TR EMERITUS

OPINION

There is much public confusion lately over the “Eric How” fiasco caused partly by the smoke bombs thrown by the mainstream media to divert attention from the crux of the matter.

The Straits Times reported two “Eric Hows” who made police reports separately in the last two weeks since the controversy first erupted on somebody impersonating them on Facebook.

The “Eric How” who made the callous remarks on 1 January was supposedly a rich man’s son, worked in his father’s company and drove a Mercedes Benz which will leave the “Eric How” staying in a HDB flat out of the equation and so we shall exclude him from the discussion altogether.

In all likelihood, he is probably only alerted to the matter when YPAP Chairman Teo Ser Luck called him to have a chit-chat session over the remarks.

So who is the real “Eric How” who made the comments? Surely there must be somebody owning that Facebook account who posted them on the YPAP Facebook?

“Eric How” posted his first comment in the thread on 27 December 2009:

When we clicked on his avatar and name “Eric How”, both led us to his Facebook which contained detailed information about himself which was deleted a few days later.

It was revealed that “Eric How” graduated with a Bachelor’s degree in Political Science from NUS in 2000 after which he joined his father’s company, CheeChee and co.

We did a background check and discovered that the President of the above said company is a “Eric How”:

[Source: Singapore Major Manufacturers]

One of the staff of the company is Mr How Jong Wan, the Vice-Chairman of Kampung Kembangan CC:

[Source: Ship Chandlers' Association]

The following was reported in the Straits Times today:

“One of them is the nephew of a grassroots leader in Kampong Kembangan. Netizens, assuming he was behind the ‘Eric How’ posts on the YP network, delved into his background and posted his pictures and personal information online. They also said his father was Mr How Jong Wan, vice-chairman of the Kampong Kembangan Community Club Management Committee and the managing director of a marine supply business. Mr How is actually Eric’s uncle. One netizen, ‘Kojak Bt’, sent an e-mail to the elder Mr How, asking him to ‘discipline’ his son. Mr How Jong Wan told The Straits Times yesterday that this e-mail was how his family came to know about the ‘Eric How’ posts. ‘This concerns me and my reputation,’ said the incensed Mr How. He lodged a police report with his nephew on Jan 6.”

[Source: Straits Times, 23 January 2010]

It is highly improbable that the owner of this Facebook account with the “Mercedes Benz” as its avatar is an impostor of the real Eric How from NUS and CheeChee & Co for the following reasons:

1. Intent:

With due respect to Mr Eric How, he is not a prominent or important public figure in society. What will be the intention of a netizen impersonating him to post on the YPAP Facebook?

One common motive for doing so will be to discredit and defame him, but the remarks made by Eric How on the YPAP Facebook are the usual run of the mill remarks found in internet chatrooms and does not reflect badly on him in anyway.

If an enemy of Eric How really wants to discredit him, he/she will probably post some vulgarities or inflammatory remarks to cast aspersions on his character.

2. Personal details:

Eric How’s Facebook contained plenty of personal details about himself which nobody else is privy to other than he himself or some close relatives and friends.

It may be easy to impersonate one’s name, but not to the extent of revealing the victim’s year of graduation, his university and company with such accuracy.

3. Particulars were deleted after they were circulated in 3in1kopitiam forum:

All the particulars on Eric How’s Facebook were deleted a few days after they were found circulating in the 3in1kopitiam forum where it was further revealed that Eric How’s uncle is the Vice Chairman of Kampung Kembangan CC.

If the “Eric How” is really an impostor, he would want as many people to know about the real Eric How’s background and so there is absolutely no reason for him to delete the particulars.

4. Posting on Facebook for quite some time:

Eric How did not appear on the YPAP Facebook out of the blue and post those disparaging remarks about netizens on the YPAP Facebook. He has been active on Facebook for quite some time already.

Will an impostor with the sole intention of discrediting Eric How and YPAP spend so much time to post other non-related comments on Facebook prior to the “setup”?

5. Eric How has more than 600 friends on Facebook, many of whom were his schoolmates from NUS:

Eric How has more than 600 friends on his Facebook, many of whom were previously his schoolmates in NUS. Will an impostor have so many Facebook friends? It is unbelievable that he would be able to deceive so many of the real Eric How’s friends to accept him as a friend on Facebook as well. Surely they must have verified the identity of “Eric How” before accepting him as a friend on Facebook.

Let us take a look at some of Eric How’s friends on his Facebook:

All the above friends boxed in red exist in real life and were Eric How’s schoolmates in NUS, having graduated from the same year 2000 as him:

1. Elaine Pok, graduated from NUS Arts in 2000:

2. Chee Wai Keung, graduated from NUS Engineering, 2000:

3. Annabel Chow graduated from NUS 2000:

4. Chung Yee, graduated from NUS Architecture 2000:

Is it possible for an impostor of Eric How to have so many friends from NUS on his fake Facebook?

By now, readers should be pretty clear in their minds whether the Eric How with the “mercedes” avatar is indeed an imposter.

YPAP Chairman Teo Ser Luck said it is a challenge to differentiate the truth from the lies on the internet. Actually, it is even more difficult to do so on the mainstream media.

We have to re-read the Straits Times article again, again and again to identify all its factual inaccuracies and hidden spins to salvage the battered image of the YPAP.

For example, it was reported that netizens posted Eric How’s photos online based on assumption alone when the information was obtained from the “impostor”’s Facebook account before it was deleted. 

The entire article was slanted towards making readers believe that the remarks were made by an “impostor” of Eric How to sabotage the YPAP.

Actually, it is pretty easy to solve the mystery of the Eric How who posted the offensive remarks without tracing his IP address on Facebook or involving the police.

As reported in the Straits Times today, Mr Eric How and his uncle How Jong Wan lodged a police report on 6 January 2010 denying that the remarks were made by the former.

This means that the Facebook account of the “Eric How” with the “mercedes” avatar must belong to an impostor who is impersonating the “Eric How” from NUS and worked in Cheechee & co.

This “Eric How” should have posted comments elsewhere in the Facebooks of his friends which may shed more light on his identity.

We are hereby offering a $300 reward to anybody who can show us a snapshot of a Facebook comment posted by Eric How which will prove beyond any doubt that he is the Eric How from NUS as described above. Please email us at [email protected] if you have any information pertaining to Eric How.

As the Chinese saying goes, “paper cannot cover fire forever”, with so many loopholes in this case, it is only a matter of time before the real identity of Eric How is made known.

We urge Mr Eric How, whoever he is, and Mr Teo Ser Luck to come clean with the public – be a man and own up for the comments you made about Singaporeans on the YPAP Facebook, apologize, close the case and move on.

If you still blatantly refuse to do so, we will continue our own investigations till we dig out the entire truth and when it happens, it will reflect very badly on you and the PAP.

Related articles:

1. Big BOO-BOO by Teo Ser Luck

2. A compilation of Eric How’s comments

3. Will the real Eric How please stand up?

4. YPAP Eric How made police report on Facebook impersonation

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