Monday, March 2, 2009

We have a "Chuo University" style stabbing incident @ NTU too?!

Though, it was a NTU (also Electronic Engineering) professor, and it is the stabber, i.e. the student in this case, who is as dead as a doornail. *horrified*

"SINGAPORE: A Nanyang Technological University (NTU) spokesman had confirmed that a final year student from the School of Electrical and Electronics Engineering stabbed a professor Monday morning. The professor at the engineering faculty was in his office when the student stabbed him with a knife in the back. Prof Chan Kap Luk, a Singaporean and in his 40s, is said to be the supervisor of the fourth year student in a project. After stabbing, the male student, who was in his 20s, slit his wrists and jumped. His body was found at the bottom of a building at the engineering block, which was about five-storey high. He died from his injuries. Prof Chan received medical treatment for cuts and is in stable condition. " (ChannelNewsAsia, 2 Mar 2009)

Wanna bet with me that the prof flunked the student's FYP project, resulting in this terrible tragedy? I say this because this is coincidentally when the FYP supervisor approves the document for submission to the school for marking. Well, this is not the first time where a student's project is rejected (meaning either 0.5 or 1 year, i.e. decelerated degree) or he gets a shit ass grade, in NTU. I have plenty of friends, who get screwed this way, either Bachelors or Masters. Just imagine, you have honors, 5.0 CGPA, then because you disagreed with your prof, he f you by merely delaying your graduation? It will be as if you are an academic meteor suddenly crashing to earth, after being so damn high in the sky. From 1st class to pass degree??? I think I will go ballistic too, if it had been me. Luckily for everyone, I am such a lousy student.

This is why I always say, never fuck over your prof. You can fuck your FYP, but you cannot fuck the supervisor.

Given my morbid fascination with blood and gore, I am kinda disappointed I graduated last year. That sucks. Then again, what if that guy had decided to go all the way, and stab a classmate or two along the way? I can't run very fast.

Updated!!!
Read on a AsiaOne comment that the guy is an Indon chinese, called David Hartanto Widjaja (online identity - tera_majin). Dude, that guy was online at 0212hours today. He also represented Indonesia in the International Mathematical Olympiad in 2005, and was president of the Electronic Sports Club (ESC) in 2006. (The club has now been overhauled and renamed as the NTU CyberGames Club).

I tried to dig through the unlucky professor, Chan Kap Luk's personal website - http://www3.ntu.edu.sg/home/eklchan/student.htm#master to ascertain whether that guy was really his FYP student. But like most of them, he only puts his Masters and PHD students on the site. However someone from EMDW has provided the link to the EEE FYP website. Yup, guess it is the guy. His project was "Multiview acquisition from Multi-camera configuration for person adaptive 3D Display".

Btw I was trying to figure out if David landed somewhere near where I usually parked. My mother thought that it was North Wing. I thought it was South Wing. Anyway it was S1. I just saw the pic.

What an unfortunate loss of life. Poor kid. Studied so much to come to uni, and then just because of a moment of anger and folly, decide to end his life this way.

Do pray for the kid and his poor family. They must be devastated.

Think this incident just reinforces the fact that undergraduates are the lowest lifeform in the academic hierarchy in NTU. The prof is like the King of the realm (i.e. the research lab), the PHD student his lord who instructs his farmers (Masters), who then inflict pain on the minions (Undergrads).

Updated Again!!!
According to the Straits Times and Shin Min Daily News (offline), David's ASEAN scholarship (required to maintain a CGPA of at least 3.5) was terminated two weeks before the incident. He had received four warnings since Year 3. He had become addicted to gaming and his CGPA could have dropped past 3.0. David would still have been able to graduate despite his poor results, as the school had recommended him alternative means of funding to finish his study. He was invited to meet with the school counselor and his mentor, but he did not do so. He also kept his family in the dark about his problems when he returned home for CNY celebration in January.

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