so in another words..if i striked Toto and employed an ^ahmad^ as my driver
would i be offendin the malays as well if the driver happened to be from mainland china?

Guess the standards of the production team dropped even lower.

I have never watched dramas from Ch 8 anyway. Perhaps with this incident, I think there will be more people joining me as ‘non-watchers’.

Thanks goodness for Internet, Cable TV’s educational channels & YouTube. Why waste time watching soap operas?

The standards of Mediacorp dramas have not improved in 50 years. Same as the Straits Times.

Guess who’s been ruling S’pore for that same period?

Mediacorp Ch 8 dramas are brain-dead productions. This is inevitable when you have the mainstream media declaring itself as “nation-builders” fashioned after the dictates of those who rule over them.

I have stopped watching local TV for almost 5 years now.

Who wants to waste time with “actors” such as Gurmit Singh or Zoe Tay? What have they achieved in terms of professionalism or creativity?

Retired gangster, the answer is yes. Buy a dictionary with your lottery earnings first and learn the words driver or chauffeur. Even with your obviously limited iq, this is not that much of a challenge.

Yes the letter has been drastically shortened but the key facts are intact. What exactly is the problem? I ask this as a non-reader of the ST and other local papers (main reason : life’s too short to be wasted on crap propaganda)

Well… atleast your letter get published, albeit edited. Many of my letters never even see the light of day.

1) the two letters had the same general idea and indeed the meaning was not altered or changed by the Straits Times.

But it is very watered down and it definitely played down the writer’s original tone.

maybe ST had other constraints such as space…i don’t know but i hope that the newspaper will eventually publish these letters as they are so that the views of people are represented accurately. ST’s been too neutral for too long. Time to start becoming a newspaper that has news / opinions that are actually worth debating / pondering over.

2) and yes i’m rather appalled that Ms Chow pointed out this racist slip in the show. It’s not very pleasant to know such things are actually broadcast. I’d be really pissed if i were the race being insulted. It says a lot about mediacorp.

Title of the TOC article:
//Letter on ethnic stereotyping gets heavily edited by Straits Times//

I guess the underlying purpose of the article is to say that there is censorship at ST on race matters, using this as an example.

Personally, i feel that this is a skewed way of reading into this incident.

Agreeing with 5) Lee Mun Wai, i feel that it was more an administrative editing (for words) rather than meaning. Most of the author’s meaning is still being conveyed, albeit in lesser words.

Editing for word limit is a normal practice. Even at TOC, there is a 500 word comment limit. Which is worse- editing to fit the word limit, while keeping the meaning largely intact or not publishing at all?

Of course, I may be wrong- and the point of the article is not on censorship.
But with “heavily edited” in the title for emphasis, it really feels like this is making a mountain out of a molehill. Word count limit is a normal thing- even TOC does it.

Well, ST Forum’s word limit is 400 words. 24 words off the original wouldn’t be a problem at all, except that here, the tone has indeed been changed quite to downplay the incredulity and disgust that I expressed in the original. This I take offense — being presented as “worried” has a very different effect from being “outraged,” and this change ultimately signals to readers that it’s a minor issue and not one that has severely affected (here, offended) a group of people.

@RW: Censorship, definitely.

I don’t think that all key facts are intact.

1. The original letter points out that viewership is ostensibly not limited to the Mandarin-speaking population and that the least the producers could have done is to have been sensitive to this fact. The edited letter leaves out this chunk and instead appears to suggest Channel 8’s narrower reach by the insertion of the word “vernacular”, an adjective that was not used in the original and, if you think about it, completely unnecessary given that it is pretty common knowledge that Channel 8 is a vernacular channel. Why the emphasis on vernacular?

2. Ms Chow’s point is that the “joke” in the show is blatantly racist and that Mediacorp needs to be held accountable for this offensive oversight. The editor of the letter tries hard to water this down, allowing on the phrase “*potentially* racist” in the original letter to go through, when Ms Chow calls it straight up racist three times. Instead, it is referred to as an “ethnic stereotype” which, while true, just does not in its neutrality (since stereotypes can be both positive and negative), accurately capture the insolence of the joke, which is what Ms Chow has issues with.

i watched that particular episode of the drama and I didn’t find it that offensive. In a way, I think this issue has been exaggerated. I understand the stereotype here may be a little “racist” but the dramas in the US do it way worst, even to themselves. As we move forward, it may be good for us to not take it too seriously and laugh at ourselves every now and then.

Before you guys slam me, just to let you know,
I am of a minority race and my kind gets slammed so very often with stereotypes. But the ppl who joked about me also became my closest friends as a result.

A one word in TV won’t do much damage. There are so many other places where racism still exist. eg, in buses.. Just because this incident happened to be overt doesn’t make it any worst than anything else thats been happening.

So if I say that my father in law ’s name is Ah Seng and his brother is Ah Beng.Is Ms Chow going to think that I am the son in law of a illiterate gangster?My wife is Ah Lian and my mistress Ah Huay.,are you going to think that I got no taste?
I agree that Mediacorps standard is too far away from those Taiwanese ,Korean or HK series etc.The artistes also think and act too highly of themselves not knowing that their acting skill cannot compare to others…but sometime we must not be too sensitives over names.
My father never call me agongkia but I just like people to call me agongkia because I like this name.I dun feel offended and is proud .
If there are too many restriction,then you may not get the original taste.
Why are we getting so sensitive nowadays?

Channel 8 productions are all for propaganda sake. I believe the majority of Singaporeans have stopped watching it. The audience now is mainly PRCs. This makes the racist attitude of the mediacorp channel 8 production team even more grave as it tell the PRCs that it is okay to behave in a racist manner in Singapore.

Singaporeans demand an apology from mediacorp. This matter will not rest unless we get an apology.

10) is it that bad? on November 15th, 2009 3.26 am

Please don’t give us more BS here? What mediacorp did was wrong. It is certainly wrong to go around uttering racist remarks.

