Daily Lesson from Life 10 April 2009

"Thu, Apr 09, 2009 AsiaOne - Nude couple charged

The couple who strolled down Lorong Mambong nude in January this year were charged in court today.


Jan Philip, 21, is a Swedish student on exchange here and Eng Kai Er, 24, who is studying at a Swedish university, is Singaporean. Both were charged of walking naked in public at Holland Village on Jan 24 at about 11pm under the Miscellaneous Offences (Public Order and Nuisance) Act.

If convicted, they may be fined up to $2,000 and/or jailed for up to three months.


Their lawyer asked for an adjournment to write in to the Attorney-General's Chambers. The case has been adjourned to April 30. Lianhe Wanbao reports that for Singaporeans, bail need not be posted in this case, but as Jan Philip is a foreigner, bail of $5,000 was required. The Chinese daily also reported that the female accused was willing to post bail on his behalf.

Eng, described as a petite woman with short hair, is an A*Star (Agency for Science, Technology and Research) scholarship holder. She was also a member of Mensa, an association whose members are defined by their high IQs. She is pursuing a PhD in infection biology at Karolinska Institutet, Sweden, according to the A*star website.

Ms Eng has also represented Singapore before as a competitive ice skater in Skate Asia, the largest ice-skating competition outside the United States."

An unusual story to say the least, especially in Singapore - the deodorized, sanitized, and dehumanized country often portrayed in the bad light by foreign media!

Lessons for me are:

1. High IQ does not mean normally rational behavior don't applied! There is consequence for trying to be different and make a statement in a country that does not practice your desired behavior!;

2. It will be good to understand what the couple were thinking about when they went nude and walked down this very public road and neighbourhood in their birthday suits. Is there some higher meaning to be ascribed to this 'bizarre' behaviour?;

3. When you are a scholar of a government scholarship, you will be assessed and judged by a certain standard of behaviors and expectations. Hopefully Ms Eng has considered the potential responses from A*Star on her Phd Scholarship vis a vis her unusual fashion statement. While it is radical, I do hope that she does not lose her scholarship just because of this stark naked walk down the park. After all, it is her body and the laws will deal with her but walking naked does not mean she cannot think and research fully-clothed! ;-)

May the science of Infection Biology still be able to hold on to a Memsa PhD student who may discovered or created the most effective drug to keep rationality from running amok!