Academic freedom, as with many good things in the world, can get carried to excess and then misused, Education Minister Ong Ye Kung said yesterday, addressing concerns arising from the cancellation of a Yale-NUS programme.
For example, free market competition and capitalism promise more jobs and better lives for people, but are often marred by greed and exploitation. What the society needs to do is to recognise the problem and respond, while governments need to intervene "to preserve the positive objectives and merits of the systems", he said.
"It is the same with academic freedom. We believe in this fundamental value. Modern-day Galileos would not exist without our academics and researchers being free to pursue the truth, wherever it may lead. But let us also be aware that, given the state of the world today, there will be people who want to misuse it as a cloak to advance their hidden agendas," he added.
"To preserve what we cherish, we must be ready to protect it when the situation calls for it. Academic freedom cannot be carte blanche for anyone to misuse an academic institution for political advocacy, for this would undermine the institution's academic standards and public standing."
Pointing out that governance of countries, companies and educational institutions has become far more complex due to technology and the free flow of information, Mr Ong said governance calls for judgment, which in turn has to reflect the country's norms.
"In some societies, individuals are more concerned about how far they can extend their fists, but Singaporeans worry about when our fists will reach other people's noses," he added.
Earlier in his speech, Mr Ong said some may argue that academic freedom grants universities the licence to run such programmes, in the spirit of critical engagement. A few may go even further to claim that dissent is good for democracies. "I much prefer the test of an ordinary Singaporean exercising his common sense," he said.
"He would readily conclude that taking into consideration all the elements and all the personalities involved, this is a programme that was filled with motives and objectives other than learning and education."
Although the Ministry of Education supported the decision by Yale-NUS to cancel a module on dissent, the ministry and autonomous universities (AUs) here value academic freedom, Mr Ong reassured the House.
He said Singapore's AUs have always been places where different ideas are explored and debated, and where public discourse is carried out vigorously and rigorously. This is why a liberal arts school like Yale-NUS will have a place in the Singapore education landscape.
In fact, there is increasing focus on inter-disciplinary learning and development of critical thinking skills in students in all the AUs, Mr Ong said.
"But thinking critically is quite different from being unthinkingly critical, and any course offered by our AUs must be up to mark. Otherwise, it does not deserve to be part of a liberal arts programme."
