Parliament: Educational institutions no place for partisan politics, says Ong Ye Kung

Education Minister Ong Ye Kung has come out in defence of his ministry's decision to support the scrapping of a Yale-NUS programme.

He told Parliament yesterday the worry that institutes of higher learning may be used to conduct partisan political activities to sow dissent against the Government is not unfounded. The Ministry of Education (MOE) had this concern when it saw the outline of a proposed Yale-NUS College module titled Dissent and Resistance, said Mr Ong.

The module, which would have been run by local poet and playwright Alfian Sa'at, was cancelled by the college on Sept 13, some two weeks before it was to begin.

Mr Ong said the module would have involved dialogues with personalities such as Mr Jolovan Wham and Mr Seelan Palay - who have previously been convicted of public order-related offences.

It would also have included dialogues by Ms Kirsten Han and Dr Thum Ping Tjin of the New Naratif media platform, which Mr Ong said receives "significant foreign funding".

He also cited a 1998 poem by Mr Alfian titled "Singapore You Are Not My Country", and other statements he had made in the past that compared Malaysia favourably against Singapore.

Mr Ong had quoted the line from the poem: "Singapore, I assert you are not a country at all. Do not raise your voice against me, I am not afraid of your anthem..."

"This is a poem, and we might concede some artistic licence. But Mr Alfian Sa'at continues this attitude consistently in his activism," said Mr Ong, citing how Mr Alfian had apologised to the Malaysian government in 2013 when 21 Malaysians were arrested for protesting illegally at the Merlion Park.

Referring to a Facebook post by Mr Alfian last weekend, Mr Ong said the poet had spoken about "a revival of student activism in Singapore, especially in areas such as political conscientisation".

"The term 'political conscientisation' comes from radical left wing thought. It means agitation aimed at making people conscious of the oppression in their lives so that they will take action against these oppressive elements," Mr Ong said.

"I think this is how Mr Alfian saw his project."

The minister said those responsible for the programme are entitled to their views and feelings about Singapore. "They can write about them, even vent them on social media," he said. "But we have to decide whether we allow such forms of political resistance free rein in our educational institutions, and even taught as compulsory, credit-bearing programmes."

Responding to questions filed by Dr Intan Azura Mokhtar (Ang Mo Kio GRC), Mr Seah Kian Peng (Marine Parade GRC) and Nominated MP Walter Theseira, Mr Ong said the cancellation has drawn many comments. While a few disagreed, most academics, including those from Yale-NUS, supported the cancellation, he added.

Many members of the public also supported the decision but for a "simpler and more fundamental" reason.

"They did not see why inciting and teaching students to protest should be condoned in our educational institutions," he said. "MOE's stand is we cannot have such activity in our schools or institutes of higher learning. Political conscientisation is not the taxpayer's idea of what education means."

In a Facebook post yesterday, Mr Alfian said Mr Ong had not quoted a line in his poem in full, saying it continues with "...although the lyrics are still bleeding from the bark of my sapless heart".

Mr Alfian wrote: "Just stopping on the word 'anthem' might suggest that I am somehow rejecting symbols of the state. But the whole line makes clear that I have grown up with the anthem as a Singaporean, that it bleeds from my heart."