She made a remark about her male teacher in jest. But his crude response left her shocked and shaken.
The incident between Denise (not her real name), 17, and her teacher took place last month during a performance trip to Hong Kong with the school's choir. The teacher is one of those in charge of the choir.
The New Paper was alerted to the incident on Wednesday by Denise's elder sister, 20, who declined to be named.
According to her, Denise had seen the teacher behaving in a "childish manner" during the trip and remarked: "Eee, gay."
She was not prepared for the teacher's outburst, which was heard by at least one other student.
The sister said he turned on Denise and retorted: "Do you want me to **** you to prove it?"
In an e-mail exchange with TNP from the US where she is studying, Denise's sister said she was "appalled and disgusted" by the teacher's response.
"A man, more so an educator, should be responsible for his actions and his words," she said. This teacher is not the only educator to hit the headlines for behaving unprofessionally.
In Denise's case, the principal of the school, which is based in the east, told TNP yesterday that the teacher had been counselled and given a stern warning.
"The well-being of our students is our top priority. The school views this case seriously," he said.
The principal added that the school has provided counselling for Denise, and will continue to provide the necessary support and assistance to her family.
The sister said she noticed that something was wrong when Denise returned from the HK trip quiet and downcast. After a day of persuading, Denise opened up about what happened.
Said her sister: "She was shaken after being challenged inappropriately by a male educator."
That day, after breaking down in tears, Denise managed to speak about the incident to another male teacher on the trip. He assured her that the matter would be settled.
But the school did not initiate contact with the family after the incident, said Denise's sister. After about a month's wait, her mother e-mailed the school on Wednesday.
A few hours later, the principal replied via e-mail that it was "unfortunate that the trip was marred by the incident".
He said he was informed of the incident immediately after the choir returned from Hong Kong.
"An internal investigation was launched. The teacher admitted that he had used inappropriate language and would not commit the same mistake again," he said.
The principal also said that the school "will not condone inappropriate use of language by any of our staff, and will take all necessary action to prevent the repeat of similar incidents".
Arranged a meeting
He has since arranged a meeting on Jan 30 with Denise and her family to close the case.
The sister said Denise has "moved on" and is no longer affected, although the episode will not be easily forgotten.
"She does not want to see that male teacher," she said.
The possibility of their paths crossing again is slim because Denise has left the school after collecting her O-level results earlier this week.
The sister added that she had alerted TNP to the incident because she did not want other teenage girls who faced similar issues in school to keep silent.
In one of her e-mails to TNP, she also expressed her frustration about the situation: "Is this how the Ministry of Education (MOE) chooses its teachers?"
In response to TNP's queries on the incident, an MOE spokesman said: "MOE expects our teachers to conduct themselves in a manner that upholds the high standing of the profession and the trust placed in them.
"Teachers should be professional in their interactions with their students at all times.
"Teachers who fail to comply with our standards of conduct and discipline will be subjected to disciplinary action."
The spokesman said the school principal had handled the situation appropriately.
In Singapore, what the teacher did is an offence under the Penal Code.
Section 509 states that individuals intending to insult the modesty of any woman by saying any word, making any sound or gesture, or exhibiting any object, can be jailed up to one year, fined, or both.
Lawyer Samuel Seow from Samuel Seow Law Corporation said in Singapore, it is also an offence under the Miscellaneous Offences (Public Order and Nuisance) Act.
Section 13A states that any person who in a public or private place who uses threatening, abusive or insulting words or behaviour towards another person, with intent to cause that person to believe that immediate unlawful violence will be used against him, can be fined up to $2,000.
Allied educator posts student's punishment online
An allied educator (AED) punished a student and then posted an image of the punishment on her Facebook page.
An AED's job is to give teaching and learning support in the school. The person can be a teacher aide, a school counsellor or a special needs officer.
The female AED, who works at a secondary school in Tampines, had captioned the image: "Punished my Sec 3 student and he had to write lines for me." She ended the caption with a smiley face.
The image showed repeated lines on a piece of foolscap paper which read: "I will not use vulgarities in class again."
The New Paper was alerted to this by Mr Ramin Singh, 28, who runs an events company.
The "concerned parent" of a young child was alarmed after coming across the AED's post on Facebook.
He said: "Did the AED do that just to feed her ego? Was she mocking her own student?"
He was also concerned about the student coming across the image of his punishment on Facebook.
"Wouldn't he feel ridiculed? As an AED, she should be careful about what she posts. Teachers are supposed to be role models to the students.
"We complain that students post things recklessly online, but here's a teacher not setting a good example," he said.
Insensitive
When contacted, the school's principal said the AED has been counselled and that her post was "unprofessional and insensitive".
Added the principal: "She understands that her actions are inappropriate and has since removed the post. The school has also spoken to the student involved and will continue to monitor his well-being."
Last July, The New Paper reported on how several teachers in a mainstream boys' primary school mocked a special-needs student on Facebook.
An AED who made a derogatory comment on the initial Facebook post drew further negative comments about the boy.
The AED had posted: "I'm so looking forward to the next few months!!! Anyone got contact for sanitizers?"
The New Paper was told by a parent then that the special-needs student drools occasionally and mucus flows from his nose because of his condition.
Other teachers from the school then joined in to mock the pupil's condition.
Their callous comments so angered a parent that she told TNP about it.
