On Friday (5 July), former editor of The Straits Times (ST) Leslie Fong wrote an opinion piece regarding the 1 July protest in Hong Kong that saw a group of protesters stormed into LegCo and destroyed the Hong Kong emblem, ruined portraits of political leaders and destroyed furniture.
In his article, Mr Fong called these protesters “rioters” and stated that Singaporeans watched television footage of them “ransacking and vandalising” LegCo in “sadness and bewilderment”.
He also supported Hong Kong Chief Executive Carrie Lam and the police, and justified their move to retreat as their “key considerations must be the avoidance of massive bloodshed or, worse, death”.
If that is not all, Mr Fong also stressed that the reason why Hong Kongers are taking the matter to the streets right now is because of the high property prices in Hong Kong as people are not able to own a house.
“This deplorable state was brought about by avaricious property tycoons and their business associates who have made it ruinously expensive for most wage earners to rent, never mind buy, a decent roof over their head,” he explained.
He added, “Tackling this decisively – giving the majority of Hong Kong people a chance to own a home without having to take on the burden of loans that will take two generations to pay off – will be more meaningful and effective in lifting the sense of desperation that many of the young feel than any talk of political reform and more responsive governance.”
Since 9 June, millions of Hong Kongers took to the streets to protest against the controversial Extradition Bill that would allow residents to be extradited to mainland China. Although the government has postponed the bill for now, people are still demanding that it be permanently shelved and that Ms Lam resign.

Lynn Lee’s response

In response to Mr Fong’s article, Lynn Lee, a film producer at Lianain Films, took to her Facebook on Friday (5 July) to slam the former editor for his thoughts regarding the protests in Hong Kong.
The Singaporean journalist who was on the ground documenting the protests, wrote, “Not a single protester I’ve spoken to says they’re out on the streets because of property prices.”
The reason why Hong Kongers are protesting is because they’re “appalled at the steady erosion of the one-country-two-systems framework”, as they don’t wish to lose their freedom, Ms Lee noted. She also mentioned that the people of Hong Kong don’t trust the Chinese Communist Party and “owe it to themselves to say something now even if they’re sure China and the HK government won’t listen”.
Ms Lee also pointed out that its “pure stupidity” to say that the riot took place because foreigners have instigated the locals to protest.
“How much money, Mr Fong, can I pay you to stand on Harcourt Road. In the sun, in the rain, in the humidity, in front of lines of riot-police, amid clouds of teargas?” she asked.
The film producer also said that Mr Fong wrote the article because he sees it as a “teaching moment for a domestic audience” and not so much of analysing the real situation in Hong Kong.
“He’s betting on the likelihood that Singaporeans lack the imagination to understand why anyone would risk so much to stand up for freedom such as democracy and free speech. And so in Fong’s world – in the world he believes Singaporeans inhabit – those who do are “rioters” who must surely be someone else’s puppets,” she noted.
She also added Singapore government is insecure since a lot of freedom is given to the mainstream media to run stories “devoted to faux-analyses like Fong’s”.
“A people who can organise – as the young protesters in HK have organised – is a frightening thing for authoritarian regimes. Some people, somewhere, are getting their knickers in a bunch, not because they care about Hong Kongers, but because they’re afraid of what we might learn from their struggle,” she opined.

 

Subscribe
Notify of
0 Comments
Inline Feedbacks
View all comments
You May Also Like

Chee Soon Juan: We do not have political rights

~ By Chee Soon Juan ~ I refer to the article published…

CAPITAL – 21 May

  In this exhibition entitled, ‘CAPITAL’, artists Seelan Palay and Shikin Ali…

陈清木冀政府设立独立审查机构 检讨巴蒂一案疏失

前进党秘书长陈清木医生,呼吁政府应设立独立审查机构,以检讨各造在调查和审理前女佣巴蒂一案中出现的疏失。 印尼籍前女佣巴蒂,曾在樟宜机场集团前主席廖文良家中帮佣,然而后者却在2016年10月28日开除巴蒂,两日后再报警指控巴蒂偷走于5万元财物,包括名表、Prada的名牌包和Gucci墨镜等。 巴蒂再去年被国家法院判监禁26个月,惟在本月4日,终高庭推翻判决,沉冤得雪。巴蒂一案近两周来引起国人议论,并关注女佣在整个审讯中处于弱势的地位。高庭法官陈成安判决中,更形容廖家父子报警可能存在“不当意图”,被告有充分理由投诉人力部,而廖家“先下手为强”将他开除。 对于上述案件,陈清木表示国人欣见正义终获伸张,也相信包括总检察署和警方等各造,都会如律政部兼内政部长尚穆根所言,将对调查环节中究竟哪些问题出了错,作出检讨。 他毫不怀疑内政部和总检察署,都将适时地发表检讨报告。然而毕竟内政部等各造并非独立、100巴仙客观的,故此政府理应设立独立审查机构,批判和全面地审查此案中出现疏失的部分,并且提出建议改善。 “适当的问责乃是要我们找出问题根源,且不仅仅是否乃个人认为疏忽引起的,因为找代罪羔羊并无助解决问题。”陈清木指出,比起责怪或开除问题人物,更应该去检视是否有体制上、程序上和问责制衡的疏失。 高庭法官陈成安,在判决中也点出所谓“赃物”移交警局过程存在疑点。包括廖家声称开箱检查女佣留下的三大箱子,并报警后,警方未立即取走证物。由于高庭法官的判词,也针对警方的调查工作,这也致使警方需出面回应此事,表示将展开调查。

Town council and Acres to rehome prowling fowls at Tampines; Netizens ask for chickens to be left alone

The Straits Times shared a video on their Facebook page of a…