By by: Ravi Philemon/
TOC received two emails from the office of Dr Tony Tan today. The first email said that his office read TOC’s article on Dr Tan’s son “with a little disappointment”.
The first email went on to say that TOC was invited to Dr Tony Tan’s press conference “in the spirit of fostering debate” and that they will continue to do so. That his office requested TOC to contact them for a quote or clarification if we are running a story, and promised that they will do their best to get back to us as quickly as they can.
TOC responded to Dr Tony Tan’s office’s first email and said that if they read the article, they would realise that the article was not about Dr Tan’s son, but about the mainstream media being selective in how they disseminate news about the Presidential aspirants.
TOC has no intention of talking about anyone in Dr Tan’s family. They are not standing for any public office. TOC’s coverage is, as always, driven by what has been making the news.
We replied that if we do not cover the issues that are making news, then TOC will lose all credibility. That the question asked in the article are ‘out there’ and are not TOC’s.
In the second email Dr Tan’s office said that the “net has been aflame with allegations that Dr Patrick Tan, Dr Tony Tan’s son, did not complete his National Service. These false rumours have been repeatedly posted on Dr Tony Tan’s Facebook page and elsewhere”, and released the responses of Dr Tony Tan and his son, Dr Patrick Tan to these allegations.
In his statement, Dr Tony Tan said:
Dr Patrick Tan’s statement is HERE.
Dr Tony Tan’s engagement of TOC is much appreciated by us. We assure his office that we will be fair in our coverage of all the Presidential hopefuls.