Press Statement – Ravi Philemon responds to Yaacob’s remarks in Parliament, Facebook posting

Blogger and activist, Ravi Philemon has issued a media statement to the press in response to Minister for Communications & Information, Dr Yaacob Ibrahim’s mention of him twice in Parliament, and the Minister’s subsequent comments on Facebook.

RESPONSE TO MINISTER FOR COMMUNICATIONS & INFORMATION, DR YAACOB IBRAHIM, MENTIONING ME TWICE IN PARLIAMENT AND HIS SUBSEQUENT POSTING ABOUT ME ON HIS FACEBOOK

1. I refer to Dr Yaacob Ibrahim’s speech in Parliament on 8 July 2013 in response to parliamentary questions on haze. As the Minister for Communications & Information mentioned me by name twice in his speech, also because of his subsequent reference to me on his Faceook post, I feel compelled to respond appropriately.
2. Attached in Annex A is the relevant sequence of events for 20, 21, 22 and 23 June 2013. In Annex B is the statement by the originator of the comment Dr Yaacob had referred to in Parliament.  And in Annex C is my congratulatory message sent to the Chairman of the Media Literacy Council (MLC) in July last year.
3. Annexes A, B and C are facts, and readers can decide for themselves if I was being malicious or irresponsible. I did not blast out the comment from my friend as a fact on my blog. Instead, I reposted it on my personal Facebook page, with the intention of not asserting, but getting more information on that topic.
4. The facts are, comments such as the one reposted by me arose because the Government assurances did not tally with the situation on the ground on 20 and 21 June 2013.
5. The originator of the comment has also now highlighted that the doubts such as his arose because of the “mismatch between the government announcement on Thursday, 20 June 2013 and the actual situation on the ground throughout Friday, 21 June 2013”. The originator has mentioned his appreciation of my reposting his comment, and also explained the circumstances behind his comment, at http://www.facebook.com/raviphilemon/posts/10151904258253277.
6. 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.
7. The Ministry of Communication and Information has since written to me that they decided to clarify my repost following requests for clarification from members of the public.  I am glad that members of the public made a reasonable and rational decision to verify the accuracy of this repost with the Ministry, as only the Ministry can clarify what is true and what is not.

The annexes that came with the press statement

Annexes A, B, C to press release dated 11 Nov 2013