Following Dr Yaacob’s latest decision to reinstate 2 of the 3 children books but move them to the adult section, NLB CEO Elaine Ng held a media briefing today (18 Jul) to further “clarify” NLB’s position on the controversial matter.
Ms Ng said, “Young children are our biggest visitors, and they tend to browse unsupervised. Hence the NLB takes the stance of having age-appropriate guidelines. We have made certain decisions on what books should not be in the children’s section and that still stands. Going forward, we have found a means and method to put controversial children’s books in the adult section of the library.”
(Early in the week, the books were to be pulped. Period. Now, a retarded minister "instructed" them not to, they say that they have found a method? What is the quality of the CEO and the board of directors who did not think of doing this in the first instance)
“Parents are the one who decide what books children can or cannot read. This could be achieved in the adult section or a PG section, as mooted by some members of the public,” she added.
(Suddenly they know what to do. Fact is, she was "instructed" (minister's word) not to pulp).
“Is NLB subject to pressure by religious groups? The NLB is not in a position to discern people’s motivation. We treated the requests at a service level,” she further explained.
(The CEO is unable to discern people's motivation? Then she is not fit to be CEO! If someone is unable to discern a basic and very obvious motivation such as in this instance, that person should not be sitting in the CEO chair. The chair would be too big for her).
On the pulping of books, she said, “Many objected to the idea that books will be pulped. As book lovers ourselves, we understand the reaction. We do not want to be viewed as destroying books.” (What book lover is she? Has she become a book lover in the past 4 days? She was not one before? The hypocritical statement insults herself more than the audience intended for).
Ms Ng also promised that NLB will be more transparent.
“We will look at other organisations, create more transparent review processes. We’re still looking around, and will need time to look at what works best for us. We ask for the public’s patience,” she said.
(Looking around? We pay her the kind of salary where she has to learn from other organisations? It is only in the past three days that she has started looking around after the stupidity of her intended actions hit public notice?
“We will seek more voices, include external parties on the feedback of some of our books… We want to build bridges with stakeholders, and take time to reach out to those who have partnered NLB in the past and have different views. We want to spend a lot of effort engaging them, and find ways to work with them in the future.”
(Can she tell us the current process, to start with? And also the religious inclinations of the various evaluation board?)
Ms Ng also said they need to think through the mission of the library as they think through the processes.
(But what is the current mission under which is the NLB operating on, to star with? The website doesn't show one.
“Please remember the good work that the NLB has done in the past. I hope we showed that we are a learning organisation,” she said.
(Does she realise that the "good work" is what she's paid to do? By her own admission, it is not even exceptional or great. Just good. Please cut out all the corporate talk about "learning organisation" - as a management speake phrase, it is actually no longer in use!)
Ms Ng said, “Young children are our biggest visitors, and they tend to browse unsupervised. Hence the NLB takes the stance of having age-appropriate guidelines. We have made certain decisions on what books should not be in the children’s section and that still stands. Going forward, we have found a means and method to put controversial children’s books in the adult section of the library.”
(Early in the week, the books were to be pulped. Period. Now, a retarded minister "instructed" them not to, they say that they have found a method? What is the quality of the CEO and the board of directors who did not think of doing this in the first instance)
“Parents are the one who decide what books children can or cannot read. This could be achieved in the adult section or a PG section, as mooted by some members of the public,” she added.
(Suddenly they know what to do. Fact is, she was "instructed" (minister's word) not to pulp).
“Is NLB subject to pressure by religious groups? The NLB is not in a position to discern people’s motivation. We treated the requests at a service level,” she further explained.
(The CEO is unable to discern people's motivation? Then she is not fit to be CEO! If someone is unable to discern a basic and very obvious motivation such as in this instance, that person should not be sitting in the CEO chair. The chair would be too big for her).
On the pulping of books, she said, “Many objected to the idea that books will be pulped. As book lovers ourselves, we understand the reaction. We do not want to be viewed as destroying books.” (What book lover is she? Has she become a book lover in the past 4 days? She was not one before? The hypocritical statement insults herself more than the audience intended for).
Ms Ng also promised that NLB will be more transparent.
“We will look at other organisations, create more transparent review processes. We’re still looking around, and will need time to look at what works best for us. We ask for the public’s patience,” she said.
(Looking around? We pay her the kind of salary where she has to learn from other organisations? It is only in the past three days that she has started looking around after the stupidity of her intended actions hit public notice?
“We will seek more voices, include external parties on the feedback of some of our books… We want to build bridges with stakeholders, and take time to reach out to those who have partnered NLB in the past and have different views. We want to spend a lot of effort engaging them, and find ways to work with them in the future.”
(Can she tell us the current process, to start with? And also the religious inclinations of the various evaluation board?)
Ms Ng also said they need to think through the mission of the library as they think through the processes.
(But what is the current mission under which is the NLB operating on, to star with? The website doesn't show one.
“Please remember the good work that the NLB has done in the past. I hope we showed that we are a learning organisation,” she said.
(Does she realise that the "good work" is what she's paid to do? By her own admission, it is not even exceptional or great. Just good. Please cut out all the corporate talk about "learning organisation" - as a management speake phrase, it is actually no longer in use!)
