CHAPTER 2 - Implementing the Vision

Summary

“I wanted NTI to produce practice-oriented engineers.”

— Professor Cham Tao Soon, Founding President of NTI/NTU (1981 – 2002)

PROFESSOR CHAM DISTINCTLY REMEMBERED the permanent secretary (PS) of the Ministry of finance (MOF) who tried to pull a fast one on him in the early days of NTI. NTI founding president met the PS to ask for the funding per NTI student to be raised on par with the NUS engineering faculty. The PS said that the funding was already the same but he forgot that Professor Cham wore two hats. Professor Cham calmly told him, “I am also the NUS engineering dean and I know the amount received.” The PS said nothing. In the end, NTI got more money but only after then Education Minister Dr Tony Tan, who spearheaded the NTI project, appealed to PM Lee.

The reluctance of MOF to provide equal funding to NTI was the biggest hurdle for the new NTI Professor Cham said, “They saw NTI as an inferior start-up to NUS and wanted to give lower pay for NTI professors vis-à-vis NUS.” Equal treatment only came after Professor Cham fought hard with strong support from Dr Tan.

The tussle with MOF was but one of the challenges that faced Professor Cham in the early 1980s when he was asked by Dr Tan to head the NTI Planning and Development Committee. The committee's role was to recruit staff, develop the campus and decide on the curriculum. Professor Cham's initial reluctance was understandable. “The Nanyang Council and alumni were very hostile to me and it would not be easy competing with NUS which has more than 100 years of history,” he said.

However, Dr Tan was very persuasive. Professor Cham continued, “He told me that this was an opportunity of a lifetime. How many people get the chance to start a university from scratch?” Professor Cham decided to take the plunge provided he remained as the NUS engineering dean post. He shared, “If it became too hard at the end of two years, I could go back to NUS.” Besides Professor Cham, another NTI pillar was Dr Michael Fam whom Dr Tan persuaded to chair the NTI Council. The corporate bigwig who chaired many well-known companies including Asia Pacific Breweries and Singapore Airlines was an asset to the new institute.