27 Apr 2006

Local media waging a campaign against SDP

According to Singapore Elections Watch this reply has been issued by Dr Chee and Ling How Doong. If this rebuttal is true and was issued by the Singapore Democrats it raises some serious questions about the 'journalist' and Channel News Asia. Just who is spreading untruths, lies during the election? Who is deviating from an engagement in political debates in a factual and objective manner?

Local media waging a campaign against SDP
The reports about Mr Ling How Doong saying that Dr Chee Soon Juan should be sacked as Secretary-General of the SDP is completely untrue. The SDP stands united in this election and is determined to speak up for the people.

It looks like the media is running a campaign aimed at unfairly discrediting the SDP before the hustings can even begin. Such reportage of the SDP is not surprising. The media has consistently tried to present the worst image of the SDP because the Party has called for reform of the political system in Singapore.

The SDP’s message to voters at the Sembawang GRC and Bukit Panjang SMC is resonating and the anger of the voters at the PAP will have a significant impact on the results in these wards.

Ling How Doong
Chairman

Chee Soon Juan
Secretary-General
posted by Singapore Election


The offending article is posted below...

By Sharon Tong, Channel NewsAsia

SINGAPORE : The Singapore Democratic Party Chairman Ling How Doong says the party's Secretary-General Chee Soon Juan may be sacked from its Central Executive Committee.

Mr Ling was talking to the media shortly after arriving at Fajar Secondary School on Thursday morning to file his nomination paper to contest Bukit Panjang in the General Election.

Speaking at a separate media conference, Dr Chee denied he could be ousted from the party.

He said he had not heard a word from Mr Ling.

Dr Chee claimed he had not heard the report that he might be sacked from the Central Executive Committee.

He claimed he had called Mr Ling and was told that the chairman had denied the matter.

Mr Ling was not present at the news conference, while the rest of the team vying for Sembawang GRC was there.

Dr Chee and other members of the CEC currently face defamation suits brought on them by Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong and Minister Mentor Lee Kuan Yew over their comments on the government's handling of the National Kidney Foundation issue.

These remarks were published in the SDP's newsletter.

The PAP leaders had sent letters of demand last Friday to all 12 members of the SDP's CEC that they were to apologise and pay damages or be sued.

But only four of them have apologised.

Dr Chee and a few other CEC members have said they will be fighting the defamation suits.

They also continued to sell the newsletter over the weekend.

The two PAP leaders are now seeking aggravated damages. - CNA /ct





16 comments:

quzy said...

Not related to this article. Just something about the local media that has been bugging me for a while.

Correct me if I'm wrong, but since Parliament has been dissolved on 21 April, shouldn't all Cabinet apppointments be expired as well? Yet CNA has been consistently using appointment titles like MM Lee, PM Lee and SM Goh.

It's notable that election officers at the nomination centres correctly used Mr, Ms, and Dr when announcing candidate names.

Anonymous said...

What do you expect of the local media? Integrity? Or truthful reporting?

Anonymous said...

Just remember there is no publicity like bad publicity for getting the real villans to show there true colours. I think this time MM has started to loose his marbles or should that be peanuts :)

akikonomu said...

Sue ST for aggravated damages =D

Anonymous said...

quzy,

EXCELLENT POINT! The media must stop doing that!

Anonymous said...

I know I saw a news clip on CNA where Ling himself said on camera something to the effect that he and someone from the committee had been thinking for like 2 weeks to get Chee out of the committee.

To me, this looked like a personal attempt to distance himself from the alleged defamation saga with the Lees. I think that Chee is genuinely surprised by this development from his comrade and it does look like Ling and Chee definitely are not on the same page. Chee is probably trying to do his best at damage control in presenting a united SDP in the face of the media and public.

It doesn't look like the reporter is deliberately perpetuating an untruth here. She was merely picking up on what Ling told her on camera at Fajar and asked Chee if what she had heard from Ling earlier that day was true.

Sharon Tong basically did her job as a true Singapore journalist in being the quintessential media parrot of asking the predictable "someone said this about you and is this true". Let's not put her on a pedestal. Even a 5-year-old could have mouthed those off.

Anonymous said...

for good for bad, SDP is dead; assuming Chee continues to be SDP secretary-general, the party will be down to just he and sister; among other things, WP and SDA managed to put up 20 candidates each without any 3 corner contests(which means no one will lost deposit), not bad for opposition parties here

dfgd said...

quzy, you have brought up an extremely important point there. Every article I read, with its usual bias towards the MIW refers to the PAP members as Prime minister etc... If it is against the rules it should stop and that would be up to the electoral board, but then again the fact that they are not independent makes that extremely unlikely.

Anonymous said...

pls watch the clip on CNA. he says that he "intends'' dislodge chee from the party. unless they fully edited it, to form a fictional picture, how more clear can you get?

dfgd said...

"pls watch the clip on CNA", I would if someone would provide me with a link...

dfgd said...

I have just watched the clip, but didn't here the question he was asked.

dfgd said...

it is available here..http://ge2006.channelnewsasia.com/video.htm

titled "Chee Soon Juan denies plans by SDP to oust him"

Anonymous said...

I saw the clip, Ling said to the
effect that they would like to remove Chee. But then, the local media capitalise on this and you see this prominently reported
in all the local papers.
perhaps one should hear how the question was asked.
Typical of our 140th media, always
put the opposition in the negative
light

Anonymous said...

you can never sue the govt, the judges etc are all behind them.

even if you are right, and they are wrong, you can never WIN!

SINGAPORE IS LIKE CHINA COMMUNIST PARTY, CREATE FALSEHOOD through MEDIA TO BRAINWASH ITS CITIZENS TO GAIN POLITICAL POWER!

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