Lets Get Angry!

Bloggers persist as Mediacorp bullshits

Published Sunday, May 14, 2006 by Singapore Election |

It comes at no surprise that Singapore Election Watch endured its 3-minutes of misrepresentation on CNA yesterday. Once again, Mediacorp showed Singaporeans why they were deserving of the 140th spot as perscribed by Reporters without Borders, and it reaffirmed the reasons why sites like Singapore Election Watch continue to exist. Was Ms. Farah Abdul Rahim seriously wanting to crack this so-called mind-boggling phenomenon called, 'citizen journalism' or was Mediacorp just running out of ideas once again? It couldn't be the first because if she and all other analysts were truly interested in this, they would have asked to interview the very 'citizen journalists' in the first place! Singapore Election Watch did not receive any such request. What Mediacorp had done is what they always do: bullshit! Notice how Ms. Rahim ended the clip with, "the election may be over, but observers say, it's still too early to asses the impact of the internet on the election." Everyone knows that the major upsurge in the popularity of the opposition parties was correlated with the increasing number of websites dedicated to them!

The true reality is this: Singapore Election Watch doesn't consider itself to be a 'journalist'. The catch-phrase of the month (i.e. citizens journalism) is just another meaningless facade, Mediacorp is willing to hide behind. Indeed, we're citizens, but to call it 'journalism' is to reaffirm Mediacorp's lack of understanding of the term 'journalism', and thererfore, their own objectives as a 'news' outlet. Blogging is not a 'phenomena'; it's a protest against the bullshit Mediacorp throws at Singaporeans.

Singapore Election Watch is not on a propaganda rampage against Mediacorp. We're merely trying to ask the following questions:

Why didn't they request to interview the subjects of their news broadcast?
Why do they continue to dodge our calls for apologies for misrepresenting, and worse, stealing our ideas?
Why did they manipulate the screenshots of Singapore Election Watch?
Why didn't they mention the petition In support of James Gomez and the Workers' Party?
When will they acknowledge their 140th position in the world, and their third world media coverage?

Just look at these!

1. Deleted headings (i.e. Lee Hsien Loong's Territory up for Grabs).
Focused on the Picture of Mr. Lee and the PAP logo.

2. Deleted headings (i.e. Shady Company #1)
Didn't focus on the GIC members' pictures.

3. Zoomed in only in the portion shown in the right.
Failed to put across the sentiments of the entire entry.

32 Responses to “Bloggers persist as Mediacorp bullshits”

Anonymous on 4:56 AM SGT

AS an old man in singapore , i know a big improvement in my life. The 140th is meaningless but my livingis secure, peaceful, no corruption is very ,very important than that useless 140th. You want Singapore to become same as phillipine, indonisa, china-taiwan etc democracy. Sorry you can go to enjoy that type of democracy but the living of people is 1 year=365 days in Singapore. We want a capable, no corruption, effective party to leave us. The high ranking can not give singapore a secure and peaceful life.Democracy is just a word only. The most important is daily life of people.In Singapore , allow a brave man to use the law to clean up the bad name but do not allow you to use gangster's way to settle it.This i know it very clear. Do you know it ?
Singapore Election on 6:08 AM SGT

Well, you obviously do not have a clue about Singapore's legalized corruption. Maybe before you put the generational-gap-induces-ignorance bullshit, you should at least find a little more about this peaceful secured Singapore beyond the CNA headline catcheries. This is not a issue of age, so don't make it out to be one. Singaporean (both young and old) respect Mr. Lee Kuan Yew's vision for Singapore, but we draw the line when he uses this respect for his own gains.

If you're going to bring up the first world lifestyle, stop looking at the developing nations of Phillipines and Thailand. Look at the REAL first world nations of Denmark, Sweden, Norway and yes, even India. A vibrant democracy doesn't hinder prosperity, it's rejuvenates, enhances and sustains prosperity!
Anonymous on 10:10 AM SGT

" The news and truth are not the same thing. "

Walter Lippmann

All I want to say is - Karma will come to those who mis-reported wrong information.

Karma have came to those who sue people till bankrupt

Karma will come to those who took the people's money without accounting for it.