You mean it is okay for suria actors and vasantham actors to make racists remarks as well. All these is suppose to help in nation building?

No one knows if you a minority or not but just because you say it is okay doesn’t mean it is so. I know an elderly gentleman who says it is okay when other healthy individuals refuse to give up their seats for him in the MRT. Does this mean that all elderly have to stand up in the MRT from now on.

This sort of thing happens regularly on Channel 8. Wonder if Mediacorp has apologized.

What is the issue here? The racist comment in the drama, or the fact that SRForum edits / water downs the letter.

I am a frequent writer to ST Forum and I know they are very strict about 400-word limit. Once I exceeded (I did not count because my letter seemed short to me) and they called me to ask me to edit the article myself.

So I am surprised that ST Forum actually edited this letter and published it. All along I thought they would just reject anything that is above 400 words.

With regards to the letter being “watered down”, this happens all the time with my letters to – even when they don’t exceed 400 words. Strong words get replaced by milder words.

I guess ST wants us to appear as mild-mannered people rather than people with strong feelings who use strong language. Perhaps there is a belief that mild-mannered people are more reasonable – and their views will be more readily accepted or at least considered – than those raging with fury.

As a former journalist, I consider the ST version of the letter quite well EDITED, NOT CENSORED.

Sure, some details got thrown out and it reads milder. But I also find the original to be somewhat long-winded (like this post, ha ha).

Newspapers, unlike online forums, do have space constraints. The fact that a letter gets shortened, albeit still published, is not something to make a big issue of.

Pls la, channel 8 9pm shows are for chillaxing… and tv programmes in general are quite purposely mindless entertainment. Whoever watches tv for education? But newspapers… ah that’s different.

Anyway we use a lot of all these words every day without any intention, conscious or subconscious, to discriminate or stereotype. It’s more in good humour what. Such labels are derogatory or non-derogatory only depending on the context. I don’t think they determine whether the stereotype remains true.

When I tell my son who doesn’t study “eh you want to grow up to be a chinese beng ah?” it doesn’t mean anything more than “eh you want to be an idler ah?”

Mediacorp and most local productions are short on ideas. Tasteless jokes are what they could come up with? Funny that they still have a following and audience.

Some years ago, there was a quiz program associating maids with Filipinos. Another example of insensitivity.

While Ms Chow has rightly pointed out the racist stereotyping of the serial, it is not helpful by whipping up more sentiments over the issue.

Often, letters are edited due to space constraint and for the benefit of the readers. I believe teachers would understand this well.

To put a closure to this unpleasant episode, all it takes is a clarification and apology by by the TV PR and to be more careful in future.

I am a non-Chinese Singaporean. When I read the letter and found out that the writer was not of an ethnic minority, I was really glad and thankful that there are still such people from the majority race that still cares. Most are apathetic and some are just racists.

If the letter was from a Malay or an Indian, it may not get published or treated as “minor pestering of lesser importance to the nation”.

Ms Chow has made my day and I would like to thank her for still believing in non-racial discrimination even though it was not her own race which was stereotyped. :)

I think for people whose command of English is very powderful and very particular with the choice of words will find that the edited letter have changed the tone of the original letter. For the average joe like me, whose command of English is so so only will find that the edited letter does contain the main idea of the original letter.

It would be ideal for the ST editor to have impartial practices towards the letters from government agencies and the general public. It is quite common to see the letters from the government agencies in exceed of the 500 words restriction. Besides, I doubt these letters are ever edited.

Hence, if the editor could have informed that general writers that their letters will be edited and show them the edited version. The original writers should have the final say whether to accept the edited version. If the answer is no, then of course the editor will have the final say whether to publish the original version. It’s their paper anyway.

This topic let me recall of my experience with the Chinese newspaper Lian He Zao Bao.
Whenever I email my post to the newspaper, I will receive the following reply :

Thank you for your article. We have received it.

(Thank you for your letter / article. Please be informed that we reserve the right to edit and amend the text of your letters before publication. By your submission of the letter to Lianhe Zaobao, it shall be deemed that you have agreed to grant us the right to archive, resell or reproduce the letter in any medium. )

Best regards,
Editorial Team
Commentary Desk
LianHe ZaoBao
====================================================
Wonder is ST also have the above reply to the writer? For most of my articles which posted to LianHe Zaobao, I have no problem with the editor if he/she wants to edit my article.This is because I trust that the editor must have a good reason in editing my article. Also, I trust that the editor must have a better qualification than me.

But……………….I changed my mind after my two Chinese articles being edited till the content difference from my original content.

One article was about my feedback on the dangerous of the Chinese new year event at China down due to over crowded of people. I was there last year and finally I found out that why there was a slow moment at the end of the event was because the road was blocked for MPs to leave.
In my article, the editor added one sentence which was not came from my heart to say that. I can not remember the whole sentence in Chinese but it means : although it will be good to protect the MP safety……………

I was so socked when I saw this sentence being published at the newspaper. This was because my intention of writing that article to the newspaper was to show my concern of the safety of all of the people who attend the event (there were many elderly people and children in the crowd.)

When we want to decide whether the issue of racist remarks is blown out of proportion or not, we have to think of it within the Singaporean context and not just compare it with other countries; say, America, as mentioned in one of the comments above.

Sure, the US does it far worst, but their dynamic is quite different. If there were any racial slurs uttered albeit in jest or otherwise on a US show, since it’s targeted to an English-speaking audience which is practically the whole United States, it is transparent. This show mentioned above, was targeted for the entertainment of our Chinese majority, any racist comments presented would be ill-received by the rest of our community.

Think of it as a Malay dude in a multi-racial group making himself the butt of jokes about Malays being lazy, compared to an all-Chinese group making jokes about Malays being lazy. The latter would be less well-received, no?

