Southeast Asia Friendship Initiative
Introduction
Southeast Asia (SEA) Friendship Initiative (SFI) officially launched in May 2023 since AY2022/23 Special Term Part 1.
Designed for undergraduate (UG) students in residential units to read a credit-bearing course introducing them to a SEA country, complemented by a study trip to the targeted country with experiential learning in mind focusing on the UN 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SGD) theme and/or Innovation and Enterprise.
This initiative is being organised by 12 Residential Units, i.e., 6 Halls, 2 Houses and 4 Residential Colleges in collaboration with the Global Relations Office and Provost’s Office, with Southeast Asian Studies and Malay Studies Departments as academic hosts for SFI courses being offered to Halls and Houses.
All UG students living in residential unit, being enrolled in full-time UG degree programmes i.e., local (Singapore citizen, Singapore Permanent Resident holder) and international students, who are paying tuition fees to NUS can apply to read SFI course only once during their candidature. This course is not applicable to non-graduate/exchange students.
Learning Outcomes
- Gain global and intercultural intelligence to appreciate the social and working norms in the specific SEA country.
- Deepen their knowledge of the key sustainable development goals SDG(s), or Innovation & Enterprise in the target country/countries.
- Learn about the significant local challenges to achieving specific SDGs, and what local solutions are being used by these communities.
- Understand the intricacies of collaborations between Singapore and the country against the larger socio-economic backdrop of the region.
- Expand the student’s social and professional networks to aid their future career prospects in the region.
Academic Components and Framework of SFI Courses - For 6 Halls and 2 Houses
The SFI courses, Level 2 with no pre-requisite, can be either 2-Unit or 4-Unit. There are two components whereby:
Part A – Lectures and Tutorials (in-class, on campus) being taught by faculty members of Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences (FASS).
Part B – Study trip (out-of-class, overseas) being led by Resident Fellows/Residential Unit-affiliated person throughout the overseas study trip. Topics to be addressed by students during study trip leading up to assessment are of relevance to the targeted SDGs or I&E. Each RU is responsible for their own study trip itinerary, topics, and rubric assessment.
| Course | Part A | Part B |
| 2-Unit | - 3 x 2-hour (lecture) and 2 x 2-hour (tutorial) totaling to 10 contact hours. - Introduction to the country covering relevant aspects in history, population, government, politics and society, economy, heritage. - 50% students’ assessment. | - 7-day study trip to the country (40 contact hours, 6 nights on foreign grounds) with experiential learning in mind based on the SDG theme and/or I&E, visiting relevant sites (University, government, NGO offices, city-town-village, etc.). - Pre-briefing before trip covering learning outcomes, topics, assessment, itinerary for Part B, team building, safety, discipline, command, and control. - 50% students’ assessment. |
| 4-Unit | - 3 x 2-hour (lecture), 2 x 2-hour (tutorial), 10-hour language classes totaling to 20 contact hours. - Introduction to the country covering relevant aspects in history, population, government, politics and society, economy, heritage. - 50% students’ assessment. | - 10-day study trip to the country (80 contact hours, 9 nights on foreign grounds) with experiential learning in mind based on the SDG theme and/or I&E, visiting relevant sites (University, government, NGO offices, city-town-village, etc.). - Pre-briefing before trip covering learning outcomes, topics, assessment, itinerary for Part B, team building, safety, discipline, command, and control. - 50% students’ assessment. |
All SFI courses offered are major-coded* and credit-bearing. Students can read to full major or unrestricted elective (UE) requirement, and letter-graded on students’ transcripts. Students may exercise the satisfactory/unsatisfactory (S/U) option with the understanding that they are Malay Studies/SEA major students, and on the assumption that they have yet to exercise the S/U option for up to 32 Units for courses. *Residential colleges’ courses do not fulfil major requirements.
Course offerings
SFI courses^ for 6 Halls and 2 Houses are offered during regular semesters. The actual course offerings for each semester at respective RUs will be determined and decided by respective Masters.
^Students can pick-up the course proposal from Course Management System (CMS) to have a better understanding on what respective courses entail:
| S/N | Code | Unit/MC | Course Title |
| 1 | SFI2012 | 2 | Introducing Indonesia |
| 2 | SFI2014 | 4 | Introducing Indonesia (with introductory Indonesian) |
| 3 | SFI2022 | 2 | Introducing Malaysia |
| 4 | SFI2024 | 4 | Introducing Malaysia (with Introductory Malay) |
| 5 | SFI2032 | 2 | Introducing Thailand |
| 6 | SFI2034 | 4 | Introducing Thailand (with Introductory Thai) |
| 7 | SFI2042 | 2 | Introducing Vietnam |
| 8 | SFI2044 | 4 | Introducing Vietnam (with introductory Vietnamese) |
| 9 | SFI2052 | 2 | Introducing The Philippines |
| 10 | SFI2054 | 4 | Introducing the Philippines (with Introductory Filipino language) |
| 11 | SFI2072 | 2 | Introducing Cambodia |
| 12 | SFI2074 | 4 | Introducing Cambodia (with introductory Vietnamese) |
| 13 | SFI2082 | 2 | Introducing Laos |
| 14 | SFI2084 | 4 | Introducing Laos (with Introductory Thai) |
Key difference between regular course and SFI course
Component of study trip and its focus of experiential learning whereby students are expected to apply and promote critical thinking through engagement with important sites, and two-way dialogues with representatives from universities, well-established organisations and community partners related to targeted SDGs or social enterprise, and government offices, in understanding and empathising with the issues that are important to the community. Students apply what they learn in classes to out of class through immersion learning, and real-life experiences.
How to apply to read SFI course
Student enrolment for SFI course will be made through RUs’ admin team and the batch enrolment onto CourseReg will be duly made before the start of each semester.
Financial support from university
Each student will receive $1,000 in financial support from the University’s SEA Funding Initiative, whereby it is a direct disbursement to Residential Unit since all logistics planning and arrangements would be made by Residential Unit. The subsidy of $1,000 due to each student will directly offset by all these expenses made at/by RUs’ end.
As part of students’ commitments to the trip, there will be a co-payment required by each student, which can be of the range of $200 to $500 per student.
