The late Singapore Chief Minister Mr. David Marshall once described the Straits Times as the “running dogs and prostitutes of the PAP”.
The state media is known to portray PAP candidates in a positive light while casting aspersions on the characters of opposition candidates.
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Low Thia Kiang: “Cooling-off” period will give PAP an extra day of campaigning
The Temasek Review
02 December 2009
Opposition MP Mr. Low Thia Kiang has slammed the “cooling-off” day proposed by Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong as a ploy to give the PAP an extra day of campaigning.
All mass rallies, door-to-door visits and the wearing of party logos and symbols will not be allowed on the day which is extended even to the internet though it is unclear on how the law will be enforced.
There is one exception: Political parties can still give their traditional TV broadcast on the eve and news reporting on the election will continue as before.
The ruling party controls the only news agency in Singapore – SPH as well as broadcasting station Mediacorp which is owned by Temasek Holdings.
The Singapore media is ranked a pathetic 133rd position in terms of press freedom on the World Press Freedom index conducted yearly by respected international NGO Reporters without Borders.
The late Singapore Chief Minister Mr. David Marshall once described the Straits Times as the “running dogs and prostitutes of the PAP”.
The Chairman of SPH is Dr Tony Tan, a former PAP minister. A number of PAP MPs are previously SPH journalists including Irene Ng and Seng Han Tong. It was rumoured that some of the Straits Times’ senior correspondents are former ISD officers such as the Chua sisters.
Mr. Low feared that the “cooling-off” day will be used by the PAP to sway public sentiments towards its side.
“For instance, if opposition parties campaign on issues of health care and public housing policy and managed to get the message across to the voters, the government department or relevant civil servants can always come out on the day of the cooling period with some announcement of policy changes or explanation to counter what opposition parties said during the campaign period, in an attempt to sway public opinion. The mass media can also run a ‘story’ for the same effect without the need for any PAP candidate to appear,” he said.
Mr. Yeo Guat Kwang, PAP MP for Aljunied GRC, which was fiercely contested in the 2006 polls, said the mass media had been fair and balanced in its election coverage.
During the 2006 elections, the mass media was used by the PAP to character assassinate the Workers’ Party candidate James Gomez over a trivial incident. Previous victims of the media’s smear campaign includes J.B. Jeyaretnam, Dr Chee Soon Juan, Tang Liang Hong, Jufrie Mahmood and Francis Seow.
The state media is known to portray PAP candidates in a positive light while casting aspersions on the characters of opposition candidates.
Mr. Low also said PM Lee’s concerns over public disorder is an ‘over-imagination’, noting that assigning each party a stadium for their supporters to gather prevents such potential problems.
But Mr. Ong Kian Min, PAP MP for Tampines GRC, argues that the long-running political strife in Thailand shows Singapore cannot take for granted the calm it has seen in recent elections.
Unlike their neighbours, politics is a low-key affair in Singapore and few Singaporeans are so passionate about politics to create “trouble” during the campaign. Besides, the police who is omnipresent at all the rallies should have taken active measures to maintain public order and security without a need for the “cooling-off” day.
Not known to leaving things to chance, the “cooling-off” day is probably one of the many new rules introduced to counter the rising influence of the new media in order to ensure the PAP’s continued political hegemony in Singapore.
Singaporeans should expect more “interesting” changes to pop up soon as the election approaches under the guise of “benefitting” the voters.
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