Of course it’s always more good-natured, and funnier if someone makes fun of his own race, we’ve all watched Qmar right. But it doesn’t mean that it’s okay to make racist comments on a medium which you know is not targeted to that particular race. They’d feel that the comment was uttered behind their backs and feel more outraged.

The way we have been racially-profiled, how we have CMIO in our ICs, how statistics are sometimes measured based on race, will always make race an issue. PAP putting a lot of emphasis on ‘tolerence’ for other races and multi-racialism, means there will always be a distinct line between races, means multi-racialism will always be an issue. To compare it with other countries whose approach to race is different is not really a good idea, no?

Here is my another Chinese article about “Lehman Brother” being edited by the chinese newspaper editor on 5-11-2008:

http://luntan.zaobao.com/viewthread.php?tid=127577&extra=&page=1

( #1 is my original article and #2 is the edited copy)

#4 was my explanation to the forumers that this was the first time that the editor had called me before publication of my article and both of us have some agreement with the publication.
But when the article being published, I did not see the most important part being published which were promised by the editor on phone said to be published.

I did not write in or call the editor. But I sent my original article together with 12 pages of the views and feedback of Lehman Brother to PM Lee. I have received a very quick response from his secretary within 20 mins.

some people are just too sensitive and easily angry / offended at use of words deemed in their views to be offensive, etc…..So if we use ah beng or ah lian, are we looking down on them? better spend time to help ourselves and our loved ones wake up to the real world than the petty things in life!!!

In future, do we still need newspaper if the new media is so fast and easy to access?

Why do we have to blown everything out of proportion here.
A little stereotype is OK unless its overboard
TV dramas are also reflections of real life issues.
Racism and insensitivities exist every where. In schools,
at work, in our daily discourse with our friends and colleagues.
If we have to be politically correct in our TV programmes, they
would loose all in authenticity. That is an entertainment
programme and not an educational one.
Wonder why we find US TV pragrammes and movies so attractive?
Its because they are even more direct in their potrayal of minorities
gays, the disadvantaged, whether in support or in detestation

[i] think for people whose command of English is very powderful and very particular with the choice of words will find that the edited letter have changed the tone of the original letter.[/i]

indeed we have those with powerful english who think that their IQ is so damned HIGH..yet they called their filipino maid as maid…
wherelese an american or a european would called their maid as househelper…
so has anybody seen my ^AHMAD^ aroun? i need him to buy me charsiew fun for lunch….thank you

Why erh prositutes and gamblers are always cast by Chinese?

Isn’t this ethnic stereotyping asw well?

Anyone complaining?

How? MediaCorps? How to work now?

Too many sickos around looking for trouble lah.

One drop of rain on your window pane
Doesn’t mean to say there’s a thunderstorm comin’

Rain may pour for an hour or more
But it doesn’t matter, you know it doesn’t matter

One gentle breeze blowin’ softly through the trees
Doesn’t mean to say there’s a hurricane hummin’

Don’t go running ev’ry time you hear it coming
It doesn’t matter, you know it doesn’t matter

One little word that you may have overheard
Doesn’t mean to say that my love for you is dyin’

Don’t go cryin’ over second hand lyin’
‘Cos it doesn’t matter, you know it doesn’t matter

It’s a storm in a teacup
Brewing up double all those tiny little troubles

A storm in a teacup
It really doesn’t matter
If it pitter-pitter-patters all the day

http://video.google.com/videosearch?q=%22one%20drop%20of%20rain%20on%20the%20window%20pane%2C%20dosen‘t%20mean%20a%20hurricane’s%20coming%22&rls=com.microsoft:en-sg:IE-ContextMenu&oe=UTF-8&sourceid=ie7&rlz=1I7SUNA_en&um=1&ie=UTF-8&sa=N&hl=en&tab=wv#q=storm+in+a+teacup&hl=en&view=2&emb=0

oops wrong link

this is the right one

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A-QbqtbrFZk

I think the ST just summarised the letter. The content is the same, just like our O level English erxam , we are asked to read a passage and then summarise it to 100 words or so.Nothing wrong with ST.

relak lah brudders and sistas
why get so work up over this small lilltle thing
get a life lah

if you don’t like mediacorp, you got a remote control to change channel
if you don’t like ST, you can unsubscribe to Mr Muthu your stereotyped newspspaer vendor
if you cannot speak plopper engrish, you kena stereotyped as ah bengs lor, but are all ah beng Chinese meh?
if you drink kopi-O too much, you become KopitiamApek, like me : )
and if I call myself KopitiamApek, you can see I always kena hamtam for being a dumb old man, stereotyped loh, so have to LL and take it, even though nobdy will really know if I am male/female/other; young/old; chinese/malay/indian/others; singaporerean/PR/FT are maybe Imay be even an alien….

ST edit = censorship
TOC moderate not = censorship

parallel universe?

letters being chop into bit sizes is a necessary evil in newspapers, otherwise it will be publishing a daily book.

with new media, ms Chow have many avenues to get her words heard, and now it is heard thru TOC.

ms Chow was assuming that we are all passive info absorbing people with with no ability for discretion.

Being an educator, all the more she should be educating the young in exercising discretion rather than demanding for an ideal world of perfect information, even if she perceived that it would have made her job easier.

13) New Era on November 15th, 2009 7.26 am

No. I still don’t think this is such a big issue. Actually, I think it would be perfectly fine for Suria and Vasantham to joke about themselves or other races. We have to admit that stereotypes exist and you really think these stereotypes will disappear? Might as well have some fun w/o going overboard. Go look anywhere around the world. You talk about having a more liberal media but you wan to shut yourself to what you view as being “racist”. Truth is, everyone’s racist, in one way or another.

Singapore is still largely conservative like you New Era. So, I’m perfectly aware that my views represent a minority.

Just like those of,
28) nothoodwinked on November 15th, 2009 2.48 pm

Actually I find it really strange how the edited letter plays up the teacher thing.

