NUS students paid to educate tourists on etiquette on campus, lead guided tours

SINGAPORE: The National University of Singapore (NUS) will pay 40 students to take on part-time jobs in educating tourists on etiquette on campus and lead guided tours, said the university on Wednesday (Aug 14). 
In an email seen by CNA following a spate of complaints online about badly behaved tourists at the NUS campus, the university told students that it would pilot a two-month initiative, from Aug 5 to Sep 30, involving undergraduates trained as NUS student ambassadors. 
They will be paid under the NUS student work scheme and are on duty during working hours on weekdays at the Stephen Riady Centre, said NUS in the email signed by Associate Professor Daniel Goh, associate provost for undergraduate education.
These student ambassadors will “conduct forays” to befriend smaller groups of tourists or speak to large groups led by independent guides to educate them on visitor guidelines and etiquette, said NUS. 
They will also lead guided tours around University Town, or UTown, a hub in the university that combines residential spaces, teaching facilities and study clusters. These tours can be booked by travel agents who have a Singapore Tourism Board licence. 
“The route is curated to manage tourist movements, reduce congestion and minimise disruptions,” the email read. 
The student ambassadors, dressed in teal T-shirts, have guided more than 25 tour groups and about 500 tourists in the past two weeks, said the university. 
In the past few days, numerous posts on Reddit have called for NUS to restrict tourist access to the school. The posts contain accounts of disruptive tourists who crowd out students on shuttle buses, as well as in the university’s central library and food courts. 
On Chinese social media platform Xiaohongshu, there are posts promoting paid guided tours to NUS’ UTown campus, central library and museum. 
Nanyang Technological University faced similar issues earlier this year, with students complaining about the influx of curious sightseers. 
The school later imposed an entry fee on tourists. All travel agencies planning tours to the campus must seek approval from the university, and the groups have to pre-register online and schedule visits in advance. 
“We are mindful of ensuring a conducive learning environment for our students and keeping our facilities safe and secure,” said NUS in the email on Wednesday. 
“We remind all students and staff that they are not allowed to use their card access to help visitors gain entry to restricted areas such as student residences, laboratories and classrooms.” 
Any student or staff found doing so will be subject to disciplinary action, the email read. 
Aside from the student ambassadors, NUS also detailed other measures in the email. For example, it plans to ensure that tour buses only pick up and drop off visitors at designated locations and increase the frequency of the internal shuttle buses. 
There will also be staff deployed to the UTown shuttle bus stop to ensure that staff and students are prioritised during peak hours, said NUS in the email. 
At the food courts, staff will be deployed to remind visitors to give priority to NUS staff and students during peak hours. Public access areas will also be cleaned or maintained more frequently. 
According to the university, it also plans to put up signs to inform visitors of areas that are off-limits, and where photography and filming are not permitted. There are also plans to step up ground surveillance and security to prevent trespassing. 
Fourth-year student Abel Yeow said he became aware of the complaints online about tourists visiting UTown and the area around NUS’ central library in the past few weeks. 
“Yesterday was my first day back at school after quite a while so I was a bit apprehensive about the situation,” he told CNA. 
At Kent Ridge MRT station, he saw signs announcing that the internal shuttle buses are only meant for students and staff, and that they would have to produce their NUS identification cards before boarding.
“But the operators did not request for any verification and just let anybody board the bus,” he said, adding that many tourists tried to take the crowded buses at the MRT station. 
“Even when I was alighting I think there were several Chinese tourists who were forcing their way up to the bus before waiting for any students to alight.” 
The economics student also noticed a large tour bus blocking the shuttle bus path near the central library. Increasing the frequency of shuttles may help to alleviate the situation, he added. 
Given that many students already wait to board the internal shuttles, they could miss their bus and be late for class even if just a few tourists try to board, NUS students CNA spoke to shared.
“I think that could be annoying for students. Knowing that the buses are full and yet you’ll still see people who are not NUS students on the buses,” said second-year NUS student Yang Jian Bin. 
Tourist numbers started increasing earlier this year, and the campus was “visibly” more crowded with visitors taking photos and queueing for food, he added. 
“I can understand why people might think that things are getting out of hand,” the 22-year-old political science and economics student said. 
He also understands why NUS is a popular tourist destination. “NUS is a well-known school in China and around the world …They come here and take a look at whether it’s a good fit for their children in the future.” 
The tourists are probably also not aware of the inconvenience they cause for students, said Mr Yang. 
“I think now with NUS making it clear to them what they can and what they cannot do, I think the situation would improve in time to come,” he added. 
Law student Daniel Teo said NUS’ Bukit Timah campus has mostly escaped the tourist crowds, adding that he has barely seen any. 
But when the 23-year-old visits the UTown campus on weekday afternoons to use the gym, there are many groups of tourists taking photos at the large grass patch and with the NUS signs. 
NUS has begun to take measures to prevent overcrowding, he noted.
The school held a student life fair at UTown on Wednesday, and security personnel were checking if students had their matriculation cards before they were let into the area. 
Mr Yeow pointed out that there are two types of tourists that visit the university – smaller, informal groups of families with young children and other bigger tour groups that arrive in coaches, which usually include foreign students in uniform accompanied by teachers or chaperones. 
These larger groups only started appearing more often in the past six months, he added. 
Director of business development at Hong Thai Travel, Jasmine Li told CNA that the tour agency receives requests to visit NUS and NTU mainly from Chinese families with young children or student groups. 
The agency conducts tours that include a stop at NUS in January, February, July and August.
About 15 such tours are held for each of these months, coinciding with the school holiday periods for Chinese visitors. 
They usually want to see UTown, as well as the NUS campus, environment, buildings and canteens, she said. 
Tourists also want to visit because NUS is a popular university in Asia and a “dream university” for many students, said Ms Li. 
“They want to see the greenery and beautiful campus and study environment. At the same time parents will encourage kids to study hard and one day they will be able to study in the dream university.”