Nanyang University
 |
|
| Motto | People, Progress and Productivity |
|---|---|
| Type | Chinese language, Defunct |
| Active | 1956–1980 |
| Location |
Jurong, Singapore 
|
| Campus | Urban 500 acres (2 km²) |
| Closed in 1980, assets taken over by the English language National University of Singapore | |
Nanyang University (Chinese: 南洋大学, abbreviated Nantah, 南大) was a university in Singapore from 1956 to 1980. During its existence, it was Singapore's only Chinese language post-secondary institution. In 1980, Nanyang University was merged with the University of Singapore to form the National University of Singapore (NUS).
The idea of a Chinese university in Singapore to provide higher education to the Chinese community was first mooted by Tan Lark Sye in 1953, then chairman of the Singapore Hokkien Association. A fund was set up for this purpose, drawing donations from people of all walks of life and with Tan himself donating $5 million. The Singapore Hokkien Association donated 500 acres (2 km²) in the western Jurong area, which was then largely undeveloped rural land.
Nanyang University started classes on 15 March 1956, offering courses in the arts, sciences and commerce. Construction of the entire campus was not completed until two years later. In 1958 the university held its official opening ceremony, officiated by Tan and then-Governor William Goode.
Nanyang University was merged with the University of Singapore in 1980 to form the National University of Singapore (NUS), in part due to the government's desire to pool the two institutions' resources into a single, stronger entity and promote the English language as Singapore's only main language. The proposal of a merger was pushed by then-prime minister Lee Kuan Yew, who feared potential social issues as he saw that the students who enter it usually have poorer grades and may not be able to compete against English-educated graduates for jobs, and may create unrest.[1]
The merger was met with strong opposition from the university's alumni in particular, as well as the Chinese community. They considered the university a people's university due to their financial contributions and believed it is a bastion of Chinese education, culture, and social development. They also believed that the merger was a political move by the Singapore government. The promotion of a single education system based on English medium of instruction in pre-tertiary education, however, severely reduced the student catchment pool of Nantah, thus hastening its demise. Education with Chinese as the main medium at university level thus ended with the decision of this merger.
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