LAI FENG JUN & CHARISSA LU
Associate Editors

If you’re in school on a Saturday and the air-conditioning in Block B ceases to function in the later part of the day, there’s no need to viciously jab at the controller or to go running to the maintenance crew for help. It’s just one of the measures that the school has introduced to reduce the electricity bill.

While the school budget has not been reduced in light of the current recession, the Faculty is actively managing costs to ensure that in the event of a budget cut, the school’s programmes will not be unduly affected. The Staff are also setting the example, with air-conditioning in their offices turned off for the whole day on Saturdays. Viewing these changes cheerfully, Assistant Professor Wee Meng Seng said, “This has made it uncomfortable for a few of us who come in regularly on Saturday to work, but we understand and support the measures, which are also good to protect the environment.”

The C J Koh Law Library is also likely to be affected. Before the recession even hit, there was already a cut in the AY 08/09 acquisition budget for the C J Koh Law Library. The Principal Librarian, Mrs. Kwok-Foo Yan Chuin, said that she was unsure whether the recession would affect the Library’s acquisition budget this year as it has yet to be allocated. However, she said that the Library “expect[s] a reduced budget in view of the overall poor economic environment.”

Nonetheless, while one would imagine that the most commonly employed cost-cutting measure is downsizing, the Faculty’s policy suggests otherwise. In fact, Dean of the faculty, Professor Tan Cheng Han, is of the view that now would be a good time to hire. He explained, “Other law schools may have to reduce their recruitment, thereby giving us a wider pool of candidates to choose from.”

While prudent in its spending, it seems that the Faculty does not see the need to employ any major cost-cutting measures yet. The students themselves are also not spending less on their educational experience. According to Professor Kumaralingam Amirthalingam, Vice Dean (International Programmes), the number of students applying for exchange has not seen a decrease. There were 150 applications to go on exchange in AY09/10, which is comparable to the figures for AY 08/09.

Perhaps the recession has yet to truly hit our second home.