Letter of Complaint

Attn: International Relations Office of Singapore Management University:

We are writing to complain about the conditions in which we live at the Commonwealth Hostel. We write as international students that, many of whom have come to Singapore for the first time. We came with the understanding of Singapore being famous for its cleanliness and have found ourselves situated in accommodations that do not meet expectations and basic standards of living.

To show you the seriousness of this matter we have collected a few examples of concerning conditions. Students of ours have experienced situations such as:

·      Lack of cleanliness reflected in the ever-dirty bathroom floors, trash bags stored in the middle of living rooms when people arrived to their apartments and the continuous finding of fungus in different places of the house such as sinks and dining tables. In addition, layers of thick dust have been found in places that are out of plain sight such as underneath mattresses, etc.

·      An obvious lack of security in the area given the news of murders in the nearby buildings and the recent break-ins into some apartments. Singapore is said to be a safe place, but the sheer amount of things that have happened in little over a month leads us to question our area.

·      The issue of arriving on a weekend was very badly handled, as people were never told what to do or how to get the keys for the apartment.

·      The management takes a long time to solve the problems after being informed of them.

·      The management office’s opening hours are often not compatible with our university schedule.

·      Lack of transparency when it comes to our utilities usage.

·      A great number of bugs and small animals, i.e. ants, cockroaches, mice and lizards that have been found in the apartments and their surroundings, regardless of how clean we try to keep our living area.

·      Not enough storing space for clothes and for basic studying materials like books.

·      Lack of a washing machine that utilizes hot water, leading to clothes that are not cleaned properly the first time. This results in having to wash the same clothes again, using even more cold water, and only adding to our ever growing utilities bill.

·      Lack of an air conditioner or a fan in the living room.

·      Lack of a sufficient amount of plug points (outlets).

·      Last but not least, the price does not match the product and services offered, a major concern for all of us.

We want to emphasize that the aforementioned points were no rare exception and have been reported by a sum of students.  Since we are living in a place hired by SMU, we believe the accommodations need to be up to SMU’s standards. Thus, if the Commonwealth Hostel is thought to meet those standards, a careful revision of what passes as liveable by SMU must be conducted. SMU’s worldly renowned standards for quality should be transferred to the accommodations they provide their students. The clash between our high expectations of SMU’s international friendliness and the reality has made us rethink our view of SMU.

To further our point, one of us talked with the head of the International Relations Office of NUS and was told that their international students stayed at Commonwealth for one year and were quickly accommodated elsewhere due to the fact that NUS found living conditions to be highly unsuitable for their International Students.

We believe that this situation could damage SMU’s international reputation. This is something that we do not want as many of us take pride in the fact that we are studying at a university with an academic record as great as SMU’s. Many of the students staying at Commonwealth have been complaining about this situation and have expressed their determination to report it to their respective Offices of International Relations back home. If this is done, it may deter future students from studying at SMU which would truly be a shame. As students, we are asked to live here for almost five months, thus we should look forward to coming back home after a long day and not dread having to come home to our dusty beds.

We would appreciate if you took the abovementioned issues into consideration. The aim of this letter is to let you know about our situation and, hopefully, make you consider some changes, for example, lowering the hostel fees or improve the facilities’ management and conditions.

Sincerely,

 the undersigned students at Commonwealth,

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