U.S. Professor Says Singapore Harassing Him

Christopher Lingle, the latest American to run afoul of Singapore’s government, said Monday that it is impossible for him to return to his teaching job at Singapore’s National University after being investigated by police for an article he contributed to a newspaper.

“I think Americans have an instinctive acceptance of freedom of expression, whether it be academic freedom or freedom of the press, and I view this issue along those lines,” Lingle said in a telephone interview from Atlanta.

A spokeswoman for the university confirmed Monday that Lingle, a senior fellow in European studies, had tendered his resignation, effective Nov. 21. Lingle was given a one-week compassionate leave to visit his father, who is gravely ill.

The spokeswoman said in a statement that the university “is awaiting his return from compassionate leave to follow up on the matter.”

Lingle, 46, said he plans to return to Singapore to pack up his household belongings and research materials. He has been in Singapore 13 months and had 11 months remaining on his contract.

“In light of circumstances, it seemed difficult to carry on my duties until the end of the contract,” he said, explaining his resignation.

Singapore police interrogated Lingle in his university office after an article appeared under his byline on the opinion page of the International Herald Tribune on Oct. 7. The article said regimes in the region “reveal considerable ingenuity in their methods of suppressing dissent.”

Authorities said Lingle was being investigated for criminal defamation and contempt of court. The case was apparently prompted by Lingle’s reference to a tendency of Asian governments, which he did not name, toward “relying on a compliant judiciary to bankrupt opposition politicians.”

Following the questioning, the U.S. State Department issued a statement condemning Singapore’s move. “We are disappointed at this apparent attempt by Singaporean authorities to intimidate Prof. Lingle,” the statement said. “We continue to believe that everyone has the right to freedom of opinion and expression.”

The State Department comment provoked an angry retort from Singapore Prime Minister Goh Chok Tong, who said the government was “thin-skinned” when it felt aspersions were cast on its honesty.

“If anybody impugns the government’s integrity, and it amounts to defamation, the government will take action,” Goh told reporters while visiting Switzerland. “If there is any suggestion that the judiciary has been compliant, it is up to the people in the judiciary to decide whether it is contempt of court.”

Goh also denied suggestions that the Singapore government is singling out American citizens for harassment, an apparent reference to the Michael Fay case in which an American teen-ager was flogged with a rattan cane in May for spray-painting cars.

“The U.S. is a major trading partner, major investor. We have good relations. Why should we pick on individuals from America? It makes no sense,” Goh said.

In addition to the Fay case, a number of American businessmen expressed unease when an executive for a U.S. aerospace firm was arrested and prevented from leaving the country on charges of using abusive language during a series of traffic disputes dating back two years. He was eventually fined $1,750.