In the aftermath of public outcry over the abrupt change of speakers at a Raffles Hall Association (RHA) alumni talk, organisers of the talk have announced that the event is “closed to the public.”

Raffles Hall is a residential hall at the National University of Singapore (NUS).

The event titled ‘Public Discourse: Truth & Trust’ originally featured media studies professor Cherian George from Hong Kong Baptist University and economics professor Donald Low from the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology.

Initially slated to be held this Saturday (1 November), the forum aimed to discuss the “integrity of media and freedom of public discourse, with specific reference to their new book PAP v PAP.”

However, about 10 days after announcing the event, RHA president Sonny Yuen posted on Facebook that there will be an entirely new slate of speakers, comprising former journalist Al Ramirez Dizon, RH Resident Fellow and Lecturer Shoba Avadhani, and the Institute of Policy Studies’ Special Research Adviser Arun Mahizhnan.

Mr Mahizhnan said in a Facebook comment, however, that he has withdrawn from the forum, adding that he was not aware that the previous line up of speakers had already been publicised.

Prof George told TOC that he received a call from the organisers last Friday informing him that they were to cancel the event.

However, they received no updates on the matter after that.

He and Prof Low were “left to piece two and two together based on what we saw on social media”, said Prof George.

Following the fiasco, Mr Yuen posted in the RHA Facebook group to apologise for the changes and to clarify that the RHA Learning events are private events, especially for RH Alumni.

The post read: “…We apologise to the alumni for the changes that have to be made re the speakers, but we continue the important conversations on the today’s (social) media world where we apparently can no longer trust what we read, see or hear.

“Please note that all RHA Learning events are private events for RH Alumni only. As this is a closed-door community and voluntary event, the programme and its contents are developed at the organizer’s discretion,” he added.

Yesterday (29 October), Prof Low addressed the issue in a Facebook post of his own, saying that he is “not unhappy” with how things turned out.

“Of course, I’m a bit cheesed off with the lack of collegiality and courtesy by the organisers who did not even email me to tell me the event has been cancelled. But I’m glad that I no longer have to speak on a Sunday evening to what is likely to be a small audience,” he said.

“Neither my co-author nor I had asked to be invited for this. And the free publicity generated by the Raffles Hall fiasco has boosted book sales by more than the “lost” audience,” added Prof Low.

PAP vs PAP is an anthology of Prof George and Prof Low’s commentaries on Singapore politics. It also includes new essays in response to the events of 2020 thus far.

The book explores one aspect of the inner struggle experienced by the titular ruling People’s Action Party “between a conservative attachment to what worked in the past, and a boldly progressive vision for the future”.

Both Prof George and Prof Low are known to be outspoken critics of the establishment and moved to Hong Kong to continue with their respective careers in academia.

Update on 2/11/2020:

It appears the RHA notified registered participants that they received overwhelming response to the event—originally slated to feature Profs George and Low—saying that they would provide participants with a new link to the forum.

Subscribe
Notify of
14 Comments
Newest
Oldest Most Voted
Inline Feedbacks
View all comments
You May Also Like

【冠状病毒19】4月13日新增386确诊 出现第九起死亡病例

昨日(13日)本地新增386例冠状病毒19确诊病例,都是本地感染,我国累计确诊增至2918例。再有一名本地65岁确诊男子不幸逝世。 这意味着,本地累计死亡病例已增至九例。 根据卫生部文告,本地已没有新增入境病例。而昨日有280例都与先前已知感染群有关,大多患者都是客工宿舍的工作准证持有者。 昨日病逝的病例是第1836例,是65岁新加坡男公民。他在本月9日确诊,昨日下午在邱德拔医院不治病逝。 再者,本地新增四个感染群,包括科技园的客工宿舍(九例)、克兰芝的客工宿舍(六例)、惹兰古坡的ABC旅舍(七例)和加基武吉弯的Citiwall公司(六例)。 至于累计治愈人数多达586人,1158名确诊病患留院治疗。仍有29人病重病患需待在加护病房,其中1165名康复良好、惟冠毒测试仍呈阳性反应者,则转移到本地社区隔离设施。 至于在裕廊战备军人协会俱乐部举行的歌唱班晚宴感染群,卫生部经确认过了28天的两个潜伏期,未出现新病例,而关闭有关感染群。

Why are cancer treatments not subsidized by government owned hospitals?

The following is a letter sent to us by a TOC reader.…

Deliveroo unveils details of trade-in grant scheme to support its e-scooter delivery riders during transition period

Following the ban – which came into commencement on 5 November –…

“Mudik” ban to begin on Friday in Indonesia; Over 6,000 people in Jakarta have left the city

Following the Indonesian government’s announcement yesterday to ban the yearly “mudik” tradition…