@X holy shit i want TKL to win so bad. imagine 6 years of nonstop drama

#MAKESINGAPOREGREATAGAIN

#MYPRESIDENT

REMEMBER: VOTING IS MANDATORY

I swear he would be trans if he was in the USA or something

With the Presidential Election due to be held no later than Sept 13, things are starting to heat up.

An IT consultant has declared his intentions to run for president in a TikTok video on Thursday (June 29).

"My name is Turritopsis Dohrnii Teo En Ming", the 45-year-old said as he introduced himself. Turritopsis Dohrnii is the name of a biologically immortal jellyfish.

"I've collected the forms at the Elections Department (ELD) office on June 27. If I win, I shall become the commander-in-chief of the Army, Navy, Air Force, and the Marine Corps.

"I will defend the constitution of Singapore."

While the president of countries such as the United States and the Philippines also act as commander-in-chief of the military, this is not part of the Singapore president's responsibilities.

For the record, the duties of the president include representing Singapore in official diplomatic functions and to support charitable and social causes.

The president also has the power to veto or disagree with the Government's proposals in areas such as the country's reserves and key appointments in public service, if there are reasons to do so.

Besides his lifelong dream to work in the Japanese adult video industry, Teo is known on the internet for taking selfies with local celebrities.

Some of the actresses seen on his TikTok page include Sharon Au, Hong Ling and Ah Girls Go Army star Xixi Lim.

Teo's announcement of his presidential bid has since garnered over 28,000 views on TikTok.

In the comments, netizens were left scratching their heads over this bizarre declaration of his desire to become Singapore's head of state.

Some of them commented on his chances to win the presidential election, if Teo meets the stringent eligibility criteria, that is.

Other netizens have voiced their support for Teo.

Teo joins a growing list of hopefuls for the upcoming presidential election.

So far, Senior Minister Tharman Shanmugaratnam, businessman George Goh, and former secondary school teacher Seng Soon Kia have thrown their hats into the ring.

AsiaOne has contacted Teo for more information.

Teo En Ming: Aspiring Actor and 40-Year Old Virgin: https://www.ricemedia.co/culture-people-teo-en-ming-aspiring-actor-40-year-old-virgin/

In one of comedian Louis CK's stand-up routines, he talks about how there are people in this world that we've all unanimously decided never to love or have s*x with.

It builds up to the punchline: "If you feel bad for them and are like 'awww', why don't you go find one tomorrow and frick 'em? Nah? I didn't think so!"

This joke refutes the romantic notion that "there is someone for everyone", exposing the uncomfortable fact that for some, eternal single-hood is a lived reality rather than a joke to accompany the memes they share on Facebook.

I know this because I'm face to face with one of them, braising in the oily fragrance of Popeye's fried chicken.

His name is Teo En Ming. On Facebook, he calls himself Turritopsis Dohrnii, the name for a species of biologically immortal jellyfish. Even though he's only 40 years old this year, he regularly refers to himself as being 40 billion years old.

Late last year, he shot to internet notoriety when his aspirations to work in the Japanese adult video (JAV) industry were extensively discussed on HardwareZone. It was also revealed that he was bankrupt and soliciting donations.

According to at least one other blog, forum users were surprised to see that he'd managed to attend JAV Expos in both Taiwan and Japan, where he can be seen embracing women in various cute outfits. The article is prominently tagged 'dirty old man'.

At the centre of all this intrigue was the fact that he is also a hobbyist photographer who pays models so they'll allow themselves to be photographed.

But when I ask about his preparations to join the Japanese adult industry, all he says is: "Nothing. I just submitted my application to a few companies."

He describes his photography hobby as just something he likes to do; he enjoys looking at the pictures from time to time after he's taken them.

And while he says that his lifelong dream is to be a JAV actor so he can "be intimate with all the pretty Japanese girls in the world," he has done little by way of turning this into a viable career prospect. He acknowledges that you need to be fit to have s*x for a long time, but then admits that he doesn't work out.

But very quickly after that, we digress. With a straight face, he goes on to share that he once approached former Workers' Party Secretary-General Low Thia Khiang for help because the government was making him hear voices. According to him, he was then told that he should pay the Institute of Mental Health a visit.

