had not been conducted in an open or consultative manner. A letter signed by 170 academics was submitted to the Select Committee's Chairman, Charles Chong, criticising the hearing as an attempt to attack and destroy Thum's credibility and discredit his research, with the effect of stifling the freedom of expression and academic freedom in Singapore. A letter from six of Thum's colleagues at the University of Oxford's Project Southeast Asia also expressed concerns about how Thum was treated at the hearing and defended Thum's research, saying it had "already met the rigorous standards of examination at Oxford and peer review by fellow historical experts on the region". The letter also expressed concerns about the "implications for academic freedom, and for freedom of expression in Singapore", saying that the hearing "appears designed to intimidate those who seek to publish the truth". In response, Chong argued that Thum had chosen to make a political point in his written submission to the Select Committee, and must expect to be questioned about his claims. He also characterised Thum's submission as a "political piece" rather than an "academic dissertation". Chong also accused Thum of having "engineered" the open letter in support of himself, calling it a "coordinated attempt, with foreign actors involved, to try to influence and subvert our parliamentary processes". Philip Kreager, a colleague at Project Southeast Asia, called Chong's statement "clearly preposterous" and accused Chong of imagining a "conspiracy". ACRA registration controversy On 11 April 2018, the Accounting and Corporate Regulatory Authority (ACRA) notified Thum and Kirsten Han that their 18 February 2018 application to register a private company "OSEA Private Limited" was rejected. ACRA released a press statement which stated that the company was "clearly political in nature" and contrary to Singapore's national interests. According to The Straits Times, "this is the first publicised case of a proposed incorporated entity having its application rejected due to foreign funding for domestic political activities." OSEA was to be a wholly owned subsidiary of Observatory Southeast Asia Limited (OSEA-UK). ACRA noted that, in his application, Thum had stated that OSEA-UK has received a US$75,000 grant from the Foundation Open Societies Institute (FOSI), a charitable foundation closely associated with the Open Society Foundations (OSF), which was founded by George Soros. In their press release, ACRA argued that "OSF, founded and led by George Soros, was expressly established to pursue a political agenda the world over, and