New tactic used by state media to deflect blame from PAP ministers
June 28th, 2010 | 
Author: OPINION
In his commentary on TODAY this Monday, veteran journalist P N Balji noted that the mainstream media has become more “critical” in its reporting on recent blunders by SMRT and PUB.
“The positioning of reports, the sharp headlines and the practice of some media in keeping the stories on the boil for days has shred new light on how the missteps of some agencies here and their lack of anticipation are now being scrutinized. Just a few examples: The Straits Times sliced and diced the floods, devoting five pages, including page 1, on the first day of its coverage,” he wrote.
He is only half right.
While the slant and tone of the articles appear to be more critical, they miss the gist altogether – the attention is focused solely on the SMRT and PUB CEOs who are being made the scapegoats for the lapses when the rot begins all the way from the top.
Knowing the public outcry this time round cannot be contained so easily, the spin doctors a SPH are quick to realize that an outlet is needed to allow angry Singaporeans to ventilate their emotions while at the same time deflecting public scrutiny away from the PAP ministers.
On May 17, two foreigners slipped into a SMRT depot completely undetected and sprayed graffiti on the side of a train. The security breach would have gone unnoticed by SMRT had not an alert commuter filmed the vandalized train in service and uploading the clip to Youtube.
The fracas sparked a massive public outcry with many Singaporeans wondering what the outcome might be had the vandals been terrorists instead.
In the aftermath of the PR fallout, the state media focused all the attention on SMRT while conveniently leaving out the government agencies such as LTA which quickly distances itself from it.
There were NO comments made by the Transport Minister and Home Affairs Minister who broke his silence only a week later by pushing the responsibility for public transport security to SMRT whose CEO Saw Phaik Hwa was forced to express her “regrets” over the security lapse.
Didn’t the media realize that a Public Transport Security Committee was set up way back in 2002 to oversee security at public transport premises like SMRT depots? It was not warrant even a brief media in the papers.
Again, the coverage of the Orchard Road flooding by the Singapore media was found wanting.
For three entire days, there was no response from the Minister of Environment and Water Resources Mr Yaacob Ibrahim. A press conference was called two days later by PUB whose CEO Khoo Teng Chye admitted that they were “caught off guard” by the flooding.
The state media went into overdrive to crucify PUB for its negligence, but keep clear of the Minister completely.
Didn’t Mr Yaacob say during the Bukit Timah flooding last year November that such flash floods are “freak” events which occurs “only once in fifty years”? Why didn’t the media take Mr Yaacob to task over his remarks?
A key role of the media is to scrutinize the words and actions of political leaders and to hold them accountable to the public. Unfortunately, the Singapore media has become no more but a propaganda mouth-piece of the obnoxious PAP regime.
Instead of exposing their wrong-doings, it is now desperately trying hard to deflect the blame from the PAP leaders by passing the rap to the middle-ranking civil servants and corporate bosses.
Singaporeans must not be misled and the deceived by the state media’s latest PR gimmick to appease public anger and to save the skin of the PAP.
The PAP is ultimately responsible for the security of public transport and maintenance of the drainage system in Singapore.
When things go well, they are quick to claim credit for themselves. When mistakes occur, they are equally as quick to take cover and pass the blame to their subordinates.
In other developed nations like Japan, South Korea and Taiwan, they would be forced to apologize and resign from their positions and the media will have a field day demolishing them in public.
Fortunately, they are in Singapore where the compliant media has become their spin doctors to spin webs upon webs of deceit to hoodwink Singaporeans.
The late Singapore Chief Minister David Marshall once described the Straits Times as the “running dogs and prostitutes” of the PAP in 1959. His words still hold true 50 years later.
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Posted in Opinion
Not only was this Balji a running dog and prostitute but he remains one. He works for Temasek.
Why SMRT’s CEO should get three strokes of the cane, and not only because she got fatter thighs and bum
http://atans1.wordpress.com/2010/06/28/smrt-more-foot-in-the-mouth-comments/
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Bravo! Good ranting like a champion complain king!
Now we can move on and continue to support PAP.
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“The late Singapore Chief Minister David Marshall once described the Straits Times as the “running dogs and prostitutes” of the PAP in 1959. His words still hold true 50 years later.”
Wow, I didn’t know ST was already a PAP mouthpiece. We really need to support all alternative news in Singapore for more balance news.
