Just one day before the event, a secondary school in Singapore barred a representative from a local LGBT group from speaking at its TED Talk-style event.
In a statement, St Joseph’s Institution (SJI) said the action was necessary after “further deliberations on the relevance of the speakers” to the event’s theme – “share information and ignite a love for learning in others”.
SJI also blamed an oversight by the teacher-in-charge of the student-organised event, saying the teacher had “regrettably” failed to check the details of the program before it was finalised. The school’s students had selected the speakers.
However, in an email from the student organisers, the speaker, a research and advocacy director at the Inter-University LGBT network, was told that the decision was due to “Ministry of Education regulations” and was “beyond our control”.
MoE was “not involved in the decision”, affirmed the school.
An MoE spokesperson defended its position and said there are no regulations that are applicable or were used in the instance.
“We would like to clarify that MoE was neither involved in nor informed about SJI’s deliberations on the TEDxYouth@SJI program and selection of speakers. The school has full authority to make such decisions on its own,” the spokesperson told TODAY.
The speaker, Rachel Yeo, shared that she had prepared a speech about how to “champion your causes, and have conversations with people that don’t stand on the same side as you in a way that is constructive and civilised”.
Yeo was going to draw examples from her experience in LGBT advocacy but said “it wasn’t going to be the focus” of her talk.
The event, held last Friday, was the fourth TEDxYouth@SJI event.
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