From original: “As a teacher, I am doubly outraged that “Singapore’s leading media company” (according to MediaCorp’s corporate website) could let such racist undertones seep through popular, mainstream ‘entertainment’ with a view to profit and gain from what might seem to the company and its scriptwriters as dialogue that reflects the quotidian Singapore experience. If so, then generations of children and young adults who watch these shows regularly have certainly been exposed to potentially racist sentiments that they could easily replicate in the classroom and in their interactions with children of different races.”

Later: “I am a teacher, and such ethnic stereotyping worries me. Children who watch these shows are exposed to potentially racist sentiments which they could easily replicate in the classroom and in their interactions with children of different races.”

Subtle difference, because the former shows how our current media is -already- disfigured, -already- pumping racist subtleties into our daily lives.

Whereas the latter only recycles an old overused sentiment that plays up the idea of a mother-hen teacher being paranoid about The Racist Future.

Open discrimination against a minority race is bad.

Hidden discrimination against a minority race is worse.

The Charade Of Meritocracy / FEER :

http://www.feer.com/articles1/2006/0610/free/p018.html

I am also a minority myself.and i want to thank Ms Chow for bringing up the issue.

i agreed with -18) minority guy on November 15th, 2009 11.18 am- comment.

When we bring out about issues,we would be brushed aside and be deemed as too sensitive.

again, i am thankful.

who are you people?
singapoorium or some damn wannabe oxfordsian?
a singapoorium will alway be a singapoorium FIRST!
speak liked 1..act liked 1..don’t be a HYPOCRITE and tried to act classy liked those europeans…
worst of all don’t even attempt to slang liked them when you are drinkin TOGETHER with them…
trust me on that..by the way i was educated in cambridge same as laulee..
so don’t assumed.. i still have my catapult on the socalled powerfOOL english slangin LOT…
you all har ain’t even closed…want to discuss on rubbin shoulders?
how about the ambassador of France? how about the former chief CEO of barclay inc singapoor branch…if you want further rubbin shoulders with millionaires (not millionHAIRS).. i also can entertained…
now you ALL can start issuein me with negative demerit points.. i simply odoured honest feedbads…
~zhee~
i simply hates hypocrites..

36) Say No

Are you a proponent of our neghbour’s NEP racial quota ?

[i]Often, couples patch over this problem by hiring a maid (full or part-time)[/i]

ps the above phrase was used by someone else to proved my rebuttal…which is below:

[i]indeed we have those with powerful english who think that their IQ is so damned HIGH..yet they called their filipino maid as maid…[/i]

thank you onced again
have a nice weekends..whatever left…
anybody have time for a cuppa of teas by the gardens? botanical or fort cannin i don’t cared..yes yes..umbrella is a MUST..netiqutte…summer dresscode optional..coz it near winter…

## 39) KopitiamApek on November 15th, 2009 7.45 pm

“Are you a proponent of our neghbour’s NEP racial quota ?”

relak lah Apek
why get so work up over this small lilltle thing
get a life lah

Just pointing to an unknown fact.

Did it hurt you ??

70) HBK

thanks for your concern, No it did not hurt me.
But if NEP is applied here, more than just me will be hurt.

Agree with the contents of the letter………..It was a racist comment.

But then this topic is a joke…Everyone knows ST modifies the original letter. So why all of a sudden create a topic on it ? The key points are intact so why this topic ?

Frankly i have seen and heard more racist stuff being uttered during my NS ….maybe TOC should be targetting that rather than a harmless televison show.

Because the intention was not to inflict harm, I can say it’s “acceptable”.

Then again, to all those people who say it’s no big deal, just think of a Suria or Vasantham show’s character saying things like how he should call him Ah Seng since he just started gambling. Or think of what if a character were to say another character is money-minded and should start calling him Ah Seng?

Or maybe it’s also “acceptable” for a Channel 8 show to say things like how he should call him Muthu since he’s a heavy drinker?

Because we are not affected, we cannot see how it’s like on the other side.

Try to look at the other side to understand how it’s like.

Mediacorp dramas are watched by more than a million people each night. So, it’s not “a harmless television show.”

I did mention it was racist. Its just that what behind the opening of this thread ? Its about ST modifying the original letter. Not about the TV show being racist.

Thats the main issue here. Most of the respondants did think it was racist. But why make a big hoo ha when ST modify the letter ?

For people like KopitiamApek who say that this issue is a “small little thing” and others who in similar vein are trying to skirt the issue or just brush it under the carpet, i would like to point out that , IMHO, when TOC brought up this article, it was definitely not just about the letter by Ms Chow ( a truly conscientious lady who deserves our deepest respects)being edited by the straits times, but the deeper issue that the majority Chinese are treating the minorities as flunkies fit only for menial or trivial work.

Now with the majority 80%Chinese having cornered at least 96% of the wealth here, leaving the minorities20% with the other 4%, the stupid idiots of channel 8 are openly cocking a snook at the minorities, showing their contempt for them in an extremely insulting and offensive manner.

I say, those responsible should be sacked from their jobs, to set an example to others that this sort of thing wont be taken lightly here.

I can see that KopitiamApek & retiredgangster are really flustered by this thread. They have been posting non-stop. Guess they must be staff of Mediacorp’s channel 8. LOL.

