NUS Rag and Flag

It’s funny that I should have something to post about the NUS Rag and Flag this year, because I was not actually involved in any way. But something prompted me to write about it. Behind all the glamourous front of Rag and Flag, there is something about student behaviour that comes to light. No, it is not something dark and sinister. It’s their recklessness, indifference, and lack of civic-mindedness that I feel is unbecoming of undergraduates.

Rag and Flag is a significant event in the undergraduate calendar, and it certainly is the culmination of all their orientation activities. Sometimes you’d think it is okay to let down your hair a little, let them have some fun. But there is always the tricky thing of finding the right balance.

Take for example the noise levels. If you are going to be engaged in noisy activities, take it outdoors, particularly if it is going to go on for an extended period of time. However, for the want of free air-conditioning I suppose, some orientation groups conduct their activities inside the common areas of enclosed spaces, where many other people are working. Not just staff members who need to work, but also other research students whose calendars work differently from typical undergraduates.

The repeated reminders to lower their noise levels fell on deaf ears. I was telling my colleagues, how do you expect to contain their excitement. The nature of the activities is such that the noise is unavoidable. What is basically wanted is for the students to get out of the building.

How about safety? I saw how a fire exit door was being obstructed by tons of float building paraphernalia. This was a group trying to seek shelter from scorching sun. Sure, find a shade somewhere to work, that’s perfectly alright. But have they thought about the repercussions of blocking a fire exit door? That it is also against the law? Oh, and if they didn’t know it, surely after repeated reminders by staff members, they should surely have understood? But no, again everything just fell on deaf ears. I saw another case where a fire engine access road was obstructed (although in this instance I don’t know if they had been granted special permission to obstruct the fire engine access for their activities…).

I have not yet seen the aftermath of this year’s Rag and Flag. But in previous years, the rubbish has always been a problem. One day, it is float building paraphernalia. The next day, it is rubbish for someone else to clear.

There was one incident that I want to share. I was involved in an A&A project (i.e. renovations in layman terms). The contractor had a large dumpster to dispose of renovation debris. Really convenient, it was filled up with float building junk right after Rag day was done. The students probably cannot be bothered about it, but it does cost money to dispose of junk. The contractor complained. I tried to mediate and talked to the students in-charge of the group that built their float nearby. They denied responsibility. Okay, we weren’t about to start pulling out video surveillance and carry out forensics on rubbish. But we did have to work out some settlement with the contractor.

All these seem to reflect the mentality of a child who just wants to have the “fun” part, and expect someone else to deal with the “not fun” part. I expect this is not representative of the undergraduates in general, otherwise we would really be in trouble.

Enrolling into a university is a step toward adulthood. It is at this point that we expect undergraduates to start acting as responsible adults. Perhaps you could say orientation is too early a start. But I think there are certain things like fire safety that should never be compromised.