MDIS opens S$80m hostel
by Sharon See 04:45 AM Jul 09, 2011
MDIS representatives with President S R Nathan at the opening of the MDIS Integrated Campus. Photo by WEE TECK HIAN
SINGAPORE - To provide better accommodation for its foreign students, scattered around the island in private hostels, the Management Development Institute of Singapore (MDIS) has built a S$80 million hostel, which was officially opened yesterday by President S R Nathan.
Located in Queenstown, it can accommodate up to 1,700 students.
MDIS secretary-general R Theyvendran said foreign students have been dissuaded to study here because of the lack of good hostels: "First, facilities were not very good. Second, parents were worried about their children's living conditions and environment. So this idea came to us that since we have the land here, and we wanted to optimise the usage."
Foreign students make up 35 per cent of the school's student population.
MDIS built the hostel using internal reserves - which stood at S$150 million at one point - and costs will not be passed on to students. Rooms cost between S$481.50 and S$882.75 per month, and all are air-conditioned and include laundry services.
The hostel is the first in Singapore to win the Building and Construction Authority's Green Mark GoldPlus Award for its green features, such as a hot water tank on the roof with built-in vacuum tubes and solar collectors.
by Sharon See 04:45 AM Jul 09, 2011
MDIS representatives with President S R Nathan at the opening of the MDIS Integrated Campus. Photo by WEE TECK HIAN
SINGAPORE - To provide better accommodation for its foreign students, scattered around the island in private hostels, the Management Development Institute of Singapore (MDIS) has built a S$80 million hostel, which was officially opened yesterday by President S R Nathan.
Located in Queenstown, it can accommodate up to 1,700 students.
MDIS secretary-general R Theyvendran said foreign students have been dissuaded to study here because of the lack of good hostels: "First, facilities were not very good. Second, parents were worried about their children's living conditions and environment. So this idea came to us that since we have the land here, and we wanted to optimise the usage."
Foreign students make up 35 per cent of the school's student population.
MDIS built the hostel using internal reserves - which stood at S$150 million at one point - and costs will not be passed on to students. Rooms cost between S$481.50 and S$882.75 per month, and all are air-conditioned and include laundry services.
The hostel is the first in Singapore to win the Building and Construction Authority's Green Mark GoldPlus Award for its green features, such as a hot water tank on the roof with built-in vacuum tubes and solar collectors.