He then goes back to describing his passion for pretty Japanese women. If his pulse is racing or his jeans are rising, it is not betrayed by his voice, his eyes, or his body language. He rattles off his justifications as though he's describing the fast food restaurant we're in and appears as self-conscious as an Ah Pek strolling through Chinatown.

Shortly after Stephen Hawking passed, En Ming changed his Facebook profile picture to one depicting the deceased physicist. From his profile page, we learn that he is a "World Famous Computer Professional like Edward Snowden and Master Photographer".

He has recently switched his name on WhatsApp from Turritopsis Dorhnii to the 'Emperor of the Multiverse'.

But why this fascination with the multiverse?

"It's a way to comfort myself," he says.

As he explains the concept of infinite parallel universes and how there is a different, possibly better version of us in each one of them, he adds, "This way, I know that the life I'm living is not the only possible life."

Later, he shares that both his parents were not very well educated and didn't complete their primary school education.

"We were and still are extremely poor," he says, "Since my primary school days, when we were living in Yishun, my mother already suffered from mental illness. My father is a drunkard and heavy smoker."

He adds that when he was much younger, he and his mother often went without food for long stretches of time because his father wouldn't bring food home. From time to time, he would come home drunk. When they did eat, meals were often porridge with soy sauce.

Today, his life is defined by his unshakeable conviction that he is being monitored by the government.

"Why you?" I ask.

"Because I can be easily bullied? Or experimentation to study human behaviour? Government wants to study your behaviour and see how you fight back when you are being targeted?" he says.

None of this makes sense, and yet guys like En Ming, who call themselves Targeted Individuals (TIs), are not some ultra-rare breed of crazy person.

The New York Times, the Washington Post, Wired, and Vice have all run reports on TIs, people who are convinced their entire lives are under surveillance, from their mobile communications to their day-to-day activities.

En Ming's story begins sometime in 2007 when he was working at the Defence Science and Technology Agency (DSTA).

"One day, I was having a private conversation with my manager in his office. I told him: Singapore is not a democracy. And if Lee Kuan Yew is gone, Singapore would be more democratic. From then on, I was targeted by the Singapore Government."

Two years later, when he was working at a different company, one of his managers "challenged me to complete an IT project within two or three weeks".

"In response to his challenge, I used Lee Kuan Yew to make a bet. The targeting became worse."

En Ming sincerely believes that the government is ruining his life. With every lull in our conversation, he takes the opportunity to launch into another recount of government surveillance. Even vehicles leaving the carpark the moment he exits his HDB lift are not beyond suspicion.

When he talks about being targeted, he refers to two specific things. The first is being made to hear voices. The "main thrust of the message" he tends to hear is simply, "We are here to punish you because you offended Lee Kuan Yew!"

The second is being stalked by teenagers, people that he describes as being the "ah beng and ah lian type".

All of this has happened with less frequency since 2011. Of late, his preoccupation has been with how his Android phones tend to switch on by themselves.

"Obviously, the Singapore Government planted spy apps on my Android phones. Otherwise, it would not keep powering up by itself," he tells me.

"And I think the motive is to provoke me into getting angry. What I don't understand is, since the Government can read my mind and thoughts by remote neural monitoring, does it really need to hack into my smartphones, laptops and computers to plant spy apps? Is it because if the government don't do these tangible activities, I will not be afraid and frightened?"

He then thinks aloud, questioning the motives of the government: "Provoke you into getting angry, make you paranoid, make you frightened?"

On some days, when I'm conversing with En Ming over WhatsApp, I think it must be really hard to be this guy.

But I eventually surmise that we must all live some version of this.

Turritopsis Dorhnii gravitates towards conspiracy theories for the same reason we nurture toxic relationships or become alcoholics. The realisation that you alone are responsible for what happens to you comes with immense pressure. In the face of this, submitting to an abstract, higher power can be a source of great comfort.

Once you've decided on the thing that must be responsible for all of your misery, whether it's God, the government, your supervisor, or your neighbour upstairs, everything falls into place; anything can serve as justification for your paranoia.

For instance, whenever he discusses his work, he adds that TIs tend to have trouble staying in their jobs. Likewise, he points out that targeted individuals don't have friends. Whether this is the result of choice or the work of the mysterious universe, it's not clear.

However, when we get to the topic of dating, we get a little closer to what I think is the truth behind his scepticism towards human connection. To a question about why he's never tried to date, he answers: "It's not worth the effort."

