Loo Zihan’s valedictorian speech at NTU

“The original draft of my speech was composed of words like “integrity” and “breaking new boundaries” , said Mr Loo Zihan in his valedictorian speech at the Nanyang Technological University graduation ceremony on Thursday, “but a recent incident put a reality check on what I have to say.”

Mr Loo related how a poster for his film, Threshold, was deemed ‘inappropriate’ by the school’s authority to be displayed during [the] convocation ceremony. He was dismayed by this as the poster had earlier been displayed at the school for two weeks without any problems.

“My first thought was to make the changes to the poster as required – but subsequently, as I was practicing for this speech, I realized that I could not say the words I drafted originally with conviction and authority by subjecting my work to censorship which I did not understand. I felt a sense of responsibility to my fellow graduates, who have voted me in as Valedictorian to speak up on their behalf.”

According to the Straits Times, “the poster for his film “Threshold” shows a shirtless man standing at a basin while hands from behind hold his left shoulder and waist. A mirror in front of him shows the reflection of another man.”

Mr Loo withdrew the poster rather than subject it to any changes for it to be exhibited.

“As artists, we should not only strive to produce great art – but also bear responsibility for the art we produce. Otherwise, we betray ourselves, and our audiences,” he said.

The film was created as part of his thesis. You can read more about the film and the transcript of his speech here.

In 2008, another group of NTU students took to Speakers’ Corner to protest media censorship in their school.  (See video below). The students were upset because of NTU’s decision to censor the campus media coverage of opposition politician Dr Chee Soon Juan’s visit to the university. (See reports by TOC here and here.)

The following is a trailer for Threshold:

2008: NTU student protests media censorship in their school

Subscribe
Notify of
0 Comments
Inline Feedbacks
View all comments
You May Also Like

Chiam See Tong – The man with dogged determination

Chiam See Tong will be remembered as a man with dogged determination.

Thai-born youth who served NS has Singapore citizenship revoked for allegedly failing to complete ORAL in time

The Singapore citizenship of Mr Xu, a 23-year-old Thai-born youth, was revoked…

MAS: Bank loans rose 0.2% in February due to increased business loans

In February, bank lending increased in the midst of COVID-19 spread. According…

“买F35战机非针对任何国家” 国防部驳CNN报导

美国有线电视新闻网(CNN)引述专家分析,指出我国向美购买F35战机,显示亚洲国家关注中国对该区域的野心,且购买F35也可能引起中国的不安。 我国国防部长黄永宏是在本月1日,在国会宣布国防部确定向美国购买四架F-35战机。 在CNN的文章中,引述前美军军官和专家分析,认为新加坡“可能无法信任中国的保证,即对南中国海是没有军事意图的”。 文章指新加坡将成为太平洋区域,第四个拥有F-35战机的美国盟友国家,其余三个是澳洲、日本和南韩。 狮城非美缔约盟友 不过,我国国防部对此发表声明,指CNN报导有误,因我国并非美缔约盟友,且允许美方战机和军舰使用部分军事设施的安排,最早可追溯到1990年,并不是我国针对任何近期发展所作出的回应。 国防部也强调,我国空军购买F-35型战机是为了自身的国防威慑用途,并不是针对或配合任何特定的国家。 我国是美方的维安伙伴,在1990年的协议下,允许美方在三巴旺基地为美国西太平洋和印度洋的船舰提供后勤支援。而近期,新美双方有谈及更新1990年协议,让美方继续使用我国部分军事设施。 此外,英国在三巴旺也有维修船舰的设施。 国防部也解释,我国国防政策,乃立基于“一个包容安全架构的基础”,东盟国防部长会议(ADMM-Plus)即是范例。这个组织的成员,就包括东盟十国以及中国、印度、澳洲、日本、纽西兰、南韩、俄罗斯和美国。 F35单价1.55亿新元 我国国防部将致函美方,先要求采购四架F-35战机,之后再打算添购八架。新加坡已获得美国行政部门和国防部的同意。…