Khaw Boon Wan: I write my own blog, not some ghost writers doing it on my behalf!
December 3rd, 2009 | 
Author: Written by Our Correspondent
In an email interview with Chinese paper Shin Min Daily, Health Minister Khaw Boon Wan revealed that he penned every entry on his blog “Health Minister says” started in September this year.
The interview was conducted to find out more about MOH’s initiative to invite online views on Health Budget 2010 through its Facebook.
Mr Khaw was asked if he read through every comment posted on MOH’s facebook to which he replied:
“I read every comment in our Facebook. I do not reply personally to every comment, but where my personal reply is needed, I will. And yes, I write my own blog, not some ghost-writers doing it on my behalf!”
Besides Foreign Minister George Yeo, Mr Khaw is the only other minister who blogs and possesses and Facebook account.
Since his blog was launched in September, it has seen a surge in its readership and MOH’s Facebook now has over 1,300 fans.
Mr Khaw said he intended the MOH Facebook to be a “channel over which patients can share their experiences, whether positive or negative” and for providers to explain why they do certain things.”
He is hopeful that it will benefit Singapore’s public healthcare in the long run.
“Over time, I think it can be a contents-rich platform for meaningful discussions or simply friendly chats. That will be good for our healthcare system,” he added.
Besides his blog and MOH’s Facebook, Mr Khaw also solicits for feedback on the ground from his regular visits to the hospitals, private clinics as well as homes of patients.
On how to encourage Singaporeans to voice out their comments and suggestions, Mr Khaw said:
“Be at ease. Facebook has the advantage of being more informal, more chatty, more like a coffeeshop, than in parliament. So join in and let us have your views: so long as a feedback is genuine, based on a personal belief, and not some make-belief or frivolous rumours, or purely mischievous remarks to attack some individuals, let me have them. They may just make a policy better.”
MOH is finalizing its budget for next year and Mr Khaw promised he will share these preliminary ideas with Singaporeans online so that the ministry will benefit from their inputs.
It appears that Mr Khaw is the most successful PAP blogger so far. His blog is updated three to four times a week and he interacts directly with his readers on Facebook.
The last PAP blog, p65.sg by the post-65er MPs floundered due to lack of interest and readers.
After an initial period of activity, the MPs stopped blogging and the blog was soon taken over by a team of young PAP members.
At last check, Mr Khaw’s blog has attained a respectable Alexa traffic ranking of 11,217 compared to the P65’s 49,274.
YPAP Chairman Teo Ser Luck was supposed to spearhead the PAP’s drive to embrace the new media. Like many of his fellow MPs, he does not blog too.
Perhaps Mr Teo should learn a trick or two from Mr Khaw on how to make use of the new media to reach out to Singaporeans.
Read Mr Khaw’s blog here
Posted in Editorial
Coz it’s true to character of...
you can’t teach an old dog new tricks? khaw has disproved that
ARH! I’m so embarrassed! I’m 19 now and I owns not a blog nor a facebook account and this guy old enough to be my grandpa have them!
It is ironical that Khaw has more “passion” and time to blog several times a week compared to the eight youth authors on the P65 blog. After hibernating more than a month since Oct 15, two entries were finally posted within the past week.
hey! that’s neat,mister KHAW.
MINISTER, would you care blogging here too?
that would be even more COOL!
y the sudden mention of ghost writers?
heart inside got ghost?
No wonder he spent long working hours (like 18 hours a day) besides meetings and discusions. Oh! now, we know he is spending time reading internet and blogging.
We also paid him to read and blog too. Very Expensive blog.
During long meetings, it is ofcos talking about raising hospital charges, bed charges and ward charges as well as increasing consultation and outpatient fees. Adding to Health officers imposed hefty fine on hawkers and food stall owners, all collections went to cover his dept needs.
would Khaw be blogging on cool off day?
is he allowed?
Hey, Mr Khaw, how about you spend less time blogging and more time ensuring that Singaporeans have good and affordable healthcare?
Scoring points by presenting yourself as a tech savvy uncle or invoking the name of the Buddha do not impress me, and they achieve nothing.
Personally, I don’t think it is a big deal to blog. Blogging to me are for people with too much time on their hands (or if that is their job).
