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- Former presidential hopeful Ethan Ong has withdrawn from the bid amid a scandal for his alleged conduct toward a younger union officer.
- Annabel Lim, former vice president of communications at NTUSU, was elected as the 33rd president of the union.
- When questioned by student leaders about the incident, Ethan said he did not possess any malicious or ulterior motives.
Text by Lok Bing Hong
Former presidential hopeful Ethan Ong has been voted out of the bid amid scandal, said the Nanyang Technological University Student Union’s (NTUSU) chief returning officer on Sunday (Sep 24).
Election results from the annual rally recorded 20 votes against and seven for Ethan, with six people abstaining.
The voters included union representatives, presidents and vice presidents of all the university’s academic and non-academic constituent clubs.
Following Ethan’s withdrawal, two student leaders stood in to run for the presidency.
They were Annabel Lim, 22, former NTUSU vice president of communications, and Likhith Raghunath, a former vice chairperson of the Welfare Services Club.
Annabel was voted in before Likhith held his rally, according to a senior union member, who spoke to Soapbox on condition of anonymity. She was elected as the 33rd NTUSU president, with 12 votes for, eight against and 11 abstaining.
Soapbox has reached out to NTUSU for comments on the election results.
During the rally, Ethan faced queries from various student leaders regarding the incident.
When asked how he felt about the accusations, Ethan acknowledged them but said he did not make any comments prior as he wanted to respect the due process of the university’s investigations.
“The first outcome is that I have been allowed to continue my bid for election because the school did not feel that the incident has impeded my eligibility and ability to continue serving the student body as I have done for the past few years,” he said.
In response to Soapbox’s queries on Ethan’s claims about the university’s investigation and its interactions with him, an NTU spokesperson said the union is a registered student organisation and elects its leadership in accordance with its constitution and rules.
“The university does not endorse or approve its candidates,” it added.
It also noted that a complaint, which was filed in September, did not report any form of sexual misconduct and the investigation also did not find any sexual misconduct as alleged in some social media posts.
“The university is concerned by some comments posted online and urges online users to refrain from making speculative and unsubstantiated allegations,” said NTU.
Ethan added that no other disciplinary actions, apart from verbal counselling with the university, had been meted out.
He also said that he regretted the incident and said he did not possess any malicious or ulterior motives.
“Moving forward, I will be more cautious of my actions and I hope that students will give me the opportunity to serve the student body this semester,” he added.
In response to a student, who questioned his motives for running despite “knowing that it might cause more damage to the union”, Ethan said he felt that “we were able to put the incident behind us and move on from there”.
“The truth is after (the school) analyzed the facts from people present that night, the incident does not impede my ability to run for president,” he said. “I do think I am still able to serve the student body in a very substantial and dedicated way.”
His version of events
When the president of the Art, Design and Media Student Club asked for his account of the incident, Ethan said he and five other union members had gathered in his hall of residence for a drinking session in October last year, where both alcoholic and non-alcoholic beverages were served.
During the session, one of the members allegedly requested drinks on several occasions. “As the night progressed, there came a time when a senior leader told me to stop and just give her water,” he said.
However, he said he felt that his interactions with the alleged victim insinuated that she was still okay to drink.
“So one side was telling me to stop giving drinks but the other said she was okay to continue. I thought I would just give the drinks to both of them to appease both sides,” he added.
As the night progressed, the alleged victim eventually fell asleep but started throwing up later on, said Ethan. He added that once she sobered up, the team ensured that she was sent back to her hall of residence safely.
During the rally, Ethan also addressed a Cultural Activities Club member’s concern about how collaborations with external stakeholders may be affected by the incident, which has garnered public attention.
He said that he would put out statements to “quell public sentiments” and promised to cooperate with the university’s constituent clubs and alleviate any challenges they might face.
Ethan also expressed NTUSU’s hopes that the attention regarding the incident would soon die down. “As with all sensational news, there will be a peak and after the peak, it will all slowly die down and people will move on to other news and controversies.”
Admitting that “it is a difficult time for all of us”, Ethan apologised for the incident.
“If we work together and stick with what the objective truths and facts about the incident, which has been served by the university, are, there will definitely be a way for all of us.”
Responding to public backlash
He also claimed NTUSU had worked closely with the university’s corporate communications office to deliver an objective and neutral result of the incident.
“I think people aren’t considering that a thorough and objective investigation has taken place and that the school has discerned the facts and information from the incident.”
He told student leaders that whether students accepted his account of the incident was out of his control.
“No matter how much clarification or information we give them they will continue to want to haunt, criticize and frustrate people in the union. So there is not much I can do with these people.”
