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Singaporean University Snubs Lauded (But Anti-Censorship) Professor
New submitter nifty-c writes "Singapore has invested heavily in higher education partnerships with the U.S. and launched an ambitious program of high-tech research with Western countries, but recent events have opened these links to controversy. Prof. Cherian George at Nanyang Technological University (NTU), Singapore, is a communication and information school professor and an outspoken critic of his government's censorship of the Internet. NTU recently fired him, sparking an outcry from critics who claim political interference. This week a group of faculty and affiliates at Harvard's Berkman Center for Internet & Society has 'strongly caution[ed]...colleagues working in the area of Internet and society in any dealings with Singaporean universities.'"
1. This article said the man was "fired". Actually he was an associate professor who was denied tenure, i.e. a substantial promotion. Lots of associate professors are denied tenure in every major university every year, and frequently there are cries of discrimination, favoritism, cronyism, etc.
2. In order to get tenure in a major university, a candidate should be distinguished in his or her field (being considered a great teacher is nice, but that and $2 gets a cup of coffee when it comes to tenure decisions). This guy seemed to be best known for his harsh criticism of the government of Singapore... which the university depends on in many ways! Yeah, that sounds likely that they would want that guy on board.
I read the linked articles and I see that Freedom House, an NGO, says that Singapore has the same rating for political and civil freedom as Nigeria. The Economist compares the democracy in Singapore with that of Liberia. So that does beg the question... what genius sat down and said "this would be a great place to put a new campus for Yale!"
'Freedom' talks, money walks. It's pretty similar to the (on the whole practically hagiographic) coverage that Dubai gets. If the GDP per-capita is high enough and most of the violence is reserved for locals who get mouthy, rather than expats who don't give a fuck because they can always just fly home, you can have pretty much any western investors, corporate branch offices, or prestige institutions you are willing to buy.
If you have the sort of unfreedom that is bad for property values(like Nigeria), then you can still get extraction industries and CIA agents; but probably not a Yale branch campus...
I don't know, but I think education is the solution to the problems with Singapore you mentioned.
I read the linked articles and I see that Freedom House, an NGO, says that Singapore has the same rating for political and civil freedom as Nigeria. The Economist compares the democracy in Singapore with that of Liberia. So that does beg the question... what genius sat down and said "this would be a great place to put a new campus for Yale!"
Consider Yale's proposal* for training US military to interrogate immigrants. As Singaporeans are already subject to degrading human rights conditions, there should be little resistance from the populace should Yale decide to improve trainees' experience with interrogating natural-born Asians.
* Additional source: http://www.democracynow.org/2013/2/21/an_interrogation_center_at_yale_proposed
Thank you, Edward Snowden.
"Arguments from authority are worthless." —Carl Sagan
I think it's fair to say that Yale's research lead on that project, Charles Morgan III, may not be what we call a 'quick study' or a 'good learner from experience'...
His research specialty is stress and PTSD, so he has worked with the SERE program for quite a while. Back in 2007 he was oh-so-horribly-shocked to discover that we were using methods we had previously associated with the forces of commie aggression. Now, in 2013, he is seeking “someone they can’t necessarily identify with” in order to provide better practice for special forces interrogators? Is this guy the clueless optimist that keeps hopeful nigerian scammers clogging up our inboxes year after year?
It's pretty similar to the (on the whole practically hagiographic) coverage that Dubai gets.
That has to be the silliest word I've seen since "orthogonal" (come on; what's wrong with "tangential", ffs?).
holy + writing. Pretentious much? :-P
I also resent your dissing Dubai. It's one of the few shining lights in the Arab world. I wish all of Islam was as happy as Dubai.
"Tongue tied and twisted, just an Earth bound misfit
As with most words, the etymology is a pretty sketchy guide to the definition. Not unrelated; but words pick up(and lose) a lot of baggage over time.
In this case 'hagiography' is the genre of writings about saints and miracles and holy places and whatnot. It also tends to carry the perjorative assertion that the writing in question is somewhere between excessively uncritical and overtly fawning in its treatment of the subject. Would there be other ways to convey the same point? Sure. Does that particular word compactly encapsulate what I wanted to say? Quite conveniently so. (I'm generally in agreement that using 'orthogonal' outside of mathematical contexts is a bit off; but it's hardly a synonym for 'tangential').
Singapore is a remnant from the time when Western countries would support any regime, provided it would not align with the USSR. There is no freedom of press, no freedom of association in Singapore. All depends of the good will of the prime minister. But since 1959, only two different prime ministers have ever been elected, and the second one is the son of the first one.
