Money Not Enough?

Halls of Residence are turning to member contributions to fund events after changes to SAO hall fund distribution.

By Jasmine Tay, Liu Ting Ting

Denise Png joined a Hall of Residence sub-committee at the start of Semester One in August. After passing two rounds of interviews, she was asked to contribute a fee of over S$50 to the Junior Common Room Committee (JCRC) as a prerequisite for her membership.

She willingly paid the sum.

While it wasn’t a small amount especially for a student, Png, 19, a first-year student from the School of Humanities and Social Sciences, said she understands the need for collecting funds.

“The JCRC needs the money to organise hall events,” she said.

“Still, I have questioned why the halls are not given enough budget to be self-sufficient without relying on members’ monetary contributions.”

Her comments follow a change in the Student Affairs Office (SAO)’s system for distributing hall funding.

While SAO could not supply details of the new system to the Nanyang Chronicle by press time, a hall financial officer gave some details on how the system has changed.

In the past, SAO dispensed funds for hall events and activities. Since this academic year, funding has been cut, and halls that need extra money for events are asked to apply for grant money on an ad-hoc basis.

If the money is given to them, it arrives after the event has been organised.

This causes problems for halls paying for suppliers and venues in advance, and before the grant comes in.

As such, JCRC leaders collect the money upfront because the allocated budgets do not give them the ability to plan events with better food, at better locations and with better entertainment.

So they turn to their subcommittee members to fund these events, and usually return the money to them afterwards.

This practice is prevalent although SAO does not give it official support.

“Budgets are allocated to each hall, based on the number of residents in the hall,” said the Director of Students, Associate Professor Lok Tat Seng.

“As good practice, all hall committees should be prudent and work within the allocated budgets.”

However, Mr Chan Weng Hoo, a Fellow of Hall 5, understands the JCRCs’ difficulties.

“I don’t have any objections for them to make use of another channel to source for funds to support their activities and events for residents in the halls,” he said.

“In addition, it’s always a challenge to get sufficient sponsors, donors and contributors.”

This is a common practice, to collect money from sub-committee and JCRC members to pay for an event, and then raise funds to reimburse them.

The amount collected is usually only enough to cover 10 to 15 per cent of the cost of events.

One JCRC member confirmed his hall committee collects funds to ease the lack of liquid funds at the start of an event.

But he says they make it a point to reimburse the money immediately after receiving funding from SAO.

“This is a problem faced by all 16 halls. It’s just that each hall solves the problem differently.”

Halls 11 and 14 for instance, ask sub-committee members to make up the shortfall, and aim to reimburse them after receiving money from fund-raising.

“It ensures we have a physical fund to ease the pressure of pre-budgeting, allowing us to  plan better events,” said a former JCRC member who declined to be named.

“We spend around $1,000 to $1,500 per event.”

He added that his hall makes the extra effort to meet the expectations of residents, and that additional entertainment such as dunking machines which can cost up to $200, are occasionally rented.

Further, he added that the JCRC members have already contributed a lot of money, often five times more than they ask from the sub-committee members.

Extra commitment

Each JCRC has 16 portfolios, each with a set of responsibilities that range from publicity to sports management. 

Sub-committee members are recruited to help JCRC leaders organise hall activities.

Members get extra-curricular activity (ECA) points for their work, so they can retain a space in hall the following year.

While most Halls of Residence recruit sub-committee members on a voluntary basis, Halls 1 and 5 require their residents to contribute to their funds as part of their membership.

Hall 5 requires its residents to pay a blanket fee of $80 while Hall 1 calls for its residents to pay $10 per sub-committee.

Png added that some JCRC members made allowances to help those who could not afford the fees.

Payment keeps people keen. Members who have contributed a nominal fee are more likely to remain consistently involved in hall activities, said the former JCRC member.

He confirmed residents who do not pay may not receive ECA points, which determine if they can stay on for another year.

This is only done to ensure it’s fair to those who do pay, he said.

But Yeong Dong Lin, the social secretary of Hall 14, said whether their sub-committee members pay does not determine priorities and extra benefits.

“We judge a member’s suitability based on his commitments and contributions, and never by the money they pay.”

Not all agree with the rationale behind such a system.

Sheena Tan, 20, previously from Hall 1, paid $20 in total to join two sub-committees, and was not pleased about it.

“We pay money to do work in events and that just didn’t seem right,” she said.

Tan no longer stays in hall as she did not enjoy her time there.

The $20 fee she paid went to sub-committee shirts and other events, although she said she was never made aware of this.

“If they had explained where the money was going to before we joined the sub-committees, I would have been more willing to pay,” she said.

Improving the system

Though the issue looks set to stay, JCRCs are beginning to improve the system.

A member of the Hall 11 JCRC explains that they understand the current system is problematic.

“But it takes time and effort to change the system,” he said.

He added that his committee has started fund-raising and are confident of leaving next year’s JCRC members with substantial funds for their first event.

Even so, some halls find SAO’s funding sufficient.

“We spent over $1,000 for a Chinese New Year event because we held the event at a restaurant,” said 22-year-old Emmanuel Goh, a Hall 12 JCRC member.

“We have otherwise not exceeded that amount for other events held in the hall.”

He added they not only kept within budget but also saved quite a sum.