Be responsible .....because you can destroy LIVES

[Hishercar]

NTU prof says there's no truth to online accusations

'He wanted to give POOR GRADE' 'HE HAD SEX RELATIONSHIP WITH STUDENT' 'He did this...' 'He attacked student...'

HE IS the victim.

By Crystal Chan

 

20 March 2009

HE IS the victim.

 

Yet, in a cruel twist, he has become victimised by vicious talk on the Internet.

Associate Professor Chan Kap Luk has had to endure not only the physical trauma of being stabbed by his student, but emotional hurt from speculation over his character and sexual inclination.

 

 

Some netizens have suggested on forums like SgForums.com and blogs that Prof Chan was attacked because he wanted to give his assailant, Mr David Hartanto Mr Widjaja, 21, a poor grade for his final-year project.

 

Some netizens even went as far as to imply that Mr Widjaja had a homosexual relationship with Prof Chan.

 

Speaking exclusively to The New Paper, Prof Chan, who is married with two young children, was bewildered when told about such talk.

 

He said over the telephone: 'My goodness, there's no such thing. Don't believe everything you read on the Internet, because people can write whatever they want.'

 

He added: 'I never read these Internet forums because the postings can't be taken seriously - anyone can write anything.'

 

The Nanyang Technological University don was supervising the project when Mr Widjaja stabbed him on the morning of 2 Mar, before jumping to his death.

 

Prof Chan, 45, who teaches in NTU's School of Electrical and Electronic Engineering, added that he hoped police investigations could be concluded soon to dispel vicious online notions.

 

Was the stabbing over poor grades?

 

'That's not the purpose (giving poor grades) when I meet my (final-year project) students,' replied Prof Chan, laughing.

 

'The project supervisor's role is to help the students to do well and there was no exception with David.'We're not out to fail the students and that's why I'm laughing at the suggestion that I wanted to give David a poor grade.

 

'Ask any professor if they wish to help their students do well and their answers are the same.'The don was discharged from National University Hospital on 4 Mar and is on medical leave for a few weeks.

 

He was initially reluctant to talk when The New Paper called, saying he was not ready to be interviewed.

 

But as the conversation turned to the Internet postings, he opened up.

 

Difficulties

 

Prof Chan, who is also supervising the final-year projects of nine other students, said: 'I'm sure all students who go through the (projects) have the same experiences of meeting deadlines and coping with other modules.

 

'Difficulties may occur with the projects but that's what the professors are there for.

'Of course, the students must also have the right attitude towards their projects and tell us if they have problems.'

 

Mr Widjaja had neglected his final-year project as other modules took up his time, his friends told the media. Prof Chan would not say if Mr Widjaja was slack with his project, which focused on using multiple cameras to obtain multiple views of a scene.

 

'If David had any problems with his project, he certainly didn't tell me. It's very sad he ended up like that.'

 

He declined to talk more about the stabbing, saying he had given a police statement.

Other Internet postings suggested that Prof Chan had attacked Mr Widjaja and that the knife was already in the office.

 

To that, he said: 'I think some things should be left to the police and we should not take these matters into our hands. It's not appropriate for people to speculate about the incident when the police are still investigating.

 

'I really hope the investigations will be over soon so the truth can come out quickly.'

In the meantime, some of Prof Chan's colleagues are helping to oversee the final-year projects that he was supervising.

 

Prof Chan, who is also deputy director of NTU's Biomedical Research Centre, has been teaching in the university since June 1992.

 

He got his bachelor's degree from the University of London in 1987, and got his PhD four years later from the same institution.

 

Will he take action against netizens behind the vicious postings?

 

'I believe in freedom of speech so I won't take action or read what has been written on the Internet, though these are untrue.

 

'...There are more important things for me to do than to counter the speculation of other people.

 

'I just hope that people will think before believing what has been written on the Internet and that people will be responsible for what they write.'

 

[Sosaria]

...

 

Was the stabbing over poor grades?

 

'That's not the purpose (giving poor grades) when I meet my (final-year project) students,' replied Prof Chan, laughing.

 

'The project supervisor's role is to help the students to do well and there was no exception with David.'We're not out to fail the students and that's why I'm laughing at the suggestion that I wanted to give David a poor grade.

 

'Ask any professor if they wish to help their students do well and their answers are the same.'...

 

Ha ha, if only more students would read this article...

 

Students always think they are in an adversarial relationship with their teachers, i.e. i try to score well and teacher's job is to find my mistakes. But this is really utterly ridiculous, as the prof also said.

 

Teachers and lecturers are appraised and judged by how well and how successful their students turn out. Fail too many students and your record will look bad to the management. There is definitely some pressure to graduate the students. Of course, this doesn't mean that students can totally slack... basically the moral of the story is: 'help your teachers to help you'!

Edited March 20, 2009 by Sosaria

[Hishercar]

yes i begin to realized what you are saying is true