Cherian George

Cherian George is a Singaporean academic, currently a professor of Media Studies at Hong Kong Baptist University.

Early life and education

Cherian George studied at Hwa Chong Junior College for his pre-university education. ^[1] He then graduated from the University of Cambridge with a bachelor's degree in social and political sciences. Thereafter, he attained his master's degree from Columbia University's School of Journalism. ^{[2] [3]}

Journalism career

Cherian George worked as a journalist at The Straits Times for a decade, of which he was its art and photo editor for three years. ^{[4] [5]} He was also assigned to the paper's political desk during his initial years there. ^[3] He then went to Stanford University where he was awarded Doctor of Philosophy in communications. ^[6] During his time with the paper, he had established himself as a critic of the Singapore government and the nation's politics, and was mentioned in a quote alongside Catherine Lim, who wrote a commentary criticising the then Prime Minister Goh Chok Tong, by Lee Kuan Yew. ^{[3] [7]}

Academic career

In 2004, Cherian George became a faculty member at Nanyang Technological University's Wee Kim Wee School of Communication and Information. In 2009, he was promoted from assistant professor to associate professor. ^[3] However, the promotion came without tenure. In 2010, he was not reappointed as the head of journalism department in the faculty, as it was blocked by the university. ^[7] He was however awarded a teaching excellence award from NTU. ^[8] In 2012, he was asked to resubmit his tenure application, to which he attached the assessment from his 2009 promotion and tenure application. The assessments was redacted without his knowledge, and the reapplication failed. ^[3]

In 2013, there was a debate over academic freedom in Singapore when Cherian George, an outspoken academic at the Wee Kim Wee School of Communications who had publicly criticised Singapore's system of media control and its ruling People's Action Party, ^[9] did not get tenured. Although George had been recommended for tenure by the Wee Kim Wee School, his application was turned down by a university-level committee which included representatives from the Government of Singapore. One of the reviewers for the tenure case, Cardiff University's Karin Wahl-Jorgensen, expressed outrage at NTU's decision, ^[10] and George's thesis advisor, Stanford University's Theodore Glasser, raised doubts about "NTU's reputation as a university of international standing" and "NTU's commitment to academic freedom". ^[11] Despite a petition against the tenure decision by students at the Wee Kim Wee School, George's appeal against the tenure decision was subsequently rejected by the university. ^{[12] [13]}

In August 2014, George took up the post of vice professor at Hong Kong Baptist University. ^{[7] [14]}

In 2015, NTU president Bertil Andersson, in an interview with Times Higher Education, rejection of George's tenure application was based on academic decisions and not political. ^[15] However, George rebutted the comments as it implied that he left the university as he could not meet its academic standards. However, he was "given political reasons for the university's decisions" with respect to the rejection of his 2009 tenure application. ^{[14] [16]}

In 2020, after the book which he wrote with Donald Low, PAP v PAP: the party's struggle to adapt to a changing Singapore was published, both him and Low were replaced panellists for a public discourse webinar hosted by a National University of Singapore (NUS) alumni group at the eleventh hour. The last minute replacement was received negatively by various political commentators and personalities. ^{[17] [18]}

In 2021, his book Red Lines: Political Cartoons and the Struggle against Censorship was banned in Singapore due to the reproductions of materials deemed offensive to religions such as Charlie Hebdo's 2012 cartoons depicting Muhammad, and denigratory images of Jesus Christ and Hindu deities. The ban was made under the Undesirable Publications Act. ^[19] Minister for Communications & Information Josephine Teo would later reiterate in the Parliament that the ban was made in consideration solely on giving offence to religious feelings, and was not politically driven. ^[20] The A.V. Club 's Caitlin Rosberg reviewed the book, gave it a D− rating, and had criticised it as "a bad fit for many classrooms and almost all casual readers". ^[21]

Personal life

Cherian George is married to Zuraidah Ibrahim, who was a deputy editor at The Straits Times before working at South China Morning Post , managing its international desk before eventually becoming its managing editor. ^{[22] [23]} Zuraidah is a sibling of Yaacob Ibrahim, a former Singaporean politician who had held various ministry portfolios in the Singapore government. ^[24]

Bibliography

Selected works :

