Latest from CNA, cheaper medical bills overseas by singaporeans (malaysia, indonesia) maybe paid by medisave and MOH looking at policy to allow the use of medisave for such bills. Why are singaporeans going overseas to look for hospital and medical facilities? Does it make sense? What happen to our medical HUB we are trumpeting about? Do patients able to endure long distance travel at the expense of their health be it at a cheaper price put forward a better alternative. Why has it become other country ‘s problems to solve our ever increasing shortages in medical care? I hope the MOH has some good explanation about such “inventive” policy. Stop or reduced Foreign Rich Patient Tourist to our shore that will solve our problem.

“Ideally, the public should be putting the pressure on the media, but do we have a perceptive and sophisticated community generally who can tell the difference between good and not-so-good journalism?”

The ball is in your court and it is you, the national press / media, which has the advantage of setting the tone. How to be a perceptive and sophisticated community if the menu and subtleties of news is selective in nature to perpetuate certain interested agenda / viewpoints. 40+ years already and still the same strong criticism on our national press freedom, both by our own people and at international level, and it is not without good reasons.

The question should be pushed back to those in our national press / media, are we in fact being short-changed by you. Bear in mind, without the internet, do you think those in the national media would even be bothered to tackle this “uneasy” issue.

Stop parrying the blame onto the general Singapore citizenry. Perceptiveness and sophistication comes from constant sparring / cross-learning of ideas / viewpoints and not from being fed by one-sided stream of news / ideas.

The national press (being part of our national resources) should be employed in enhancing perceptiveness and sophistication of the community without even having the need to be pressured. They owe it to the citizens of Singapore because the citizens own it.

All forms of media and communications (whether newspapers or internet blogs) carry with them vested interests and hidden agendas.

Instead of asking the government for more freedom (which further deepens our dependency on the government), we as individuals should be critical of whatever information we come across everyday and translate that into practice. In this way, we free ourselves.

Every mass media is controlled by the purse string. Whoever controls that purse string controls the media, whether it is Western or Eastern media. Everyone of them has an agenda. The only difference is that some are more sophisticated and others are so crude that you can easily discover it.

The only thing that can be free is your own mind. Yes, free your own mind. Start to let your mind go free – take everything with a pinch of salt and never swallow everything wholesale without questioning, and then think of of the box. If one can do that, no amount of propaganda or indoctrination can affect him.

So use what is within your control and don’t ask for things that are controlled by others for their own selfish interests.

If the education system does not provide that, you as parents or future parents can teach your own off-springs.

So is the problem insurmountable?

I will rather let the people train to think critically for themselves at early age to learn to survive in the harsh environment then to be regretted later when someone controlling your asset and wellbeing suddenly tell you to wake up from the make-believe world he has created for the republic in the midst of crisis.

Why should everyone be interested only in Edison Chen when the free press OFFER MORE INTERESTING FRESH NEWS EVERYDAY ? Tell what is the probability of the citizen that obsess with only news of Edison Chen but not others ? LEt be realistic and please don’t take worse and make-believe case to augment your opinion. Everyone is sick of such example. Even a caring foreigner could point out such hubris, so why can’t Singapore be board mind rather than narrow mind.
Singaporean look pathetic as it need foreigner to refute and open-up their mind ?

Where every school is a “military” school http://scientific-child-prodigy.blogspot.com/2008_04_06_archive.html

If Singaporean is capable of surviving on their own, why they can’t survive with free press ?

Did anybody not notice when it’s about contribution to the country economics and PayAndPay schemes, the government says Singapore is understanding, intelligent and hard-working. And when it’s time to ask government on accountability and responsibility and politicial issue, suddenly the government says we are immature and not intelligent enough ?

Gov say what they want and do what they want but in the end, who are the one that suffer under their follies ? Not the gahmen but the pathetic citizen…

You want evidence? Internet everywhere also got. Find it yourself!

Junyuan able to express opinions on internet blogs, good, Junyuan echo chamber of PAP also good,

Other Singaporeans want to express opnions on blogs, good, other Singaporeans want to express opinions through free press,,, bad!

bad boy, you bad bad bad, boy! Go sit in your litter and don’t come out again until I give you permission…

hahahaahahah

Anything i say good, anything you say baaad…

hahaahahahaha

chase money good, chase democracy [okay, I bankrupt you, understand!] baaaad…

chase money good, chase democracy [okay, I put you under ISA, understand!] baaaaad…

Minor members of Ly family express opinions about SAF, about biotech industry good – Singaporeans express opinions baaad.

Major members of Ly family control country’s purse strings good, Singaporeans knowing how their reserves are spent baaaad.

