14/07/2009 signel : Message: New Paper: Is Thio…

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These reporters didn't do their homework.
Show Me ssa ge O ption

Almost ev ery one knows that A lfian wrote the letter.

Yahoo! Groups Tips Roy Tan
Any way , I'm glad her NY U appointment has stirred up a hornet's nest <groyn88@...>
Did you know...
of groyn88
W a nt your group to
be fe a ture d on the controv ersy that our media can't ignore. O ffline
Yahoo! Groups Se nd Em ail
we bsite ? Add a group It's only a matter of time before human rights academics all ov er the
photo to Flick r.
world come
to know of the incongruity between her homophobic v iews and her
claim to
Best of Y! Groups competence in teaching human rights.
Check
She may become a pariah and discredited in the international human
them out
rights
and
academic community .
nominate
your group.
Roy .

http://www.asiaone.com/News/Education/Story /A 1 Story 200907 1 0-

1 5397 5.html

Sun, Jul 1 2, 2009

The New Paper

How can anti-gay don teach rights course?

By TA Y SHI'AN and CELINE LIM

A NOMINATED Member of Parliament (NMP) who once made a police

report after
receiv ing a threatening letter, supposedly of gay origin, is now creating
ripples in the US.

Dr Thio Li-ann is set to teach a course, Human Rights Law in A sia, at

the New
Y ork Univ ersity (NY U) School of Law in the fall semester in
September, as a
v isiting professor.

But the National Univ ersity of Singapore (NUS) law lecturer's

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14/07/2009 signel : Message: New Paper: Is Thio…
outspoken v iews
about the gay community , made earlier, hav e raised the hackles of
students at
NY U.

Her appointment has prompted some of them to ask if someone who is

perceiv ed to
be against gay rights should be picked to teach a course about human
rights.

Some students and alumni went as far as to ask NY U to rescind Dr

Thio's
inv itation.

A student organisation also sent out mass e-mails to the student body
to alert
them to Dr Thio's v iews so that students can make 'fully informed
decisions
regarding class registration'.

The letter highlighted Dr Thio's 2007 speech as an NMP, when

Parliament was
debating whether to repeal Section 37 7 A of the Penal Code, which
deems sex
between men as a crime.

Dr Thio had spoken strongly against any change in the law. She had
said
homosex uality is immoral.

Dr Thio, whose NMP term ex pires nex t Friday , did not respond to
queries from The
New Paper, sent to her both directly and through NUS.

But NY U's School of Law dismissed the calls to rescind Dr Thio's

inv itation,
say ing she can offer a 'v aluable contribution' to the intellectual life on
campus, and that all its candidates are selected based on 'a record of
ex cellent
scholarship and fine teaching'.

Its public affairs officer, Mr Jason Casell, said: 'Many in our faculty ,
staff
and student body will be in sharp disagreement with Professor Thio on
the
content of her speech, and we ex pect there will be a dy namic ex change
on these
issues.

'This is what makes institutions of higher learning so indispensable to

our
society - the ability to prov ide a forum for these kinds of ex changes.'

An NUS spokesman said an academic staff's personal beliefs has no

bearing on his
or her academic appointment.

'NUS staff are, howev er, ex pected to observ e the univ ersity 's code of
conduct,
which emphasises three fundamental ethical principles: personal and
professional
integrity , respect for people and respect for the law and Univ ersity
gov ernance.'

The buzz at NY U started last week, when NY U OUTLaw, an

organisation for lesbian,
gay , bisex ual and transgender law students, sent out amass mailer to
the student
body .

The group sent another statement on Wednesday , say ing it believ es Dr

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14/07/2009 signel : Message: New Paper: Is Thio…
Thio's
'intolerant' words raised 'serious questions' about her 'fitness' to teach a
human rights course.

Mr Casell said Dr Thio was selected based on her published academic

scholarship
and not her speeches in Parliament.

The issue was picked up by sev eral US websites and blogs.

One of them, Inside Higher Ed, published an e-mail response it had

receiv ed from
Dr Thio.

She defended her right to her 'opinion... a cardinal principle for ev ery
academic community ' and alluded to the outcry as 'a demanded
uniformity ' or
'political correctness' decreed by the elite.

She added: 'I cannot say I am impressed by this ugly brand of

politicking, which
I hope is not endemic.'

Dr Thio rev ealed that the president of an NY U student organisation

committed to
free debate, which she did not name, had written to welcome her.

She said its president had noted that the negativ e v iews ex pressed
were not
representativ e of the entire student body .

Not alone

Dr Thio also argued that she is not alone in her v iews. She wrote: 'I
think
certain A mericans hav e to realise the fact that there are a div ersity of
v iews
on the subject and it is not a settled matter; there is no univ ersal norm
and it
is nothing short of moral imperialism to suggest there is.'

Dr Thio's appointment at NY U comes under the Hauser Global Law

School Program,
which seeks to ex pose students to legal scholars who come from and
hav e been
shaped by different countries and cultures.

She will teach two classes: Human Rights in A sia, which currently has a
capacity
of 45, and Constitutionalism in Asia, which is capped at 25 students.

The NY U debate comes three months after Dr Thio's mother, lawy er

Thio Su Mien,
was featured as a central figure in the A ware leadership struggle.

She was the self-sty led 'feminist mentor' of the new guard.

Comments:

In those day s there was no good leader: ev ery man did that which was
right in
his own ey es.
Posted by : thinkbig at Sun Jul 1 2 21 :1 8:55 SGT 2009

Simple...fines, penalties and tobacco tax bring in lots of money ...just

business
that is all
Posted by : kooldog59 at Sun Jul 1 2 20:47 :09 SGT 2009
Singapore is anti-smoking country . Why impose so many
restrictions,rules,ban,fines & penalties for smoking ev ery where now?
Would it be
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14/07/2009 signel : Message: New Paper: Is Thio…
easier to stop the production of cigarettes instead?
Posted by : afcy y ey e at Sun Jul 1 2 20:43:41 SGT 2009

Reply Forward Message #23577 of 23577 < P re v | Ne x t >

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New Paper: Is Thio Li-Ann fit t o t each human right s? Roy Tan Jul 12, 2009
These reporters didn't do their hom ework. Alm ost ev ery one knows that 8:44 pm
groyn88
Alfian wrote the letter. Any way , I'm glad her NYU appointm ent has
stirred up a hornet's...

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