Later, he adds, "In addition, my IQ is average or seriously below average. It does no good to my children to inherit my genetic code at all."

This is resignation, not wisdom.

It's also what traps him in the feedback loop of his delusions. If you look up 'Targeted Individuals' on RationalWiki, you will find precise counter-arguments for every single allegation TIs have made against established institutions.

As the above-mentioned article points out, not all TIs clearly suffer from mental illness in a clinical sense. Many are victims of more banal neuroses and have found that this solidarity in the shared experiences of other persecuted TIs can be a way of rationalising the state of one's life.

After all, En Ming tells me, "Many people have commented that I am Super Duper Ultra Fat and Ugly. Furthermore, I have no money, no savings, no career, no credit card, no bungalow, no luxury car, no yacht, no private jet, and no space-going rocket. I have the LOWEST Socio-Economic Status (SES) in Singapore and probably the whole world."

Beyond his wild ideas about how the world works and his more peculiar personal interests, there's actually very little that's remarkable about the man.

He habitually laments having knee problems and how his doctor has recommended that he lose weight. As a result, he no longer eats fried food and or takes soft drinks that contain too much sugar.

His eyesight has been deteriorating, so he worries he won't have enough time to save the money he needs to travel the world. The US and South Korea are at the top of his list, although he occasionally contemplates going to Bangkok to apply for political asylum.

These days, he worries more about his parents; his mum is in an old folks' home, while his dad is hospitalised in Tan Tock Seng Hospital. A few days ago, En Ming was informed that his father had started refusing to eat or take his medication.

For these reasons, he tells me that his parents have never pressured him to find someone and settle down.

This is how the conversation goes:

"Do you have a girlfriend?"

"No. Never. Never in my life. I'm so fat and ugly. Nobody wants me!" (laughs)

"Let's say you have to choose one. Be a JAV actor, get a girlfriend, or get married. Which do you pick?"

"JAV actor."

"Why?"

"Because then I can be intimate with all the pretty Japanese girls."

"Do you know that pornography and real life are nothing like each other?"

"Not that it matters to me anyway."

"Have your parents ever pressured you to find someone?"

"Nope, they can't even fend for themselves!" (chuckles)

For a 40-year-old man, this sounds either a little immature or completely divorced from real life. Some buttholes might even suggest that these ideas are precisely why he deserves to be alone.

Yet En Ming has never had the opportunity to insert his peepee into a woman's vagina, only to eventually discover that it's not the answer to all of life's eternal questions.

Yeah.

It's rough. (No, I'm not still talking about vaginas, you pervert!)

At the same time, it's not that simple. For all his idiosyncrasies, En Ming's experience is symptomatic of a larger group of older, single men who have never known romance. The solution to their struggles lies not in finding someone to have s*x with, but in being seen.

Going back to that earlier Louis CK joke, it's not just that we've all decided these guys are ugly and unfrickable. It's also that, for reasons unknown, they've simply never learnt to socialise with the opposite gender. For them, consuming a woman's body from a distance is much easier than having a conversation.

And the rest of us make life harder for them by ensuring they know just how weird or inadequate we think they are.

As for all that other stuff? My hunch is that it just so happens he's found solitude in these various communities, from those who participate in 'paid model' photoshoots to those who claim to be victims of government persecution and experimentation.

Or perhaps he's right. That there really is a government conspiracy afoot, in which we are all royally screwed.

@Woajak @RustShill @water

Title: Temporary designation of Suntec pottys as 'gender-neutral' sparks hostile online reaction; others see move as positive

SINGAPORE — A photograph posted online of a set of pottys designated as "gender neutral" at the Suntec Singapore Convention and Exhibition Centre has provoked some hostile reactions, including comments that Singapore was becoming "woke".

"Woke" is a term that started off as a positive way to describe some evolving social attitudes and practices, but is now generally used as a negative term by opponents of some changes.

The discussion on the internet was triggered on Wednesday (Aug 16) by the posting of the photograph online. It has since been widely shared.

In response to TODAY's queries, a representative from Suntec's building management said that one set of pottys has been temporarily designated in this manner for Wikimania 2023, at the request of the organisers for the duration of the event.

The event started on Wednesday and will run until Saturday.

