Mainstream media mistakes NCMP Yee’s comment as applauding PM’s move to have national

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Mainstream media mistakes NCMP Yee’s comment as applauding PM’s move to have national conversation

August 28th, 2012 |

Author: Editorial

NCMP Yee Jenn Jong from Worker's Party

At the end of the National Day Rally 2012 on 26 Aug, Mediacorp interviewed some MPs and reported this news article [Link] with the title ‘MPs welcome new initiatives announced by PM Lee’.
It started the news report by saying:

Many Members of Parliament have welcomed the new initiatives announced by Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong at his National Day Rally speech on Sunday. Some applauded the move to have a national conversation with Singaporeans.
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It then proceeded to interview a number of MPs including NCMP Yee Jenn Jong from the Worker’s Party.
It reported Mr Yee saying:

“It’d be good when something is really done, that the voices are heard. Like I said, there are a lot of voices that are already heard. I don’t think there (will be) any new views that will be surfaced. It’s just a question of maybe… an exercise to compile the different views,” he said.
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Using this quote from Mr Yee in the Mediacorp’s news article with the title, ‘MPs welcome new initiatives announced by PM Lee’, may have given the impression that Mr Yee is ‘praising’ PM’s speech when in fact, he is questioning if the Govt would really do anything after the National Conversation. This is what Mr Yee actually said about the National Conversation including the part which was not included in the news article (also see video below):

“Really, what’s the outcome at the end of it? Or whether this is a PR exercise? It’d be good when something is really done, that the voices are heard. And like I said, there are a lot of voices that are already heard. I don’t think there’ll honestly (be) any new views that will surface. It’s just a question of maybe this is an exercise to compile the different views.”
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So, when the first part of what Mr Yee said is included, it doesn’t seem like he is joining the rest of the MPs, “applauding the move to have a national conversation with Singaporeans”. He is in fact asking if something is going to be done at the end of the National Conversation or is this just another PR exercise?
Mr Yee then further clarifies with regard to PM’s call for a National Conversation on his blog. He said some of the online views are in fact quite sensible, contrary to what the Govt may sometimes say about online feedback. He wrote this on his blog (‘My Thoughts on National Day Rally 2012‘):

Finally on the National Conversation, I think there are already many views out there, especially online, if the government is to listen more carefully. And some views are quite sensible, contrary to what some policymakers may sometimes say about online feedback.
What I am more interested to know is, how will the sacred cows be dealt with? We have many. Former Straits Times associate editor Bertha Henson listed some interesting ones on her blog: ISA, detention without trial, death penalty, annual licensing requirement for newspapers, and others. I will say the proof of the pudding is in the eating. How seriously will these sacred cows be dealt with? Time will tell.
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Not surprisingly, the part about the sacred cows was also not reported by mainstream media even though Mr Yee did talk about it at his interview.
(goto 1:14)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Iwi_x4rHqss&feature=player_embedded
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[Narong Wongwan]

Re: Mainstream media mistakes NCMP Yee’s comment as applauding PM’s move to have nati

Haha now with New Media, prostitutes in MSM cannot smoke as many people liao

 

[LeMans2011]

Re: Mainstream media mistakes NCMP Yee’s comment as applauding PM’s move to have nati

Twisting, not mistaking