~by: Ravi Philemon~
“The New Paper had become aware of the investigation after Mr Ng was picked up in late December.” – The New Paper dated 25 January 2012
This comment from The New Paper seems to suggest that the mainstream media (msm) were well aware that Singapore Civil Defence Force’s Commissioner, Peter Lim Sin Pang, and Director of the Central Narcotics Bureau, Ng Boon Gay, have been relieved of their positions and were being probed by CPIB over 'allegations of serious personal misconduct', about a month ago.
Why then did the msm choose to publish this, almost sneakily, during the Chinese New Year holidays when most people pay scant attention to news?
Chairman of the Government Parliamentary Committee for Law and Home Affairs, Hri Kumar Nair, responding to the news reportedly said, 'The authorities are doing what they are expected to do. Let's not jump to conclusions and start making judgments before the authorities have finished investigations.'
Were the msm delaying the release of this news because they were concerned that the general public would jump to conclusions? I certainly hope not.
It is right for the Government (and related agencies) to worry about the implications such news would create, especially when it's so close to the Ministerial Salary debate in Parliament. The release of this news before the debate would have surely undermined the ruling Party’s longstanding argument that top salaries for top people would weed out corruption.
But such concerns should not be that of the media, unless they have been co-opted by the establishment (also read Ng E-Jay article 'Time to free up Singapore's media' HERE).
And no, the msm need not sensationalise the issue, that the duo and some others are under investigation in a case concerning ‘money and women’; but report it factually, naming the senior officers from the Ministry of Home Affairs, that they are being investigated by the Corrupt Practices Investigation Bureau (CPIB), and that they are now out on bail assisting CPIB in their investigations.
TREmeritus said in their report on the issue that they received a tip-off about the arrest about 10 days ago. Did the msm release the news when it did, only because the socio-political blogs were getting wind of the investigations and were concerned that they (msm) would look very bad if the alternative media released the news first – and worse, if it is confirmed to be true?
More important than asking, "Why were the investigations and suspensions only revealed after a newspaper broke the story?", is the question, "Why was the story of the investigations and suspensions broken by the newspapers almost a month after they had the lead?"
One certainly doesn't get a prize for guessing that all governments everywhere try to cover-up their shortcomings, or where they cannot, delay relaying the information till a more convenient time. And the Government of Singapore is no exception.
But the difference in most other countries is, the press which is free, keeps the government on their toes, to ensure that such serious personal misconducts by people holding senior positions in the establishment are exposed in the shortest possible time.
Yes, the Government of Singapore must surely be appreciated for its zero tolerance approach towards corruption, for they certainly did not spare the duo (and the rest under them) because they were senior officials. And you can't really call them tardy for not releasing the news of the investigations in a more timely manner; because they were only acting in their own self-interest, like any other government in the world would have.
But the mainstream media? What excuse do they have? Especially when besides the two senior government officers, a staff of a Government Linked Corporation, ST Electronics, is also seemingly implicated in this case (see HERE).
Mr P N Balji, former-editorial director of Mediacorp, said (in 2008), “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?”
Mr Balji may have implied that as a community, we are not as perceptive or sophisticated, and so deserve the kind of media we have here.
Is that also the reason why we are placed at 135/179 countries in the press freedom index 2011/2012 (see HERE)?
More than the government, this issue casts a spotlight on the sad state of the mainstream media in Singapore. And we surely cannot be wrong when we demand higher standards from them.
If only the media had the cuts to expose the all misdeeds, the mem in white would have mud slung on them long long time ago. I could not stop laughing when I saw the ST header PAP :Top in Twitter mentions”. Of course it was, two thirds must could have been negative mentions but this was of course not revealed. That is how you twist the facts.
All these talk about our MSM and their obvious short-comings but why are they still doing well and making money? Don’t make sense right ?
ok, so can the ministerial pay issue be re-visited?
since they people who claim to be honest, clean & transparent failed to live up to their words. like a case of miscarriage of justice, the pay review deserves a relook.
where is this L. Wong? hold who accountable now? clean govt?
btw, i wun blame MSM so much as they are lapdogs, being good lapdogs under leash. must know what the “owner” is like, & the owner always like to taichi his responsibility, “my dog bark, bite & anyhow poo-poo, not me wad?!”. maybe even blame the dog trainer for not teaching the dog properly.
but the dog is who’s? the owner “dunno wad to say”…
Whiter than White.
But caution TOC, there is no Misconduct confirmed yet. The decision depends also on the Judge.
Who is the judge?
there is nothing un-usual for newspapers to report on so-&-so being under investigation. as in the case/s of inappropriate relationship between teacher & student. this case should be no different.
PAP always remind people of trade-offs, i guess they did their sums & prefered to trade-off respect & trust for money.
