By Andre Yeo

SHE loves micro bikinis which allow her to push the limits of “just how SMALL I can get my tan lines”.

And this Singaporean has submitted several pictures of herself in barely-there bikinis for an Australian bikini competition.

So what? Well, the 32-year-old is a primary school teacher. And the sight of her bare back and cheeks, interrupted only by slender bikini strings, has sparked some debate.

If she is supposed to be a role model for children, should she have posed for and posted such provocative pictures?

Her pictures have since surfaced on a gossip blog that often contains X-rated material.

Last Thursday, Shin Min Daily News reported that pictures of Tina (not her real name) in her skimpy bikinis had appeared on the Internet.

We are not identifying her as she is still in the teaching service and has already been counselled by her supervisors to not pursue private interests that might bring disrepute to the profession.

The teacher had earlier blogged that teachers are no different from others but were not entitled to lead private lives of their own choosing.

But privacy became all but academic after a netizen posted her pictures on his blog on 21 Oct, saying she was taking part in a bikini competition called Wicked Weasel.

The Australian brand is known for its super-tiny bikinis and for showing scantily clad women of all nationalities posing in its bikinis.

Apparently, the blogger had stumbled on her pictures on the competition's website where she described herself as being from Singapore.

Her message read: “Hey there Wicked Weasel friends, it’s (Tina) here from Sunny Singapore!

“Whether it’s pushing the limits of just how SMALL I can get my tan lines on a resort holiday in Thailand, or just chilling with friends over a Mojito during a weekend session at my favourite beach bar in Sentosa, Singapore... there are no prizes for guessing the only legendary label that cuts it in my book!”

She went on to say how she loved the Wicked Weasel bikinis and had a large collection at home.

The same day, another blogger named Steve Lee said Tina was a teacher and he had read her blog where she wrote about how much she loved her job.

Tina has since pulled out of the bikini contest.

The New Paper spoke to Tina yesterday but she declined comment, saying she wanted to put the issue behind her.

A Wicked Weasel customer service employee, who gave her name as Fehrana, yesterday confirmed that Tina had withdrawn from the competition.

The New Paper had e-mailed the company to ask if Tina was indeed a Singaporean teacher and why she had withdrawn.

In an e-mail reply, Fehrana said that due to privacy rules, it was unable to provide this information.

The publicity online and in print apparently has proven too much for Tina and she has removed her blog.

But the online discussion on her continues.

An unknown blogger asked for her picture to be removed from the Web as he feared Tina would get into trouble with her peers, colleagues and principal.

He claimed Tina was his cyber friend who used to have Facebook, Friendster and other accounts, but had removed herself from cyberspace after this incident.

The blogger who outed her apparently had a change of heart and blocked out her eyes on his blog the following day.

But he pointed out that Tina had posted the pictures of herself in the first place, and all he did was upload one, which he said was the tamest.

Her other pictures ended up on a gossip blog.

It also carried a link to Tina’s blog, which has since been removed.

On it, she described her school holidays, former students, and conversations she had with colleagues.

In one posting, she wrote: “Had pre-monday blues last nite. Sch holiday had ended and today was the first day of school. It’s back to waking up at 630 am in the morning.”

Last June, she wrote about how she had forgotten about a staff photo-taking session and went inappropriately dressed in T-shirt, track pants and slippers.

She also mused about her students’ worksheets, getting a new tattoo, rushing through her syllabus to “mark like crazy” and teaching Primary 6 last year.

In Nov 2006, she said she had posted suggestive, porn-star look-alike pictures of herself at a Halloween party in Zouk.

She griped about how teachers were not supposed to do such things or talk bad about their colleagues on their blogs, which she said she had done, and voiced her frustrations at not being able to be herself.

She wrote: “Other than the moral values we are being confined to, very little has changed as to wat society expects from us. We are not exactly free beings where we can act as we wish.

“There are the supposed roles which we still need to fulfil – one of them is being a TEACHER.. I got a certain mould to be in. Once I don’t fit into that mould, ppl have difficulty reconciling their beliefs they have abt teachers with the IMAGE i portray.”

Counselled

Last night, the Ministry of Education (MOE) said the school had counselled the teacher and she has removed the photos.

Its spokesman said in an e-mail: “Teachers should be good role models for their students and are expected to conduct themselves in a manner which befits this role and upholds the integrity of the profession, both in a personal and professional capacity.

“They are also advised that as public officers, their actions should not in any way bring disrepute to the profession.”

The spokesman said teachers may create or participate in a blog or other types of online publishing or discussion on matters not related to their work, such as their hobbies, provided they do so in their personal capacity, act in a responsible manner and do so on their own time.

But they will be personally responsible for the information they publish online (including on their blogs).

They must also not bring disrepute to the profession or compromise their role as teachers.

From Tina's blog

“Other than the moral values we are being confined to, very little has changed as to wat society expects from us. We are not exactly free beings where we can act as wewish.”

“There are the supposed roles which we still need to fulfil – one of them is being a TEACHER.. I got a certain mould to be in. Once I don’t fit into that mould, ppl have difficulty reconciling their beliefs they have abt teachers with the IMAGE i portray.”

“Teachers should be good role models for their students and are expected to conduct themselves in a manner which befits this role and upholds the integrity of the profession, both in a personal and professional capacity.” -MOE spokesman

This article was first published in The New Paper on 31 Oct 2008.