I doubt soDistorting the truth, mr brown?
In case you haven't notice, there is an up-roar in the singapore blogging sphere.
Last friday, 3rd July 2006, the ever lovable Mr Brown wrote an article in the TODAY newspaper voices colume titled:S'poreans are fed, up with progress!
This article was met with a respond from K BHAVANI, Press Secretary to the Minister for Information, Communications and the Arts, titled: Distorting the truth, mr brown? When a columnist becomes a 'partisan player' in politics(Read the full letter at MrBrow.com) Go on, I'll wait, and don't forget to check out the 500 plus comments while you are there.
There have already been many comments and analyses on the letter and the issue, but i'm so stirred that i have to add my 2 cents:
Technorati Tags: Mrbrown
Last friday, 3rd July 2006, the ever lovable Mr Brown wrote an article in the TODAY newspaper voices colume titled:S'poreans are fed, up with progress!
This article was met with a respond from K BHAVANI, Press Secretary to the Minister for Information, Communications and the Arts, titled: Distorting the truth, mr brown? When a columnist becomes a 'partisan player' in politics(Read the full letter at MrBrow.com) Go on, I'll wait, and don't forget to check out the 500 plus comments while you are there.
There have already been many comments and analyses on the letter and the issue, but i'm so stirred that i have to add my 2 cents:
...These were precisely the reasons for the Progress Package — to help lower income Singaporeans cope with higher costs of living...I thought the Progress Package was to share the nation's surplus and to recongnise our contributions.
...As for means testing for special school fees, we understand mr brown's disappointment as the father of an autistic child...Now that is just wrong, and sooo below the belt.
...mr brown's views on all these issues distort the truth. They are polemics dressed up as analysis, blaming the Government for all that he is unhappy with. He offers no alternatives or solutions. His piece is calculated to encourage cynicism and despondency, which can only make things worse, not better, for those he professes to sympathise with...I honestly do not know how to respond to this. "Polemics dressed up as analysis"? Will anyone who reads the article sees it as an detailed analysis of our society? "offers no alternatives or solution..." Can't we feedback? Must we always have a solution to every problem? "Encourage cynicism and despondency"? Is she saying those thing are NOT happening? " Can only make things worse..."? How? By making them laugh at themself?
...mr brown is entitled to his views. But opinions which are widely circulated in a regular column in a serious newspaper should meet higher standards. Instead of a diatribe mr brown should offer constructive criticism and alternatives..."You can say anything you want, and all sorts of things are said and debated in Singapore." - Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong, interview with Charlie Rose, Aug 2005
...And he should come out from behind his pseudonym to defend his views openly...they should reload back to reality if they don't know who Mr Brown is, i mean seriously...
It is not the role of journalists or newspapers in Singapore to champion issues, or campaign for or against the Government. If a columnist presents himself as a non-political observer, while exploiting his access to the mass media to undermine the Government's standing with the electorate, then he is no longer a constructive critic, but a partisan player in politics...this got me worried, I like Mr Brown's friday colume and this looks like he could get bummed. Not the role of journalists or newspapers to campaign for or against the government? Right, our media is totally free and uninfluenced by any political party. Btw, i thought you have to be affiliated with a party to be partisan.
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