind the Central Library.
Office of Campus Security Deputy Director Tan said there are plans to expand the CCTV network but factors limit this process.
“Firstly, there is always a case of cost and budget. Secondly, OCS has to consider that there is another camp that lobbies for students’ privacy,” he said. “The management of dormitories, for example, often argues against placing cameras in residential hallways as this supposedly intrudes on students’ personal space.”
Vakil, the victim of laptop theft and voyeurism, said personal safety should always outweigh privacy issues.
“Security shouldn’t be compromised for the sake of privacy,” she said. “Study rooms, kitchens and hallways of dormitories are public spaces so people should not have anything to hide. It makes sense to install cameras in such areas because there are always cases of theft and peeping toms in girls’ bathrooms.”
Vakil added, “Maybe I am more aware of the need to have CCTV surveillance compared to other students because I personally experienced such incidents.”
Tan said the OCS tries its best to balance these divergent views on privacy and security. “The line between public spaces and perceived private spaces is quite blurry, especially in residential halls. We try not to cross this boundary but it is of course not easy to please every party and their different interests.”
Regardless of when and how the CCTV system will grow, Tan said students should remember that surveillance cameras are not entirely dependable tools for ensuring safety on campus.
“CCTV cameras are indispensible but can only do so much to help prevent crime, so I advise students to take steps to protect themselves,” Tan said.
“Students should be more aware of their surroundings and not simply leave their belongings unattended. I also advise students to study in groups at night. NUS is an open campus and unwanted characters can easily enter but surveillance cameras may not detect who these individuals are.”
Tags: feature