NUS hosted a town hall to talk about the recent peeping tom incident. There were three panelists in total.
A Singaporean Redditor (Redditporean) attended the town hall and penned down her thoughts on the site. She claimed that all three panelists were 'woefully unprepared'. She also claimed that they responded to half of the questions with 'leave it to the review committee' or 'I'm sorry'. They also had to leave at 6.30pm on the dot without extension as if the student's weren't important.
The redditporean further stated that the students really felt as if hteir comments may fall under deaf ears due to the dismissive nature of most of the answers. NUS also did not have a plan in place apart from something about victim support. The town hall was also treated like a damage control and not a session where they would hear the voices of the students.
In one of the comments, the redditporean also said that the chair of the review committee was found but he was not there as part of the panelists.
You can read her full post here:
Thoughts on NUS Town Hall
I attended the Town Hall hosted by NUS.
Good lord it was a shitshow. The three panelists, especially Prof. Ling, were woefully underprepared, like as if they weren't ready for some of our questions. Half of the shit they said was "Leave it to the Review Committee" or "I'm sorry". And then, they had to leave at 6.30 on the fucking dot, without extension. Like as if we weren't important. The moment the last girls had her point to say, about them needing more town halls and proper methods to make sure what we said gets put into action, all Prof ling said was , and I quote, "Thank you for your feedback".
I'll add more thoughts when I've got time, but I'm fkn pissed rn.
EDIT: Okay, this somehow double-posted, sorry mods. I've got more stuff to say
-- We really felt like as if our comments may fall under deaf ears. Harsh, yes, but given the dismissive nature of most answers, it feels like our comments would just be taken into consideration by the review committee without any action. We need to know if what we say is really considered and not just to appease our need to voice out.
-- They had almost no plan in place, apart from something about victim support. It really felt like this town hall was to ask us for solutions, as if they couldnt come up with a plan on their own. The victim support plan was good, but most answers about student safety, increased discipline, educating about these issues (especially the latter), almost begged us to provide them with answers
-- Prof Ling, dear God. For a Vice Provost of Student Life, she knows jackshit about us students and our lives. She had no clue what doxxing was, asked us for suggestions cause she couldn't think up of one, or hasnt come up with a plan yet, and was more out of touch than a theatre major learning how to code. I bet she's a nice person, but in no way should she be in charge of student life. If we were our 'children' as she says, she's not being a good parent.
-- Apart from the one dude at the end who sort of defended the perpetrator, fucking props to the NUS students. Pointing out consistent flaws in what the panelists were saying, asking sharp and topical questions, and generally voicing out our thoughts perfectly. None of us were happy after the town hall, and we made it known to the press outside. Cue the Gabbie Hanna "I'm so proud of this community" meme, but I really am. I love y'all, students of NUS. Apart from that one dude who said the perpetrator should have a less harsh punishment. And those who clapped for him. The rest, y'all are awesome.
-- I don't doubt the panelists tried their best to answer the questions, but apart from the counselor who was there to answer about victim's problems, the Dean, Peter Pang, and Prof Ling were almost lost for words. At least Prof Pang admitted to wrongdoings of NUS in the past, but they were woeful. They treated this like damage control, NOT a session where they'd hear our voice on questions as to how the issue of sexual misconduct was dealt. Goddamn man.
I may have missed other things that infuriated me in the town hall, there's a lot, but if ya went, you can add your experience as well.
Edit 2: Turns out I accidentally copy-pasted my opening bit hahaah.
But still, what a mess. I want more action after this from NUS Students. An honest to goodness strike to show we care. But SG laws may not allow that. But at this point, I almost don't care. It's an issue that's been left alone for too long, and we need something to show we're fucking serious about it. If a town hall where the profs can squirm their way out won't affect them, a strike is probably what we fucking need.
https://www.reddit.com/r/singapore/comments/bh7v99/thoughts_on_nus_town_hall/
Do you think NUS will do something about the whole issue?
