NUS Terminates All Projects With Ex-NMP Viswa Sadasivan & He’s Disappointed at NUS’ Actions

Ever since the Monica Baey incident in 2019, the National University of Singapore (NUS) has improved the way it responds to cases of sexual misconduct on its campuses.

Offenders used to get light taps on the wrists, but things have certainly changed in recent years.

Two professors accused of sexual misconduct have been dismissed in the last six months alone, thanks to a new sentencing framework implemented by the school.

And now, NUS has shown their desire to cut all ties with another man who was recently accused of such behaviour.

NUS Terminates All Projects With Ex-NMP Viswa Sadasivan 

NUS announced on Saturday (20 Feb) that it has terminated all projects with former Nominated Member of Parliament (NMP) Viswa Sadasivan and his company Strategic Moves.

This comes after two women made allegations of sexual harassment against him.

“The university does not condone any behaviour or action that is disrespectful and disparaging of individuals, regardless of ethnicity, gender, religion or age,” NUS said in an email to alumni members.

The university added that Mr Viswa has also stepped down as a member of the NUS Alumni Advisory Board.

“Disappointed” at NUS’ Actions

In response to TODAYonline’s queries, Mr Viswa said he was “disappointed” with the way NUS has chosen to handle the matter.

“I’m disappointed the university has chosen to publicise and promote in the way it has done,” he said.

“It saddens me that after having served on the board for 15 years…  I thought that there should have been a little bit more consideration from my alma mater in the matter such as this, especially since I did say categorically that I will not accept the allegations of sexual harassment.”

Mr Viswa denied the allegations of sexual misconduct, maintaining that it was “inappropriate conduct” at most.

“Inappropriate conduct does not necessarily amount to sexual harassment. I think this entire thing has been blown completely out of proportion,” he said.

As for why he stepped down as a member of the NUS Alumni Advisory Board, he said it was because he didn’t want any members on the board or university to “suffer (any) collateral damage”.

What Happened

The first allegation of sexual harassment against Mr Viswa was made by local stand-up comedian Sharul Channa on 4 Feb.

Ms Sharul said the incident occurred during her appearance on the sociopolitical programme Inconvenient Questions, which is hosted by Mr Viswa.

Before the interview, the following exchange allegedly took place:

Mr Viswa: Why are you wearing that rose?

Ms Sharul: I just put it on to distract from the pattern on my top.

Mr Viswa: It would be more distracting if you were wearing only that rose.

Ms Sharul said she was taken aback by this innuendo, calling it “inappropriate and offensive”.

Then, doctoral researcher Kiran Kandade commented on Ms Sharul’s post, claiming that she, too, had been sexually harassed by Mr Viswa while seeking consultancy and training work from him back in 2016.

In their conversations, Mr Viswa allegedly asked Ms Kiran for a “kiss” at least twice, despite her evident disinterest.

“There’s a lot more he said to me to my face when I went for meetings with him — how he’d like to kiss me, how he’d like to ‘do things’ to me,” she said.

Women’s rights group Aware commended the two women for speaking out about their experiences of sexual harassment, after they were subjected to abuse by some netizens who defended Mr Viswa.

Featured Image: Facebook (The Independent Singapore) & Image: Arpan on Shutterstock / Shutterstock.com