To

Say No !! on November 15th, 2009 6.12 pm -

Serious or not?
Discrimination against minority in Singapore? I’d rather be a minoirty then.
Who are the private taxpayers (the paymasters) paying for mniorities’ mother tongue teachers, subsidising vernacular TV channels, vernacular newspapers, HDB flat, education, etc.
There isn’t the critical mass or effective demand (with purchasing power) to pay for and support such stuff in the first instance.
Secondly, Singapore is but only a MICROCOSM of the 3 Asian races here.
Check out India’s & Indonesia’s per capita income, any gold medals at the Olympics, etc.
Then check out HK, Taiwan & China.
We don’t need substancelesss poison pen to write rubbish. Check out the facts first. You don’t even need to be a scholar.
Discrimination? Most of the minorities are are public servants (beyond their proportion) and they don’t even speak the lingo of their paymasters. Which country?
Finally I don’t know if you people knew neither the caste system nor the aparthied style New Economic Policies (NEP) is found in this tiny red dot.
Discrimination by the Chinese? Look at the long, long queue of Indians who have and wanting to migrate here to be discriminated. We only opened a small window and the number of Indonesian maids are already 80 000. What if we open the door – flood. Who would want to come and be DISCRIMINATED?
Facts & truth demolish all garbage abt discrimination of minority in Singapore. Sometime we wonder who in fact is discriminated.

45) Tan Cheng Hua

//// Mediacorp dramas are watched by more than a million people each night. So, it’s not “a harmless television show.” ////

In a certain way I agree with your statement.

The harm is really watching those mindless soaps that uses the same emotional rollercoasters to entrap the million night after night after night., when there are so many other things one can do in their life, these people waste their life in following someone else’s fictitious life.

Singa> it’s the minority. Read between the lines. Not every Malays and Indians are crying foul about discrimination. If they start to write their list, they can be a dissertation long. Many academics from Australia has been writing about it. Just because Singapore open the floodgates to all Tom, Dick or Harry to migrate here does not mean discrimination against minorities does not exist. Subtle and hidden discrimination is discrimination non the less. You learn about discrimination towards minorities from Malaysia and Indonesia from minorities themselves. Why must Singapore be judged from the lens of the majority races?

The editing here was acceptable, IMO. It preserved the essence of Ms. Chow’s criticism, but also left it open for ST Forum readers to evaluate for themselves the alleged instance of racism. The original version was a little too ‘preachy’ and repetitive. Speaking from my experience of successfully getting a number of my ST Forum letters published with minimal editing, the trick is to interweave your assertions with statistics or ’scholarly’ opinions.

To those who think that this was an “insignificant” or “harmless” example of discrimination, consider these facts:

1. Free-to-air TV reaches 93.1% of viewers on a weekly basis, compared to 48.4% for cable TV.

2. The top 10 most-watched free-to-air shows from September to October 2009 were on Channel 8, which caters primarily for the Mandarin-speaking majority here (although non-Chinese viewers can rely on the English subtitles). Racism on free-to-air TV is thus likely reinforce existing discrimination against non-Chinese minorities.

3. “Daddy at Home” was ranked No. 1 free-to-air show during this period, with an impressive share of 15.5% of all TV households. (I’ll bet that only key EPL matches could challenge that figure.) This top ranking is typical of the prime-time 9pm Channel 8 serial.

4. Free-to-air TV is a ‘public good’ which is sponsored by (compulsory) residential TV licence fees, through the MDA’s Public Service Broadcast scheme. Licensees reasonably expect that their $110 per annum goes towards MediaCorp programmes which, at the very least, do not go against the public interest. It’s not just about ‘changing the channel’, unfortunately, since TV licence fees are compulsory.

5. As Ms. Chow rightly points out, racism is far more insidious when it’s packaged in the form of ‘entertainment’ (cf. the recent debacle in Australia over a blackface imitation of the Jackson 5), rather than expressed overtly. It infiltrates our minds when our guard is let down, when endorphins are flowing, when our eyes are held hostage by moving images in vivid technicolour. An analogy is the Christian ‘evangelical’, anti-Islam cartoons at the centre of the recent Sedition Act case; you had hateful, warped messages made through the seemingly innocuous medium of comic strips.

I’m not surprised that stuff like this should go past the great filter unchecked. It not only reflects mediacorp’s safety standards, but also illuminates for us the scriptwriter’s stance on Malays.

Personally, though, I have a suggestion: stop viewing channel 8.

Surely, you can choose to watch better quality shows online or via a cable? Why view stuff like that which, IMHO, degrades the mind and desensitizes the human faith? Try Japanese anime, or hk cop serials, or nat geog documentaries, or news on CNN (though I seem to be partial towards fox nowadays).

If you still crave for soap operas, go Korean.

Mediacorp’s nothing compared to the big boys.

mediacorp chn 8 local shows are what I call “dumb and dumber”. watch at your own risk. the more you watch, the more stupid you become.

[...] Ms. Chow rightly points out in her original letter (published on TOC), racism is far more insidious when it’s subtly packaged in the form of ‘entertainment’, [...]

Honestly, channel 8’s series are being used for propaganda. Better to switch to cable. I totally agree that it makes you dumber.

Viewership is indeed falling drastically.

#48 Singa

Good grief…..you seem to suffer from a blocked mind my friend. Please check your facts 1st. Most of the new immigrants into Singapore are from China. You are just using some facts to suit your arguments and ignoring others. Going by my logic, can I therefore say this (which I rather not): how many females from China has won the Miss World/Ms Universe contest in the last 15 years, therefore why are there so many majority race plying their trade in Geylang, why open the door wide for them? Far from garbage, just coz you did not experience discrimination does not mean it does not exist. This is precise why the forum writer chose to highlight it. So many of my Chinese Singaporeans colleagues who work with my in San Jose, say they have never experience such stereotypes in Singapore, where else this was common to me. Just yesterday, a five year old kid was pointing at me and shouting, ” Ee, smelly person, papa, see smelly dark person” in Mandarin, which I studied until University. It is quite obvious where the boy had this idea from, coz no one in US has ever made such a remark to me ever!

I’m not sure if anyone has pointed this out, but I think the letter was played down so much precisely because it deals with an ethnic slur against Malays – as opposed to any other race.

I’m not from a minority race but it worries me that the government & media are not even bothering to pay lip service to racial harmony. I didn’t watch the drama series (I haven’t watched local TV for months now) but I was appalled to read of this blatant stereotyping.