Echo chamber good, opinions bad…

four legs good, two legs baaaaad… four legs good, two legs baaaaad…

Call of the sheep in Singapore:

gravamen good, oppo baaaaad…

heartlanders good, cosmopolitan baaaad…

chase money good, chase human rights baaaad…

scholars good, managers with experience and track record baaad,

Security in Whitley detention barracks good – complacent Singaporeans allow Mas Selamat to excape baaad

Singaporeans say how high when I ask them to jump good, Singaporeans with innovative and creative thinking able to compete the PRC, India, Westerners, bad..

Pls add more!

Given an uninitiated reader who has no or little knowledge of free press, he or she would be rather adversely influenced by drawing the representation that free press is all about Edison Chan and his exploits. Moving on from this point, the article begins to criticize the case for free speech and remains its perceived balanced point of view.

As always, the important premises are left out as usual. Premises such as how Singapore rates in terms of free press, or empirical evidence that free press is a cause and consequence of development in first world countries. These are strong counter arguments which tilt towards the pros of free press.

Such is the irony of an article which purports to evaluate the idea of free press.

for reasons of brevity, this was not fleshed out as mush as it could have been. but to answer your question, i shall just offer some suggestions here. Once again, i won’t seek to touch on everything, but hopefully it’ll be enough to illustrate my point :)

GE 2006:
1. If you can think back (i may be wrong), all press coverage was focused more or less on the PAP. soundbites of opposition speech consists of either inane remarks, or mistakes, instead of their views on key issues. Pictures of opposition’s rallies doesn’t show the huge turn outs. The internet showed us how different the things were.

2007 Budget:
1. No questions asked about the HOW, and WHY, there was such a huge discrepancy in the forecast and the actual budget. all it does is parrot the minister’s explanations.
2. and since the forecasted budget was used as a justification for the GST increase, no questions asked, whether the GST increase is actually necessary.

Mas Selamat’s escape:
1. the press conspicuously failed to ask the WHY and HOW. Even now there’s no media pressure on the disclosure of the COI report. I fear this issue will fade from memories soon.
2. No reporting on the composition and independence of the COI. Isn’t there something inherently wrong with having deputy secretary at the Home Affairs Ministry, Choong May Ling, on the committee?
3. Where was our Prime minister?
4. This case provided a great opportunity to look at the controversial ISA, but the press chose not to.

In general, a quick peruse of articles on the internet will show the many different angles and views that the press can offer to the public. but it almost inevitably choose one that protects and champions the government’s views. it’s not about being rebellious and arguing for the sake of, but about offering alternative views, because all views have their justifications and drawbacks, and this helps readers make informed decisions. but the lack of alternative reporting inevitably dampens any public thoughts on the issues.

Like that, how to become a perceptive and sophisticated community generally who can tell the difference between good and not-so-good journalism? :)

1. I am always alarmed and dismayed every April 2nd when I read any media and find out that, once again, an April Fool’s joke story, usually a very tall story, had been swallowed by all of us without anyone catching onto the totally false story.

2. Mind you, some of the April Fool’s stories are quite unbelievable when the joke is revealed. But we never caught on on April 1st.

3. We are all gullible and swallow even 100% fictitious stories without knowing. So the rest of the PAPaganda stories, laced with some ‘true facts’ and even ‘true statistics’ are being, and have for decades, swallowed wholesale.

4. This is just another reason why we are the stupidest city in the world. Tyrants create docile, obedient, loyal, frightened citizenry and usually, this means STUPID PEOPLE. Hence, Singapore being a 49-year dictatorship, is full of stupid people, many generations already. It is a vicious circle. First, they make us stupid with doctored news, like my doctored medicine tablets being laced with virulent viruses so I am now suffering yet another bad cough that threatens to cough my hernia back up again, then, because we have become stupid, this justifies even more doctored, patronising, news. The Spiral of Stupidity.

5. The irony is, we are not the only 1s being made and kept stupid. Even the Ministers have become stupid because stupid Ministers are also the most docile, obedient, loyal, frightened, and since they read the PAPaganda media even more than we do, they, too, are brainwashed by the very PAPaganda they put out. Sort of like believing or being taken in, by their very own PAPaganda. The result is that no Minister can really think or analyse, or even blog since blogging requires thinking. This is 1 reason for the spate of STUPENDID policies and words and actions of our genius Ministers and govt.

6. There is a kind of divine retribution in this. When you create a culture of Lies, even your own immediate subordinates swallow them wholesale, just like us, since they live and breathe in this same culture of Lies, too. Furthermore, they are all handpicked as nepotees and cronies, and being such, they cannot think or perform. It is a sorry story worthy of April 1st except that the Joke’s on Them.

Is this is a tacit concession that our education system is only capable of producing a bunch of gullible, uncritical sheep?

That’s probably true but you didn’t give any examples, nor suggest any other way or story angles a newspaper could give.