THE Nanyang Technological University campus was abuzz with discussion following the death of Mr David Hartanto Widjaja, 21, a final-year student at the School of Electrical and Electronic Engineering (EEE).

Before falling five floors to his death, he had stabbed his project supervisor, Associate Professor Chan Kap Luk, 45, and then slashed his own wrists.

While most students said the university had advised them not to speak to reporters, those that my paper approached said they believed Mr Widjaja could have confronted Prof Chan after a discussion over his grades and his final-year project.

While it is not known how well he did in school, Mr Widjaja was considered a mathematics whiz. He was the president of NTU's Electronics Sports Club in 2006.

A 19-year-old Chinese Indonesian computer-science undergraduate said: "He must be very smart, because one of his Facebook photos shows him as part of the International Mathematical Olympiad team."

Other final-year EEE students said Mr Widjaja was supposed to hand in the first draft of his project next Tuesday.

Should fourth-year undergraduates not do well in their final-year project, which makes up the majority of their final grade, they may as well "forget about (getting) first-class honours", said one of Mr Widjaja's schoolmates.

By last night, a discussion thread in online forum Hardwarezone.com had already generated more than 40 pages of discussion.

"I don't think that the professor was planning to fail the Indonesian student," said twinkle07.

He speculated that Prof Chan may have given Mr Widjaja a B grade when he wanted an A grade instead.

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