A minister’s job is to manage his ministry well. Looking at the very high cost of medical help nowadays, I don’t think KBW is doing a great job.
big F-ing deal
The rich and powerful get away with everything
February 21st, 2005 | Author: SilentAssassin | Categories: Columns and Commentary | Tags:
Yet another glaring example of how the rich get away with everything even the law in Singapore was presented in today’s (22nd Feb 2005) ST front page.
Premier Taxi chairman Timothy Chua was fined a mere $1,000 for committing road rage. Apparently an engineer Toh was trying to filter into the right-most lane and Chua hit him. The collision caused Chua’s Merc to careen into the central divider. He had to help extricate his wife as the door was jammed and that enraged him. Chua then assaulted Toh.
To me this sounds identical to a similar case where a lady driving a car just came out of a parking lot (!!!) and hit a motorbike carrying a husband and his pregnant (!!!) wife. The collision enraged the motorcyclist as he allegedly was worried about his pregnant wife and assaulted the driver, whom I think is a complete moron BTW.
Both cases to me sound identical, except for two things, one’s a rich Merc driver the other a poor motorbiker. The former gets fined, the latter gets the lock, stock and several smoking barrels.
And lest us not forget the infamous $2.1mil settlement in favour of a rich expat wife whose husband’s crazy antics won her some moola, not unlike an episode of Fear Factor…
The law in this country is obviously in cahoots with the rich and powerful here. They share Cuban cigars and ‘82 French wine while they discuss the various ways they rule the roost and screw the pleebs. That several cases manifest in such close promixity reveal that they simply do not care anymore to give a facade of morality or justice.
When they don’t care to do that anymore, kangaroo courts will persist and the notion of law and justice will become just that, a notion.
http://www.newsintercom.org/?p=216
Dec 17, 2008
Bus driver jailed for road rage
By Sujin Thomas
A 52-YEAR-OLD man who was ferrying students and teachers in his private coach lost his cool when another bus cut into his lane along Farrer Road last May.
He trailed the bus, SMRT service no. 961, to a nearby bus stop, where he confronted and later punched driver Mr Wong Kam Weng, 36, before driving off.
On Wednesday, Yeo Teck Kiang showed no expression when he was jailed for five weeks in a district court for voluntarily hurting Mr Wong.
The court heard that after the incident, Mr Wong, who suffered from a swelling on his head, sought treatment at a polyclinic and was given three days’ medical leave.
Pleading for leniency, Yeo’s lawyer Mr Shashi Nathan said that the court must distinguish between a case where a member of the public attacks a public transport worker and one where an altercation occurs between two such workers.
He said: ‘Moreover, the injuries sustained were very minor.’
However Assistant Public Prosecutor Nicholas Ngoh retorted that Yeo’s actions would have been seen by young impressionable students who were on board the coach.
Calling Yeo the ’sole aggressor’, Mr Ngoh added that it would send the wrong message that violence on the road is condoned.
According to court documents, Yeo had driven onto a flyover along Lornie Road on May 14, 2007, ferrying students and teachers to Dunman High School from Tampines MRT Station.
But when his coach entered Farrer Road, the traffic lanes merged and Yeo noticed that Mr Wong had cut into his lane.
Enraged, he followed behind Mr Wong’s bus until it stopped at a bus stop opposite Queens Road Wet Market to pick up and allow passengers to alight.
As Mr Wong pulled out of the bus stop, Yeo overtook his bus and stopped alongside it. Opening the passenger door of his coach, Yeo confronted Mr Wong as he had been unhappy that the bus had blocked him at the bus stop.
Mr Wong wound down the driver’s window of the bus and a heated dispute ensued, ending in Yeo throwing him a punch on his left cheek.
When a bus passenger, who had seen what had happened, shouted at the two men, Yeo returned to his seat and drove off.
http://www.straitstimes.com/Breaking%2BNews/Singapore/Story/STIStory_315504.html
“I read every comment in our Facebook. I do not reply personally to every comment, but where my personal reply is needed, I will. And yes, I write my own blog, not some ghost-writers doing it on my behalf!”
So, whats so big fiack deal about an overly paid Millisters writing his own blog?
we dont need ministers to be writing blogs… thats a total waste of taxpayer’s money. imagine he spend 1 hour each day, thats more than $200,000 a year wasted on blogging. he might as well let ghost writers reply and he focus on the healthcare system that is in a crisis
Mr Khaw, please spend more time in monitoring the operations of the hospitals and medical facilities and spend less time in blogging. Mistakes big or small in our hospitals can be costly to human lives and Singapore’s reputation as a medical hub.