It’s an open secret that Malays in Singapore aren’t doing as well as the Chinese and Indians – exam results, income, percentage going to tertiary education. There are statistics freely available at Statistics Singapore – in 2005, 3.4% of the Malay population had a university qualification, compared to 17.7% of the Chinese and 25.1% of the Indians.

Anecdotally, Malays make up a disproportionally small percentage at our top JCs. Last week when ST had a photo of 6 NorthLight students, if I’m not wrong 1 was Chinese, 1 mixed-race, 1 Indian, and 3 Malay. Yet – correct me if I’m wrong – I can’t remember anything concrete the government has done recently to reverse these trends.

Possibly the only thing that’s keeping Singaporeans (especially non-Malays) from realising this is the kind of watered-down press coverage we get regarding our Malay community. Every time the Malaysian press runs articles highlighting the Malay community here, the government loudhailers come out to drown them out. And the local press continues to paint a rosy picture about how our Malay community is improving (top PSLE student, random aunties opening pastry businesses or upgrading themselves, etc.). This is the reason why ST’s editing of the forum letter should outrage all of us.

I fear we are creating an entire ethnic underclass without really realising it.

If you watch Singapore Idol then you would have seen how the 3 judges in action – objective & meritocractic.

The majority Singaporeans voted 2 Malay Singaporeans as Idols in succession. Why? Singapore thrives on Merit.

Give you another example. Land of the Caste System. Where the people are born with racism.

India has but a handful of people of Chinese descent compared to HK, China which houses hundreds of thousands of Indian PRs & citizens left over by the British.

Watch Indian Chinese Meiyang Chang @ http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sMuA9fRqYT0&feature=related.

Poor chap booted out of finals. This prompted one of the judges to walk out in tears calling the decision you know what (tat video has since been removed).

[...] Mainstream vs X-Stream Media – TOC: Letter on ethnic stereotyping gets heavily edited by Straits Times [...]

Robox,

Total agree with you.

Singa

Singapore Idol, bad example dude. Only recently, our dear friend Ken uttered to one contestant to go and audition for Vasantham Superstar and wasn’t he the one who said that he wanted Slyvester to win instead of Taufik and that Taufik should focus on the Malaysia and Indonesia market. Very objective and meritocratic indeed!

Similarly, the forum letter writer should be guilty of ‘equating’ cleaning workers as low income and performing menial work. Yes, there is a rascist undercurrent.

But the writer is in no better shape for calling cleaning workers low income and menial.

62) urbanrant on November 16th, 2009 1.12 pm

What! are you and elite or something. Come down from your ivory tower and mix with the peasants. You are divorced from reality. Or you could just have been released from IMH.

Because of the influx of cheap foreign labour, cleaning companies now pay their cleaners only $500 to $600 a month. This is barely enough for any Singaporean to survive. Even Malaysians are rejecting cleaning jobs now. Did you know that. Only PRCs still find it worth their while to be cleaners. Singaporeans who have no choice but to work as cleaners cannot pay their bills and sometimes have to skip meals.

Cleaning is a low income job. Please don’t show us your ignorance.

58) Singa on November 16th, 2009 10.45 am

Ken Lim is hardly objective. Anyway, the fella doesn’t make any sense. He is the reason why Singaporeans are not tuning in to Singapore idol.

And Singapore is hardly meritocratic.

http://www.feer.com/articles1/2006/0610/free/p018.html

Mediacorpse is one of the worst public funded organisations. Why are we paying TV license money for this kinda crap?

Racism is wrong, repugnant and should not be tolerated. The editors at MediaCorp did not do do their job well. MediaCorp should apologise to the viewing public, and advise their staff to shape up or ship out.
The writing and editing style of The Straits Times is well known to be middle-of-the-road. It is the publication’s style and there’s not much you and I can do about it. Of course, we can stop reading it if we don’t like the style. We can write castigatory letters to the Forum Page and hope they get published. Or we can use the other weapon we have as consumers — boycott the publication.
The racist jokes that we once loved to crack, and still do, must stop. They can hurt and if repeated, can become part of our psyche, without our realising it.
If we want to preserve our multi-racial fabric (where more of the new generation are of mixed-race parentage), we need to treat one another with respect, and goodwill.

I doubt if Mediacrap will ever apologise. Ken Lim did not and will not, Zoe tay did not, so I don’t expect Mediacrap to do so with Shaun Seow on his hands and knees…….

What’s there to apologise?? If the Straits Times were to post every single 400 word letter, i think it’ll be a lot thicker now.

Isn’t the letter still as it is, except shorter, tempered, and succinct? One could do without all the words describing how “thoroughly” outraged she felt.

68) Cardin on November 16th, 2009 4.43 pm

While some are unhappy with the Shitty Times for changing the tone of Ms Chow’s letter, the majority would like an apology from Mediacorp for being racist.

You guys from the internet brigade are really thick.

I dont think its just about the apology. The main issue here is about the Strait Times editing someone’s letter and hence, as a result changing the face of one’s opinions. Ms Chow wrote the above letter so that her opinions could be shown to Singapore not for an editor to edit her opinions and make it seem like it ‘wasnt such a big deal but yet she’s writing the letter’. It was obviously a big deal, one which mattered enough for her to make enough of an effort for her to get her laptop and sit there furiously, to type a letter.