Wikimania 2023 is an annual conference associated with the Wikimedia Foundation, an American non-profit body best known for the online resource Wikipedia.

The organisation advocates an inclusive approach to some minority groups in society.

On the event website, it is stated that besides modifications to the pottys, other inclusive measures include making the room scent-free for individuals with sensitivities or allergies to scents, designated staff members and volunteers to help participants, and a quiet room that is made available to anyone who may need it.

TODAY visited Suntec's convention centre on Wednesday and found that the gender-neutral pottys are in a converted female restroom with 11 cubicles, located on the third floor.

The question of gender-neutral pottys has been a hot-button issue around the world, although it is now relatively common in some countries to find individual pottys marked with both a female and male symbol that are available to anyone.

Often, these individual pottys are not contained within a room housing a set of pottys but are accessed directly from outside.

SINGAPORE: Polling Day for Singapore's Presidential Election will be on Friday, Sep 1, if more than one candidate qualifies to run for the post.

Nomination Day is set for Aug 22.

The dates were announced by the Elections Department on Friday (Aug 11) after Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong issued the writ of election.

As of Friday, four people have declared their intention to run.

Former Senior Minister Tharman Shanmugaratnam was the first to throw his hat into the ring when he announced his bid on Jun 8, followed by businessman George Goh and former GIC chief investment officer Ng Kok Song. Former presidential candidate Tan Kin Lian officially launched his campaign on Aug 11.

Mr Tan said at the official launch of his bid, which took place before the writ of election was issued, that he wanted to offer Singaporeans a chance to vote for someone "outside the establishment".

Mr Ng called the issuance of the writ of election an important milestone. He said: "It reminds us that the institution of the elected President is anchored in the Constitution of Singapore and all our efforts should reflect the honour of the office."

Shortly after, Mr Goh's team said they hoped a decision on the eligibility of candidates would be made "sooner rather than close to the deadline" to allow candidates time to prepare properly for the campaign.

Mr Tharman said after an event at LASALLE College of the Arts that he strongly favours a contest and would "welcome any number of corners" in the presidential contest.

Applications to run in the Presidential Election opened on Jun 13.

To be nominated as a candidate, the person must deliver his nomination paper, along with the Certificate of Eligibility, the Community Certificate and the Political Donation Certificate.

Applications for the Certificate of Eligibility and the Community Certificate will close on Aug 17.

Each candidate must pay a deposit of S$40,500. This can be done before Nomination Day.

Nomination proceedings will take place at the People's Association auditorium at King George's Avenue between 11am and 12pm on Aug 22.

The returning officer is Mr Tan Meng Dui, chief executive officer of the Housing and Development Board.

If there is a contest, Polling Day on Sep 1 will be a public holiday.

In a Facebook post on Friday, Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong noted that a few people have already made known their intention to run for the presidency.

"The President represents all Singaporeans, and stands as a symbol of our unity and aspirations. Listen to what each candidate has to say, and assess them and their views carefully," wrote Mr Lee.

"I hope everyone will vote wisely for the best candidate for this important role."

A Singapore-born British doctor was fatally shot during a protest in South Africa.

Teoh Kar Hao, a 40-year-old consultant trauma and orthopaedic surgeon at Princess Alexandra Hospital in Harlow, was shot dead in front of his wife and two-year-old son on Aug 3. The family was on holiday in South Africa.

Teoh had reportedly made a wrong turn while driving from Cape Town International Airport which led him to an area where a demonstration by taxi drivers was taking place.

Caught in the crossfire, Teoh was fatally shot at around 12.30am Singapore time, reported Zaobao.

South African police said that Teoh died with a gunshot wound to the head. His wife and child were sent to a hospital for treatment and investigations are still ongoing.

South African officials reported that Teoh was one of five casualties who died during the strike on the same day.

The South African police said that no arrests have been made over his death.