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“There were NO comments made by the Transport Minister and Home Affairs Minister who broke his silence only a week later by pushing the responsibility for public transport security to SMRT whose CEO Saw Phaik Hwa was forced to express her “regrets” over the security lapse.”
…because the real person in charge would be:
Co-ordinating Minister for National Security
Shunmugam Jayakumar
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And HDB cleared foreigners and PR absolving them of all wrong in investment buying of public housing meant only for owner-occupation against the law.
The speaker-box media KEPT COMPLETE SILENCE OF THIS ILLEGALITY pretending and implying that protesting netizens are unreasonable of protests – just one step short of the official undeserved labelling of Singaporeans being “champion grumblers” instead of unlawful political masturbation by vested interests.
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Your correspondent has taken the view that being critical of the government by the MSM is not enough, they also bring the PAP ministers to bear for all things gone wrong. It’s absurd.
It is the onus of the individual minister to step forward and take responsibility if he has let down the people and not for the media to point finger at them. If they don’t want to do so, there is nothing to do with the media at all. The alternative media which include Temasek Review and Online Citizen can voice their concern but that is the most one could do. Ultimately it is the people that must take the biggest responsibility of whether they want this government to continue to manage their lives or they want an alternative by showing it in the general election.
If you truly feel that those who head the country should be taken to task for the country woes, then you simply don’t vote them into office. Nonetheless I know how frustrated you are because you know that it is impossible to remove incompetent ministers even if a few individual so desire. At the end of the day you jolly well know that PAP will be returned as the government with almost the same ministers when election come. They will win by default through walk over and there is no need to quibble anymore.
Should a miracle happened and there are enough opposition parties fielding enough seats to contest the PAP and win more than 50 percents of the total seats. Still they won’t be able to form the government because they will bicker who is going to be the prime minister. Some will rather have status quo and horse trade with the PAP. At the end of the day, it is still be PAP looking after you with most of their ministers in tact accept for one or two from the opposition. With weak opposition you really need more than a miracle to beat the PAP.
At least the MSM is criticizing about the happenings in Singapore prior to election and that is something you should appreciate, isn’t it?
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Truth is something that the PAP LEEders do not want to admit. They consider themselves as above the moral obligation to be responsible and honorable. This is so sad. It has become a sorry state of affairs nowadays when people who are supposed to be in-charged and has been paid much more than handsomely hid behind their own security lines and Mercedes Benzes away from public view when something goes drastically wrong. We can only assume that a major flood like that in Orchard Road do not warrant any minister’s walkabout. Perhaps it wil take something much greater to make them get off their butts, out of their ivory tower offices and show face in public. In their minds perhaps only when time to take credit will be the “something big” that warrants this kind of physical activity. Polticians who are morally corrupted by big salaries no longer have any accountability for they fear that they will loose their fat pay cheques if they say something wrong in public, put up a poor show, or get involved with embarrassing situations… Soooo sad for Singapore and it so-called democracy….LOL
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Just a quick note. I believe David Marshall did not make those comments in 1959. It was sometime in the early 1990s or so. An excellent piece otherwise.
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Here’s the quote:
http://books.google.com/books?id=j2QwNNFIbdIC&pg=PA161&lpg=PA161&dq=running+dogs+and+prostitutes+of+the+PAP&source=bl&ots=zUioItKXvW&sig=Peqlc98qSp_OGxXRQGHruDCAwIU&hl=en&ei=kB8oTNXuF4uGrQek9sD9BA&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=2&ved=0CBUQ6AEwATgK#v=onepage&q=running%20dogs%20and%20prostitutes%20of%20the%20PAP&f=false
He said so in 1994.
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Quote: “The late Singapore Chief Minister David Marshall once described the Straits Times as the “running dogs and prostitutes” of the PAP in 1959. His words still hold true 50 years later.”
So true!! David Marshall is a true visionary.
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holds true after 50 years, something must be wrong here,
1) is it the people or
2) is it the miw or
3) is it the reporters,,,,hmm,hmmm
i think all of the above is the answer…..
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And not waiting for another 50 years to solve Singpaore’s drainage around the island, haha!
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if you were the ruler of singapore, would you allow the newspaper people to join any political party?
if not, how can you still ensure that the newspaper people are loyal if they’re on the surface not allowed to join any party?
what will you do to it when the newspaper occasionally slips up and prints something you object to?
