I am currently working in the Singapore Legal Service and am interested in issues of criminal justice, public law, and law and religion.

I chose the DDP as I felt that I did not just want to learn about the law–deep expertise is good, but I felt that I wanted breadth as much as I wanted depth. My interests have mainly been in the humanities for as long as I can remember. The DDP seemed like a perfect way to link where I was going with my long-held interest for the humanities. I enjoy the DDP because it helps me to draw connections between hitherto-unrelated subjects; it is intellectually fulfilling for me. It has also allowed me to pursue my academic interests in literature, history, and creative writing. The DDP for me was a way for me to connect the law and the society it functions in.

Outside of the DDP, I sang regularly in the school’s barbershop chorus and gospel choir, which perform regularly at events both on and off campus. In particular, the barbershop chorus performed at the Esplanade’s Voices – A Festival of Song 2018. I also used to be part of the school’s hip-hop dance crew, and am currently learning how to use Ableton Live, a music sequencer software, so I can make my own music. I am also active in my local church as a youth mentor.

I chose to do the DDP because I thought it would provide me with the best of both worlds: being able to enrol in the first liberal arts college in Singapore and engage in multidisciplinary learning, while at the same time being exposed to the academic rigor and training in a law school. I like that the DDP allows me to explore my academic and non-academic interests outside of law – I have taken

so many “Intro” classes that some say I have a “minor in intro”. I also really appreciate having a life outside of law school, and being able to take part in the myriad of campus activities at Yale-NUS. When I graduate, I plan to practise law. On the side, I play netball and basketball for law school, and conduct workshops that aim to educate migrant workers about their legal rights. I also used to be in the Yale-NUS netball team, RC3 (a committee organising Residential College activities), and Habitat for Humanity.

I chose to do the DDP because I wanted to find out what law was about while keeping my options open. It turns out that there are some interesting intersections between what we learn in Yale-NUS College and in the NUS Faculty of Law. For example, it was a pleasant surprise that feminist theory I had learnt while auditing a class called Oppression and Injustice in Yale-NUS found application in the Faculty of Law core course Introduction to Legal Theory. Such intersections have allowed me to have a deeper and richer understanding of certain ideas that I would not have had were I not in the DDP.

What I really appreciated from the DDP were the experiences it left me with—being a part of both NUS Law and the College means that you have twice the number of opportunities and resources! I got to go to Hong Kong and Taiwan with the Yale-NUS volleyball team to play with different colleges there; to Paris for summer school to learn about the intersection between law and economics; to New York University’s law school for a semester abroad though it was cut short due to COVID-19.

Aside from overseas exposure, being in the DDP also allows you to work with faculty from both NUS Law and Yale-NUS. This allows you to do some really interesting inter-disciplinary work. For example, in my capstone paper, I explore a constitutional argument for the advancement of indigenous rights in Malaysia that is driven by genomic evidence. This would not have been possible without the advice of experts from both faculties!

Long story short, I had a great time in the DDP, and I think the programme is great for anyone who is intellectually and experientially curious, and who also happens to want a professional degree in law.

I initially joined the DDP with the goal of pursuing a legal education alongside my broader academic interests in literature and the humanities. During my time at Yale-NUS, I loved that an average week for me involved reading plays and classical poetry, in addition to collecting copious amounts of law readings that sit neatly on my shelf, untouched. Jokes aside, I especially enjoyed the moments in class where I see law and literature collide; from Homeric and Shakespearean references in court judgments, to parodic legalism and mock trials in Ovid’s Metamorphoses. I am also grateful for the facilities, opportunities, and social environment offered by Yale-NUS, all of which form part of the immense privilege that we have in the DDP. Outside the classroom, I spend my time on video games, television, theatre, fantasy novels, and movies – all preferably with a cup of bubble tea in hand.

Having graduated, I am pursuing an academic career and will be completing a Masters in Classics at Oxford University as an Ertegun Graduate Scholar. My academic interests lie at the intersection of rhetoric, legal theory, literary criticism, mythology, and classical antiquity.