% of the population that speaks fluent English:

🇧🇷 Brazil - 5%
🇷🇺 Russia - 12%
🇹🇷 Turkey - 18%
🇮🇳 India - 20%
🇪🇸 Spain - 22%
🇿🇦 South Africa - 31%
🇮🇹 Italy - 34%
🇫🇷 France - 40%
🇬🇷 Greece - 50%
🇩🇪 Germany - 56%
🇵🇰 Pakistan - 58%
🇵🇭 Philippines - 58%
🇳🇬 Nigeria - 60%
🇧🇪 Belgium -…

— World of Statistics (@stats_feed) August 8, 2023

https://old.reddit.com/r/singapore/comments/15l85qa/malaysian_arrested_with_more_than_47kg_of_heroin

Sg will never learn that death penalty doesn't work

New 1MDB documentary 'Man on the Run' about Jho Low, featuring Najib Razak, to hit US big screens in Sept (VIDEO)

KUALA LUMPUR, Aug 3 --- A new documentary that purports to tell the "definitive" story of fugitive Malaysian Jho Low, the man many believe to be the mastermind behind the world's biggest financial theft, is set for cinematic release in the US next month.

Titled Man on the Run, the latest show about what is believed to be the world's biggest money laundering scandal involving billions of dollars misappropriated from 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB) is scheduled to be open in New York on September 22 and in Los Angeles on September 29, *The Hollywood Reporter *reported yesterday.

The documentary is produced by The Smoking Section in association with Evergreen Media, and is directed by Cassius Michael Kim who worked on ABC News programme Nightline before making a name with a CNN Original Series titled The Wonder List with Bill Weir.

According to the entertainment news portal, the documentary will feature exclusive interviews with FBI agents Charles W. O'Neal and David Smith, who were key in building the US case against 1MDB, Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim before he became prime minister, as well as the last filmed interview with former prime minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak "before he was sent to prison for his involvement in the scandal" where he was asked "Where do think Jho Low is?"

The Hollywood Reporter, which viewed snippets of the documentary, said the documentary has interviewees explaining Low --- full name Low Taek Jho --- would use money said to be from the sovereign Malaysian investment fund to get close to celebrities like Leonardo DiCaprio, Paris Hilton and Jamie Foxx.

Trailers of the documentary are now available on video-sharing sites Vimeo and YouTube.

Context:

Singapore's Speaker of Parliament was caught in a hot-mic moment using "unparliamentary language" by spouting "fricking populist" after an opposition MP's speech: https://www.todayonline.com/singapore/tan-chuan-jin-apologises-jamus-lim-2208791

And the next week his extra-marital affair with another MP was revealed which led to his resignation: https://rdrama.net/h/singapore/post/188427/marseychingchongitsover-gussy-causes-singapores-speaker-of

Now the leader of the Opposition is sus about the hot-mic leak because of the coincidences

SINGAPORE: Leader of the Opposition Pritam Singh on Wednesday (Aug 2) questioned whether the circumstances around the release of an online video of former Speaker Tan Chuan-Jin's hot-mic incident were suspicious.

A Reddit post on Jul 11 pointed to a video where Mr Tan can be heard muttering "f****** populist" following a speech by Workers' Party Member of Parliament (MP) Jamus Lim during a parliamentary sitting on Apr 17.

After the post was made, Mr Tan apologised to Assoc Prof Lim. About a week later, Mr Tan resigned as an MP and from the People's Action Party over an extramarital affair with a fellow MP.

Wednesday's parliamentary sitting was the first since the hot mic incident came to light, and Leader of the House Indranee Rajah raised a point of order to address the matter.

Mr Tan's remark "was not fully audible on the normal livestream, save for a slight burble of sound at the end; and, as far as I'm aware, it was not audible to members in the chamber at the time the words were uttered", she said.

"However, that burble of sound on the livestream was obviously noticed. It was amplified and circulated some three months later, which then brought the incident to the attention of members and the public."

POLICE INVESTIGATION?

Mr Singh asked if Ms Indranee would refer the video to the police to investigate who had released it.

Ms Indranee said that the police investigate criminal offences, and that this question had not occurred to her as it was not clear that amplifying audio was an offence.

Mr Singh said his question was about the duration of time that it took for the hot-mic video to become public.

"I'm not sure whether the Leader considers there to be something suspicious about that. There is also the matter of what we came to know later, of a long-running affair between (Mr Tan) and another MP," he said.

Ms Indranee reiterated that she was unsure if releasing the video after Mr Tan had already made the comments constituted an offence, but added that individuals can make a police report if they consider it to be so.

Mr Singh then said that he was referring to "the total circumstances of the timing of this video coming out", and added that the police sometimes investigate before concluding whether there was an offence.

