Life @NUS

PGPR

For housing, I received a Type C room with no AC in LightHouse in Prince George’s Park Residence (PGPR). PGPR is known to be in “forest” and have a more independent living style. The student life is not as intense as the Halls (i.e. Sheares, Kent Ridge, etc.). Depending on where your classes are, PGPR may be farther away from the central part of campus. I really like the location of PGPR because it is a 15-20 minute walk to my classes at the business school and Kent Ridge MRT. The buses also run right in front of PGPR making it really convenient.

Since LightHouse is a new type of residence structure, my room was a newly renovated single. PGPR is divided up into blocks, so LightHouse composes blocks 26-30. The even blocks (26, 28, and 30) have AC. The majority of rooms in PGPR are single rooms with shared bathrooms and kitchens/lounges. Each floor has about 15 residents who share 4 toilets and 3 showers. Some rooms have en-suite bathrooms but most of those rooms were reserved for quarantine. The communal bathrooms and kitchens are cleaned everyday. Depending on what floor you live on, your floor may have either a kitchen or a lounge. My floor has a kitchen; we can items in the designated basket of our fridge, freezer (undesignated), and lockable cabinet. We also have a shared stove, microwave, toaster, and kettle. If you are on a floor with a lounge, my floor head said that the floor shares a kitchen with the adjoining block. The lounge is open for anyone in the block to use and has AC, tables, and a TV. Each block will have two RA’s and every floor will have a floor head you can contact if you have any issues. LightHosue also has a master, assistant manager, senior executive, and resident fellows.

Laundry is located in Block 29 and shared by all four LightHouse blocks. There are two dollar coin washers and dryers. They other six washers and 3 dryers only accept NETS payment by card or cashless QR code payment (i.e. NETS, PayLah, etc.). You can hang dry your items in the laundry room too. There is also a water station located in the basement. Most people just leave their clothes in there, set a timer, and come back when it is done. If you do not come back on time, people may take your laundry out of the washer or dry and place it on top and put their laundry inside. Laundry can get pretty busy so I recommend trying to wash and dry clothes in the morning while people are in class if you can.

PGPR is one of the few residences on campus that does not have a compulsory meal plan. Instead, PGPR has a canteen with a few different stall too choose from (Chicken Rice, Fish Soup, Mala Hot Pot, Mixed Vegetable Rice, Magic Dough, Convenience Corner (serves breakfast too), Western, and Korean), SuperSnacks, and MyVillage. MyVillage also has a AI convenient store and self-serve snack place called Rice & Stuff. Most of the canteen stalls serve meals for about $3-6 SGD.

Other things about LightHouse & PGPR

· Join your residence’s Telegram channel to stay updated on events, news, and announcements. You can also see upcoming events for your residence’s interest groups.

· People leave their shower supplies in the bathroom (you can also do this if you would like)

· Visiting hours 7 am – 11 pm

· 24 hr security at PGPR

· Can rent our music rooms, study spaces, and other facilities

· Gym

· Ask for a physical key. The mobile key is very finicky and does not work all the time. Sometimes it takes me 10+ tries to get into the building and my room. The hostel office will not give a key unless you request one and your mobile key does not work.

· Be careful walking around when it rains. The ground is super slippery and people fall down all the time.

Courses

Classes are different from UHM and Shidler courses due to the course structure. NUS has seminars, lectures, and tutorial style modules. Most modules will be composed of a two-hour lecture and a weekly one-hour tutorial or bi-weekly two-hour tutorial. Seminars are about three hours long and meet once a week. I took a module from each of these learning modes. Courses typically end about 15 minutes before the scheduled time (i.e. if the class is 10 am – 12 pm it will end at 11:45 am). If you plan to take courses back to back be sure to check the class location because 15 minutes may not be enough time to get to your next course.

Course grading is also based on a bell curve, so depending on how well everyone else does in the course, you will not know your grade until the end of the semester. Most course syllabi will not have a grading scale because of this policy. NUS grades on a 5.0 system instead of 4.0 scale, so your grades may look different from what you are used to.

Depending on your faculty and courses you take, it may be difficult to find tutoring services. Instead of offering student resources and a Learning Assistance Center like UHM, NUS mainly does office hours. This means, if you need help, you will need to make an appointment with your professor to discuss any questions you may have. However, NUS Library Services offers writing and communication assistance.

Transportation

Depending on your hostel, you may need to take the NUS bus to get to get around campus. The NUS campus is quite large and it may take you 20 minutes to get from your dorm to class or the MRT station. Peak bus hours are around 9:30 am – 10:30 am and 4:00 pm - 5:00 pm. Sometimes busses may be very full that they will not stop at unrequested stops because they cannot accommodate for more passengers. Some students also bike around campus.

Food

There are multiple non-AC and AC canteens, restaurants, and cafes scattered throughout campus. If you have a meal plan, you will receive breakfast and dinner 6 days a week. There are also a lot of beverage and food vending machines around campus that you can purchase snacks, sandwiches, salad, drinks, etc. from.

Apps

Singapore uses a lot of apps so make sure you have enough space and data to download them!

NUS Apps

1. uNivUS (almost all in one)

2. NUS Mobile Key (digital key to get into your dorm/residence area)

3. NUS Card (digital NUS ID card)

4. NUS NextBus (check bus routes)

5. LumiNUS (course information)

6. Canvas (course information)

7. NUS Smart Dining (pre-order food from various canteens)

8. NUS Hostel Dining (meal plan)

9. Zoom (for online modules)

10. Pick&Go CS (myVillage AI store)

Communication

1. Telegram

2. WhatsApp

Ride Hailing & Delivery Service Apps

1. Grab (like Uber & Uber eats, can also be used for shopping and payment)

2. CDG Zig (taxi & food)

3. Gojek

4. FoodPanda (food delivery)

Singapore Government Apps

1. Singpass (Digital Singapore ID)

2. HealthHub

3. TraceTogether

4. SafeEntry

Navigation

1. City Mapper, Moovit, Google, and/or Apple Maps

2. SG MRT (static SG MRT map)

Banking

1. DBS digibank

2. DBS PayLah!

3. NETSPay

Shopping

1. Carousell (kinda like eBay)

2. Shopee (like Amazon)

3. Lazada (like Amazon)

Events & Activities

1. Peatrix

2. Eventbrite

3. Gardens by the Bay

4. iChangi

Other

1. hi!App (Singtel)

2. Xe (currency exchange rates)