The school counsellor of Hwa Chong Institution at the centre of a scandalous controversy, who gave a presentation against the LGBT community, has been suspended from all duties by the school board.
He is also being investigated by the school and the Singapore Police Force, and Hwa Chong added that his presentation to the students was not approved by the school.
Minister of Education Chan Chun Sing addressed the incident in his written reply to questions in Parliament, saying that the parents and students have been assured that the counsellor’s views do not reflect HCI’s.
Recap
A photo emerged online showing discriminatory remarks being made against the LGBTQ community in Singapore during a school assembly session.
The photo shows a slide pertaining to “community health”, with the header “what are LGBT so proud of? emblazoned at the top of the slide.
Prejudices against LGBT community
The slide displayed prejudices against those from the LGBTQ community, with statements such as “33% of homosexuals have problems with alcohol”, and “33% of homosexuals are pedophiles and rapists”.
Hwa Chong Institution
According to Instagram user @heckin.unicorn, the school in question is Hwa Chong Institution (HCI), as the netizen provided evidence that the photo was taken from HCI.
They identified the school’s logo on the podium stand and compared it against another photo taken at an event that happened earlier in May.
Principal to address students
To further corroborate the allegations against the school, a message was also purportedly disseminated to the secondary 4 students addressing the issue.
The message was from “Mr Pang, Ms Lim and Mrs Chin”, who thanked the students for their feedback and concerns relating to the assembly in question.
They said that the school takes a serious view of the matter and that the principal will be addressing the entire cohort on Monday (18 July).
According to inside sources, the presentation was not vetted by the school and was presented solely by the school counsellor, with no external organisations involved.
Email to the students
“Dear Sec 4 Students,
Thank you for your feedback and concerns with regard to Wednesdays assembly session. We appreciate your comments and reflections, and for reaching out to us directly.
The school takes a serious view of the matter. Principal Mr Pang and the school leaders will be addressing the entire Sec 4 cohort next Monday (18 Jul).
Please report to the the High School Auditorium at 7.30am for the morning flag-raising, followed by the session. You need not report to the school terraces.
Should you have any queries, please feel free to reach out to the School Leaders or your Consortium Director directly. We look forward to the engagement session on Monday. Have a good weekend ahead.
Best regards, Mr Pang, Ms Lim and Mrs Chin”