FATTIE JOHN FIGHTS BACK!

LECTURER SUSPENDED
Varsity cites students' interests, calls for probe:

Neo Chai Chin

ONE of the three men accused of contempt of court has been suspended from his lecturing duties at James Cook University Singapore.

Mr John Tan, 47, assistant secretary-general of the Singapore Democratic Party, was told of his suspension on Oct 21 when he was called to the Dean's office and handed a letter.

It stated: "The Management has received information that the Attorney-General has applied to court for contempt proceedings to be instituted against you. A student has also given some feedback on this matter, expressing some concerns.

"JCU Singapore considers this a serious matter and has called for an enquiry to be conducted."

When contacted, Dr Dale Anderson, chief executive of JCU Singapore, said Mr Tan was suspended on the "legal advice we took, and for the good of our students". He added: "Students are our first priority so while John has these issues where he'll need to be in court in the middle of this semester, we elected to get someone else to teach the class." JCU Singapore's current 12-week semester began on Oct 29.

But Mr Tan, who taught the Sociology, and Learning and Behaviour modules for JCU's psychology degree course, felt the enquiry was unfair. "As long as I do my job, I should not be subject to this kind of review."

Mr Tan is a temporary lecturer on 12-week service agreements with the school, and has been lecturing there for four years. He is facing contempt of court charges for turning up at the Supreme Court building in May with two others in T-shirts bearing pictures of a kangaroo in judges' robes (see story above).

JCU Singapore has received feedback from students both in support of Mr Tan as well as against him staying with the school, said Dr Anderson. "A number of them have sent emails. Some students either supported John being here, or asked why we would have him here," he said, adding that none has questioned his teaching ability.

When asked, he said he did not know about Mr Tan's political affiliation prior to the school's decision.

As for JCU Singapore's future working relationship with Mr Tan, it depends on the outcome of the court case and if the school needed his services, said Dr Anderson.

Mr Tan said he would be posting some students' letters in support of him on SDP's website within the next two days. He has received more than 28, he added.

If u cannot exploit the peasants' power, then try it on their kids. elementary psychology since when sdppy's manual became a venting site for airing personal grievances?