I have a friend from Singapore. He's very, very prominent in his field, possessing two Ph.D's. He works for his government & presents his research around the world. I never knew details before meeting him in the U.S. Before that, he would always speak or write in code; he was and remains terrified of the fact he's gay becoming public. He's fluent in SEVEN languages - three of them Chinese dialects (I always thought there were only two). He's brilliant, and is responsible for major scientific breakthroughs..yet, if people knew, his life would be in literal danger.
So, using that as perspective, the challenge from this student - with gov't minister seated almost next to her - was beyond brave. She knew she was blazing a trail, her only "safety" being live TV. Singapore is very densely populated, but it's also a small island, and they make no pretense of having a democratic government. Talk about courage....
I have a friend from Singapore. He's very, very prominent in his field, possessing two Ph.D's. He works for his government & presents his research around the world. I never knew details before meeting him in the U.S. Before that, he would always speak or write in code; he was and remains terrified of the fact he's gay becoming public. He's fluent in SEVEN languages - three of them Chinese dialects (I always thought there were only two). He's brilliant, and is responsible for major scientific breakthroughs..yet, if people knew, his life would be in literal danger.
ReplyDeleteSo, using that as perspective, the challenge from this student - with gov't minister seated almost next to her - was beyond brave. She knew she was blazing a trail, her only "safety" being live TV. Singapore is very densely populated, but it's also a small island, and they make no pretense of having a democratic government. Talk about courage....