This article was first published in The New Paper.
The incident between Denise (not her real name), 17, and her teacher took place last month during a performance trip to Hong Kong with the school's choir. The teacher is one of those in charge of the choir.
The New Paper was alerted to the incident on Wednesday by Denise's elder sister, 20, who declined to be named.
According to her, Denise had seen the teacher behaving in a "childish manner" during the trip and remarked: "Eee, gay."
She was not prepared for the teacher's outburst, which was heard by at least one other student.
The sister said he turned on Denise and retorted: "Do you want me to **** you to prove it?"
In an e-mail exchange with TNP from the US where she is studying, Denise's sister said she was "appalled and disgusted" by the teacher's response.
"A man, more so an educator, should be responsible for his actions and his words," she said. This teacher is not the only educator to hit the headlines for behaving unprofessionally.
In Denise's case, the principal of the school, which is based in the east, told TNP yesterday that the teacher had been counselled and given a stern warning.
"The well-being of our students is our top priority. The school views this case seriously," he said.
The principal added that the school has provided counselling for Denise, and will continue to provide the necessary support and assistance to her family.
The sister said she noticed that something was wrong when Denise returned from the HK trip quiet and downcast. After a day of persuading, Denise opened up about what happened.
Said her sister: "She was shaken after being challenged inappropriately by a male educator."
That day, after breaking down in tears, Denise managed to speak about the incident to another male teacher on the trip. He assured her that the matter would be settled.
But the school did not initiate contact with the family after the incident, said Denise's sister. After about a month's wait, her mother e-mailed the school on Wednesday.
A few hours later, the principal replied via e-mail that it was "unfortunate that the trip was marred by the incident".
He said he was informed of the incident immediately after the choir returned from Hong Kong.
"An internal investigation was launched. The teacher admitted that he had used inappropriate language and would not commit the same mistake again," he said.
The principal also said that the school "will not condone inappropriate use of language by any of our staff, and will take all necessary action to prevent the repeat of similar incidents".
Arranged a meeting
He has since arranged a meeting on Jan 30 with Denise and her family to close the case.
The sister said Denise has "moved on" and is no longer affected, although the episode will not be easily forgotten.
"She does not want to see that male teacher," she said.
The possibility of their paths crossing again is slim because Denise has left the school after collecting her O-level results earlier this week.
The sister added that she had alerted TNP to the incident because she did not want other teenage girls who faced similar issues in school to keep silent.
In one of her e-mails to TNP, she also expressed her frustration about the situation: "Is this how the Ministry of Education (MOE) chooses its teachers?"
In response to TNP's queries on the incident, an MOE spokesman said: "MOE expects our teachers to conduct themselves in a manner that upholds the high standing of the profession and the trust placed in them.
"Teachers should be professional in their interactions with their students at all times.
"Teachers who fail to comply with our standards of conduct and discipline will be subjected to disciplinary action."
The spokesman said the school principal had handled the situation appropriately.
In Singapore, what the teacher did is an offence under the Penal Code.
Section 509 states that individuals intending to insult the modesty of any woman by saying any word, making any sound or gesture, or exhibiting any object, can be jailed up to one year, fined, or both.
Lawyer Samuel Seow from Samuel Seow Law Corporation said in Singapore, it is also an offence under the Miscellaneous Offences (Public Order and Nuisance) Act.
Section 13A states that any person who in a public or private place who uses threatening, abusive or insulting words or behaviour towards another person, with intent to cause that person to believe that immediate unlawful violence will be used against him, can be fined up to $2,000.
Allied educator posts student's punishment online
An allied educator (AED) punished a student and then posted an image of the punishment on her Facebook page.
An AED's job is to give teaching and learning support in the school. The person can be a teacher aide, a school counsellor or a special needs officer.
The female AED, who works at a secondary school in Tampines, had captioned the image: "Punished my Sec 3 student and he had to write lines for me." She ended the caption with a smiley face.
The image showed repeated lines on a piece of foolscap paper which read: "I will not use vulgarities in class again."
The New Paper was alerted to this by Mr Ramin Singh, 28, who runs an events company.
The "concerned parent" of a young child was alarmed after coming across the AED's post on Facebook.
He said: "Did the AED do that just to feed her ego? Was she mocking her own student?"
He was also concerned about the student coming across the image of his punishment on Facebook.
"Wouldn't he feel ridiculed? As an AED, she should be careful about what she posts. Teachers are supposed to be role models to the students.
"We complain that students post things recklessly online, but here's a teacher not setting a good example," he said.
Insensitive
When contacted, the school's principal said the AED has been counselled and that her post was "unprofessional and insensitive".
Added the principal: "She understands that her actions are inappropriate and has since removed the post. The school has also spoken to the student involved and will continue to monitor his well-being."
Last July, The New Paper reported on how several teachers in a mainstream boys' primary school mocked a special-needs student on Facebook.
An AED who made a derogatory comment on the initial Facebook post drew further negative comments about the boy.
The AED had posted: "I'm so looking forward to the next few months!!! Anyone got contact for sanitizers?"
The New Paper was told by a parent then that the special-needs student drools occasionally and mucus flows from his nose because of his condition.
Other teachers from the school then joined in to mock the pupil's condition.
Their callous comments so angered a parent that she told TNP about it.
This article was first published in The New Paper.
