Transcript

Saga College has many unique features. Our two towers and four lifts in Saga means that waiting time to travel up and down to the residential suites and offices is usually quite short. The Saga College Office was a cosy place to work in and for faculty and students to use its pantry.  

The Saga Courtyard design makes it suitable for meditation and yoga classes and for watching movies on an outdoor screen with its tiered seating. We have held many painting and other craft events in it. The tables and chairs, swings and hammock make it a space for informal chats and studies too. At the lowest part of the courtyard is a beautiful pool that keeps the place cool. Many birds, including hornbills, kingfishers and orioles, have often been spotted in the Saga Courtyard. After heavy rain, slugs and snails are seen crawling on the corridors.  

The Saga buttery is also known as the Shiok Shack, which is the original name for the Yale-NUS College buttery in the first two years when we were in RC4 [Residential College 4]. The Shiok Shack is an amazing space. It is roomy with extra seating spaces outside on a verandah as well as next to the water pool in the Courtyard where spillover parties can take place. Inside the Shiok Shack, we have the only pool table on campus. Believe me when I say that it was a big attraction for the whole Yale-NUS community. The big screen TV and many computer games allowed students to relax there too. A few mahjong tables saw many students (and the occasional staff or faculty) enjoy a social, and for many proponents, a highly intellectual pursuit.  

The Shiok Shack has the biggest kitchen space among the 3 RCs [Residential Colleges]. Many midnight breakfasts and meals were cooked here regularly. A five-credit course titled The Science of Cooking was taught in it. Demonstration cooking and group cooking have taken place here. Recently, nearly 30 students, faculty and staff learnt to chop herbs and other spices for a delicious Peranakan Nasi Ulam meal in the Shiok Shack as part of an Environmental Studies course. Some of the herbs for the Nasi Ulam meal came from the Saga rooftop garden that is maintained by our students. Here, the students have planted many vegetables and local herbs and spices.  

We have enjoyed many talks, music performances and master classes in the Saga Common Lounge. It has also hosted government ministers who used it to record videos about their policies. The Saga Dining Hall has big windows overlooking the courtyard and it is therefore always very bright in there. It has been the venue for many grand dinners as the Saga community celebrated the start and end of each semester.  

Finally, the Rector’s Commons and higher floors in Saga Tower A have the best sunrise and sunset views. Participants and guests at our talks and delicious dinners hosted in the Rector’s Commons have been privileged to see beautiful sunsets.