As for the old man's comments - Look at countries like Indonesia, Philipines. The country fall into chaos overnight? Why. Becos' of dictatorship who eliminate/anniliate opposition voice. Hence, when they lose the trust of the people one day, what happen - I think you know. The PAP past policies have brought Singapore to where it is - no doubt about that. But if Singapore fails to prepare itself for "AN ALTERNATIVE". One day, if PAP fails to achieve and loses the people's trust, there would be no alternative and a power vacuum occurs - the country would be in anarchy. Do you want that to happen? What we want is check and balance - just like Worker's party said - An insurance policy for yourselves. Your parents never tells you that don't put everything in one basket meh?
Think about it!
Anonymous on 10:11 AM SGT

I quote from that old man who posted in 4.56AM SGT "The most important is daily life of people.In Singapore , allow a brave man to use the law to clean up the bad name but do not allow you to use gangster's way to settle it.This i know it very clear. Do you know it ?"

Laws have loopholes and the rich exploit the loopholes to get free, whereas the poor can only be manipulated under the name of your so called justice. For your information, the BIGGEST gangsters i find are the rich people.
Anonymous on 10:20 AM SGT

hlyes i am very respect to Mr Lee who lead singapore from zero to prosperity (Please read the history of singapore under malaysia).The fact is worldwide known, now you enjoy it.We need to be very fair to the facts (must start from the beginning to now).We can not just see and say nowaday only. A good example : if you are properity now ,you cannot say how smart you are ,you need to very thank to your parent who put in all the efforts to bring you up. This is why we call ourself human beings. India is a big,long long culture country,but how many good potical leaders be murdered. Gandi be murdered is a very sad example etc. How many people died in the religion fighting ,do you read recently newspaper ? You like this type of democracy you can go to enjoy it.You forgot recently the big religion case happened in DEnmark,as they think own a democracy mouth which do not respect other people's religion.The sweden prosperity is the aim of singapore but not % copycat. Do you know every country base on their country benefit to set up the good policy=good for people, not just copy the outside patterns ,a copy cat only. If the party does not set up the longsighted and good policies ,I think i can not enjoy the peaceful and secure life in singapore. Now you also enjoy it. Find fault is easy, I think you know it. But how to plan, apply a good policy is very, very difficult. Especially Singapore is a small red spot but need to fight the many big countries in the world. I think Singapore need a capable, no corruption ,effective party to lead us to find the prosperty for our next generation. I do not like to be any member of party. It can let me have a fair, justice and free mind to see something clearly.
Anonymous on 10:20 AM SGT

Look on the bright side bloggers. The CNA have unknowningly help to spread the news of this good and intesting website to all Singaporeans.
Anonymous on 10:35 AM SGT

"hlyes i am very respect to Mr Lee who lead singapore from zero to prosperity (Please read the history of singapore under malaysia).The fact is worldwide known, now you enjoy it.We need to be very fair to the facts (must start from the beginning to now)."

That was actually Goh Keng Swee's effort, blod and sweat. Nice you have credited the wrong guy when even the World economic bank credits Goh Keng Swee as the economic brains which led singapore out of poverty.

And evidently, you either didn't take up history or you failed it. The fact that singapore was in a strategic position, geographically helped immensely in the restructuring of singapore.

I quote:He stated that "it is only the unenlightened backward employers who hope that their workers will never join a union." In June 1969 he warned the Singapore Manufacturers Association that "the unthinking and unenlightened employer who pushes his labor force around" will be dealt with severely by government.

Right now, what we have is a government who not only doesn't punish the employer who "pushes his labour force around" but we have a govt who encourages such behaviour amongst employers.

Democracy is more than a word, it's a way of life for a nation, a nation that respects her peoples and wishes nothing but prosperity and the enjoyment of civil liverties that her poeples should be able to enjoy. Sadly, we are lacking in the scond limb.

As for CNA's attitude, it's just beyond disgusting. I've banned them in my home.
Anonymous on 10:57 AM SGT

Hey! I didn't realised that they removed the headings. Isn't this misrepresenting and manipulating the source? If they wanted to leave out the messages, they shouldn't have featured any blogs.
Anonymous on 11:27 AM SGT

I quote "The 140th is meaningless but my living is secure, peaceful, no corruption is very ,very important than that useless 140th."

That is why Singaporeans can never rise to being "1st-World citizens" eh, forever thinking of themselves only even when others suffer. It is sad that these sufferings continue because of selfish, apathetic and uninformed individuals like you. A pro-PAP friend of mine once rebutted me saying that this is just "opportunity cost" - how much more heartless can we get?

