SINGAPORE, June 17 — Ngee Ann Polytechnic will terminate the employment of a lecturer who confronted an inter-ethnic couple and made racist remarks to them earlier this month.
In a statement on Thursday (June 17), it said that it has completed its investigations into the incident between the lecturer Tan Boon Lee and the couple, as well as allegations that he had made Islamophobic remarks in class.
It has officially charged Mr Tan, a senior lecturer at the polytechnic’s School of Engineering, with serious breach of its staff code of conduct and is “proceeding to terminate his service”. The code sets out guidelines on personal and professional conduct.
Mr Tan was captured in a viral video having an argument with Mr Dave Parkash, a Singaporean who is half-Indian and half-Filipino, about Mr Parkash dating a woman who is half-Chinese and half-Thai.
He also accused Mr Parkash of being racist for not “marrying” an Indian girl.
The polytechnic said that its staff members were expected to respect cultural, ethnic and religious differences in society.
“They must uphold secularity and impartiality at all times. This is in line with our staff code of conduct, which includes strict guidelines on personal and professional conduct. — TODAY
Islamophobic remarks in class
On the allegations that Mr Tan had made Islamophobic remarks in class, the polytechnic said that it reached out to the alumna who raised concerns immediately to express its regret for her experience in 2017.
The account against Mr Tan surfaced when former student Nurul Fatimah Iskandar, 22, took to social network Instagram last week to claim that she was on the receiving end of Islamophobic comments made by Mr Tan in class.
She did this after the video of Mr Tan confronting the inter-ethnic couple went viral on social media.
The polytechnic said that it immediately offered counselling support to Ms Nurul once it heard of the allegations and met her to get more details about her experience with the lecturer.
Police investigations are under way.
“We will fully cooperate with the authorities,” the polytechnic said.
As part of its investigations, it also sought to understand why Ms Nurul’s feedback had not been acted upon when she submitted it to the school in 2017.
It added that Ms Nurul told the polytechnic that she could not recall whether she had submitted her feedback via email or raised it during a focus-group discussion after the course ended.
Such focus-group discussions are typically held at the end of every semester to seek students’ feedback on courses and lecturers.
“We have conducted a search of our various feedback channels, and worked with our alumna for her to check her mailbox archives (with the school), but have not been able to locate any records of the feedback.
“Nonetheless, we are committed to preventing a similar incident from occurring again and will ensure that students are made aware of the appropriate channels for them to provide feedback in a safe manner.”
Ngee Ann Polytechnic has plans to advise its staff members on how to manage and report feedback that they may receive outside the official channels.
The school also has various channels for students to provide anonymous feedback, including an email address for whistleblowers.
Students may also submit their concerns to a general “AskNP” email address, voice them during dialogues on course experience as well as raise them during various student surveys conducted periodically.
“In addition, students can share their feedback with their staff advisers at any time. We would like to assure students that all feedback will be taken seriously and handled in confidence,” it said.
Moving forward, the polytechnic said that it would make all feedback channels more accessible and visible on its website, and publicise them on its campus digital screens.
“We will review our internal feedback-monitoring processes to identify and resolve any gaps in teaching and learning practices, and to ensure that matters of concern can be flagged in a timely manner,” it said.
“We also remind all staff to strictly adhere to the staff code of conduct and create a safe learning environment for all in Ngee Ann Polytechnic.” — TODAY