"I'm just asking in the case of the personality involved, the Speaker of the House, a very senior member of government, whether there would be some thought placed on the circumstances of how that video came to be circulated in public.

"I wasn't speaking of a specific disclosure of an offence, but the total circumstances -- that query whether there could be something more to it."

Mr Singh added that some individuals had come to him with questions of whether it was a "false flag" incident, referring to an act that is designed to pin blame or responsibility on another party.

Ms Indranee replied: "I think Mr Singh is aware that one only refers matters for investigation by the police if an offence has been committed. The police do not generally investigate things which are not offences.

"At the moment, it is not apparent to me that there is an offence. But should ... something further come up which indicates that an offence may have occurred, then the matter can be reconsidered at that time."

FORMAL APOLOGY BY TAN CHUAN-JIN

Before the exchange with Mr Singh, Ms Indranee read out a formal apology by Mr Tan to the House, in which he "unreservedly" withdrew the comment directed at Assoc Prof Lim.

Ms Indranee said that the usual approach to unparliamentary language is to require a withdrawal and an apology, and that Mr Tan had agreed to this after she communicated to him that it was necessary.

She also highlighted two precedents involving the use of unparliamentary language in the House.

After a sitting in November 1995, a complaint was made against then MP Ling How Doong for "(describing) the speech made by another MP in vulgar terms, (calling) the other MP a word questioning the legitimacy of his birth, and (referring) to him using an anatomical term".

The matter was closed when Mr Ling, at a subsequent sitting, withdrew his remarks and apologised to the House.

At another sitting in March 2005, Nominated MP Associate Professor Ong Soh Khim uttered unparliamentary words that were not captured in the official record. Several complaints were made against her.

The matter similarly ended when Assoc Prof Ong apologised to the House for using unparliamentary language.

Turning back to the present incident, Mr Indranee said that Mr Tan had apologised three times -- to the public, to Assoc Prof Lim and to parliament.

"As such, my view is that the specific matter of Mr Tan's use of unparliamentary language does not require any further action, and this regrettable incident can be brought to a close," she said.

SYLVIA LIM, LEONG MUN WAI QUESTION INDRANEE

MP Sylvia Lim (WP-Aljunied) asked Ms Indranee to clarify whether she was exercising any authority as Leader of the House when she communicated to Mr Tan that an apology was necessary.

"The Speaker is the master of the chamber, he has the power to punish us. But it's a question mark as to who has the power to punish him if there is any unparliamentary conduct," she said.

Ms Lim said that from her research into other jurisdictions, a motion of regret filed by backbencher MPs was the usual practice.

Ms Indranee replied that she was not exercising any authority over Mr Tan, and had only indicated her view to him as Leader of the House.

She added that she did not have the power to conclude the matter, and that if any MP had another view, it was up to them to pursue it.

Non-Constituency MP Leong Mun Wai asked why the Leader of the House did not think it necessary for Foreign Minister Vivian Balakrishnan to formally apologise when he was caught making comments about Mr Leong on a hot mic.

Mr Leong was referring to a previous incident in which a voice was heard saying "he's illiterate" and "seriously, how did he get into (Raffles Institution)? Must have been a lousy school" during a livestream of a parliamentary sitting.

Dr Balakrishnan later apologised to the Progress Singapore Party politician in a call.

Ms Indranee said that typically, the Speaker rules on such matters and it is for the person who has the right to complain -- in that case, Mr Leong -- to raise the issue.

"I have raised it here simply because it is the Speaker who had uttered the words, and other members can raise a complaint if they wish," she said.

"But I felt that it was appropriate that as Leader, I should address it. And of course, he's no longer here in parliament to deal with it, so somebody has to raise it."

Accusatory post: https://old.reddit.com/r/NTU/comments/1596m4s/omg_did_my_prof_just_plagiarized_a_students_fyp/

Ok so recently I was doing some research and I came across 2 research papers, the first one is a student's FYP published in 2014 (written in Chinese) and the second one is written by a prof, published in 2018 (written in English). These two papers are in different languages but they are very similar and almost identical in many parts. And right this Prof is the FYP supervisor of the student wth (yall can click into the dr ntu's link for more info).Isn't this plagiarism??? It is still stealing even though it is translated right?

