A YOUTUBE video created and posted in protest of the triple-sharing hostel room proposal in Nanyang Technological University (NTU) is a big hit on the Internet, but some NTU students feel that it won't be effective.

Most of the NTU students my paper spoke to found the two-minute clip funny and innovative but felt it would not convince university authorities to abandon their proposed three-in-one hostel room plan.

Currently, NTU halls have single and double rooms.

Hall 6 resident Koh Siong Qun, 22, a first-year accountancy student, said: "The video itself may not be useful in putting across the message to the authorities, but it can make NTU students more aware that they can play a part by sounding off their opinions."

As of yesterday, six days after it was first posted, the clip had already garnered an impressive 11,864 hits.
The video depicts the creator's interpretation of future hostel life with pictures of cramped and unhygienic living conditions like those seen in some poorer countries.

The video's creator, NTU Hall 6 resident Benny Tan, 21, a first-year Accountancy student, said he made the video "for fun".

"It was to create awareness among the students, some of whom may not know about it because they haven't read the Nanyang Chronicle," he said.

He modified the lyrics of a Chinese song by local pop group Dreamz FM, and sang it with a few friends.

"It's really what we feel," said Hall 6 resident Lim Zhenni, 22, a third-year Accountancy student.

Hall 14 resident You Yewei, a second-year business student, 23, agreed: "When the people in authority refuse to listen to students, we have to resort to such avenues."

Still, he did not think the video would be effective as he said the authorities "are not listening to the students anyway".

To be fair, NTU had set up two showrooms with different layouts in Hall 13 and 14 two weeks ago, and had sent an e-mail inviting hall residents to view them and give feedback.

A virtual tour of one of the showrooms is also making its rounds on YouTube. When contacted, a spokesman from the NTU student affairs office said that the Internet is an open platform and the public is free to post anything on it.

She said: "We have our own channels for students to provide their feedback and comments to us. We would like to reiterate that we are still in the consultation phase with our students."