EVERY night at 7pm, thousands of lights across the campus switch on so students can continue with work.
But when the students leave, the lights stay on.
According to the Office of Facilities and Planning Management (OFPM), the school’s monthly electricity usage ranges from 8,000 to 14,000 megawatt hours (MWh).
Based on figures from the 2008 Yearbook of Statistics released by the Singapore Department of Statistics, 8000 MWh is enough to power a family of four living in a HDB flat for more than 1000 years – or to power 1,000 families for a year.
With Singapore Power’s announcement that electricity tariffs will increase by 21 percent from October 1st due to higher fuel oil prices, this translates to a staggering monthly bill of at least $2.44 million.
According to OFPM, lights in all public access areas and corridors are switched on from 7pm to 7am the following day.
Mr Lim Tiong Eng, from the Engineering Services Division of OFPM, said the lights are left on for “safety and security reasons”. This relates to recent concern over campus security after a female student from the National University of Singapore (NUS) was sexually assaulted near her campus while walking home at night.
Having lights on at night also helps staff and students who work late, said Mr Lim.
This policy benefits students like Kee Choon Yan, 20, who studies late at the benches along the South Spine. The second-year Chemistry and Biological Chemistry student said: “I think lights should be left on for places that are conducive for studying, like benches.”
However, some, like doctorate students from the School of Electrical and Electronic Engineering, Raymond Wong and Zhang Qingfeng, take advantage of a stretch of lighted space beside the carpark to rollerblade.
Although having lights on at night is convenient for the sport, Raymond said there are many unused areas that are lit as well.
“There could be a sensor system that’s linked to a timer,” he suggested, “If there is no movement for one hour, the lights go off.”
Besides the hike in electricity tariffs, Mr Lim said newly-completed buildings and an increase in the student population also contributed to costlier electricity bills this year compared to the previous year.
But the increase in electricity bills is unlikely to result in current students having to pay more school fees.
Second-year Chemistry and Biological Chemistry student
Said assistant director of the Office of Academic Services Ms Adelyn Soh: “The tuition fee for the current cohort of students is fixed throughout the course of study as announced on February 13th 2008.”
However, Ms Soh does not rule out a revision of school fees for future cohorts.
The Students’ Union said they may take action to improve the university’s lighting system.
“We can approach OFPM to introduce more light sensors or stipulate a shut-down time for all electrical facilities,” said Social and Environmental Executive Ivert Taniwangsa, highlighting the example of the Students’ Activities Centre, which shuts down daily at 2am.
However, with examinations around the corner, these changes will have to wait.
“As it is currently the examination period, students have requested for more studying areas around campus, hence the lights are left switched on in many buildings around campus,” said Taniwangsa.
