Did not 'feel right': Yale-NUS students say they were asked to destroy DVDs

CNA

28-05-2025

SINGAPORE: Yale-NUS students who worked as student associates at the college library said they were asked to render DVDs unusable by library staff in April - about a month before the final cohort graduated.
Two of them who spoke to CNA on condition of anonymity said they had not known beforehand that they were to scratch DVDs until they were assigned to do so during their respective shifts.
Both recalled using penknives to scratch the discs. One of them, Janet (not her real name), said a librarian had instructed her to make four cuts on the discs so they could no longer be read.
The student, who is from the last cohort, estimated scratching about 80 to 100 discs or around two full shelves of DVDs.
She said that most were films in various languages, including several notable titles from the Criterion Collection - an American home-video distribution company that gathers the "greatest films" from around the world and publishes them in various editions at the highest technical quality.
While she said she simply did what she was told, she felt "really sad" and that it did not "feel right" to destroy DVDs that were still in good condition.
She told CNA that she had not questioned why the DVDs had to be scratched but did ask the library staff if she could excuse herself from helping out.
"I (didn't) feel comfortable doing so. But the library staff (member) told me to help her still as they were running short of time," Janet said.
Yale-NUS College, which is scheduled to close this year, had been preparing for renovations ahead of the relocation of the National University of Singapore (NUS) law faculty and its library to its premises.
Another student associate, Ben, who is also from the graduating batch, said that he was told the discs had to be scratched "for security reasons". He too made cuts on two rows of DVDs on a library trolley, though he could not give an exact number.
The destroyed DVDs were later thrown into a big trash bag along with their cases, Ben added.
Asked how he felt during the process, he said: "(I) thought it was odd but plausible given that the school library had some DVDs that were not intended for mass distribution or at least restricted in Singapore.
"But (I) also wondered if we had that many DVDs that were restricted."
Responding to CNA's queries, Associate Professor Natalie Pang, University Librarian of NUS, said the rehoming of audiovisual collections involves different considerations compared to books.
"Audiovisual materials are governed by licensing and copyright regulations, which restrict redistribution. We have integrated the DVDs we need into our collection. The DVDs which we were unable to rehome were those which could not be redistributed," she said.
The university did not say how many DVDs were destroyed.
"PHYSICAL STILL MATTERS"
This latest revelation comes shortly after it came to light that 500 library books were recycled due to what NUS described as an "operational lapse".
About 9,000 books had initially been earmarked for disposal. Circulated images of books being packed into rubbish bags and loaded onto a recycling truck sparked an outcry from alumni and students.
Around 8,500 books were eventually salvaged after library staff learnt of students' interest in them. The titles have since been put up for book giveaways.
Associate Professor Andrew Hui, who had previously expressed to CNA his disappointment in the handling of the library books, said the destruction of DVDs left him "stunned and heartbroken".
The literature professor, who is also a founding faculty member, first found out about the matter last Friday afternoon, after quotes and screengrabs of DVDs were circulated on a Yale-NUS Telegram group.
"I've never encountered such a literal act of destruction carried out in peacetime, at a university no less. It was a quiet, almost mundane directive that resulted in a small but real loss to cultural memory," said Assoc Prof Hui.
He added: "The manner of their disposal felt unnecessarily punitive - especially involving student labour. The act of scratching felt symbolic: not just deletion, but cultural desecration."
He recalled curating a list of films during the early days of Yale-NUS College when the library was being built from scratch, and making an "impassioned case" together with a colleague to acquire the entire Criterion Collection.
The head of literature studies added that streaming platforms were unstable, with titles frequently disappearing and algorithms favouring popular content over what is essential.
On the other hand, physical DVDs represented curated, lasting access to works of global significance, he said. He described them as tactile and archival, adding that they often come with scholarly materials, commentaries and interviews.
"For students, they offer a way to encounter the canon of world cinema as something preserved, not fleeting," said Assoc Prof Hui.