Singapore Government media sow discord among Opposition Parties

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http://statestimesreview.com/2015/08...ition-parties/

Singapore Government media sow discord among Opposition Parties

admin / 6 hours ago
August 5, 2015
Singapore Government-controlled media are under fire for sowing discord among Opposition Parties ahead of tomorrow’s political meeting to decide the best Opposition candidates to field in the coming General Elections. Straits Times, Today and Channel News Asia have been singled out by respective political parties and their leaders for posting inaccurate news using “anonymous” sources.

The National Solidarity Party and the Secretary General of People’s Power Party, Goh Meng Seng, posted on their respective Facebook page calling the article by Today and Channel News Asia half-truths:

Screenshot from Facebook

In article by Today and shared by Channel News Asia, reporter Ng Jing Yng quoted anonymous sources saying that the different Opposition parties are quarreling among one another in the political meeting that happened on Monday (August 3).
“…discussions were dominated by a heated tussle between the Workers’ Party (WP) and the National Solidarity Party (NSP).
At one point, an NSP representative even threatened to send a team to contest in Aljunied GRC — which is held by the WP — if the WP refused to back down, sources who attended the closed-door meeting at the NSP’s Jalan Besar headquarters told TODAY.

The NSP had asked for the WP to withdraw its interest in Jalan Besar GRC, in return for the NSP to give up contesting Marine Parade GRC. The WP said no. There was also no room for negotiation on MacPherson Single Member Constituency (SMC), which the NSP is also eyeing, the sources added.”
Photo of Today Report Ng Jing Yng

Screenshot from Facebook

You may read Ng Jing Yng’s original report here.

In another article by Ng Jing Yng, titled “Opposition meeting on multi-cornered fights ends in stalemate”, the multiple awards-winning political reporter conclude that the Opposition parties were not able to completely resolve three-corner fights and has to ask for a second “horse-trading” meeting. This article was slammed by Reform Party Secretary General Kenneth Jeyaretnam:

Screenshot from Facebook

Other negative reports meant to sow discord among the Opposition Parties include this commentary titled “A hard nut to crack for opposition unity” by The Straits Times reporter Choo Zi Liang, which blame the Workers’ Party for the “disunity”:
“About 30 minutes of the three-hour meeting was spent wrangling over the GRC but no agreement could be reached.
Monday’s vote was a non- binding expression of sentiment and it is unlikely WP will be swayed into withdrawing. But its position could put a spanner in the works for the opposition’s unity plan.”
Screenshot from Facebook

You may view The Straits Times’ article here.
The Singapore Government-controlled media is ranked 153rd in press accuracy and independence. All newspaper in Singapore are under the Singapore Press Holdings, whose largest management shareholder at 41% is Temasek Holdings, the Singapore Government’s sovereign wealth fund company whose CEO is the wife of the Prime Minister.


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