National Taiwan University (NTU) professor and former adviser to the president Lin Huo-wang (林火旺) denied yesterday that he had called students at the nation’s top university “animals.”
“I did not criticize NTU, I only wanted students to reflect on themselves philosophically,” Lin told reporters. “I told my students that if they only care about their own future and interests, there is no difference between them and animals.”
Lin also rebutted media reports that quoted him as saying that students at NTU fooled around all day and had nothing better to do.
“Seriously, if an individual never thinks about the way he or she lives, he or she is simply idling away the hours. I was not talking about NTU students specifically, but the majority of people,” Lin said.
NTU students were angered after a number of Chinese-language newspapers reported yesterday that Lin had compared NTU students to animals when delivering a speech to the Ministry of Education’s annual educational directors’ meeting in Miaoli on Thursday.
“What is the biggest difference between humans and animals? The biggest difference is that humans are capable of being ethical,” Lin said during the speech.
“I often tell NTU students that there is no difference between them and animals because they only think about their future, family and friends. I tell them: ‘You pursue only what’s beneficial to you and avoid things that are harmful to you, and so do animals. What is the difference between you and an animal? You are smarter animals and that’s it,” Lin said.
In response to Lin’s criticism, NTU secretary-general Sebastian Liao (廖咸浩) told reporters that the school would accept any criticism humbly.
NTU students, however, were critical of Lin’s remarks.
Fu Wei-cher (傅偉哲), president of the NTU Student Association, said many students were still exploring what they would like to do with their lives and the public should not judge university students using outdated ethical standards.
An NTU student who wished to remain anonymous said he disagreed with Lin, adding that students worked very hard, while the professor failed to be more understanding.
This is the second time in three months that NTU students have been criticized by an academic.
In November, Daisy Hung (洪蘭), director of National Central University’s Graduate Institute of Cognitive Neuroscience, said in a magazine article that during a ministry inspection trip, she saw students at NTU’s College of Medicine arrive late for class, doze off, eat instant noodles, watch videos on their laptops and send text messages to their friends during a lecture.
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