NUS Political Science Society pins blame on student for cancellation of 'model UN' conference
SINGAPORE — The National University of Singapore (NUS) Political Science Society (PSSOC) has denied being the organiser of a prestigious regional student conference that was abruptly cancelled days before it was set to commence.
In a press release issued on Thursday (4 July), PSSOC president Ryan Tan said that the group had only “lent its good name to a single organiser” – Deng Yushan – and her team of “enthusiastic volunteers”.
According to her Facebook and LinkedIn profiles, Deng is an undergraduate at NUS and was a former business director at PSSOC from 2017 to 2018. She is also the Student Life Secretary of the National University of Singapore Students’ Union.
The New Paper had earlier reported that the Asia-Pacific Model United Nations Conference 2019 (AMUNC), a week-long conference for university students in the region had been cancelled, leaving students who had already made plans high and dry. The event, scheduled to run from 7 to 13 July, was supposed to be held at Resorts World Sentosa (RWS).
Society to refund participants
The PSSOC, a student-run body that is independent of NUS, will be refunding participants their fees for the event as it is the trustee of funds for the conference.
According to the event’s Facebook page, registration for the AMUNC was priced at $255 per person, with bundle deals including stays at NUS’ Prince George’s Park residence going at $514 per person.
“Ms Deng organised and spearheaded the event, including but not limited to, heading to Australia to bid for the event and have agreed to underwrite this event,” added Tan, who is in the 50th executive committee of the PSSOC.
Tan added that the lack of planning and response from Deng had raised concerns and the PSSOC later learnt that she had intended to “carry forward with their plans”.
Deng had been unresponsive despite efforts to contact her, according to the PSSOC’s press release.
The PSSOC later decided to issue a notice of cancellation to the participants and also informed RWS about the incident.
“Our society, though not the organiser is now forced to clear the mess that the organiser had created, and we are trying our level best to settle matters amicably and to protect the interest of the PSSOC and the members of the society,” said Tan.
The PSSOC has since engaged a law firm in relation to the incident.
Yahoo News Singapore has reached out to Deng and the PSSOC for comment.
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