Singapore university events ‘must be in national interest’
Emily Dixon | 13 January 2023 | Times Higher Education
Events at Singaporean universities should “respect…wider social norms and act in line with national interests”, its government has said.
Jamus Jerome Lim, a member of the opposition Workers’ Party who represents the Sengkang constituency, asked the minister for education, Chan Chun Sing, if he could confirm “that incidents of disinvitations of speakers and cancellations of events at the autonomous universities [were] not due to advisory or instructions transmitted by the ministry”. Alongside his parliamentary seat, Dr Lim is an associate professor of economics at ESSEC Business School.
“The autonomous universities [AUs] manage their own events, including deciding which speakers they wish to invite,” the ministry said in response. “As common spaces for learning, AUs are aware that they must respect Singapore’s wider social norms….