Following the completion of its internal investigations into the racist and Islamophobic conduct of lecturer Tan Boon Lee, Ngee Ann Polytechnic (NP) on Thursday (17 June) said that it is in the process of terminating his employment.

In a statement today, the polytechnic said that it has “officially charged the staff in question for serious breach of our Staff Code of Conduct”.

“Our staff members are expected to respect cultural, ethnic and religious differences in our society. They must uphold secularity and impartiality at all times,” NP said.

Mr Tan came under the public spotlight after he was identified as the man making racist remarks to an interracial couple in a video uploaded by Dave Parkash, the Indian-Filipino man who was accused by Mr Tan of “preying” on Chinese girls while on a night out with his girlfriend.

After it was reported that Mr Tan was suspended from his teaching duties following the case, a former student of his took to social media to share her own experience of being subjected to Islamophobic remarks from him in front of a class.

Ms Nurul Fatimah binti Iskandar, who was a student of Mr Tan for an Object-Oriented Programming Module in 2017, said in an Instagram post on 9 June that the lecturer had “used our class period to have a full-on discourse about Islam”.

“I was the only Muslim in class. He opened websites on the projector, pointing out things he didn’t agree with about the Quran and Prophet Muhammad s.a.w to the class,” she said.

Based on Ms Nurul’s record of an Instagram Story posted on 28 July 2017, the date of the incident, among the comments Mr Tan had reportedly made were “Only animals will treat their children like how Allah does to His people” and “What type of Father tells you to worship him five times a day and threatens to send you to hell if you don’t?”.

Such remarks, she said, were merely “the tip of the iceberg”.

To worsen matters, Mr Tan had singled out Ms Nurul — who was sitting in the front of the class — and asked her if she agreed with him.

“I could barely open my mouth amidst his continuous sweeping statements. I was barely 17, fresh out of 10 years of madrasah trying to assimilate into the new secular environment,” she lamented.

The situation had “escalated so badly” that Ms Nurul ended up sitting outside on the floor of the corridor with her classmate, Merick while waiting for his “unsettling speech” to end. Merick had initiated the walk-out, according to Ms Nurul.

NP said in its statement on Thursday that it has “reached out to our alumna immediately to express our regret for her experience in 2017”.

“We immediately offered counselling support to her. We have since met her to get more details of her experience and would like to apologise for the distress that she suffered, and thank her for her assistance in our internal investigations,” it added.

NP noted that the police is currently investigating the matter and that it will fully cooperate with the authorities in the process.

Ms Nurul noted in her post on 9 June that she made a complaint regarding the incident with Mr Tan, but no action was taken.

Addressing the matter, NP stated today that it sought to “understand why our alumna’s feedback had not been acted upon, to tighten our feedback processes and ensure that gaps and areas of improvement are duly addressed”.

“In our conversation with her, she indicated that she could not recall whether she had emailed her feedback on the incident or raised it during a post-course focus group discussion (FGD) in 2017. FGDs are typically held at the end of every semester to seek students’ feedback on courses and lecturers,” it said.

NP claimed that it was not able to “locate any records of the feedback” from its search through its “various feedback channels” and her NP mailbox archives.

“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. We will also advise our staff on how to manage and report feedback that they may receive outside of these channels, as appropriate,” it said.

NP went on to say that on top of its existing course feedback channels which are anonymous, various channels are available for students to provide anonymous feedback, the most recent being a whistleblowing email channel for students at [email protected].

“Other channels for student feedback include a general enquiry AskNP email, course experience dialogues as well as various student surveys conducted periodically. In addition, students can share their feedback with their staff advisors at any time,” said the polytechnic, adding that it will make all feedback channels more accessible and visible on its website and publicise them on its campus digital screens.

NP also said that it will review its 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”.

“We also remind all staff to strictly adhere to the Staff Code of Conduct and create a safe learning environment for all in NP,” said the polytechnic.

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

星耀樟宜成热门打卡景点 无助零售商提升销售额

自星耀樟宜机场去年4月开张以来,已经在短时间内打造成为新加坡的热门打卡地点之一,利用绿化与花园的概念打造,甚至盖了全世界最大的室内瀑布,让樟宜机场一时间成为旅客必去经典。 总理李显龙曾表示,星耀樟宜的设立有助于提升樟宜机场的声誉与竞争力,并且吸引游客的到来。樟宜机场集团(CAG)称在开张6个月以来,星耀樟宜就创下了逾五千万人次的游客,即指每日接待高达30万包括本地与国际旅客。 零售商称旅客多数为景点而来,并没有提升购物欲 但果真如此吗?根据《海峡时报》报道,自星耀樟宜开张后9个月,虽然已有超过280间商铺,但部分业者表示销售额开始出现下滑的迹象。 17家零售商中高达8家认为他们难以达到预期销售目标,其中一名零售经理更表示,在过去三个月中都未能达到所预期的销售目标。 “一般而言,12月为学校长假,生意都会有所提升,但其销售目标仍不及预期销售结果,许多人就是来这里吃饭看瀑布,而不是真正购物。” 该名经理也表示,其他分店的生意都比在星耀樟宜的销售目标来得更好,至少表现好过星耀樟宜的五成。 此外,除了一二楼的零售商家生意普通,位于底层的零售商家的客流量比一二楼的还要少。 其员工向《海峡时报》透露,由于商场相当大,分布较多,很多都想要花时间去逛景点,所以最后他们只能在剩余的一点点时间来逛商铺,意味着,他们只能走马看花。 还有部分有名咸蛋零食商家如Irvins,虽然都能吸引外国顾客如中国、印尼和泰国特地前来购买,但也因季节而生意转淡,只能等待例如他们的学校放假期间,销售额才会有提升,其他时间则比较冷清。 员工也透露除了12月学校假期的销售额达标外,其他月份均不达标如10月至11月的销售额仍然是下降了三成。 部分商家持乐观态度…

38家公司非法排污被罚逾25万元 面包物语也上榜

根据公用事业局文告,从去年6月至今年五月期间,有38家公司非法排放污水到公共下水道而被罚款,罚款总额高达25万3700元。其中,知名烘培和食品制作公司面包物语(Breadtalk)也榜上有名。 根据文告,当局是在进行公共排污系统检查时,发现这些违例行为。这些违例行为包括把超标含金属或化学物质排入下水道,或者是更为严重的排放危险、有害和挥发性有机化合物(VOC),这些物质足以引发下水道起火,并影响排污水处理工作。 有18家公司因屡次犯错而被施以更严重的处罚。至于面包物语则被指在2016年6月及2017年4月,数次把含有超过限制的受管制化学工业污水排入公共下水道,结果因此被罚款1万6300元。 至于顽固屡犯者则是印刷和包装业者达成包装,则被指分别在2016年6月、2017年12月和2018年,非法排放含超过限制的受管制金属及化学污水,而被罚款1万4100元。 其他违规者还包括污水回收公司NSL Oilchem Logistics、电镀公司Metal Treatment Technology以及工程机械公司KMS Industrial,也各别被罚款1万2200元、1万1300元和1万零500元。 排放超过浓度限制金属和化学物质 NSL…

Beware! The "smear campaign" returns

By Tan Jee Say – Someone using the moniker of 'Tan Roar'…

Govt fact-checking website Factually claims PVP chief's statement on govt spending on foreign students "false and misleading"

People’s Voice Party (PVP) chief Lim Tean’s statement on the Government’s spending…