Here's the link for both essays if yall wanna see! By student: https://dr.ntu.edu.sg/handle/10356/55630 By Prof: https://www.academia.edu/38989764/Escape_as_A_Mode_of_Existence_Ruan_Jis_Escapism_Complex

Come to think of it, even though this prof is the thesis supervisor of this student, the prof doesn't have ownership of this research right? shouldn't the prof at least co-author with this student in the English essay?? To me, this seems like a clear act of plagiarism of a professor stealing a student’s work.

To me, this is very hypocritical sia. NTU has consistently emphasized on the severity of plagiarism. We are taught to never plagiarize, students cannot even plagiarize, so how can NTU allow its profs to plagiarize their students? Is this what NTU wants to be known for its status as a top uni in the world? I believe NTU is more than that.

What do y’all think? What can be done in this situation?

SINGAPORE -- The Nanyang Technological University (NTU) is investigating one of its professors following online claims that he had plagiarised one of his former student's final-year project in his research paper.

The assertions were first made on online forum Reddit on Tuesday by someone claiming to be an NTU student who noticed stark similarities between Associate Professor Qu Jingyi's 2018 research paper titled "Escape as a Mode of Existence: On Ruan Ji's Escapism Complex" and Mr Wang Yueming's 2014 project titled "Escapism in the Literary Works of Ruan Ji".

Prof Qu is the head of Chinese at the School of Humanities at NTU and deputy director of its Centre for Chinese Language and Culture. He was also Mr Wang's final-year project supervisor in 2014.

Prof Qu's 2018 paper is written in English, while Mr Wang's is in Chinese. Prof Qu's paper, which was accessible on Academia.edu, an open repository of academic articles, has since been taken down.

Checks by The Straits Times found that more than 50 per cent of Prof Qu's paper looked like a direct translation of Mr Wang's 2014 paper, with no attribution to the latter. These sections include analyses of poems and inferences made on related research papers.

In the second half of Prof Qu's paper, in particular, where he analyses four of Han dynasty Chinese poet Ruan Ji's poems, he seemingly takes Mr Wang's observations as his own completely.

To give an example, Prof Qu wrote in his analysis of a poem: "Is Yang Zhu crying at the forked road or Ruan Ji feeling sad at his own road (fate)? The answer is obvious. The two lines seen in the poem later, 'Facing upwards, soaring birds in flight can be seen/ Looking downwards fishes are swimming merrily' depicts the imagery of 'the freedom flying birds and swimming fishes enjoy', is actually the representative of Ruan Ji's desire for freedom."

A translation of Mr Wang’s analysis in Mandarin of the same poem reads: “Whether it was Yang Zhu who cried at the road or Ruan Ji who was sad because of the road, the answer is very obvious. Later in the poem, there are two sentences ‘looking up at flying birds, looking down at swimming fish’ to describe the image of ‘freedom of flying birds and swimming fish’, which actually expresses Ruan Ji’s yearning for freedom”.

In another section of his paper, Prof Qu makes the same suggestions as Mr Wang on the topic of escapism. He wrote: “Hence, this paper suggests that contrary to the popular convention of labelling escapism as a term with derogatory connotations, escapism can be viewed as a neutral term as well. Since escapism is an effective means of self-protection, understanding escapism may lead us to better, more positive understanding of Man’s tendencies when faces with dire circumstances.”

The same passage in Mandarin was spotted in Mr Wang’s paper: “Therefore, the author believes that escapism can also be a neutral term compared to the common vocabulary that is widely regarded as derogatory. Understanding escapism may bring us a positive understanding of the human tendency to face distressing situations, because ‘Escapism is an effective means of self-protection’.”

In response to ST’s queries, an NTU spokesman said the university is investigating the allegations against Prof Qu.

The spokesman said: “The university is committed to the highest standards of ethical and professional conduct and takes allegations of academic misconduct very seriously.

“The School of Humanities is investigating the allegations, and it would be inappropriate to comment further while the investigation is ongoing.”

Prof Qu joined NTU in 2010 and holds a PhD from Peking University and the University of Wisconsin-Madison, according to his profile on the university’s website. He has received scholarships such as the Fulbright Scholarship, Peking University PhD full scholarship and NTU’s Nanyang Education Award.

He has produced more than 100 published works in English and Chinese, including 49 journal articles.

ST has contacted Mr Wang and the Reddit user who posted the original claim.