THE sprawling National University of Singapore (NUS) Alumni Complex sits in the heart of the Kent Ridge campus.

Nestled between the NUS Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences and its business school, it took more than two years and $62 million to build.

The complex itself has two different buildings - the NUS Society's (NUSS) new Kent Ridge Guild House and the NUS Shaw Foundation Alumni House.

Together, they reflect the vision of providing NUS graduates with 'a home on campus' and fostering a sense of belonging to the university, said NUSS president Johnny Tan. The new Guild House is partly why about 1,500 new members signed up and 215 old members returned to NUSS last year, he said.

NUSS, which charges a $4,000 entrance fee and a monthly subscription fee of $45, has about 14,200 members, comprising graduates from NUS and other local and foreign universities.

Membership benefits include access to four Guild Houses in different parts of Singapore, providing country club-type facilities, such as gymnasiums, swimming pools and tennis courts.

The new Kent Ridge Guild House, which was officially opened yesterday by Minister Mentor Lee Kuan Yew, cost $17 million. A second part of the NUSS plan is to redevelop its old Kent Ridge Guild House at a cost of $15 million.

The redeveloped facility, expected to be completed by the year-end, will house sports and recreation facilities such as a billiards room and squash courts.

The $30 million Shaw Foundation Alumni House is open to all former students of NUS and has a business centre for them. It also houses the NUS Alumni Office and several NUS offices, like the NUS International Relations Office.

This article was first published in The Straits Times.