PAP government is hiring more

[winnipegjets]

Yakult needs more people to find out the online critics, Vivian needs more people to do the WP in, LHL needs more people to create the 'right' politics, PMO needs more people to plan for the grand send off ....

Did Yakult used ISD or SID to find out who the bloggers are?

Yaacob defends naming of blogger and website over haze rumours
By Goh Chin Lian
Singapolitics
Thursday, Jul 11, 2013

Minister of Communications and Information Yaacob Ibrahim said on Wednesday night that his naming of a blogger and a website for circulating online rumours during the recent haze was to be fair to the majority of the online community.

Otherwise, they may be inadvertently associated with spreading rumours, he added in a posting on Facebook.

In Parliament on Monday, the minister had cited many examples of Singaporeans pulling together and using the Internet to do good and clarify doubts.

But he also warned that some mischievous individuals had set out to spread rumours and cause unnecessary anxiety.

The five examples he cited included The Real Singapore putting up an article falsely attributed to Tampines GRC MP Irene Ng.

Another was blogger Ravi Philemon, who posted online that the public would not be able to access a fresh supply of masks that were arriving in Singapore.

Dr Yaacob recounted the sequence of events in his Facebook post.

On June 21, the Government announced that 1 million N95 masks would be distributed to 200,000 low-income households for free, and that the Singapore Armed Forces will help give out the masks.

The next day, on June 22, Mr Philemon posted an unnamed friend's claim that the supply would be strictly controlled by the Government, Dr Yaacob noted.

The minister said: "The upshot of Ravi's post is that the Government announcement the day before is not true. But what is his basis for suggesting so? The truth is, he had no basis for his assertion."

As to Mr Philemon saying later that he went to Johor Baru to buy N95 masks when they were sold out at pharmacies here, to give to others, Dr Yaacob said he was "happy to learn" that the blogger had distributed some masks to the community.

"But let's be clear," he added, "doing good offline does not mean one is excused from acting responsibly online.

 

[winnipegjets]

Waiting for Yakult to counter again. Love it when Ministers are busy answering pointed questions from citizens.



Blogger Ravi defends his unverified posting on masks

By Tessa Wong
Singapolitics
Thursday, Jul 11, 2013

BLOGGER Ravi Philemon said on Thursday that he repeated an allegation doubting the public availability of the Government's stockpile of N95 masks during the haze, because the Government's assurances "did not tally with the situation on the ground".

In a statement to the media, Mr Philemon traced his version of events that led him to re-post on the wee hours of June 22 a friend's false allegation that the Government's nine million masks were not meant for the public.

He noted that two days prior, the media reported the Health Ministry as saying there were sufficient masks and pharmacies would have fresh stocks by that evening. But the next day, on June 21, there were reports that some pharmacies did not have stocks.

Mr Philemon said these were facts, and "readers can decide for themselves if I was being malicious or irresponsible". He said he posted the allegation "with the intention of not asserting, but getting more information on that topic".

"As ordinary citizens like me are not in a position to verify what is truth and what is not, it is not irresponsible of me to highlight such sentiments so that the Government can appropriately clarify them," he said.

Meanwhile the original source of the allegation identified himself as Victor Chen Guan Rong on Facebook, who said the information was obtained by his father from pharmacies and clinics on June 21.

The posting began as such: "Yes the 9 million masks are coming into Singapore only on Monday (June 24). But none will be for the public, the entire batch will be under exclusive control by the G (Government) and all distributions (sic) of the masks will be under the tightest of scrutiny".

It went on to say this was acknowledged by all medical supplies distributors and no retailers would have stock circulation because of "tight control implemented".

Their statements come a day after Minister of Communications and Information Yaacob Ibrahim pointed out, in a Facebook statement, that prior to Mr Philemon's posting of the allegation, the Government had already said one million masks would be distributed free to low-income households, and that Mr Philemon "had no basis for his assertion".

Dr Yaacob on Monday cited Mr Philemon's case as one of several examples of rumour-mongering during the haze which caused unnecessary public anxiety.