I don’t understand why TR is so gentle on Khaw.
He is at most , at most a gentler pig @ parliament.
We never know for sure because these pigs are good at acting.
His performance in healthcare in not impressive.
Talking to people more is like the basic duty of a minister or mp.
Sinkapore on Fri, 4th Dec 2009 3:21 am – Good Afternoon!
It is a big deal because no other Million dollar ministers are doing it! (besides George Yeo)
- From the NKF to the Ren Ci debacle, I felt his handling of all these 2 issues are unique in that HE (as Health Minister) decided alot of things independently, his methods (he explains his rationale, which is rare) and his flavour is different from other minister (e.g. Mah Bow Tan handling the Mas Selamat escape)
- I was particularly impressed when he floated the idea of legalising kidney (well organs) transactions. 2 reasons
a. The idea is potentially politically deadly…both domestically and foreign, most politicians do not venture in to these topics, it can be suicidal.
b. The idea was floated for discussion (after the Tangs debacle) – which means he follows up each case with a brainstorming session and he dares to bring up the subject for discussion (and not just the end result for swallowing) in the public forum (the Straits Times)
I like this guy …. it is not key that he is a Health Minister, it is key that he is a trouble shooter, a thinker and practises collective discussion before taking a decision.
Now, please name is another (or a few more) of our minister are like that….?
fpc on Fri, 4th Dec 2009 11:19 am – Good Afternoon!
Your concept, perception of TR is quiet skewed…!
1. TR should not be “soft” or “hard” on any persons – the key mission of TR is to provide An Alternative Voice to msm The Straits Times.
2. TR must go after the stories that are untold (there are lots), expose cover-ups, and go after alternative views. It is about the issues, the stories and not about hammering or being hard on any PAP members.
3. If TR fails to understand daily, the above….then TR will be targeted by PAP as “anti-establishment” and “destablising the social fabric” of Singapore.
If TR fails to understand this – then its biz model (it has to make money to sustain its operations) will not be SUSTAINABLE.
please consider….
To all of you who thinks he is wasting time blogging…
1. To the 50~60 year old Multimillion Dollar Ministers – it is extermely difficult for them to be blogging…they were born of a different era (when they starting in their careers, they were using typewriters, writing by hand and actually FAXING !) They write letters to friends (even within Singapore) and actually walking to Post Office and buy stamp and MAIL LETTERS…I mean who does that anymore!
So, please be kind….it is not easy for them to do this…
2. Please allow me to float a strange concept to all of you….each and every ministry (or government body for that matter) – is a a TOOL, a Vehicle…to achieve a Goal or Objective.
e.g. The Home Team has a mandate to keep Singapore and Singaporeans safe and secure. – Managing the Police or Civil Defence well (with all its internal training and KPIs) is simply to fulfill these objectives.
Mr. Khaw blogging is to keep in touch with what is real on the grounds, to match what was reported to him (by his ministry) to feedback to his facebook.
His ministry is merely a tool, a vehicle – where is wants to go, what he wants to achieve is the well being (physical and psychological) of his people, his singaporeans. Blogging on facebook is another tool for him to get this feedback.
yeah, it will be cool if he blogs on TR!
to ppl who say that writing blog is wasting time,
lots of politicians also blog whether incumbent or insurgents, e.g. next-door neighbour
are they wasting time too? its a personal choice to blog or not.
if you say writing blog is wasting time, then aren’t you also wasting time reading TR and posting comments? don’t 五十步笑百步.
i am certainly not wasting time posting this comment, i doubt khaw is wasting time too.
hi there
1. hey, pay me the same mil-dollar, i do facebook too.
2. cow, do concrete and ground-level health matters rather than replying and penning crap on the facebk.
3. it is non-committing.
//坡仔哥哥
I have no ideas about how TR is conducted.
I like it the way it is.
I like the fact that I could even question their opinion and I do it in a nice way because I like the site.
It is one of the few venues in Singapore where you can think out of the box.
I don’t even buy Shitty Times.
I think the creators of TR has done a great job.
All my respect to them.
Even though I may have some reservations about their opinions – I still think they have done a fantastic site.
“Khaw Boon Wan: I write my own blog, not some ghost writers doing it on my behalf!”
So?
Yah, I write my own blog, design my own site and administer my own server. Do I qualify to be a Millister and make millions a year?
Who cares about his views? Biased and slanted.
He has a very high bladder to brain ratio.