ASPIRATIONS, ACTIVISM, AND EVERYDAY PRACTICES OF CITIZENSHIP: STUDENT LIFE AT NANYANG UNIVERSITY, 1956-1963

Abstract

In popular narratives and scholarship, Nanyang University has been strongly associated with Chinese chauvinism and left-wing student activism since its beginnings in the late 1950s. Given the circumstances, my thesis seeks to situate the students’ conspicuous practices of activism within their broader life at Nanyang University from 1956 to 1963 by examining how life on campus has shaped their understandings of citizenship and vice-versa. By that, I am referring to the students’ interpretations of their role as members of a decolonising and soon-to-be independent Singapore (and Malaya) and how these are manifested in their daily life. Drawing upon student publications, along with oral history interviews and newspaper articles, I aim to make the case that the students’ activism should be viewed in light of their educational and extracurricular experiences. Their academic pursuits are interlinked with their duty to contribute to society, as well as, to facilitate the creation of a Malayan consciousness. Ultimately, it hopes to offer a more comprehensive picture of Nantah where the students, as multi-faceted individuals, occupy centre stage.