Singapore Management University

Singapore Management University 新加坡管理大学 Universiti Pengurusan Singapura சிங்கப்பூர் நிர்வாக பல்கலைக்கழகம்
Address
81 Victoria St,
Singapore 188065
Singapore
Information
Type	Autonomous university
Established	29 July 2000
Website	www.smu.edu.sg

Singapore Management University (SMU) is a public university in Singapore. Founded in 2000, SMU is the third oldest autonomous university in the country, modelling its education after the Wharton School.

Controversy

Sexual misconduct involving student 2021

Teo Hong Wei, a SMU student and a National Service (NS) personnel served as a supply assistant, was involved in sexual misconduct of taking photos and videos of different men showering at Hendon Camp and SMU campus from 2019 to 2021.

He start filming man showering on 14 November 2019 at Hendon Camp, a camp for SAF Commandos. Two weeks later, he reportedly snapped intimate photos of another man showering in the cubicle.

Later on 15 January 2021, he visited SMU campus to take five videos of another man showering. He then visited the campus again on 10 February 2021 and take four videos. In one of the incident, Teo was caught after a victim showering in a toilet at SMU spotted Teo's mobile phone camera directed at him above the cubicle door. The victim shouted and exit his cubicle, but Teo had fled. The victim lodged a police report on 2 February 2021. The CCTV footage near the exit of the toilet captured Teo and he was arrested on 16 February 2021. His mobile phone was found to have 5365 photos and 72 videos of men showering and relieving themselves at urinals and in toilet cubicles. His laptop also contained 187 similar photographs and 16 videos.

Teo was charged with 10 charges related to voyeurism and 1 charge for possession of obscene videos on his phone and laptop. Teo's lawyer Joyce Khoo claimed that Teo committed the offences while suffering from a mental condition.

Teo was suspended by the school in 2021. He also reportedly completed his NS in 2021.

False claims about academic writing

Margaret Zhu, an assistant professor of finance in SMU, was found to have falsified academic claims on academic writing. She allegedly lied about receiving conditional acceptances for two papers, titled "Real Effects of Corporate Hedging" and "Corporate Derivatives Hedging in the Past Two Decades", from the Journal of Finance and Review of Financial Studies respectively. However, emails between blogger Christopher Brunet and the two publications revealed that Zhu's papers had not been accepted by either. Brunet was first alerted to Zhu's falsified claims after a tip-off from a thread on Economics Job Market Rumours, according to The Business Times.

According to an SMU spokesperson, Zhu's employment with SMU ceased with effect from 1 May 2022. SMU did not reveal if Zhu had resigned or was fired.

Student molested woman in 2019

Lee Yan Ru, a SMU student, meet a woman outside SMU's School of Economics and Social Sciences at around 1am, and later molested her in a classroom on 8 January 2019. The victim later alerted the police at around 6.30am.

On 25 October 2021, Lee was sentenced to 10 months of imprisonment and 3 strokes of cane.

SMU Academy associate director bribery case

Sometime in December 2018, Christopher Tan Toh Nghee, a SMU Academy associate director, suggested his friend, Cher Kheng Than, to help him develop a new course called "Advanced Certificate in Entrepreneurship". Tan said Cher could work for SMU Academy as a marketing partner under a commission-based structure. Cher found out that Tan was receiving a one-third cut of the commissions of another marketing partner and decided to follow suit and offer a portion of his payments to secure the business opportunity.

In January 2019, Cher set up a company called CJ Synergy (CJS) for the sole purpose of providing marketing services to SMU. Tan's company was later engaged by SMU Academy on Tan's recommendation to provide marketing services and take up advertising jobs such as running roadshows to promote the academy's courses. Cher gave Tan 50% of his payments for some of the jobs, higher than one-third, in order to ensure that he continued to get jobs. Cher would meet Tan about once per month to hand over Tan's "commissions" in cash, and between June 2019 and October 2019, Cher gave Tan SGD $62,800 (USD $46,700) in corrupt cash payments.

In July 2019, the Corrupt Practices Investigation Bureau (CPIB) received a complaint that Tan had been soliciting kickbacks from three vendors involved with marketing SMU Academy's courses.

On 26 November 2019, Cher was told by his mother that the CPIB officers were looking for him. Cher also found that the CPIB had also visited Tan's home. When a CPIB investigation officer called Cher to ask him to report to the agency's headquarters for investigations, Cher deleted his WhatsApp chat log with Tan as he fear that the conversation would contain evidence. He also deleted an electronic note containing records of money he had given to Tan. Cher lied to CPIB that he had no WhatsApp communications with Tan and claimed that they communicated via phone calls and emails, and that the money he had given Tan was to repay a loan. Cher admitted to the corrupt arrangement later that day and CPIB was able to retrieve the deleted electronic note.

Cher pleaded guilty to two counts of corruption and a third charge of obstructing justice, with another six charges considered in sentencing. Meanwhile, another vendor who bribed Tan, Jeffery Long Chee Kin, was jailed for 13 months in 2023 August.