Media's distorted truth

Fred Hilmer, the Vice Chancellor of the fallen UNSW(Singapore) has sung a different tune in 'The Australian.' And the fault, according to him, is EDB. He has his plans to continue with the Singapore campus, expecting EDB to foot his bill. And it was EDB's fault for the failure by not giving in to his terms. The right to make such statements in a press and be read, and if the other party is not given the same airing to tell the other side of the story, the one who is given space to print, will come out right. This is the distorted truth of main stream media. They take sides and present the side they wish to present. That is as professional or unprofessional as far as main stream media can be. EDB has now come out with a strongly worded reply in our local papers to explain its position. I wonder whether EDB's reply will be published in The Australian. Otherwise it is a purely waste of time as the target audience who read The Australian will still believe what Hilmer said without preview to the EDB side of the story. Or it is just for Singaporean consumption. Whoever controls the media controls the view of its readers.

A Declaration of War

It has begun. Ayman Al Zawahir, the number 2 man of Al Qaeda has order the 'Islamic fighters to strike Western interests worldwide and for regime change in Egypt and Saudi Arabia.' Al Qaeda is also talking about regime change. It is a struggle against corrupt regimes aiming at the interests of Crusaders and Jews. It is a war between Islam and Christians and Jews. "All those who have attacked the (Islamic) nation must pay the price, in our countries and theirs, in Iraq, Afghanistan, in Palestine and in Somalia, but above all where one can strike a blow against their interests,' he said. This is a very serious threat and all countries will have to take it seriously and beef up their securities. It is a cakewalk of a different kind. Expect more hits around the world. This could be the world war 3 that the world has been awaiting.

It is all Singapore's fault!

Juwono blamed Singapore for not having any intention to sign the DCA And Extradition Treaty. He claimed that Singapore intentionally made it difficult by insisting on having more days for military training just to make sure that the two treaties will not be signed. Now I understand why the Indonesians have no faith in the intelligence of their political leaders. They did not even know what they were signing and needed their Parliamentarians to show how stupid they were. And when proven so, they blamed the Singaporeans for conning them. One up for Singapore negotiators for being able to con simple minded negotiators from Indonesia.

What is happening?

The URA is urging the public to take media reports of rising office rentals with a pinch of salt. '...the public should take into consideration information on future supply of office space.' Now, does it mean that the media is not telling the public the full story? How can? How can? And the media is being accused of fanning the flames of high property prices. Now that cannot be. That will be irresponsible! The URA is worried about all the fanning and will give the public a 'more balanced perspective' by releasing more detailed data on office space vacancies and rentals. 'The media has played its role in increasing the profile of the property market, increasing the speed of the property sector,' said Mr Vasu Menon, chief editor of finatiQ.com. 'The public will worry about these media reports. People could get scared, thinking that they missed the boat,' said Menon. Wow, whacking of the media for not reporting accurately and misleading the public. What happens to all the professionalism?

NKF Story - Return of the Chairman

Richard Yong and his wife will be back after holidaying in Hongkong. He will soon be reunited with his right hand man in Changi. Maybe a new venture will be conceived given their enterpreneurial skills. Charity or Fashion Shows in aid of prisoners will be an innovative idea.