DDP was always my top choice going into university. Law had felt like a personal calling, but I knew that in my time in college, I wanted a broad-based education with the intellectual freedom to study not only things that would be useful in the future, but also things that just interested me.

Since joining Yale-NUS, I have discovered a love for the Classics. The Literature & Humanities course especially opened my eyes to the foreign and wonderfully weird world of ancient Greece and Rome. In the Common Curriculum at Yale-NUS, which all DDP students take in their first year of the programme, I remember being riveted in my Literature & Humanities classes, especially when we covered texts like The Odyssey and Medea. My first elective in Yale-NUS was Roman Urban Life and Visual Culture every Wednesday and Friday afternoon. I would sit speechless in class, learning about the class divisions according to seating in the Roman Colosseum and hearing rumours that Emperor Vespasian was once so down on his luck that he had been a goat farmer.

Since then, I have become a Global Antiquity minor; participated in a summer programme in Rome which allowed me to dissect the layers of the city first-hand by analysing its art and architecture; studied Attic Greek and spent a semester at Yale reading courses in the Classics. This may sound trite, but without the DDP, I cannot imagine how else I might have chanced upon such a specific and niche interest while studying in Singapore.

After graduation, I will be entering a local firm to practise in their general litigation department. When I am not clacking away at my keyboard working, I am likely involved in student theatre productions at Yale-NUS, perfecting my chocolate chip cookie recipe, or poring over a book.

The Double Degree Programme has been everything I had hoped for in a university. For one, it has expanded my worldview. By learning in small classrooms with students from across the world, I understood myself and society better. Further, the programme has trained my mind, and equipped me with the facility to learn better and faster. And lastly, studying at NUS Law has provided me with powerful knowledge that will allow me to contribute as a citizen of society. An expanded mind, the capacity for broad-based learning, and a deep understanding of a powerful institution: for these virtues, I am thankful for the Double Degree Programme.

The student life in Yale-NUS is also so vibrant, and that makes living on campus extremely enjoyable. I picked up touch rugby when I first joined Yale-NUS, and I still love the sport! The touch rugby team was where I met some of my best friends in university, and the field is where I decompress after a long day of school.

I also currently teach at the Yale-NUS Writers’ Centre, where I work with my peers to improve their writing. Being a peer tutor has been an exciting experience. It constantly reminds me of the wonders of writing, and that writing is an art that everyone can learn and work at. Moreover, working with peers that are committed to their self-improvement simply shows me how ambitious, capable, yet humble students at Yale-NUS are.

I chose the DDP because it allowed me to continue pursuing my interest in literature alongside a law degree. It took me a while to learn how to code-switch between preparing for law tutorials and writing essays on things as varied as ancient Roman and postcolonial literature. Even so, on closer inspection things are really inter-connected. For instance, seeing how narratives drive criminal law and detective fiction has been really exciting!

At Yale-NUS, I played floorball, and made good friends as we whacked balls at each other till midnight. I also helped set up the Southeast Asian Society, and at one point spent many hours painting ugly papier mâché dolls for the school’s production of Little Shop of Horrors. On the law side, I have done pro bono work with the Legal Aid Bureau, interned at Justice Without Borders, and ran a case with the Innocence Project. I was also a research assistant for Associate Professor Lye Lin Heng, doing some work on property law.

I am training with a commercial litigation team after graduation and intend to practise as a lawyer for the foreseeable future.

After a summer of too many law internships, I studied abroad at Pomona College in the United States. In my free time I like cooking, playing board games, reading fiction novels, and running in the park.

I am Melody, born and bred in Singapore. At 18, I was certain that knowledge of the law was a powerful tool for anyone looking to make a positive contribution to society. I also had a suspicion, however, that I would not be equipped to put any such knowledge to meaningful use without an accompanying appreciation for other aspects of society. This led me to enrol in the DDP, which in five years has doubly confirmed this suspicion.