PAP has often tried to hide its negative track record, prefering to dig up dirt on others to divert attention. quite hard to trust gahmen agencies to be partial when they are under a political party’s thumb or feet.
can gahmen agencies be given autonomy to do their work? currently, too much power is “given” to PAP. already, the negative effects are all too present in the past few years. this should change.
This incident of an attempted cover-up is another reminder that when you over-pay public servants, they have so much to lose that a cover-up is their first reaction, when things go wrong.
One implciation is that, the top dogs in govt do not appear to appear to know how to supervise senior officers effectively. So what is the justification to peg their pay to the top 1000 earners?
Another implication is that in society where information pertaining to govt conduct is tightly restricted, wrong-doings in high places which inflict far-reaching consequences on the national well-being almost always go unreported and unaccounted for. This is why a Freedom of Information Act must be an essential cornerstone of a free society.
The trouble with the Government is they keep feeling that Singaporean are NOT matured enough to comprehend such an episode that came about a month ago. Imagine if it was announce on about the sametime as the debate in Parliament on the “revised wages” wouldn’t it bring in more fanfare and draw more criticisim that “high wages” need not necessary bring out the best. Maybe they thought it can be covered or simply swept away. Come on – treat Singaporean with respect and dignity and quickly learn from the many, many mistakes that they do otherwise any amount of “sorry” will not save them
Wondering woman:Cecilia SueLocality: Singapore
Summary: Advisory Sales Specialist at IBM Singapore Pte Ltd
Education: Curtin University of Technology Marketing and Management (1995-1997)
Singapore Polytechnic Bizad (1992-1995)
Industry: Information Technology and Services
Experience: IBM Singapore Pte Ltd (Public Company; Information Technology and Services industry): Advisory Sales Specialist, (June 2005-Present)
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So many corrupt ministers in this world have yet to register under self-legalised corruption with copywright belonging to some kind of creed.
SINGAPORE – Laying out the timeline of events, the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) said yesterday that there was "no delay" in releasing the news of the Corrupt Practices Investigation Bureau (CPIB) probe into the allegations of misconduct against two top men at the ministry.
On Jan 24, Lianhe Wanbao broke the news that former Singapore Civil Defence Force (SCDF) Commissioner Peter Lim and former Central Narcotics Bureau (CNB) director Ng Boon Gay were being investigated and have been suspended from duty.
In its statement yesterday, MHA said it had planned to make the announcements on Jan 25. However, as news of the investigations had already been published, it decided to issue a media release a day earlier – on the same day that the news broke. It also clarified that both officers had been placed on leave initially and were only suspended on Jan 25.
"Both officers were placed on leave when the investigations began. At that point in time, it was premature to make any announcement as CPIB investigations had just started and the outcome was not known. Furthermore, a public announcement at that point could compromise CPIB investigations," MHA said.
It added: "Due process has to be followed to facilitate investigations, to be fair to officers accused, and to avoid prejudicing any legal or disciplinary proceedings."
Earlier, the CPIB had revealed that Mr Lim and Mr Ng were arrested on Jan 4 and Dec 19, respectively, under the Prevention of Corruption Act. Both men are currently out on bail.
According to MHA, it was informed by CPIB on Jan 20 that although its criminal investigations have not been completed, there was "sufficient basis" for the ministry to consider civil service disciplinary action for misconduct.
MHA then initiated action to interdict the two officers from their duties, which took effect from Jan 25. It also commenced civil service disciplinary proceedings and appointed their replacements to "ensure leadership continuity".
MHA added that in CPIB investigations, it was "normal procedure" for a person to be placed under arrest if the bureau assesses that there is "some basis for suspecting that the person may have committed an offence". The person can be released on bail but is required to return for further investigations when needed, MHA added.
The ministry reiterated that the cases involving Messrs Lim and Ng "demonstrate that any allegations of misconduct against public officers will be investigated fully and thoroughly, regardless of their position or seniority, to uphold the highest standards of integrity and conduct in the public service".
I wish the govt would stop taking us for fools! If the two gentlemen in question were arrested in Decemeber and early January, surely for them to be arrested and out on bail, they must have been charged for something already. This means that there was sufficient evidence for them to be arrested, so what is all this nonsense about keeping quiet because investigations were on going. Yes they may be ongoing now, to gether MORE eveidence.What were they arrested for? Nobody has said.
Why did it take an exposee from the Chinese press to bring all this out in the open?I am sure if a businessman from the private sector was arrested for the same misconduct, it would have been in the press the next day!!Good PR execrcise to save face for the govt but don't take us for fools!
BUT THOSE CASES SEEMS TO BE OK WITH THE AUTHORITIES. ?????
This government is so into the assumption that highly educated plus paying them high salary "guaranteed" is turning to a myth. It seem they put in so much "faith" in it that they are blind inside while looking outside.
