SINGAPORE, April 23 — Addressing the ongoing public outcry over the actions taken by the National University of Singapore (NUS) on a peeping tom who filmed an undergraduate showering, Singapore’s Education Minister Ong Ye Kung said that for offences that affect the safety of students on campus, there has to be a “tough stand” to send a strong signal to everyone.
“Two strikes and you are out cannot be the standard application. NUS has to make its campus safe for all students, especially female students,” Ong said in a Facebook post yesterday evening calling the penalties meted out by NUS as “manifestly inadequate”.
He also asked all universities here to review their frameworks when handling cases of sexual misconduct.
Undergraduate Nicholas Lim was suspended from NUS for a semester following his offence in November last year, where he filmed fellow student Monica Baey while she was showering at Eusoff Hall, a residence hall on campus.
NUS made him write an apology letter to Baey and assigned him to mandatory counselling.
The police gave Lim a 12-month conditional warning, meaning that if he were to commit another crime in the 12 months after that, he is liable to be charged and prosecuted for both offences.
Upset that he got away with what she deemed as a light punishment, Baey, 23, took to Instagram late last week to express her anger at the outcome of the case and it went viral.
Ong said in his Facebook post that he has spoken to Prof Tan Eng Chye, president of NUS, to convey his concerns. “I am confident NUS’ review will result in a more robust process and stricter framework. The NUS board and president are seized with this matter, and are determined to put a stop to such unacceptable behaviour on campus.”
Separately yesterday evening, NUS announced that it has appointed Kay Kuok, a member of its board of trustees, to chair its review committee on sexual misconduct.
Kuok, executive chairman of Shangri-La Hotel and chairman of the Yale-NUS College governing board, will be joined by Tan, Singapore Management University’s president Lily Kong, Mr Ng Wai King, managing partner of law firm WongPartnership, and a representative from the NUS Students’ Union to form the initial members of the committee.
Over the weekend, NUS said that it would convene a committee to review its disciplinary and support frameworks after social media posts by Baey went viral in the past few days.
Hsieh Fu Hua, chairman of the NUS board of trustees, said in a statement yesterday that the board “views sexual misconduct on our campuses with grave concern”.
“We note the strong public interest in this matter. The committee will proceed swiftly and decisively,” he added.
In response to Ong's comments, Tan said: "The 'second strike and you are out' policy for sexual misconduct offences will be part of this review. NUS will take a hard stand on offences that impact the safety of our students. We must make our campus safe and supportive for all members of our community. I look forward to working closely with the review committee members to strengthen the disciplinary process and support network for our students.”
The committee will study the approaches taken by other international institutions and solicit views from various stakeholders. The findings of the study and follow-up actions are expected to be released in the new academic year, which begins in August. — TODAY