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No worries!
WHATEVER these dishonest reporters and writers script,they are merely SCRIPTS fit for FICTION!
Sinagporeans,even the ah sohs and ah peks,CANNOT be connned ANY FURTHER,and that is what separates TRUTH from MERE FICTION.
TR and TOC and others and bloggers here have placed the ball neatly at the left-hand corner of the court,whatever these minstrels sing or croak or whatever these FCITION WRITERS script,is not going to work.THE ERRING GOVT needs to do a ‘BACKHAND’ and REVERSE all stupid policies that have displaced and misplaced countless of singaporeans.
Or else,whatever MSM reporters report or writers script, are mere cheap fictions.
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28.6.10
Our Modern Singapore is no longer in the Dark Ages where its citizens had to depend on the mainstream medias like newspapers owned by SPH Group and MediaCrop’s Tv and radio, now we have the alternative media ie internet where all the news are obtainable with a click of the mouse and we have TR, Online, SG Review and others and news from these media all always the truth and the facts which we can depend on so are our neighbours where we saw their opposition parties made great gains and some became government of the day. Plus we need a Singapore Anwar Ibrahim which is made up of young Lee Kuan Yew and Malaysia Anwar Ibrahim to unite and lead all the opposition parties and he need not be the head of any opposition parties and must be a local born Singaporean Chinese who can reach out across all Singaporeans particularly local born Singaporean Chinese and Malays and he is just an Ordinary Singaporean not Elites which we have seen in the PAP and Opposition who have failed to live up not only to the expectation of Minister Mentor Lee Kuan Yew and our expectations of Ordinary Singaporeans
Regards
Andrew Chuah
Ordinary Singaporean
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“obnoxious PAP regime”.
Obnoxious is right!
The PAP deems itself the DemiGods of Singaporeans.
In fact, I suspect MM Lee rather considers himself the savior of Singapore, forgetting the fact that when Malaysia broke from Singapore, he cried like a little girl whose pigtails were cut.
Even if we are to give him some credit for the transformation of Singapore, surely the recent crop of Ministers in the cabinet leave much to be desired.
Over paid.
Under worked.
Loads and loads of excuses when things go wrong.
And plenty of back patting even when not justified.
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Straits Times should be FREE. Why we have to pay for ST daily? Saturday is S$1. Can eat 1 curry puff!
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You can’t trust one word that speaker box mouthpiece put out BUT CAN TRUST EVERYTHING ELSE THEY HAVEN’T TOLD YOU AND HIDDEN FROM YOU. The only truth can only come from alternative media. I discovered that very quickly
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WHY THE PRESS DINT PICK UP STORY ON HANDICAPS N FRAIL ELDERLYS ABANDONED AT CLEMENTI AVE 5, AFTER A SCREW-UP LUP.
AFTER ALL IT WAS IN ONLINE FORUMS FOR 7 MONTHS, AND EVEN IN TODAYonline FORUM, AND STRAITS TIMES ONLINE FORUM.
http://forums.asiaone.com/showthread.php?s=e90855dca3d55fa2c1ba477bc421a9d1&t=30429
http://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:m4LahXKXJgQJ:forums.hardwarezone.com.sg/showthread.php%3Fp%3D45097542+REACH+SHUT+DOWN+THREAD+HARDWAREZONE&cd=1&hl=en&ct=clnk&gl=sg
[see 19-03-2010, 08:26 PM posting]
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http://www.temasekreview.com/2010/06/23/netizen-lodged-complaint-to-hdb-over-ypap-leader-sinha-shekhar-renting-out-his-resale-flat/
[ see d 3 postings '' THIS MUST BE THE MOTHER OF ALL 'ACTING BLIND' '' ]
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Aiyah…..all local media (especially The Straits Times) are merely glorified public relations department of PAP.
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I do not believe the MSM is a mouthpiece.
Else prove to me they ever criticised the gov.
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He is talking cock and selling away his soul. Throwing smoke to cheat us because election is coming.
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ST are glorify PAP MP Lee Bee Wah when the table-tennis team won the world champions. But this is clearly their effort not Lee Bee Wah. What happens if the table-tennis players fail? Certainly is the coach problem, players problem, never the problem of the MP. ST will make sure of that.
