As a National University of Singapore (NUS) alumna, I appreciate and applaud the university's ongoing efforts to crack down on what appears to be sexual harassment on campus, as well as to increase transparency on how it handles the cases.

I, as well as many other Singaporeans, had been horrified by what seemed like attempts by NUS to downplay previous incidents of harassment or voyeurism. Its more recent, upfront approach - I received an e-mail on Tuesday with a description of the Professor Theodore Hopf case and how he had been dealt with, before the news came out - is a much-needed change, one that reflects the importance of promoting campus safety and justice. It also helps to repair public trust and confidence in NUS.

Nonetheless, prevention is always better than cure. Victims of sexual harassment suffer trauma that might appear to be superficial or not be apparent immediately after the incident.

But the impact is likely to linger long after, especially when the victim is an impressionable young person whose trust in a teacher or authority figure turned out to be misplaced.

NUS has a written code of conduct for staff and students (copies of which were appended to the e-mail I received from the alumni office), but it is of little use if staff and students are simply asked to read it on their own.

That several harassment or assault cases have been reported recently shows that existing measures have been grossly inadequate, even as they, ironically, indicate that students are now more aware of their rights.

What might be more effective is for management to proactively ensure staff know what they should and shouldn't do by, for example, holding mandatory online refresher courses once a year. Students ought to be well educated about their rights, how to protect themselves and who to approach on campus if they are harassed.

The cases that have been reported could just be the proverbial tip of the iceberg - many victims could have kept mum due to fear, shame or youthful ignorance. Predatory, opportunistic individuals might be emboldened as a result.

We owe it to our children to provide them with a safe environment for learning where harassment or even assault should be the least of their concerns.

NUS urgently needs to do more about campus safety.

Lee Seok Hwai