Second Yale-NUS student awarded the Rhodes Scholarship
Photo: Nur Hazeem Bin Abdul Nasser (Class of 2022)
Yale-NUS College student Nur Hazeem Bin Abdul Nasser (Class of 2022) has been named the 2022 Singapore Rhodes Scholar. He is the second Yale-NUS student, after Nicholas Carverhill (Class of 2017), to receive this prestigious scholarship.
Under the scholarship, Hazeem plans to pursue the Public Policy 1+1 programme, which includes a Masters of Public Policy (MPP) and an MSc in Public Policy Research, at the University of Oxford, matriculating in October 2022. Prior to this, Hazeem was also awarded the Scouts Chief Commissioner’s Award in 2015, and the Public Service Commission Scholarship (Public Administration) in 2017.
At Yale-NUS, Hazeem is actively involved in various College activities, most notably having served as the 7th President of the Yale-NUS College Student Government in Academic Year 2020-21. Stepping into the role during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic in May 2020, Hazeem led the Student Government to ensure that students were supported through the evolving situation, and safe and supportive platforms were provided to ensure student voices were heard.
Nur Hazeem Abdul Nasser. Image provided by Hazeem.
Outside of the College, Hazeem is passionate about social issues in Singapore. He has co-founded two non-profit start-ups, ALittleChange in 2016 (Instagram: _alittlechange) and The Signpost Project in 2019 (Facebook/Instagram: @thesignpostproject), which focus on empowering low-income families and the elderly in Singapore.
ALittleChange was first started when Hazeem and his friends, from different junior colleges and polytechnics in Singapore, felt that volunteering could be more purposeful in Singapore. In 2016, ALittleChange became an official volunteering society to bring together like-minded youths who want to be a source of positive change in the community. The Signpost Project, which Hazeem started with a group of Yale-NUS students, aims to build relationships with tissue peddlers in Singapore and raise community awareness of their concerns.
As Singapore’s first minority Rhodes Scholar, he strives to promote better understanding and communication between different ethnicities in Singapore.
“I am extremely grateful to be provided this amazing opportunity to be a Rhodes Scholar. I could not have done this without the unwavering support of the Yale-NUS community, many of whom have been generous with their time and effort in supporting me during my application process. Beyond just the application, the inquisitive debates in the classroom, the spirit of community service beyond campus, and the courage of a community to be the change they want to see, have made me the person I am today. I am forever grateful for the experience I’ve had at Yale-NUS and without which, I would not have been able to obtain this prestigious honour,” said Hazeem, who majors in.
Hazeem, who majors in Philosophy, Politics and Economics at Yale-NUS, believes the Public Policy 1+1 programme at Oxford will provide a strong foundation for him to pursue his future career in the civil service, where he hopes to work on improving accessibility for the elderly and empowering them to fulfil their aspirations.
Yale-NUS College President Tan Tai Yong said: “We are delighted that Hazeem is being recognised for his work in the community and we hope this will inspire more Singaporean youth to actively serve our citizens. We are confident that this terrific opportunity will help Hazeem achieve even greater impact.”
The Rhodes Scholarship is an international scholarship programme established at Oxford in 1903, which aims to select creative young leaders with a commitment to serving others. Singapore resumed the conferment of one Singapore Rhodes Scholar in 2018, after a 14-year hiatus.