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The Supreme Court successfuly upheld the 2nd admendment. The only thing concerning about this case was that it ended up with a 5-4 majority.
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Extracted-
WHY THE PRESS DINT PICK UP STORY ON HANDICAPS N FRAIL ELDERLYS ABANDONED AT CLEMENTI AVE 5:
June 28, 2010 at 9:46 pm
http://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:m4LahXKXJgQJ:forums.hardwarezone.com.sg/showthread.php%3Fp%3D45097542+REACH+SHUT+DOWN+THREAD+HARDWAREZONE&cd=1&hl=en&ct=clnk&gl=sg
[see interesting postings at 19-03-2010, 08:26 PM ]\
——————–
SEEMS THAT THE ABOVE WEBSITE HAS BEEN BLOCKED, TRY THE BELOW,
http://74.125.153.132/search?q=cache:KtbtmUnRnvYJ:forums.hardwarezone.com.sg/showthread.php%3Fp%3D45298163+site:forums.hardwarezone.com.sg+——————————————————————————–+%27HWZ%27+DELETE+THREAD+ABOUT+%27REACH%27+SHUTTING+DOWN+A+THREAD+MEANT+TO+HELP+THE+HANDICAP%3F&cd=1&hl=en&ct=clnk&gl=sg
http://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:KtbtmUnRnvYJ:forums.hardwarezone.com.sg/showthread.php%3Fp%3D45298163+site:forums.hardwarezone.com.sg+%E2%80%94%E2%80%94%E2%80%94%E2%80%94%E2%80%94%E2%80%94%E2%80%94%E2%80%94%E2%80%94%E2%80%94%E2%80%94%E2%80%94%E2%80%94%E2%80%94%E2%80%94%E2%80%94%E2%80%94%E2%80%94%E2%80%94%E2%80%94%E2%80%94%E2%80%94%E2%80%94%E2%80%94%E2%80%94%E2%80%94%E2%80%93+‘HWZ’+DELETE+THREAD+ABOUT+’REACH’+SHUTTING+DOWN+A+THREAD+MEANT+TO+HELP+THE+HANDICAP%3F&cd=1&hl=en&ct=clnk&gl=sg
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Heard that there is an article in the shitty spinning times about having less haze because of the rain when everybody is talking about the flood.
When the haze returns we will be told to be thankful that there is no flood.
How low can you go.Not even suitable for collecting doggie sinhahaha shit.
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To summarised it up. Ruling party should be responsible what ever happen in SG as they are the biggest employer in SG.
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When controversies arise, and either the political and/or speaker box media kept silent, it is IN POLITICAL TERMS, a public ADMISSION OF GUILT AND FAILURE. SILENCE IS NOT GOLDEN BUT INSTEAD IT IS DISASTER BEST KEPT AS MANY CITIZENRY AS POSSIBLE IN THE COMPLETE DARK OF ANY KNOWLEDGE. It will help in the next deception fabrication to come in cover-up.
If politics is slogan shouting rhetorics such as a “rose-by-any-name” or “read-my-lips,no-new-taxes” mantra, it must NECESSARILY be viewed as blanket categorisation of deception to cover a multitude of lies. Why?
THERE IS NO FONT OF WISDOM anywhere in the world. The political class’s old habit of telling lies do not suddenly and angelically evaporate for saintly reasons or political motives. There is no one to contradict falsehood except in the alternative media. Lying is a lot easier than truth-telling.
Caveat emptor – let the consumer be beware. Buy or suck in political propaganda at your own risks.
WITHOUT PRESS FREEDOM AND FREEDOM OF SPEECH, THE RUBBER OF TRUTH ALWAYS WEARS OUT FASTER ON THE ROAD OF LIES than the road.
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Why am I reminded of this again?
http://www.islamfrominside.com/Pages/Commentary/Rules%20of%20misdirection.html
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Minister Lim Swee Say even had the gall to say it in Parliament:
“We are like the little frog. We are DEAF to all criticisms”.
There’s an old Chinese saying:
官字有兩個口
Translation: The Chinese character for “government official” 官 has two mouths 口).
So to compensate for their two deaf ears, these mutant froggies have two frothing mouths!
The Pariah, http://www.singaporeenbloc.blogspot.com
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The state media journalists themselves don’t believe what they write. No need to take them seriously.
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