Yale University defends restrains on Singapore campus

This article was last updated on April 16, 2022

Canada: Oye! Times readers Get FREE $30 to spend on Amazon, Walmart…
USA: Oye! Times readers Get FREE $30 to spend on Amazon, Walmart…

Singapore’s schools were internationally famous, and the national university was already assisted with other American universities, including Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Duke University.

But Singapore retained restrictions on speech and assembly that it said was needed to protect economic success and harmony among its 5 million people.

 It had democratic elections but had been regulated by the same party since independence five decades ago. Yale University President Richard Levin said in a statement issued Thursday, “Yale entered its partnership with the National University of Singapore in full awareness that national laws concerning freedom of expression would place constraints on the civic and political behavior of students and faculty.”

He said, Yale University, one of the leading centers of liberal education in the United States, has protected a controversial ban on manifestations and political parties at its new Singapore campus. Yale-NUS College, a partnership with the National University of Singapore, would have to act in accordance with the city-state’s severe laws against rebel. He added, “We should not expect that our presence in Singapore would instantly transform the nation’s policies or culture.”

Yale-NUS bill itself as Singapore’s first liberal arts college. The first batch of students would be starting their classes in August 2013 at an NUS facility before the new campus officially opens in 2015.

The President of Yale-NUS Pericles Lewis, said: “Any college or university must obey the laws of the countries where it operates. We are aware that there are restrictions on speech and public demonstrations in Singapore.”