Sunday, October 5, 2008

Stupid Move by NTU

On the week when opposition figure J.B. Jeyaretnam died, a simple case from Nanyang Technological University showed actually what the man has been fighting against all his political life.

The Nanyang Technological University's broadcast network had ran a small news bulletin on Chee Soon Juan after he visited the school in late August to meet students and hand out fliers. For some reason that I failed to understand, school officials pulled the bulletin off the airwaves and stopped a planned news article about Chee's visit.

What is this "concern about school media airing "unsolicited views" from an "uninvited" person"? What harm can a small bulletin do? Isn't it more advisable and smarter for the NTU to just let the students run the bulletin? How long would people remember a simple bulletin from the university's broadcast? Hell, how many people/students actually listen to the school's broadcast anyway?

But in banning the broadcast, about 60 people now gather at Speakers' Corner to protest the decision and Chee Soon Juan now has more airplay than ever before. I truly fear for the students of the university when the officials of the school are so stupid. Talk about a decision that backfired. Chee Soon Juan may a vocal critic of the government but what harm can a bulletin actually do to the school or the PAP?

But a protest against the ban of the bulletin at the Speakers' Corner by the students and former students from the university in question, that's news! If I am part of the PAP, I will be less than happy with the school officials of NTU.

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

This is the biggest problem with Singapore.

Stupid leadership begets stupid officials and stupid policies !

Self serving leaders begets self serving officials and increasingly more self serving citizens !

Anonymous said...

Show's the disease of this unncessary 'self censorship' or being 'politically correct'(or is it really a case of 'political favouritism'(?) shown by the civil servants themselves?

Anonymous said...

It's a disease marked by a lack of common sense, circumspective thought and general rationality.

It's too common in Singapore.

Ghost said...

It's beyond a lack of common sense. Like I said earlier, what harm can a stupid broadcast on the NTU bulletin actually do to the might of the PAP? It's just plain stupid