Btw I like this website alot because it gives a voice to people who didn't have one. Keep it up!
Anonymous on 11:28 AM SGT

Precisely.
Anonymous on 1:00 PM SGT

Are you all NATO members. what can you do about it? many ass holes voted for another 5 years of slavery for the ordinary working people. and you all still wasting time debating about the past. some say wait for LKY to die. then follow by GCT. then your children have to wait for LHL to die. then your gandchildren have to wait for LHL son to die. you all are losers. what can you do about it? do you all have any counter ideas? any action the ball-less people can do? any contribution for action for me to do you for? for now , HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY.
Anonymous on 9:32 PM SGT

Farah Abdul Rahim sits on the youth committee of the North East CDC. nuff said.
Anonymous on 11:25 PM SGT

I had a discussion with some of my friends, we were telling about whom we voted for in Elections 06. Both of them voted for the ruling party. When asked why, they both said that if PAP fails, especially in the precinct of AMK, investors' confidence levels are going to take a nose-dive and all lost will never return again. They also feared sparks of political riots and strikes.
I then asked, why were they so sure that Singapore will fail if the opposition members had won the election, afterall they haven't had the chance to prove themselves?Why would they think that a population as educated and disciplined as Singaporeans is ready to throw away a civilised culture so readily?

They made references to some neighbouring countries which illustrated that democracy had made them poorer as they could not retain a government in office for a long enough period to achieve efficiency. I suggested examples from the more developed countries in the US, Europe to which they responded that there are riots and strikes occurring in these nations. They felt that Singapore cannot to afford to conduct experiments with its government without a major cost. They perceived the impact of this election equivalent to that of 911 and SARS.
While I do not deny the possibility of initial market reactions to changes in government, I believe this tends to be short term. In the long run, it really depends on how well the government performs, not based upon a single election event.

I also agree fully that excessive riots and strikes are detrimental to a country's prosperity, however I do not see such extreme reactions arising from Singaporeans even if there are changes in the political scene. Our government has bred an educated population that understands and reasons well. If one fine day, should Singaporeans ever need to resort to such measures to voice our displeasures, then there is something seriously wrong with the government.

The most disconcerting question here then is, how ready are Singaporeans in embracing change?
We can foresee, there are going to be a few major changes to come in the next 2 decades :
1) Impact from the casinos on the society and economy
2) Impact from losing politically influential leaders
3) Impact from our rising neighbours

This election has been a clear indication of our fear of change. The majority has grown so comfortable that despite unhappiness from certain unfavourable governmental decisions during the economic downturn, they still want things to remain status quo.

But for Singapore to buffer those tides to come, its attitude towards change must be altered and where more effectively to start than from domestic affairs.
Anonymous on 3:00 AM SGT

Look at the big picture people, will total freedom of speech allow efficency of the current system that brings about the phenomical growth of this country in the last almost half a century......I doubt so.

However, what we can try to do is to push for an inprovement to the current level of openness in the media with a sensible attitude.

Extreme Critique from a biased stand will only make us become the very same thing that we hope to change.
Anonymous on 3:01 AM SGT

"They made references to some neighbouring countries which illustrated that democracy had made them poorer as they could not retain a government in office for a long enough period to achieve efficiency. I suggested examples from the more developed countries in the US, Europe to which they responded that there are riots and strikes occurring in these nations. They felt that Singapore cannot to afford to conduct experiments with its government without a major cost. They perceived the impact of this election equivalent to that of 911 and SARS."

So are they suggesting that Singaporeans continue to live with crappy salaries and working in substandard working conditions just to make ends meet?

The allowance for public expression shows that the government is working for the people. Just look at the recent French demonstrations where students and young people demonstrated in huge numbers because they were unhappy with the new job laws the government was trying to introduce. At the end, the government gave into their grievances! Do your friends not think that the PAP is obligated to listen to and cater to our priorities and concerns?
Anonymous on 3:12 AM SGT

"Look at the big picture people, will total freedom of speech allow efficency of the current system that brings about the phenomical growth of this country in the last almost half a century......I doubt so."

God, you sound like the perfect PAP son! Otherwise, how could you have come up with this fallacy that "a vibrant society with lead to our demise" ideology? The PAP obviously wants to instill this sort of ideologies in Singaporeans so that they can get away with stealing our money and enforcing authoritative regulations without hesitation. The truth is that a vibrant democracy enhances economic prosperity. Look at the sole global leader at the moment: the U.S. Sure, they have their flaws, but their economy is booming. The American dream is real, and god bless their freedom of expression!

Singapore is no holy grail. Just look at the economic disparity between the rich and poor. Look at the state our grandparents are living in. We're living in fear and intimidation, and we're not allowed to exercise basic human rights such as freedom of expression, and the right to peaceful assembly! This is not a life to be leading!
Anonymous on 3:42 AM SGT

God, you sound like the perfect PAP son!?????

