Insult over ITE background leads to fight in Temasek Poly
A scuffle involving three first-year Temasek Polytechnic (TP) students in a packed lecture theatre broke out on Wednesday at around 11am.
Video clips of the incident, which happened on the third day of the new school term, went viral.
A student who was at the scene told The New Paper that a student with blond hair had arrived late for class.
A classmate, in a black shirt, allegedly commented that even if he had come from the Institute of Technical Education (ITE), he should not have disrespected the lecturer by being late.
In the clips, both students trade insults before the one in the black shirt grabs the blond's throat.
Later on, the blond student confronts another student in a red tank top for insulting him about being from ITE and they, too, trade blows.
Two people are seen trying to hold them back and a security guard later arrives.
The blond then takes off his shirt and tells a male lecturer: "He (student in black shirt) disgraced me (for) being from ITE. I feel hurt. And this guy strangles me and can get away with it, what kind of school is this?"
The witness told TNP the blond student would constantly interrupt lessons and come late.
In the clips, the blond is also heard making disparaging remarks towards a female lecturer when she tries to stop him.
VIRAL
One of the clips has gone viral on Facebook, garnering more than 50,000 views and over 4,000 shares as of 5pm yesterday.
The blond student has received backlash on Instagram and has responded aggressively to his critics on the social media platform.
Meanwhile, the student in the red tank top has apologised on Instagram for his offensive comments towards ITE students, saying his ire was aimed only at the blond student.
A TP spokesman told TNP the students eventually calmed down after the staff intervened, and no one was injured.
She said: "TP views this matter seriously and is investigating the incident. All three students have been instructed to make themselves available to assist with the investigation.
"In addition to being counselled, appropriate disciplinary action will be taken where necessary. TP does not condone such behaviour of our students and will be speaking to all who were present in the lecture theatre."
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