So Reuben Wong has apologised and closed his blog. But he has not stated clearly what he apologised about. Was it for
— his use of vulgarities which showed disrespect the the office of DPM and Mr Teo personally; or
— his views on what DPM said; or
— both?
(According to this taken from CNA, it seems for both:
17-year-old Reuben Wang, lashed out at Mr Teo in a blog post on the new Pre-U seminar format.
In his post, the St Andrews Junior College student accused Mr Teo of avoiding difficult questions during the Q&A.
He removed his post subsequently, and also wrote to Mr Teo on Wednesday to apologise for being “too rash and too harsh in using the expletives”.)
Reuben said he now understands Mr Teo’s perspective “much more deeply now after consulting friends, teachers and netizens”.
This information is important because there is a lot of speculation on why be apologised, especially whether he was coerced into apologising. He should therefore state publicly why he apologised, unless he is either stupid, or cynical.
It could be that he is juz plain stupid in not giving the ground(s) for his apology. His earlier behaviour could be indicative of stupidity. Instead of ranting at DPM Teo, he could have reported what happened, and its variance from the spin reported by the SPH group. Instead, his rant not only showed that he was ill-mannered and ill-bred, and a stupid boy. Here is an analysis of what he wrote which I cannot better.
Anyway his JC is juz as bad, so his stupidity possibly, is not all a matter of genes. What did the school counsel him to apologise for? For disrespect, or disagreeing, or both? Because there is a lot of speculation on why be apologised, especially whether he was coerced into apologising, the school should explain what it had advised him to apologise for.
Heck what can you expect? He and the school are Saints. Not an elite school, like RI, SJI or ACS, it’s the equivalent of a neighbourhood school. It and its students juz got pretensions. Look at KennethJ, who publicly boasts that the government, on the quiet, steals his ideas.
Or maybe I’m wrong. Reuben Wong called himself a cynic. Maybe the rant and the apology is nothing but a wayang to give himself some publicity so that he can escape the limitations that are imposed on someone from a mediocre school. He got a lot of publicity and met the DPM who gave him an inscribed book. Can a boy from Raffles, ACS, NJC, Hwa Chong or VJC do as well?
If so, he deserves three cheers. He will make a good politican for the PAP or WP: for the latter especially if his ambiguity for his apology was dileberate. Not SDP though.
Thoughts of a Cynical Investor 
The elitist attitude re: comparison between schools is revolting.
He was a bit stupid and rash. But who wasn’t when we were young? That is the beauty of youth. Having said that, people would be less cynical if the school has allowed him to apologize on his own blog, with his own words and have the msm cover it. Instead of shutting down the blog, and having to apologize through the mouthpiece. What do you think we are thinking?!
But in my time, we didn’t have internet, so can’t compare. But in any case, any smart boy would have taken the power of internet into account. Ya school very dumb. But it’s Saints.
This kid is giving us cynics a bad name 🙂
He did not have any choice.
Parents, school all under great pressure to abide with protocol.
The focus was more on the expletives.. there is nothing else that needs apologising for.
This young man spoke his mind.. with all the innocence. and that is the beauty of it.
He spoke the truth.
He and his cohort will remember this event forever.. and I hope he remembers exactly what happened during the seminar.. they were treated like idiots.
On behalf of the older baby boomers, I apologise for being dismissive of the students.
I hope Reuben Wong apologised for his use of vulgarities which showed disrespect the the office of DPM and Mr Teo personally,but I also hope our citizens will start analysing his views on what DPM said.
In Singapore.it is probably better to die in ignorance then to die knowing the truth but cannot do any thing to change or improve the situation.
We should not be speculating. He should tell us what he apologised us for by making public the email he sent to DPM. What a stupid ass.
What’s so wrong about him venting his frustrations in his personal blog? Is DPM going to visit everyone who curses him and expecting apologies? People vent in coffee shops all the time, and if you take a cab, you often hear it from the driver too. You can’t have a etiquette police going around online and offline. Is it against the law to use 4-letter words? You guys are over-reacting.
To prove my point, Christopher Balding’s website has been hacked and taken down by people disagreeing with his view. (I could be wrong but that’s a probable explanation.) He is not even using expletives but obviously he ruffles a few feathers based on some strongly worded comments (threats) from some locals.
You are suppressing diversity by expecting conformity.
Xmen, you’re right, whoever counselled the boy into apologizing is over-reacting. I think they are just trying to save DPM Teo’s face. Or else he won’t want to give students a talk again :).
This is also a reminder about writing about sgpolitics – omit all the expletives and unsavory bits or risk being discredited easily. Remember Mr Ling How Doong, who famously said, “Don’t talk cock!” in parliament?
The playing field is totally uneven. Many have already pointed out that the DPM was evasive. So where is the OUTRAGE? We are talking about important NATIONAL issues that affect your lives. Instead, the MSM, controlled by PAP, and the sheep, are going after a 17-year old. That’s why you still have NO CLUE how much Reserve the country has, and how much WEALTH your politicians (especially the Lee’s) have accumulated over the years. How about some TRANSPARENCY?
Singaporeans are still so easily manipulated. No wonder PAP has no trouble winning elections. (Btw – PAP tactics will never work in western democracies as the public are generally smarter.)
Don’t think trying to save DPM’s face is their priority. If you school mgt or parent, you would want to save face. Yr student/ son so ill-mannered leh, and stupid to boot? After all Saints have a reputation for producing hooligans; or pretentious, publicity-seeking, boastful asses. Reuban Wong is both, and is a credit to the Saints heritage.
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I agree.
elitist prick
Nope Reuben Wang is trying to be an elitist prick despite being a Saints.)))