• About Us
    • Fact Checking Policy
    • Ownership & funding information
    • Volunteer
  • Subscribe
  • Letter submission
    • Submissions Policy
  • Contact Us
The Online Citizen Asia
  • Opinion
    • Editorial
    • Commentaries
    • Letters
    • Comments
  • Current Affairs
    • Singapore
    • Malaysia
    • Indonesia
    • China
    • ASEAN
    • Asia
    • International
  • Finance
    • Economics
    • Labour
    • Property
    • Business
  • Community
    • Arts & Culture
    • Consumer Watch
    • NGO
    • Lifestyle
    • Travel
  • Politics
    • Civil Society
    • Parliament
    • Transport
    • Education
    • Environment
    • Health
    • Housing
  • Law & Order
    • Legislation
    • Court Cases
No Result
View All Result
  • Opinion
    • Editorial
    • Commentaries
    • Letters
    • Comments
  • Current Affairs
    • Singapore
    • Malaysia
    • Indonesia
    • China
    • ASEAN
    • Asia
    • International
  • Finance
    • Economics
    • Labour
    • Property
    • Business
  • Community
    • Arts & Culture
    • Consumer Watch
    • NGO
    • Lifestyle
    • Travel
  • Politics
    • Civil Society
    • Parliament
    • Transport
    • Education
    • Environment
    • Health
    • Housing
  • Law & Order
    • Legislation
    • Court Cases
No Result
View All Result
The Online Citizen Asia
No Result
View All Result

Straits Times: Willing bedfellows of the State

by onlinecitizen
16/12/2010
in Politics
Reading Time: 4 mins read
0

by Ravi Philemon

Ms Tessa Wong who is a journalist at The Straits Times commented on The Online Citizen’s Facebook page that “ST has always maintained it is a pro-Singapore paper. Some people have equated that to be pro-PAP, but I can say for a fact that increasingly this definition of pro-Singapore has broadened to include a variety of views”.

On the surface it looks like it is indeed a fair statement, that The Straits Times and the Singapore Press Holdings (SPH) is indeed only pro-Singapore and not pro-PAP. But that is until you look at who’s who in the Board of Directors at the Singapore Press Holdings.

The current Chairman of SPH is Dr Tony Tan Keng Yam. Dr Tan a member of the People’s Action Party (PAP), was elected Member of Parliament in 1979. Besides holding various key positions in the government, he was also Deputy Prime Minister from 1995 to 2005.

Another member in the Board of Directors is Mr Alan Chan Heng Loon. Besides serving in the Transport Ministry as a Permanent Secretary and in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs as Deputy Secretary, Mr Chan was also the Principal Private Secretary to then Senior Minister Mr Lee Kuan Yew.

Yet another Board member is Mr Lucien Wong Yuen Kai, the Managing Partner of Allen & Gledhill LLP. This law firm has often acted for key people in the government like Mr Lee Kuan Yew, Mr Lee Hsien Loong and Mr Goh Chok Tong. The current Law and Home Affairs Minister, Mr K Shanmugam was a Senior Partner in this firm.

The PAP has a long history of dominating the press in Singapore. For example, Mr S R Nathan (now President of Singapore) a former Director of the Security and Intelligence Division with the Ministry of Defence, was appointed Executive Chairman of Straits Times (ST) in 1982.

When Mr S R Nathan was appointed Executive Chairman, one of the directors of the then Board of ST Sir Keith Macpherson resigned from the Board saying, “it is not possible for us to continue an association with a newspaper which is now clearly government dominated.”

During a budget debate in March 1982 the then opposition MP Mr J B Jeyaretnam opposed the appointment of Mr S R Nathan and claimed that Mr Nathan “had no newspaper experience, but had been head of intelligence and had worked for the Japanese police during the occupation”.

Mr Nathan then claimed that he had been “maliciously and viciously slandered” and challenged Mr Jeyaretnam to retract or repeat his comments outside parliament. When Mr Jeyaretnam did not oblige him, Mr Nathan issued an open letter to Mr Jeyaretnam complaining of abuse of parliamentary privilege “to insinuate a connection (between Mr Nathan) and Kempeitai atrocities”.

Besides Mr Nathan, others in the Board of Management or the editorial team of SPH continue to have links with the PAP government. The former Executive President of SPH Tjong Yik Min was the head of Internal Security Department (ISD) before he was appointed to SPH. Former journalists Irene Ho, Susan Sim and current political editor Chua Lee Hoong are all former ISD employees.

In her comment on TOC’s Facebook, Ms Wong also said that she has written articles on the opposition parties that paint them in a fair and arguably favourable light. An article co-written by Ms Wong, “Is the opposition ready to rock?”, seems to insinuate that the candidates of quality from the opposition may not have the perseverance to stay in opposition politics if they lost the next election. Is this the fair and favourable light of the ST?

After careful scrutiny, one can only come to the conclusion that SPH and ST do believe that being pro-Singapore and being pro-PAP are both one and the same. One can also argue that even the recent ‘fair and favourable’ reporting by ST of opposition parties is because PAP is now singing a different tune, that opposition parties have made their contribution to national debate.

SPH and the mainstream media in Singapore in the words of Cherian George is “at least in part, willing partners of the state”. It is indeed sad if journalists like Ms Wong has not realised this.

The question to ask then (with J B Jeyaretnam) is if a ‘castrated’ and ‘manacled’ press consistent with Singapore being a vibrant and competitive economy in the 21st century?