Search your conscience people; are we really living in condition so dire that we have to start a revolution?

Democracy doesn’t happen instantly; many great nations of today are enjoying their freedom now because of the blood that their forefathers had shed.

Singapore's development of democracy is relatively bloodless so far and yes Singapore is far from the completed version of ideal democracy but what we have is much stronger platform and foundation to build on than many other countries in history.

An open media, transparent government and bureaucracy free society are certainly some of the very things that the new generation can bring about in the near future.
Anonymous on 5:28 AM SGT

"Search your conscience people; are we really living in condition so dire that we have to start a revolution?"

Yes, we are.
Anonymous on 5:50 AM SGT

no you don't cos you are using the internet and that's means you are fortunated enough to be using a piece of instrument that is worth about 1000 hamburgers, that means a certain standard of living condition that comes with the infarstructure of electricity and computer networks. If many countries around the globe that don have all this are not in the anarchy of revolution I don see why Singapore should?!
Randy on 7:50 AM SGT

To correct your misstatement, Farah Rahim did try to talk to some bloggers, but they refused to talk to her because they referred to her as being with "Channel News PAP". Don't criticize her for not doing something she tried to do.
Anonymous on 8:54 AM SGT

Hamburgers? Typical Singaporean... always thinking about your stomach and how to satisfy it first.
Singapore Election on 9:32 AM SGT

As far as Singapore Election Watch is concerned, we didn't receive any such request. Maybe you could post any statement made by Ms. Farah regarding any contacts she had tried to make.

But she is most deserving of all criticisms for what she has done. If she had intended to use this blog or any other blog, she should have contacted us and she shouldn't have manipulated and misrepresented her sources to mislead the general public.
Anonymous on 10:07 AM SGT

Farah Rahim,and other Malay MPs please use a nick name. Do not talk as if you were representing the Muslims in Singapore. Do not take pictures in Mosques , or with religious leaders. Or use the religion to your selfish (PAP) gains. You all are Muslims. You know the rules. Do you agree that the Leader kicked a little out of school is right? What's the difference between him and a child rapist? They both destroy little girls futures.The little girls knew nothig about what you people did to them. You all actually raped them, so to speak. You are lucky enough not to be kicked out when you are young. You helped PAP to produce Sarong Party Girls in future, not discipline Muslim girls.
no-good-program-on -TV on 12:00 PM SGT

mediacorp is in the trade of disinformation... pro-pap tv channel out to confused the people watching it, lastly in CNA, during the election period showed a few oversea lawyers and business saying how good is PAP , over and over again... those ppl live in oversea dont suffered like we ,who live in singapore have to bear the high cost of living...the more i watched CNA the more i get sick and tired of the lies being said...
Anonymous on 12:07 PM SGT

how many people died during SARS outbreak ? less then 10 right? or 50 ? if 50... is it a job well done by PAP standard.. why more opposition and freedom equal to CHAOs ???? spreading lies and falsehood is not the job of CNA...
David Lim on 2:12 PM SGT

To the first poster, I do not disagree with your comments. But I would like to point out that Singapore was prosperous until today as the economic environment was predictable. PAP did not have a magical economic policy that ensured Singapore's success. We industrialised like any other developing country, attracting foreign investments with cheap labour and low taxes. Our strategic location ensured our status as the regional air and sea hub. If u want to thank anyone, u should thank Raffles or even Parameswara before him. When there is a global downturn, Singapore suffered also.

With the unpredictable economic environment now and severe competition for FDI from China, India and our ASEAN neighbours, we need a diversity of views and collective wisdom to see us through. The PAP minions in the civil service will not dare to raise radical views to ensure Singapore survives. If they say something wrong, they might be marked. So they would rather keep quiet and take their big fat salary. Even if our PM is very smart, he is but one man and no one would dare correct his views.

As for MediaCorp news, I would suggest they recruit people from theatre studies who are able to follow scripts and act according to instructions. No need for a degree in journalism to report news in Sg
Anonymous on 2:22 PM SGT

"...manipulated and misrepresented her sources to mislead the general public."

Did you seriously expect anything less shameful from our own local media?
Anonymous on 9:35 PM SGT

Might i propose that the advent of an active form of democracy will inevitably elate singapore's status and thus, in the end, more foreign investors will pour in as a result of this new found confidence in its people being democratic, forward thinking and really 1st world (i mean EU US kind of 1st world, not CHina kind of 1st world)?

