WP Chief Low Thia Kiang has responded to the charge by Lianhe Zaobao Chief Editor Wu Xindi that he has hurled baseless and unfair accusations at the Singapore media for being a propaganda tool of the government.
Mr Low has been embroiled in a tit-for-tat exchange with the media in the aftermath of the Hougang by-election in which he accused certain publications of manufacturing ‘untruths’ to smear his party and candidate.
Though the WP candidate Png Eng Huat eventually won the election with 62.09% of the votes, Mr Low still reserved harsh criticisms for the media during a press conference on Saturday.
In a statement issued on the WP website today, Mr Low asked how Singaporeans can make an informed choice when the main source of information has been monopolized by the government:
“Till today, the chairman of Singapore Press Holdings is an ex-PAP cabinet minister and the main shareholder of Mediacorp TV is a government-linked company, Temasek Holdings. How much neutrality can we expect from them?”
Mr Low added that it is imperative that the media must become a reliable source of information for the people as it can be used as a powerful tool for or against political parties:
“Only then can it be an effective check on all political parties including the PAP, not just against the opposition. We must not allow the media to be used by the government as a political tool.”
There is no independent media in Singapore, all of which are owned and controlled by the government in one way or another. The Singapore media is ranked 135th globally in terms of press freedom by respected international NGO Reporters without Borders in 2011.
Below is Mr Low’s statement in Chinese:
刘程强回应早报总编辑“别把主流媒体当箭靶子” (早报5月28日言论版)
吴新迪总编辑说:“这起事件,我们没有在后面暗中操盘,想要破坏工人党。” 我必须在此严正澄清:我所说的是“成为暗箭的有力 射手”,并没有指控任何主流媒体就是那个“放暗箭的行动党打手”。
我在记者会上的完整说词是:“明枪易挡、暗箭难防。意想不到的是,主流媒体竟然成为暗箭的有力射手,一些媒体甚至没有根据, 也没确认事实,就大事报导和藏镜人通过电邮所说的话。”
我所要表达的是,媒体的大事报导,成为了放暗箭者的有力工具, 助长了放暗箭者所要达到的目的。这也同时鼓励更多有心之人在未 来关键的时刻效法。不论所说是真是假,不敢站出来面对自己的所 做所为,为自己所说的话负责任,不但是小人行为,更是胆怯的伪君子。新加坡朝向第一世界国会民主进程迈进的过程中,主流媒体 应该协助清理政坛,不应该允许这类人搅局作乱。反之则等于助纣为虐。这是我的担忧。
更有甚者,如果媒体不查证所获得的消息来源是否正确,甚至在不确定提供消息者的真正身份就大事报导匿名者不利某人或政党的言谈,不但误导读者,更会使媒体失去公信力。
所以,我接着说:“一些媒体甚至没有根据,也没确认事实,就大 事报导和藏镜人通过电邮所说的话。”我所指的是《我报》5 月 24 日的头版“揭秘者接受本报电邮访问”的内容。大标题是“揭秘不 是要害工人党、我也不会退出工人党”。《我报》难道已经知道 “神秘松鼠”的身份?已经证实“神秘松鼠”是工人党的党员?
吴总编辑说:“(我)选择在补选成绩揭晓后的记者会上,突然向媒 体发难,把所有主流媒体说成是暗箭的射手,是人民行动党在竞选 期间的政治打手。”
补选成绩揭晓后的记者会是在 5 月 26 日晚上。但是,我早在 5 月 24 日,最后一场的后港补选群众大会上,在以英语演讲时就已经说:“。。。但是,当主要的资讯来源都被垄断,人民又如何能在真正了解事实之后作出选择呢?到今天为止,新加坡报业控股的主 席还是由前内阁部长担任,新传媒电视的主要股东是政联公司,淡马锡控股。我们能够期待他们到底有多中立呢? 1
我也说:“传媒有潜能成为对付或支持某个政党强而有力的工具。 因此,媒体必须独立,不能受到政府的强力影响,其所提供给人民的信息也必须是可靠的。只有这样,媒体才能够有效审视所有的政 党,包括人民行动党,不单单只是反对党。我们不能够让媒体被政 府利用,成为政治工具。” 2
所以,记者会是我对这次补选媒体整体表现质疑的总结,以及进一步更具体的表达我的看法和担忧。不是选择在补选后突然向媒体发难。
同样在 5 月 24 日的最后一场群众大会上,我也说:“。。。许多记者和摄影记者都有使命感,也负责任。尽管它们在写报导时尽力做到公平,但最终所刊登出来的,是超越了他们的权限。” 3
从我 30 年从政所累积的经验中,我知道媒体所刊载的信息对公众有很强的渗透力;尤其在政治上,塑造形象的重要性。我也见证了媒体在新加坡政治发展上所扮演的重要角色。 我所要表达的,就如我在记者会上担心的,媒体成为新加坡民主进程的绊脚石,会使我们的政治文明倒退 20 年。
刘程强 2012年5月28日
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THE TEMASEK TIMES 
Elected MP should automatically be appointed as grassroots adviser of GROs and not losing candidates
Posted by temasektimes on May 29, 2012
Though Mr Choo is not the elected MP of Hougang, he still has the privilege of hosting unofficial ‘Meet the People’ sessions in an air-conditioned office paid for by taxpayers while the elected WP MP Png Eng Huat has to meet them in a make-shift office in a HDB void deck instead.
In an interview with the media after his loss, Mr Choo pledged to work together with Mr Png Eng Huat to bring improvement to Hougang:
“Any project, as long as it benefits the residents, is in their best interest, is sound, is practicable… I am more than willing to support. I will also need support from him for some of the programmes that we run, especially places which require town council support.”
With due respect to Mr Choo and his contributions to Hougang so far, his work should be undertaken by the elected MP of Hougang who should automatically be appointed as its grassroots adviser.
Having two persons holding two different positions – MP and grassroots adviser performing the same task is not only counter-productive, but leads to duplication of unnecessary work and waste of public resources.
In PAP-controlled constituencies, its MPs hold the position of grassroots advisers in their respective wards, why shouldn’t this be the case for non-PAP constituencies?
All grassroots organizations are under the ambit of the People’s Association (PA) which is supposedly a non-partisan statutory board funded by taxpayers.
As such, it should respect the choice of the voters and not make a distinction based on political affiliations. A non-PAP grassroots adviser can perform the same role equally well, if not better if he or she is given full support by the PA.
In the light of the ‘new normal’ in Singapore politics which sees Singaporeans clamoring for more alternative voices to represent their interests in parliament, the present arrangement of appointing PAP losing candidates as grassroots advisers in non-PAP wards not only runs contrary to the PA’s aim of fostering community bonding and national unity, but will potentially divide the nation along political lines in the long run.
It is also not feasible or viable should the opposition win more seats in future elections. Imagine the additional number of grassroots advisers the PA will have to appoint to ‘compete’ with the elected MPs to do the same job should the opposition wins another few SMCs and GRCs in four years’ time?
As a result of the exclusion of its MPs from the PA, the Workers Party have to set up two separate grassroots bodies – the Hougang Constituency Committee and Aljunied Constituency Committee to take charge of grassroots affairs in Hougang and Aljunied respectively.
How much public monies can be saved and put to better use had they all come under the same umbrella of the PA?
It is about time the government show some respect to the voters by appointing their elected MP as grassroots advisers regardless of which political party they come from.
Posted in Commentary, Opinion | 26 Comments »