SINGAPORE: Once again, students at the National University of Singapore are crying foul after one of their fellow students saw his scholarship revoked after he participated in posting nude and illicit images of himself and his girlfriend on a sex blog. The National University of Singapore has terminated sex blogger Alvin Tan's scholarship over his Internet posts. The prestigious university, however, stopped short of expelling the 24-year-old from law school but he will have to pay full non-subsidised fees as a foreign student should he resume studies, reported Singapore's Straits Times, quoting unnamed sources. It is unclear if he will be able to do so, but at this time remains at the university. For students, however, both male and female, they say the university should respect a person's decision to do what they want on their own time, whether it is agreeable or not. “I am not a huge fan of the idea of showing those sex images and talking about my sex life, but it is his right to do so,” said Mark Lee, an undergraduate student at the university. He told Bikyamasr.com that “I am sure the university has allowed people who have done sex tapes into the school and not said anything. They should have stood up for the student, since it didn't affect his work at the university.” But with a history of censorship and curtailing of freedom of speech in the country, NUS was not willing to risk exposing the institution to controversy and acted within their university's guidelines, school officials told Bikyamasr.com on Wednesday afternoon. The blog, Sumptuous Erotica, which had sparked controversy in the region over women writing about sex, showed the young man in question in illicit poses with his girlfriend Vivian Lee, a Malaysian girl. Lee said that she was sorry for the blog, which has since removed most of the content, and apologized to her mother for the writing. However, women in Malaysia have said that Lee is a symbol of female freedom to talk about sex and they urged her not to stop writing about sex, although they said that she does not have to go into explicit details of her own experiences. Lee, a marketing graduate, posted the apology on Saturday. She said she “sincerely apologized to her mother who had to face tremendous pressure following the media spotlight on her daring expose." The Oriental Daily reported that Lee, 23, was also willing to say sorry to the Malaysian and Singaporean authorities if their action had offended the public. But women told Bikyamasr.com that they are afraid that this move will continue to silence women from talking about sex. “Vivian was one of the bravest people I ever heard of and I hope this is not a sign that our society cannot handle a woman talking about sex," said Kuala Lumpur university student Tina. She told Bikyamasr.com that “talking about sex is the only way that many young girls learn about this aspect of life. If we continue to force it out of the public I don't think Malaysia will be a place for women in the future." Lee's writing had sparked controversy in the country after she began posting details of her sex life. Many in the country felt she was going too far in her writing and demanded that she stop. For now, she has ended the blog, which garnered massive attention, especially in the Chinese media, which led to her family becoming estranged. But her boyfriend has lost his scholarship.