Why are singaporeans so bloody scared of the idea that we as humans, must have the freedom to expression (speech)? Can we rid ourselves of this very 3rd world mentality? In fact, 3rd world countries like India isn't afraid of such a thing.
John Riemann Soong on 10:10 PM SGT

The other bright side is that they can't shut it down - of course it's propaganda but at least they chose a rather democratic way - public beration, although posed as neutral media.

As to the person who refers to himself as an old man, my housing estate is going to be torn down because we don't have leases, a national government somehow has powers of eminent domain, and effectively tearing me away from the place where I grew up.

And the democracy of the Republic of China, Hong Kong, etc. is quite different from that of the PRC. Hong Kong has quite a healthy demonstration culture - it shows that "Asian values" does not confine liberal democracy.

We need a warning, a danger - that can speak out to Singaporeans - our literature lacks any of that.

But we're a young nation - young concepts encounter difficulty, (look at England in the 1600s concerning its reforms towards a popular representation) so, take heart!
Harry on 9:30 AM SGT

To all those who claim that there is no alternative party in Singapore to the PAP, there is only one response: bullshit! When I watched the Gan Si Dui speaking at the Ang Mo Kio rally, my sentiments were reinforced. Especially so when you have ex-PAP critic Irene Ng, and now card carrying MP, trying to slime the opposition as "trouble makers". Then there was this clown of a new MP waltzing into parliament who claimed that, until he joined the grassroots organization, he "didn't realise that there were poor people in developed countries". And of course, the most memorable quote of all had to come from the Prime Minister himself, confessing his predilection to fix the opposition and buy supporters votes.
Anonymous on 3:01 PM SGT

I'll stop buying any crap from MediaCorpse from now on...
KiWeTO on 9:32 PM SGT

Seems like a lot of noise in this entry's comments, but what are the positions here?

Pro-PAP arguments:
1. Economic stability and Progress
2. No-PAP = Philippines/Indonesia and other failed democracies.
3. Democracy is for the birds. Give me peace and stability any-day.
4. No corruption from PAP.

Can these premises be demolished.

Not1:
Democracy does not mean anachy and regress. the UK/US/Europe all have high per-capita GDP & standards of living, and these did not arise out of a permanent autocracy in their democracies. (Magaret Thatcher, for all the good she did, was kicked out when the British decided she had 'served' her purpose.)

Not2:
No-PAP - We don't even have enough squabbling political parties to end up in a situation like the Philippines, or even Italy and the rest of Europe. We have a few old political parties (sans PAP) without a lot of good leadership, nor any new blood. Why is this so? Because it has been systematically trained out of the Singapore population that politics = bad and PAP=good. Don't you love brainwashing? For the forseeable future (5-10 years?) we cannot turn into the Philippines overnight if PAP loses majority in an election, because the opposition isn't good enough yet. For our society to evolve to the next level of civilization (that means no more 1st world infrastructure, 3rd world mindset), we have to leave behind the "Junzi" (gentleman-scholar) mindset of always believing that someone 'better' knows better. We have to learnt to take care of ourselves ourselves.

Not3:
Peace and Stability can exist without a democracy. Even in North Korea there is 'peace and stability' (not much else.) There is a misconception that peace and stability will not exist if Singapore does not have a democracy. If we had inefficient bureaucracies and governmental (NOT Political) corruption, then yes, we would not have peace and stability in a democracy.

Singapore is known for having a corruption-free governmental bureaucracy. That is a mainstay in our attraction for foreign investment. Having more opposition members in Parliament does not mean that our bureaucracies will be come corrupt.

Not4:
I believe there are sufficient examples over history that no party will ever be corruption free, PAP included.

What the pro-democracy supporters can use to enhance civil dialogue:

1. A rigourous media industry with different perspectives help ensure that any shady games played by anyone will be efficiently brought to the attention of the country.

2. Singaporeans need to learn to be responsible for themselves, and not wait for an authority to tell them what they should do to take care of themselves.

3. We are a 1st-world economy competing with other 1st-world economies. It is no longer possible to just copy someone else's successful economic model. This means we need freedom of ideas to compete with other 1st-world economies' ideas, but our education culture does not encourage a free mind.

4. Singapore needs to grow up. We cannot as a society remain forever 'babied' by the agents that we give the authority to govern us.

A government serves the people, but in Singapore, it seems, the people are just 'employees' of Singapore,Inc, and encouraged to to go Malaysia when we are of no more economic use.

E.o.M.

Singapore Election Watch

Bloggers persist as Mediacorp bullshits

32 Responses to “Bloggers persist as Mediacorp bullshits”

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