Opinion: Disrespectful Treatment of Cultural Medallion Recipient
August 14th, 2024
Acclaimed Singaporean playwright Haresh Sharma was due to teach a play-writing course at the National University of Singapore (NUS), but five days before the start of the new school semester he was informed that NUS did not approve his appointment but he was not given any reason. We call on NUS to provide a clear and satisfactory explanation for this abrupt and late cancellation.
Sharma is not the only artist whose course has not been approved for the new academic semester; at least two others have been dropped suddenly. Such last-minute disinvitations of well-qualified artists without clear reasons have happened in the past. We also call on the Minister of Education Chan Chun Sing to investigate this worrying pattern in order to assure Singaporeans that there is no untoward political interference in the academic affairs of local universities. Academic freedom is the building block of great academic institutions, and any interference with that principle must be rare and legitimate, based on transparent rules.
What makes Sharma’s course cancellation so baffling is that he had previously taught the same course four times at the NUS Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences. When Sharma was dropped unceremoniously this year, he was told that “the university’s decision is unrelated to issues of qualifications, experience or teaching abilities.” In saying so, NUS is stating the obvious. Sharma is the writer of more than 100 plays staged all over the world. His landmark works include Off Center (the stigma of mental illness) and Mardi Gras (the organization of Singapore’s first Pride parade). He was conferred the Young Artist Award in 1997 and the Cultural Medallion, the state’s highest honor for artists, in 2015. More recently, in 2022, NUS recognized Sharma with the Distinguished Arts and Social Sciences Alumni Award, a recognition that makes his current treatment so savagely ironic. As Sharma pointed out to NUS in his Instagram post, “So, you can give me an award but you cannot allow me to teach your students?” Instead of stating the obvious, what the decision is not about, NUS must explain what its decision is about.
The university’s decision is not only deeply disrespectful to a highly esteemed artist but also severely deleterious to his livelihood. Many artist-educators are freelancers who depend on the teaching fees from academic institutions. “Last-minute cancellations,” explained Sharma, “deny them the opportunity to find other jobs, resulting in a painful loss of income.” As employers, educational institutions should treat their part-time employees justly and responsibly.
By canceling Sharma’s course, NUS is also doing a disservice to the students who signed up for it. Student applicants had eagerly anticipated the course. To cancel it five days before it was supposed to begin disrupts student learning and adds to academic stress. It also undermines students’ desire to study creative expression and critical analysis at a time of diminishing arts offerings. Future students may become leery of signing up for a course by an unconventional and outspoken artist. They will unfortunately conclude that it is not worth taking academic and creative risks.
If NUS truly values excellent teaching and genuine learning, it should apologize immediately to Sharma for its shameful decision and approve his course without reservations for the new academic semester. It also owes its students and the general public a clear and satisfactory explanation. If NUS cannot show transparency and accountability, the Minister of Education Chan Chun Sing should investigate. If the Minister does not initiate an impartial investigation, the suspicion that politics trumps academics will erode public trust in our institutions of higher learning.
Editorial Board, Singapore Unbound
A transnational literary organization based in New York City, Singapore Unbound envisions and works for a creative and fulfilling life for everyone through the arts and activism.
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