Saturday, May 28, 2011

OooOooooOooh I've apologized

The social network is working out to be anathema to the PAP stewards. Instead of engaging the people, they are outraging the citizens at warp speed.

Speed was not invented by this generation's technophiles, wrote Rosenberg and Feldam in their book, "No Time To Think, The Menace of Media Speed and the 24-hour News Cycle." The public's right to know has been supplanted by the public's right to know everything, however fanciful and even erroneous, as fast as technology allows. Unfortunately for some parties, the fancy and erroneous stuff seem to be self generated.

Price Of Dignity
Lim Wee Kiak kicked it off with his infamous remark reported by Lianhe Wanbao on 23 May, that a $500k paycheck would be beneath the dignity of the Minister of Information, Communication and Arts.

His first attempt at spin control was to claim that it was a joke, which the reporter failed to grasp. Recall Goh Chok Chong tried similar line with the trauma posting of his own gaffe.

3 hours later, Lim blames the reporter for quoting him out of context "when they do not report the whole thing". He stated his "whole thing" on individuals who serve should not do so because of pay and perks, adding, "On the other hand, they do have families and dependents and need to consider for their retirement, etc." Talk about pouring oil on a smoldering fire.

The massive outcry from cyberspace must have been a rude reminder for Lim - if you can't stand the flames, better get out of the kitchen pronto. And quickly write a "clarification" note on his Facebook on 27 May:
"On further reflection, I agree that the example I quoted a MICA minister meeting the heads of telcos and saying that there may be some loss of face if the minister's salary is low is inappropriate and incorrect. I withdraw those remarks and apologise for making them."

No apology was made to the reporter accused of lacking a sense of humour and misquoting him out of context. Let's hope that this doesn't mean the reporter has been hastily sacked.

But apologies seem to come cheap these days, and if we are to believe these words from the 2006 elections, the day of reckoning is yet to come.
"You can't just go and say - OooOooooOooh I've apologized let's move on. Can you commit a dishonorable - maybe even one which is against the law - an illegal act, and say 'let's move on, because I've apologized?' You may move on, hah, but you're going to move on out of politics in time."

OooOooooOooh I've apologized

16 comments:

  1. This party is full of contradictory Potshots After Potshots. (PAP)
    It says on its rule of prudence #36

    "New MPs can pick up the dos and don'ts from older MPs, so that they conduct themselves always with modesty, decorum and dignity. You must win respect, not popularity, to stay the course."

    Let's hope these newbies wannabes are not learning it from the wrong old guards the wrong antics such as Teh, WKS, MBT etc and the MP that equates us all as ungrateful lepers, and not to forget the OLD goat himself. And since TPL has neither the respect nor popularity , one wonders how she could even stay on the course to begin with. Unless they don't mind the crooked course they paved that is.

    Oh well, let's move on. To yet another 1800 days of Men in Greys....

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  2. The way to the people's hearts is through the social media.

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  3. It is really sad 60% on our tiny island are not discerning and it seems they will vote for any dumbass so long as it is the PAP brand.

    LimWeeKiak has done 40% Sporeans a great favour shooting himself in the foot twice.
    He lied when he insisted he was quoted out of context, but when challenged on line, he lied again, claiming it was said jokingly.
    On the 3rd attempt, LimWK decided to come clean and apologise...who has been mentoring him?

    In otherwords, this PAP stooge has no qualms lying and it seems lying is a typical PAP initial response.

    *He would have got away if Spore was still in the MSM era.*

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  4. LWK is an MP, selected by PAP, supposedly the best, handpicked by MIW, paid $15000. Yet this is the quality we Sporeans get. So pathetic for Sg.

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  5. Hahaha

    If he had been learning from the antics of the old yoda, he will probably not be apologising but will say 'I stand corrected'.

    Or better still say 'Ooooooooh I stand corrected'.

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  6. Just what Sinkies need.

    Another self serving elite-scholar type "serving" us as our Member of Parliament.

    Here's a dose of realism:
    a)scholars will only help themselves
    b)elite will only help themselves
    c)what is good for PAP may not be good for Singapore

    Vote down-to-earth MPs to protect ourselves from these elites.

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  7. Hi Tattler,

    I sincerely wish you a long, healthy life and the continued motivation to write your interesting, nail-on-the-head daily Singapore Notes blog. Many of us need and love sharp alternative voice bloggers like you to help fan the flame and cheer us on till 2016 and beyond!

    Thank you,
    Anonymous

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  8. 三流政客,四等价值观

    一句话,党耻也。

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  9. If there was no social media after GE2006 would there have been a 6% swing for the altherntive parties in GE2011?

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  10. Hahaaaa
    how did the people become so cynical of our leaders?
    Are the Leaders so disgusting and dishonourable to cause the people to despise them so much?
    My goodness!

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  11. Indiana Jones5/29/2011 8:12 AM

    Dear Anon 11:50 PM

    There is cynicism and disgust because there isnt the accountability which can spur necessary changes not only in our policies but also in our national character.

    In a well informed democracy, elected leaders are held accountable to the people. Tbe issue is that we dont have the sort of accountability in parliament, where bad policies can be changed. The MSM is brain dead and has no practical value in terms of bringing accountability. Bills are passed without the sort of scrutiny which may cause these bills to be amended or thrown out altogether.

    We had wait for 4 years from 2006 till 2011 till something was done about ministerial salaries and the influx of foreigners. 40% of the electorate want some kind of accountability. We are not getting it in Parliament nor in the MSM. And so people get cynical and say nasty things about their leaders.

    Yes, I would like to see some civility in some of the threads in the social media. Open up the MSM, facilitate other voices and kill sacred cows. Then maybe people wont be overtly hostile or cynical in their comments.

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  12. I think they are running short of ideas and just want to run Singapore their own way like running a big business mega-corporation without any concern for ethics, fair treatment and welfare to the citizens. Remember, this is a party which villified "welfare" and a "welfare system" as harmful to democracy in Singapore, when ironically welfare systems run well enough in nearly all First World countries like Norway, Sweden, Finland, Denmark and countries like Canada in the north, with their universal healthcare programs. Also, they are veering more and more obviously towards right-wing politics which look mainly at a society via the perspective of conservative spending on military, fiscationism(an emphasis on GDP growth blindly without care for how it is distributed), and a concern for helping the rich more than the poor.

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  13. Anonymous @ May 28, 2011 11:50 PM,

    If you take a look at this short video, you'll absolutely get it why so many are feeling this way... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NpQCT8h9mzk&playnext=1&list=PL157508BFD0BBDB26

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  14. 'How did the people become so cynical of our leaders?' - Anon 11.50

    Well, the hard truth is that for more than 4 decades these same people have been fed only selected truths by the PAP and the MSM, with much propaganda thrown in, subjected to fallacious policies thrust down their throats using the MSM to do the hard sell, and these people realised now that they have been short changed all along.

    So, why not such widespread cynicism, even if the rulers may be trying to be sincere now?

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  15. Hi Anon 11:50 pm.

    may I rephrase your comment to:
    How did the leaders make the people so frustrated and sick of them?

    Yes, how did they do it?

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  16. Tpl & lwk could be the last straw the govnt cannot afford to support. Let's wait and see.

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