Don’t cloud yourselves with emotions. Emotions can’t fill stomachs. Have a heli view. If you have a slightly high IQ you will better see things in the right perspective. Foreigners write to desatablise others. Plenty on the net by the West today against China. Why? The answer is obvious.
It’s not abt discrimination. Singapore, a resourcelees, tiny island in fact needs all, yellow, brown or black, who can contribute & grow the pie (economy). The silliest thing to do is to discriminate Singaporeans in education and the economy.
On the other hand you don’t want to continually throw good money after bad (if you understand economics). People (private sector taxpayers) who provide the money then will be angry. Furthermore, you’d only breed more bad now (who would now just want to sit back and receive). Moreover, it’s economically untenable in the long run.
IIt’s abt competition. It’s abt globalisation today (cheapest & the best for survival). It’s abt innovation & creativity. It’s abt talent.
Look macro and you’ll see things much clearer. We need mindset change or maybe even cultural change to compete and not cry for more handouts & subsidies to empty the treasury and chase away good taxpayers.
Our ancestral homelands. China home to 1.3 billion. India, 1 billion. Indonesia, 300 million.
Forget abt Taiwan & HK for a moment. Compare. China’s per caipta income, reserves (> $2 TRILLION), tops the Olympics medal tally, puts man in space, US’ No 1 creditor nation today, No 1 aid donor today, etc.
Just compare India’s & Indonesia’s with China’s (all happening in a short span of 30 years). India and Indonesia didn’t even have to go through a civil war, cultural revolution and wat not.
It’d again easy for people like Robox & Nur to cite chauvinism for my citing these facts. But wait a minute and ask, “Why?”. Yes “Why?”. Why is all these possible in China but not in India and Indonesia governed by Indians and Malays respectively without the Chinese? There is in fact no “Chinese to discriminate them.” Right?
Btw, see if you can find something you like over this latest UN list: http://www.ams.org/membership/develop.html
Finally, as earthlings in the same planet, Robox & Nur might wish to bark at the UN against China for dicriminating India & Indonesia for putting them in the list and holding them back.
To sum it all – look at things positively. Singapore doesn’t discriminate. It doesn’t pay.. There is nothing here in Singapore except people (the private sector taxpayers/paymasters) who contribute to nation building and help their fellow citizens (check out the average per caipta income of India Indians & Indonesia (malaysia) Malays against their counterparts in Singapore). . Competition is not by choice but thrust upon us because of globalisation. So don’t blame discrimination when in fact it’s competition that’s drving people crazy.
There’s no NEP for the majority race to cause a resourse rich exchange rate to be $1 buying RM2.5; neither is there a Caste System to harm the rupees accession.
Finally reflect . . frend. We’re all Singaporeans, trying all sorts of ways to making a living in this tough and competitive world to safeguard the livelihood of all Singaporeans in the long run.And it makes no sense to alineate any good & productive fellow Singaporeans. Right?

many comments posted since i posted mine (comment no.6)

some people brought up the point that we are making much out of nothing regarding that small comment. and yes it is true that we all are indeed a little racist once in a while.

but i prefer to fall back on caution most of the time. because, as pointed out by some in the forum so far, while it seems apparently miniscule, it (ie the racial remarks) perpetrates itself and can become entrenched if not carefully managed.

Singa, Singa

I just got one fact for you:
Eventhough India/Indonesia may not have all these wonderful ratings/medals that China has, then WHY does China have the LARGEST number of illegal immigrants worldwide? Snake heads/Chinese stuffed in shipping containers, Huang Na’s mum using fake passport to get into Spore,etc,etc. Indian/Indonesians are not so desparate to do this inspite of their lower GDP and reserves. So I would therefore claim that India/Indonesia is better run than China.

so weird that all references to mediacorp is removed. Perhaps they want to promote Mediacorp to the international market.

We are a nation predicated on ‘race’, so why so much ho-hah about racial stereotypes on local TV? Remember that one of our senior politicians said that if not for an Indian minister’s ethnic background, he would’ve been a number-one choice for PM? Or that Malay/Muslims soldiers cannot be in ’sensitive’ posts because their ‘race’ may prevent them from doing the patriotic thing when facing a Muslim enemy? We may recite ‘regardless of race, language or religion’ in our pledge, but our politicians have reminded us that these are only aspirations/ideals that are not to be fought for in reality.

The bard Shakespeare ridiculed Jews, Muslims, Kings, working class, aristocrats. Would those who object to racist jokes take it up with the MOE to drop Shakespeare from the syllabus? I watch cable TV and equally appalled by some of the blatant racism, but would select only those worth viewing.

There are two issues at play here.

One is an ediiting of a letter. The other is racism.

For the editing, the meaning is still there though her outrage is not as evident. Still, the letter starts with “i was appalled…” to help us come to the conclusion that she was appalled.

On the second issue. Some people think its making a big deal out of it though no one really denies it is a racist comment.

Faced with such a tough choice, racism and editing, TOC had to pick one for the main thrust of the story.
From it’s headline “Letter on ethnic stereotyping gets heavily edited by Straits Times” it’s obviously more upset with the editing than the racism, if its upset with the racism at all.

How instructive. Good to know that TOC has a fierce anti-ST agenda and is sticking to it. You all get MediaCorp sponsorship, is it?

@Yuchengko, surely your analogy to Shakespeare is misplaced. In the first place, the two key ‘racist’ portrayals in the Shakespearean oeuvre are in Othello and The Merchant of Venice; even so, both characters (Othello and Shylock) are depicted as psychologically complex and human. There’re clear hints that each character’s eventual downfall was precipitated in part by the irrational, toxic suspicions of those around them. In short, Shakespeare is very far from condoning the racism and anti-Semitism he puts in the mouths of characters like Iago and Antonio, as evinced by this passage in Shylock’s famous speech:

Hath not a Jew eyes? Hath not a Jew hands, organs,
dimensions, senses, affections, passions; fed with
the same food, hurt with the same weapons, subject
to the same diseases, heal’d by the same means,
warm’d and cool’d by the same winter and summer, as
a Christian is? If you prick us, do we not bleed?
If you tickle us, do we not laugh? If you poison
us, do we not die? And if you wrong us, shall we not
Revenge? If we are like you in the rest, we will
resemble you in that.

