T

he mass media's reportage of the stabbing incident and alleged suicide at Nanyang Technological University (NTU) early this month was swift and intensive, but Indonesian students here claim the news reports are based on speculation - and they want it to stop.

"The speculation has gone too far," said Budi Raharjo Santoso, chairman of Pelajar Indonesia NTU, or PINTU, the Indonesian students association at the university. "Many Indonesian students here are not happy with the news reports about the incident."

David Hartanto Wijaya, a final year student at the School of Electronic and Electrical Engineering was found dead on March 2 after falling from the linkway on the fifth floor of his faculty's building, in the first violent tragedy ever to occur at the university.

Most media reports on the day of the incident said David had attacked his project supervisor, Associate Professor Chan Kap Luk, and then slit his wrists before "jumping" from the linkway. The following day, a media report "revealed" that David had lost his scholarship, snapped and decided to stab his professor before killing himself.

But students and bloggers, often critical and skeptical of media reports, have begun to question the mainstream narrative.

Eugene Yeo and Shawn Tay at The Wayang Party Club, a website that discusses Singaporean life, society and politics, wrote that "with no further information released by the police, the professor involved or NTU, the final verdict on what exactly happened is still out there."

Nobody saw David take a knife to the professor's office, and nobody saw what happened there except the professor himself before the student was found dead, they said. They argued that there was evidence David did not slit his wrists, as his parents said they did not see any wounds on his arms.

"Things happen, and we still don't know the reason behind the attack. We cannot assume that it's his *David's* or the professor's fault," said Muhammad Iqbal, a second year student at NTU, as quoted by The Nanyang Chronicle.

However, some jounalists - and bloggers - could not stop speculating. A few days after the incident, a mainstream media outlet in Singapore implicitly suggested a connection between David's preferred pastime of gaming and the allegation that foreign students are "lonely and depressed".

While supporting the investigation into the case, PINTU members said speculation about the case was disturbing and could deter Indonesians from studying in Singapore. "Many people still want to study here, I guess because we're still in the dark about what was the real cause of the incident," Budi said.