Celebrating the Saga community spirit

Sagans posing for Saga Spirit Day in the Courtyard in 2022. Image provided by Saga Residential College.

At Yale-NUS College, Residential Colleges provide an integrated learning and living experience for their communities. As more students graduate, changes will progressively be made to optimise the residential experience for current students. By academic year 23/24, Yale-NUS students will be consolidated into two Residential Colleges – Elm and Cendana. While this semester is the last one during which Sagans will be residing in their current space, the Saga community spirit remains strong and its legacy is set to continue.

Assistant Dean Paul Gallagher and Rector Khoo Hoon Eng have been serving the Saga Community since 2017 and 2018 respectively. They both reflect on their time in the College fondly.

According to AD Gallagher, he has many precious memories of Saga Residential College such as cooking midnight breakfasts for students in the Shiok Shack, the orientation trips to Pulau Ubin in 2018 and 2019, and Christmas baking with international students who could not return home during the pandemic.

He elaborated, “I have been privileged to observe the history of Yale-NUS College unfold and to be a participant in it. I especially treasure the everyday life of working in Saga. About three days every week at 10.30 am, there will be the sounds of a large group of students – a herd really, in the courtyard below my office windows, streaming through the Saga gate after leaving the Common Curriculum lectures in the Performance Hall. That commotion embodies our educational aspirations and community ideals so well, and I really missed it when we had to change to video lectures during the pandemic. When I try to conjure a typical day as Saga AD, I hear that wonderful stampede out of the Performance Hall.”

AD Paul with a regular Yale-NUS visitor, Ashy. Image provided by AD Paul Gallagher.

Saga College students celebrate after winning its first Orientation cup in 2019. Image provided by AD Paul Gallagher.

Similar to AD Paul, Rector Khoo recalls many fond moments during her time at Saga Residential College – from being ‘kidnapped’ by students dressed as aliens during Halloween to watching students draw Rangoli for Deepavali.

On her service, she shared, “It has been a thoroughly enjoyable journey. For the past five years, our Saga Residential Fellows and I have continued Rector Sarah Weiss’ deliberate linking of residential life in Saga with the cultures of Asia and Southeast Asia. We invited guests and organised events that encouraged our residents to explore the rich milieu and diversity of this vibrant part of the world through music, dance, science, celebrations, theatre, and more. We fostered purposeful engagement of our students with the local community via local volunteer activities. Our Residential Fellows, together with their children in the courtyard, dining hall, and corridors, have made Saga not just a residential college but a home for all our residents.”

Rector Khoo being ‘kidnapped’ by Saga Aliens during Halloween. Image provided by Rector Khoo Hoon Eng.

Sagans drawing colorful Rangoli for Deepavali outside the Saga Dining Hall. Image provided by Rector Khoo Hoon Eng.

At Saga College, Residential Life Officers (RLOs) who support students’ well-being have continued organising a variety of events to support community building. For example, they started the Saga . jpeg Project where students in Saga received film cameras to capture their time in the College. RLO Gabriel Tang was happy to share how she contributed to community events such as Saga Spirit Day and Saga Homecoming Dinners, where Saga Alumni could return and meet current students and staff.

Sagans smile for Saga Spirit Day in the Saga courtyard. Image provided by RLO Gabriel Tang.

For students like Reisha Lee (Class of 2023), the Saga community will be most memorable. She shared, “I’ll always cherish and remember my time at the Shiok Shack! I started working there in my first year before I became the manager later on, and I’ve made so many friends here. I’ll never forget the joy of vigorously shaking the water out of the indomie strainer when I was cooking for students!”

For her students, Rector Khoo has this to say.

“I hope you can treasure all your happy memories of conversations, celebrations and games in your suites, dining hall, buttery, common lounge, courtyards, and sky gardens with your friends and professors. I will certainly cherish the memories of chatting, dining and celebrating with you these past five years and look forward to learning more about your impact on the world as you move beyond Saga and Yale-NUS.”

Screenshots from the Yale-NUS Educational Resources and Technology team’s documentation project of Saga RC can be found here.