Second, even if racism is present in and endorsed by Shakespeare, that’s clearly outweighed by the works’ literary merit, which ensures that they’re a mainstay on the school curriculum. Does “Daddy at Home”, or any MediaCorp show for that matter, have the same redeeming qualities?

Third, Shakespeare’s racism (assuming that’s what it is) was a reflection of the Elizabethan cultural milieu he lived in. Surely some four centuries on, we expect much more of ourselves — particularly with regard to any new creations of ours? We’re pretty much stuck with Shakespearean plays in the form and manner he wrote… with MediaCorp’s programmes, we’re not.

We do have to guard against mindless censorship on grounds of “political correctness”, which would be the case if MOE expunged Shakespeare from the syllabus. But this instance of racism on Channel 8 is worlds apart from that nightmare scenario.

Re : 77 – that is precisely what I’m trying to get at. You don’t think I’m serious about expunging Shakespeare from the English syllabus in Singapore?Allegations that Shakespeare was promoting anti-Semitism have been made by certain quarters in the UK who petitioned for removing some texts for examination.

If you refer to my earlier comments, you’d have found that racist overtones of the TV serial are noted and the standard of local TV productions leave much to be desired.

Beware, there are racist hypocrites among us who champion equality but think and act otherwise. I’ve heard some really mean racist jokes that people in our multiracial society crack in private. The joke on TV is far milder by comparison. How often does the local TV touch on racially sensitive subjects? Besides, some of the staff are foreign talents who may not appreciate the importance of promoting racial harmony and avoidi sensitive jokes.

Would we appear to be patronising towards protecting the minorities and apply political correctness at random? I wonder how many ethnic Chinese would be offended when they watch some popular chauvinistic TV serials.

DEFINING THE GREAT SINGAPOREAN SPIRIT

I don’t think it should be such a big issue. The essence of Ms Chow Pei Sze’s letter was well preserved by the Editor of STForum. I would like to think the published version of the letter was a fine example of good editing. That is what really mattered. She should be happy that her letter got published.

Anyway, well done to Ms Chow for taking the trouble to speak up for the Malays when they were being unfairly stereotyped. I hope more will speak up for others across the racial and religious divide. That should be the way we should define the Great Singaporean Spirit.

Frankly, I don’t see why there should be a need by the MediaCorp scriptwriter to put in such unhelpful racist line in their film.

“Please lah not again loanshark. Got other role or not for me?”

“OK. Pimp lah. After all you have so many pimples on your face.”

“What?”

“OK. OK. Gambler. Many vacancies in our serials since IRs up. People enjoy watching gambling shows. Want or not? Don’t be over-sensitive lah. Laugh at others. Learn to laugh at ourselves at time. You want the job or not?”

“OK lah. King of Gambler like Chow Yuen Fatt. OK?”

For goodness sake, have you guys no sense of humour? With prudes like you around no wonder the arts scene here is so sterile. Oh sure that remark is racist, just like when I joke with my buddies and I call them stupid I’m discriminating the mentally challenged!

Get a life please!

@retiredgangster

You seem to think bad English = honest / unpretentious. This is false. Please recognize that a command of language reflects nothing on the person’s integrity.

That said, I refer you to http://engrishfunny.com/. I visit it when I wish to feel better about being an unemployed English major. You should feel right at home.

Its easy to overlook how much this would hurt a malay person if you are a majority race. someone even said that Chinese are often portrayed as prostitutes and gamblers and asked sarcastically if that was discrimination. Please have some sense to put things into context

- were the portrayals of chinese hookers and gamblers on malay or tamil programs? Does it happen often ?

- also, yes chinese characters sometimes get portrayed that way but chinese characters in shows and advertisements come from a diverse range of backgrounds, personality types and occupations.

discrimination happens when you essentialise or pigeon-hole a race. two trends i have noticed….

1) malays and indians are presented as baju-wearing , head-swinging ethnic bumpkins in contrast to modern chinese who are represented as being able to simultaneously inhabit tradition and modernity. ( ex. a KFC add from a few years back, with western dressed chinese couple and caricaturised malay and indians with exaggerated facial features )

2) malays and indians are often presented in lower income jobs in contrast to chinese characters who are middle class. ( ex. the recent government adverstisement about singapore going high-tech, thats somewhere on this website. You never see minorities in condo or car ads, and dont tell me its about target market, cos these are not race or culture-specific products )

[i]New Era on November 15th, 2009 11.14 pm I can see that KopitiamApek & retiredgangster are really flustered by this thread. They have been posting non-stop. Guess they must be staff of Mediacorp’s channel 8. LOL. [/i]

neigh….i simplee hates hypcrites who thnk that they are the onlee highly iq educated trained…
they still never see a catapult targetted them even if it was right in front of their eyes..mediacorp? please lark… i am a survivor follower..followed by fringe and flashforwards… this ia all about ME…

[...] vs X-Stream Media – TOC: Letter on ethnic stereotyping gets heavily edited by Straits Times – Singaporean Skeptic: Geithner meets with Bloggers. Would such a similar meeting happen in [...]

[...] vs X-Stream Media – TOC: Letter on ethnic stereotyping gets heavily edited by Straits Times – Singaporean Skeptic: Geithner meets with Bloggers. Would such a similar meeting happen in [...]

The Straits Times published the full essence, while summarising the original letter and taking some of the sting out of the original.

I think it did a pretty good job on this letter, and I am one person who disses the sh!t times/states times on every possible occasion. So let’s focus on the content of the letter and not the messenger

47) New Era

/////I can see that KopitiamApek & retiredgangster are really flustered by this thread. They have been posting non-stop. Guess they must be staff of Mediacorp’s channel 8. LOL. /////

4 postings out of 87 is non stop? Quite a intereting way of defining things.
Ya, when I do not behave like sheep to rant in symphony with the rest, I am branded a staff of MediaCorp when the thread is about media. Of late, I have been branded a staff of so many gahmen depts I now must be having multiple strings of income!