For just US$7.50 a month, sign up as a subscriber on The Online Citizen Asia (and enjoy ads-free experience on our site) to support our mission to transform TOC into an alternative mainstream press.

Related Posts

Family of student killed in accident involving retired police officer, calls for transparency from Indonesian police
Indonesia

Family of student killed in accident involving retired police officer, calls for transparency from Indonesian police

04/02/2023
【财政预算案2021】2020年预算赤字达649亿元 占国内生产总值13.9%
AFP

China’s mega-rich move their wealth, and partying, to Singapore

04/02/2023
2024 Olympic torch relay to start in Marseille
AFP

2024 Olympic torch relay to start in Marseille

03/02/2023
India’s Adani shares plunge again after stock sale cancelled
AFP

India’s Adani denies rise due to Modi as shares fall again

03/02/2023
TotalEnergies says Adani exposure ‘limited’ at US$3.1 bn
AFP

TotalEnergies says Adani exposure ‘limited’ at US$3.1 bn

03/02/2023
India’s finance minister says markets ‘well regulated’ after Adani storm
AFP

India’s finance minister says markets ‘well regulated’ after Adani storm

03/02/2023
Subscribe
Connect withD
Login
I allow to create an account
When you login first time using a Social Login button, we collect your account public profile information shared by Social Login provider, based on your privacy settings. We also get your email address to automatically create an account for you in our website. Once your account is created, you'll be logged-in to this account.
DisagreeAgree
Notify of
Connect withD
I allow to create an account
When you login first time using a Social Login button, we collect your account public profile information shared by Social Login provider, based on your privacy settings. We also get your email address to automatically create an account for you in our website. Once your account is created, you'll be logged-in to this account.
DisagreeAgree
0 Comments
Inline Feedbacks
View all comments

Latest posts

Family of student killed in accident involving retired police officer, calls for transparency from Indonesian police

Family of student killed in accident involving retired police officer, calls for transparency from Indonesian police

04/02/2023
【财政预算案2021】2020年预算赤字达649亿元 占国内生产总值13.9%

China’s mega-rich move their wealth, and partying, to Singapore

04/02/2023
2024 Olympic torch relay to start in Marseille

2024 Olympic torch relay to start in Marseille

03/02/2023
India’s Adani shares plunge again after stock sale cancelled

India’s Adani denies rise due to Modi as shares fall again

03/02/2023
TotalEnergies says Adani exposure ‘limited’ at US$3.1 bn

TotalEnergies says Adani exposure ‘limited’ at US$3.1 bn

03/02/2023
India’s finance minister says markets ‘well regulated’ after Adani storm

India’s finance minister says markets ‘well regulated’ after Adani storm

03/02/2023
A man can be sentenced to death by a testimony of another, but CPIB finds it hard to prosecute with mountain of evidence and self-confession?

A man can be sentenced to death by a testimony of another, but CPIB finds it hard to prosecute with mountain of evidence and self-confession?

03/02/2023

Myanmar junta imposes tough new measures on resistance strongholds

03/02/2023

Trending posts

Former Singaporean shares change of life in Australia with annual pay of S$80,000 as a plumber

Former Singaporean shares change of life in Australia with annual pay of S$80,000 as a plumber

by Yee Loon
30/01/2023
25

...

They have done a fine job of confusing us about the jobs situation

They have done a fine job of confusing us about the jobs situation

by Augustine Low
01/02/2023
47

...

Adani’s brother runs SG company and registers as director with local ID

Adani’s brother runs SG company and registers as director with local ID

by Correspondent
03/02/2023
15

...

Singapore warns slower economic growth in 2023

Less than 1 in 10 jobs created in first three quarters of 2022 went to Singaporeans?

by Leong Szehian
28/01/2023
69

...

Earning only S$400 a month, delivery-rider turned hawker threw in the towel after two years of running a rojak stall

Earning only S$400 a month, delivery-rider turned hawker threw in the towel after two years of running a rojak stall

by Yee Loon
26/01/2023
24

...

Excessively charging for an essential need, and calling it affordable because people still can pay for it?

by Terry Xu
31/01/2023
40

...

December 2010
M T W T F S S
 12345
6789101112
13141516171819
20212223242526
2728293031  
« Nov   Jan »

The Online Citizen is a regional online publication based in Taiwan and formerly Singapore’s longest-running independent online media platform.

Navigation

  • Editorial
  • Commentaries
  • Opinion
  • Politics
  • Community

Support

  • Contact Us
  • Letter submission
  • Membership subscription

Follow Us

  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • YouTube
  • Instagram
  • Fact Checking Policy
  • Privacy Policy

© 2022 - 2023 The Online Citizen Asia

No Result
View All Result
  • Opinion
    • Editorial
    • Commentaries
    • Comments
  • Current Affairs
    • Malaysia
    • Indonesia
    • China
    • ASEAN
    • Asia
    • International
  • Finance
    • Economics
    • Labour
    • Property
    • Business
  • Community
    • Civil Society
    • Arts & Culture
    • Consumer Watch
    • NGO
  • Politics
    • Parliament
    • Transport
    • Education
    • Environment
    • Health
    • Housing
  • Law & Order
    • Legislation
    • Court Cases
  • Lifestyle
    • Travel
  • Subscribers login

© 2022 - 2023 The Online Citizen Asia

wpDiscuz