In school, I developed a keen interest in the practice of advocacy and in international law. In five years, I hope to still be working as a disputes lawyer. In ten, I hope these interests have, or will, begin to converge. Outside of school, I am passionate about my dog, and working out to compensate for the toll that legal practice is likely to have on my body.

Yale-NUS provides a broad, multidisciplinary education, while NUS Law is reputed for its rigorous legal training. Seeking to both challenge my faith and understand different perspectives on law, policy and social change, I jumped at the opportunity to benefit from the strengths of these two institutions.

The five years thoroughly exceeded my expectations. I studied law and economics in Paris; did a public international law internship in Israel; led projects dealing with military justice, pro bono legal education and youth development; pushed for systemic change in big and small ways; researched on the South China Sea as well as Singapore War Crimes Trials; and even spent a summer learning computer science in University of California, Berkeley.

What I enjoyed most, though, were the late-night conversations with friends analysing different leadership styles, attempting to reconcile contrasting religious worldviews, or thinking of ways to better care and contribute to the community around us. These memories I deeply treasure and will surely miss from my time in the DDP.

Moving forward, I hope to build on my interest in law, leadership and policy. My journey after graduation includes a Masters in Global Affairs at Tsinghua University as a Schwarzman Scholar, followed by a two-year training contract with Clifford Chance in Singapore.

The DDP offers the best of both law and liberal arts education. Through this rigorous programme, I developed diverse perspectives and interdisciplinary skills that support my growth both personally and professionally to become a contributing member of the community around me. From volunteering in a social enterprise in Cambodia, engaging in smart city consulting at IBM in Southern China to providing strategic advisory and legal services at a start-up in Silicon Valley, I have been able to use my skills gained at Yale-NUS to take on the challenges of working internationally across different industries with diverse teams and create holistic solutions.

At Yale-NUS, I founded the Yale-NUS Global China Connection (GCC), which aims to connect China-savvy youth leaders with firms and professionals worldwide. I spearheaded the ASEAN-China Case Competition that attracted over 400 registered participants globally in partnership with City Developments Limited, Ascendas REIT and Business China. During my stint as the Vice-President (Development) for the Global China Connection Central Management, I worked on building on global partnerships with the firms and professionals for the GCC global network of more than 60 university chapters.

The Yale-NUS experience has nurtured a love for learning in me and challenged me to be adaptable in an ever-changing global environment and in fields ranging from technology to the environment and law. Building on my diverse leadership experiences, I hope to continue to venture into new spheres and lead the way in creating innovative solutions to problems of our time. Going forward, I will be working as a lawyer with a focus on mergers & acquisitions and capital markets in China.

My name is Chris and I am currently working in the litigation department of a law firm in Singapore. In my free time, I like to read and exercise. I hope to read in more than one language, one day.

The DDP is not for everyone. But for me it was one of the best choices that I made. I will always be grateful for my legal education at NUS, which taught me the skills that I needed to thrive professionally. But in the same breath, Yale-NUS gave me the opportunity to see the world and broaden my mind in ways that I could never have anticipated.

The DDP is a fantastic opportunity for students who want to study law and a bit of everything else. The truth is that studying law can be boring. There, I said it! In the DDP, you will find that the academic world can be your oyster, if you choose to make it so.

I graduated from the DDP Class of 2018 with a minor in History. I am currently at Pinsent Mason MPillay’s Construction, Advisory and Disputes team. The highlight of my DDP experience was the many opportunities I had to attend overseas summer programmes: Washington DC for anti-human trafficking work at the International Centre for Missing and Exploited Children, Seoul for language study at Yonsei University, and London for pastry school at Le Cordon Bleu. I was also involved in moots during my time in law school and participated in the Willem C Vis International Commercial Arbitration Moot in my final year. My capstone discussed the schism between the Singapore government’s perspective of human trafficking vis-à-vis the local NGOs’ perspective of trafficking. Ask me about it!

My most memorable moments in Yale-NUS include cooking in the RC4 Shiok Shack, steamboats in the suites, singing with the Yale-NUS Acapella group Wonder Girls, and baking for Birthday Bashes.