Coming home: Hall Master Lynette Tan on returning to excellence and harmony at Eusoff Hall

In this series, NUS News profiles the personalities shaping vibrant residential life and culture on campus, and how they craft a holistic residential experience that brings out the best in student residents.

As strains of ethereal music ebbed and flowed, supple dancers glided, swayed and leapt, commanding the stage in elaborate costumes. Among them was a young Dr Lynette Tan, who still has vivid memories of the night when Eusoff Hall staged its first dance production at Kallang Theatre in 1991.

Based on Kojiki – an ancient Japanese chronicle recounting the creation of the world and the Japanese islands, as well as myths and oral traditions of the nation’s history and culture – the dance-drama by student residents of the Hall at NUS was praised by The Straits Times as “a compelling interpretation”.

Some 30 years later, Dr Tan, an English Literature major, is back at Eusoff. This time, she plays an even more important role as its Hall Master.

“The students continue to be really vibrant, active and athletic, so I feel right at home here,” said the 53-year-old, who took up the post in July this year.

In many ways, she embodies the spirit of Eusoffians at the Hall, which is known for its sporting prowess and holds the record for eight consecutive wins in the NUS Inter-Hall Games.

A gymnast from a young age, Dr Tan also won a medal playing sports for Eusoff during her three-year stay at the Hall in the early 1990s. Now a mother of three, her interests remain varied – she was an avid gamer at one point and is also a published children’s author and poet.

On her return to Eusoff Hall, she was greeted by familiar sights such as the buildings and its greenery – including a pink mempat tree planted by then-President Wee Kim Wee in 1989, when the Hall officially opened.

But Dr Tan spotted some differences, too. “The (student) community today is kinder. They’re more aware of mental health and being inclusive,” she said.

Traditions such as the Eusoff Challenge that are conducted during orientation camp have since taken root. As part of the challenge, freshmen have to run a meandering route to the NUS track in batches, but there is a catch.

To demonstrate the principle that nobody gets left behind, the Hall’s Junior Common Room Committee (JCRC) will run around the track until every last Eusoff freshman completes the challenge, said Dr Tan.

The environment is a stark difference from her time, when it was more boot camp-like. “What I remember of orientation is (doing) a lot of push-ups,” said the arts graduate from the Class of 1993. The food served at the dining hall is a lot tastier now too, she added with a laugh.

Dr Tan double-hats at Residential College 4 (RC4), serving as its Director of External Programmes. There, she imparts her knowledge by conducting courses on systems thinking, film studies and intergenerational engagements.

When the senior lecturer is not teaching at RC4, she’s thinking of innovative ways to better engage the student community at Eusoff Hall. As a hall, one of four housing models at NUS, it places a strong emphasis on activities such as CCAs and community service initiatives to bring residents together.

NUS News sits down with Dr Tan to learn more about her vision and hopes for Eusoff Hall.

This interview has been edited for length and clarity.

Q: Tell us about your journey to becoming a Master.

A: The journey began when I was an undergraduate at NUS and my social world literally exploded. It was the first time I met so many diverse and talented individuals. After I graduated, I had always wanted to come to NUS to teach. I got my PhD in Film Studies, taught in the UK for a while and then had the opportunity to come back to Singapore and NUS in 2000. I stopped full-time work in 2003 for 10 years to start my family.

Soon after I returned to NUS, I was approached by the then-Master of RC4, Professor Lakshminarayanan Samavedham, to be a Resident Fellow (RF), a mentor and advisor to the college’s residents. I spent seven years at RC4 and went on to LightHouse as an RF for close to two years, before stepping up as Eusoff Hall Master.

Q: What’s a typical day like for you?

A: I usually start my day with a bowl of yoghurt and tending to my plants on the balcony of my apartment, where I live with my husband and children. I then teach at RC4 when I am not doing my Master’s duties at Eusoff Hall.

I like to keep myself physically fit and mentally well because I want to give my best for the work that I do. Usually I run, bike, or swim every day, or go to the gym when it’s raining.

I also work with the Hall’s Senior Common Room Committee and JCRC. We meet once a month, eat together and catch up with life at our Hall. This is also when we discuss and plan new initiatives and upcoming events.  

We have a strong focus on community at our Hall and some of our new initiatives look to leverage on the talents of our international students so as to extend our reach and impact beyond Singapore. We want to be socially cohesive and grow together as we live by our motto, based on the acronym of our hall “EH” and coined by former master Professor Andrew Tay, “Excellence and Harmony”.

Q: What’s buzzing at Eusoff Hall?

A: We have co-curricular activity (CCA) groups in culture, service and sport, as well as signature events such as La Soirée where our alumni return to our hall, and give back through the sharing of their experience in industry, Eusoff Hall Dance Production, and Cultural Night. Eusoff Hall has built a reputation for excellence in sports and is particularly strong in swimming, track, badminton and basketball.

A longstanding hall tradition that we re-invented is Conversations over Dinner, where we invite alumni to give talks and chat with residents. We have a dynamic, loyal and illustrious alumni network that dates back to our beginnings as Eusoff College in 1958!

In line with NUSOne – NUS’ newest initiative aimed at giving students a holistic learning experience outside the classroom – I thought we could change things up and re-branded the event as “The Eusoff Conversation”. I asked our alumni to focus on NUSOne attributes, such as interpersonal skills, self-awareness and management, and mental resilience, that they had cultivated while living at Eusoff Hall and can see as integral to their success today.

In our latest instalment of the series this semester, we invited two alumni who led Singapore’s first all-women team to Mount Everest in May 2009, Sim Yi Hui and Jane Lee.  They inspired our students in their sharing about discipline, resilience and the overcoming of failure, showing how the growth of these traits began while they were at Eusoff Hall, and were critical to their success at scaling Everest.

Then there is the Gathering of Eusoff Leaders (GEL), where we attend an annual retreat overseas in Southeast Asia, with SCRC and student leaders from our JCRC and CCA heads. The focus of this retreat is not only to bond our Hall’s leaders but also to strengthen their leadership skills. This year’s GEL was held along the coast of Batam.

Q: What is one thing many students don’t know about you?

A: I picked up gaming when I was a student, but have stopped due to other commitments. I played MapleStory and Plunder Pirates and was part of an international guild where we reached the top in global rankings. In that guild, there were people from all around the world and yet we were playing and enjoying the experience at the same time and learning from each other. I see that collapsing of physical distance and time as a key affordance of technology.

I wrote a short story based on my experience called “Jellyfish Pirates”. It was published in 2017 under Literary Shanghai, a community for English and Chinese writers with a local and regional literary focus.

Q: What makes Eusoff Hall home for you?

A: I have always felt like my students are an extension of my family and this is why I love teaching. I enjoy doing all kinds of activities with them. Just the other day, I played table tennis with Jerica Neo, the current JCRC President. I especially like going for runs and swims with my students.

I’m also so grateful for Ms Rashidah Salleh, our hall manager, who has been working here since I was a student. She is a cornerstone of our Hall and is much loved by our current students and alumni alike.

Home is where the people you value and enjoy spending time with are, and so home to me is not a building. It is not a physical space, but the community that you have. That’s what makes Eusoff Hall, and the whole community of Eusoffians, home for me.