To what extent does a principal’s personal values represent the school’s values?
After banning an LGBT activist from speaking at a school TEDx Talk event, St Joseph’s Institution (SJI) is once again sparking controversy with a leaked recording of the vice principal’s “values speech” in school.
In the recording, vice principal Leonard Tan is heard defending the school’s move to bar the speaker as she is an advocate for the LGBT issue.
He then told students to avoid any form of activism as it is “socially divisive” and goes against the school’s Catholic-based values.
“Activism – any form of activism is socially divisive,” Tan told the students. “It divides society. It divides a community and a principle of the Josephian is we’re community builders.
“It goes against the very grain of what we stand for. We are community builders. We don’t divide community. That is something that every one of you [have] got to think about in your journey in SJI, as you grow.”
He also touched on the topic of protests by sharing why he thinks Singapore is right to suppress demonstrations.
“You realise that in Singapore we don’t have the protests that students do in France, European countries and America for instance. If you read Plato’s Republic, you will know the reason for that,” he was heard saying in the recording, which was first obtained by Coconuts Singapore.
When news broke about the last-minute barring of the LGBT speaker, it had implied the school administration’s discriminatory views against the group, particularly because the event’s theme was neutral in nature – “share information and ignite a love for learning in others”.
On the topic of discrimination, Tan shared with students that it is a complicated one which goes beyond the recognition of unjust treatment of selected groups of people.
“What exactly is this discrimination? Now before we jump on any bandwagon and say, ‘oh yeah, this so and so is discriminated against; this group is discriminated against’…as potential leaders, as decision makers, as influencers, how do we understand discrimination?” he said.
He then went on to push students to carefully consider all the factors and information available before jumping to conclusions about discrimination.
“It’s important, yes, the newspapers, online media, there’s lots of information. But your call is to be discerning enough to see that through,” he said.
“Sieve through, muddle through, cut across, cut away all the misinformation, all the stepping, all the distraction… what exactly is the core issue when you talk about discrimination. What exactly is the point?...and what exactly is wanted or not wanted? This begs a lot more discussion. I won’t say I have the full answer.”
Initially used as a scapegoat, the Ministry of Education had denied any involvement in the school’s decision to bar the speaker and said they were “neither involved in nor informed” about SJI’s event program.
Has the vice principal overstepped his role with the speech? What would you have done if a recording of your speech was leaked to the public? Drop your comments below.
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