A lookback at the beginnings of "Sumptuous Erotica"

12 November 2012

The National University of Singapore (NUS) has terminated the scholarship of law undergraduate-sex blogger Alvin Tan, reported The Straits Times.

According to the paper, the 24-year-old Asean scholar was not expelled. If he wishes to return to NUS to complete his final year of studies, he will have to pay the full fees as a foreign student.

The school’s decision to keep Tan’s punishment confidential has earlier stirred a storm of controversy in the social media space and was eventually brought up in Parliament on Nov 12, when four Members of Parliament, Lim Biow Chuan, Intan Azura Mokhtar, Yee Jenn Jong and Pritam Singh, called for NUS to make public their disciplinary actions.

In response, Education Minister Heng Swee Keat slammed Tan’s behavior as “reprehensible and unbecoming of a scholar” but made no mention of the student’s punishment, although he emphasized that he was confident NUS will do the right thing.

Previously, many netizens and undergraduates alike had also called for the school to be upfront about the punishment of the law scholar who posted sexually explicit photos and videos of him and his girlfriend online.

When contacted by xinMSN, an NUS spokesperson said “the University is not at liberty to provide details of the specific disciplinary actions taken” and that “it is also not the practice of NUS to make public the details of internal disciplinary proceedings”.

“Similarly, for the disciplinary matter involving former NUS student Sun Xu, there was no official announcement of the BOD’s decision in line with the University’s policy,” it added.