The government is so into the assumption that highly educated plus paying high salary ":guaranteed" no corruiption of any kind is turing into a myth. It seem they put so much "faith" in it that they are blind inside while looking outside.
we , singaporeans , still dont know the name of the IT exec, or the japanese company, being printed in singapore newspapers, I think maybe someone powerful is controlling the media like SPH , stopping the release of her picture and name, to protect others more powerful fat cats… a sad day for singapore. WE WERE PROMISED A NEW PAP !! wake up ! STOP SLEEPING!!!
I wonder why there is recently quite a number of "corruption" cases uncovered ??????? Blind inside ?
Wait… so Temasek Review Emeritus said it got a tip-off 10 days before the arrest. So why didn't TRE break the news then? Can we then say the online media is in a sad state? Instead of giving credit to the mainstream media for breaking the news, now we want to blame it for not breaking it early enough? This is obviously not the kind of story that anyone would publish without being very sure of the facts – ask TRE.
Sorry, I meant TRE said it got a tip-off about the arrests 10 days before the news first broke.
I m quite cork sure in the end they are found NOT GUILTY!
Everyone is waiting to outcome of the report and who this woman is ?
Now we know how woman get contract by opexxxxx their lxxx
pity the poor husband having a wife like that
Poor husband? Good gosh, this lady is a golden egg laying goose, this cuckold must be many times richer than most of us.
What's sauce (Money) for the goose, is sauce (Money) for the gander.
why din MSM also publish the woman's photo along with the men? why so selective? she is also part of the equation…
Spare the agony of the family of these two men. Are we all so clean and never commit any small mistake? So quick to throw stone…….by most people as if they are almost so perfect.
WHAT BULL SHIT FROM THE LAP DOG ST.. who follows the gahmen like a bitch on heat.
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"Traditional newspaper publishers still have a place amid the boom in social media, and their products can remain trusted sources of information, relevant to the societies they serve, said Singapore Press Holdings (SPH) chairman Lee Boon Yang on Friday.
This is because traditional publishers still have 'critical, fundamental strengths' they can leverage on, namely, editorial integrity, accuracy and a confidence in and responsibility for what they publish, he said.
Not many are interested with the men. It is that IT executive woman that most of them would want to know.
Both of men are a shame to men to expose the woman to defend themsleves.
since the papies have openly declared that their ministers need to be paid astronomically to stay uncorrupted, they have actually also professed that they are no special creed, but mere humans who could be subjected to temptations of this world.
we all know that money and vice are close twins. now that these papies ministers have got their millions won't that make them more susceptible and capable in looking for their money's close twin?
should the papies also hasten to legalize the provision of adequate vice activities to ministers in order to prevent them from getting involved in vice scandals?
dear sal,
maybe papies should. but they will make a mess of it. they can make a mess of things they have been doing for decades. when doing something new isn't their forte, can be certain its near Epic Fail proportion…
:D
Wow, we still have to wait to see if these elite are indeed guilty of poor behaviour and conduct? After all the massaging of facts and activities, what will be left? Best High Court Judge to read this case will be Lai Siu Chiu and best defence lawyer for fairplay, Indranee Rajah..most independent and thorough legal experts.
dear mice is nice,
hm… but they'll never admit that they are the cause.
dear sal,
true, that is why people must be brought to realise the truth as it is, regardless of their status, educational background or age. when trains Epic Fail, even students should know why its happening. it affects people, they should have some basic understand why they happen. if not such incidents should make them at least curious enough to question.
when people begin to question, apathy will less likely result. & the more they question they more the truth cannot be swept under carpets.
as for trains Epic Fail, that already so many witness! XD
dear mice is nice,
what you say is very true. but the sad state in singapore is that our children are taught just to accept evrything that comes by as it is – like gospel truths.
i'd rather they learn everything by the first principle – how and why things come about, and why were they done in certain ways and not the other, and so on.
even our common folks in the street appear to be afraid to speak up and often fumble when handed a mic by a media reporter. on the contrary, in hong kong, china, taiwan, japan and some other countries common folks in the srteet could communicate, answer questions and voice their opinions eloquently and freely without fear in front of the tv crew.
i certainly believe this has a lot to do with our political and educational systems.
this is also the very reason why we singaporean businessmen are reported to be the least successful in china, compared to the taiwanese and hongkongers.
Lincoln, "The New Paper had become aware of the investigation" is different from TRE getting a tip-off. The tip-off TRE received could be to fix it.
dear sal,
S'pore often boasted to have a highly educated workforce. that itself gave a glimpse why S'poreans generally do not make exceptional business leaders, or leaders of any sort. people brought up to be good workers are not taught the skills needed to lead. likely so even when leaders are what's needed. i would even say there is a leadership vacuum at the top now. & many sitting there are not any sure how to move S'pore forward.
i've read in papers often to know the guilty do not speak, in cases where people are convicted of crimes with evidence presented to them squarely, they did not utter a word, but they are charged none the less.
dear sal,
sorry my reply to you is under moderation… -.-"