There are elections with opposing candidates, but it's also the case in Russia nowadays. As almost all media belong to the government or the prime minister's family. The election system is over-complicated to engineer a very predictable result. While a large portion of the housing is public housing, the government makes threats to remove state funding in constituencies that do note vote for the ruling party. It is said that there is no 'perception' of corruption in Singapore. On the individual level, it might be true, with upstanding public officers. But much of the country's economy is under the control of Temasek holdings, which belongs to the state, and is a pretty opaque company.
In the end you should not expect freedom if you go to work and live as an expatriate researcher in Singapore. Money, for sure. But as you're getting this money, you also are a pawn of the state to further its control of the population, and help launder the money hidden in the city by corrupt officials throughout Asia.
Erm, because it's a city state with one of the highest GDP per capita in the world ($60K/year)? One of the least corrupt countries in the world?
Nigeria is poor ($2.5K/year), corrupt and violent. There is no valid comparison to make between the two nations.
I'm generally in agreement that using 'orthogonal' outside of mathematical contexts is a bit off; but it's hardly a synonym for 'tangential'.
In a computer software context, "orthogonal" has the huge advantage that it's idiomatic. People will immediately understand your meaning... (with "tangential" they'd just go "huh?")
Most people I hear using "orthogonal" outside that context are involved in computers, so for them, it's perfectly normal.
We live, as we dream -- alone....
Tangential != Orthogonal
What's wrong with "tangential" is that its meaning is orthogonal to "orthogonal".
Just because you don't know a word doesn't automatically make the poster using it pretentious. It does make said poster more erudite than you.
Woah.. lets not go on to full Singapore bashing mode .. the country (city-state) has achieved some incredible things.. not least of which is continued economic prosperity amidst the carnarge, as well as an incredibly safe, stable and clean living habitat for the populace. Ofcourse there are gripes, freedom of speech does not stand up to the western definition of it..but atleast they are pretty honest about it.
The city and its government has punched far above its weight. I think it would only be fair to analyse the state of affairs in that context.
Singapore is what is called "guided democracy(GD)". A simple way of effectively saying "do it my way or the highway". However this guided democracy has achieved enormous success and results for the last few decades taking a tiny country and putting it at the forefront of Asia as a pro business centre. It is highly likely that without being a GD then we would be looking at a very different and MUCH poorer country right now. Singapore has no mineral or natural wealth to fall back on, so was their approach wrong? That said when a "Western" University chooses to partner with Singapore and establish an adjunct there they know exactly what political arena they are entering and they deliberately make an informed decision. Additionally it is accepted in Singapore that if you openly and often criticise the ruling Peoples Action Party(PAP) you WILL eventually feel their "wrath" in some way. Thus an Associate Professor at a government University, under these circumstances, quite possibly will not achieve tenure if he is overactive in his criticism of the PAP and their methods. He knew of this likelyhood upfront. Should a Western University now change course as a result of this event? Probably not as Singapore is "changing". The PAP maintained a decent majority at the last election, but the overall 's popularity has been deminishing slightly as voters begin to seek a more open way forward and recent local elections have stunned the PAP in this regard .For a Western University to reconsider their approach to Singapore in view of this and at this time is probably not useful and would be unnecessary.
Singapore is now a hugely successful country which rewards the prosperous (low taxation, no capital gains) but it has become an extremely expensive place to live as inflation is HIGH and property prices are now EXTREME. If you are not prosperous you are allowed to purchase Housing Development Board (HDB) flats (apartments) which cost usually under one million Singapore dollars (yes that's inexpensive ,very inexpensive relative to private property in Singapore) but the occupants often have a long (45+ minutes) communte to work. That may not sound an inconvenience to non Singaporeans but is considered a lengthy commute by Singapore standards. But is has created a visible example of the large gap between the haves and have nots in the country. Just like China vast amounts of private properties have been puchased and remain empty as the owners expect a rich reward in terms of rising prices EVERY year and see NO downside. Just drive by residential skyscrapers at night and look for those apartment blocks with few lights on! This is a visible rendition of the extreme residential property inflation/speculative game in Singapore.
With all the success in Singapore there is now a dichotomy of a potential decision amongst the population. Should Singapore continue with the guided democracy because "it has worked so well", or is now the time to choose a more open democratic governance and take the risks that this brings, in return for a more open society where criticism is accepted as benefitial.
It's their country. They will decide.
Um the links you posted make it pretty clear that what he is training people for is NOT interrogation.
Fair enough. I usually think of computer software as being a 'mathematical context'; but I suppose that it has such an enormous applied/engineering side at this point that it would be far from obvious that I meant to include software people in saying that.
What's wrong with "tangential" is that its meaning is orthogonal to "orthogonal".
Among mathematicians, I'd agree. However, to the average Joe (like me):
tangential
adj 1: of superficial relevance if any;
orthogonal
adj 1: not pertinent to the matter under consideration; "an
issue extraneous to the debate";
those look pretty damned similar.
"Tongue tied and twisted, just an Earth bound misfit