• George, Cherian (2000). Singapore : the air-conditioned nation : essays on the politics of comfort and control, 1990-2000. Singapore: Landmark Books. ISBN   981-3065-46-X. OCLC   45891380.
• George, Cherian (2006). Contentious journalism and the Internet : toward democratic discourse in Malaysia and Singapore. Seattle: University of Washington Press. ISBN   0-295-98578-X. OCLC   61361601.
• George, Cherian (2017). Hate spin : the manufacture of religious offense and its threat to democracy. Cambridge, Massachusetts. ISBN   978-0-262-33608-6. OCLC   992463091.
• George, Cherian (2020). PAP v PAP : the party's struggle to adapt to a changing Singapore. Donald Low. Singapore. ISBN   978-981-14-7658-7. OCLC   1196822675.
• George, Cherian (2020). Air-conditioned nation revisited : essays on Singapore politics. Singapore. ISBN   978-981-14-4984-0. OCLC   1184458509.
• George, Cherian; Liew, Sonny (2021). Red Lines: Political Cartoons and the Struggle against Censorship. MIT Press. ISBN   978-0-262-36691-5.

References

1. "10 prominent Singaporeans who graduated from Hwa Chong Junior College | The Straits Times". www.straitstimes.com. 25 August 2014. Retrieved 22 March 2022.
2. "Prof. Cherian George | HKBU | Department of Journalism". jour.hkbu.edu.hk. Retrieved 22 March 2022.
3. "The S'porean whose bright academic career in S'pore ended for non-academic reasons". mothership.sg. Retrieved 22 March 2022.
4. "Control of mainstream media in S'pore must be reviewed: media experts". sg.news.yahoo.com. Retrieved 22 March 2022.
5. Cheong, Suk-Wai (21 February 2017). "Nipping hate spin in the bud | The Straits Times". www.straitstimes.com. Retrieved 22 March 2022.
6. "Cherian George". journalism2020.univie.ac.at. Retrieved 22 March 2022.
7. "Outspoken academic Cherian George takes up post at Hong Kong Baptist University" . South China Morning Post. 10 May 2014. Retrieved 23 March 2022.
8. Teng, Amelia (1 May 2013). "NTU rejects appeal by professor against decision not to grant tenure | The Straits Times". www.straitstimes.com. Retrieved 2 April 2022.
9. "NTU professor denied tenure may have to leave job". Archived from the original on 19 June 2013. Retrieved 1 May 2013.
10. "NTU clarifies tenure process after outcry". Archived from the original on 19 June 2013. Retrieved 1 May 2013.
11. "NTU clarifies tenure process after outcry". Archived from the original on 3 July 2013.
12. "NTU rejects outspoken professor's tenure appeal". Archived from the original on 2 May 2013. Retrieved 1 May 2013.
13. Ang, Jolene (10 June 2019). "NUS accepts recommendations for tougher penalties on sexual misconduct; minimum 1-year suspension for serious offences". The Straits Times. Retrieved 13 April 2021.
14. Cheong, Danson (6 January 2015). "Journalism professor Cherian George rebuts NTU's comments | The Straits Times". www.straitstimes.com. Retrieved 23 March 2022.
15. "Singapore is 'Asia lite' for Western universities" . Times Higher Education (THE). 4 December 2014. Retrieved 3 April 2022.
16. "Row between 'forced exit' scholar and NTU reignites" . Times Higher Education (THE). 15 January 2015. Retrieved 3 April 2022.
17. "NUS alumni group replaces academics Cherian George, Donald Low as panellists for public discourse webinar". TODAY. Retrieved 3 April 2022.
18. Yuen, Sin; Koh, Fabian (29 October 2020). "Academics Cherian George, Donald Low replaced as speakers in webinar organised by NUS alumni group | The Straits Times". www.straitstimes.com. Retrieved 3 April 2022.
19. "Singapore bans distribution of publication containing Charlie Hebdo's cartoons of Prophet Muhammad". TODAY. Retrieved 3 April 2022.
20. "'Red Lines' book on political cartoons banned for including offensive religious content, not political content: Josephine Teo". mothership.sg. Retrieved 3 April 2022.
21. "Red Lines' attempt to decry cartoon censorship ends up defending bigotry". The A.V. Club. 7 September 2021. Retrieved 3 April 2022.
22. "What next after SCMP's top-level changes? EJINSIGHT - ejinsight.com". EJINSIGHT. Retrieved 3 April 2022.
23. "South China Morning Post". South China Morning Post Publishers Limited. Retrieved 3 April 2022.
24. "Why join PAP when 'they have treated us badly'? Yaacob Ibrahim reflects on being a Malay MP, minister, & why he still wears white". mothership.sg. Retrieved 3 April 2022.

External links

• Official website