Hong Kong-based academics, Professor Cherian George and Professor Donald Low, will be discussing their latest book titled “PAP v PAP” in a book talk organised by AcademiaSG next Wednesday (11 Nov), and members of the public are invited to join the online discussion.
The book is an anthology of essays on the Singapore government and politics, which focuses on the struggle “between a conservative attachment to what worked in the past, and a boldly progressive vision for the future”.
Both the co-authors were initially scheduled to speak in the “Public Discourse Truth & Trust” webinar organised by the Raffles Hall Association (RHA) on 1 November, before the organizer abruptly replaced them with a new slate of speakers last week.
The “Public Discourse Truth & Trust” webinar had originally featured Cherian George, professor of media studies at the Hong Kong Baptist University, and Donald Low, professor of practice in public policy at the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology.
About 10 days after announcing the event, RHA president Sonny Yuen announced 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.
Following that, Prof George tweeted on Friday (6 Nov) that a book talk is set to replace the “aborted event” next Wednesday (11 Nov), which will be streamed online from 8 pm to 9.30 pm.
“Unlike last week’s aborted event, the organizer of next Wednesday’s chat, AcademiaSG, is an independent collective of Singaporean academic,” he wrote on Twitter.
Apart from Prof George and Prof Low, fellow academics from the Nanyang Technological University (NUS), Assistant Professor Walid Jumblat Abdullah and Associate Professor Teo You Yenn, will also be featured in the online discussion.
“So we would give you a money-back guarantee that the speakers won’t be switched (except that admission is free},” Prof George added.
Last week, our book was a talking point for the wrong reasons when a scheduled webinar in Singapore was blocked. We're looking forward to a more productive conversation about our book next Wednesday. All are welcome. https://t.co/wYzYERdDI9
— Cherian George (@cheriangeorge) November 6, 2020
The book talk will be streamed online via Zoom, Instagram, Facebook and Youtube.
Members of the public are encouraged to register on AcademiaSG’s website to receive more details about the event.
