Fact Checks

Have to admit it, the U.S. presidential election debate is so educational. Especially the "Fact Check" parts that talking heads indulge in immediately after the event. Whether you subscribe to the analysis or not, it still beats the lame official version of "factually yours" hands down.

The Amy Cheong affair was rehashed at a National University of Singapore forum on the Government's engagement of the public after last year's General Election.

The Claim:
That Ms Cheong had been "in a sense made a scapegoat" - as "some of our leaders have said worse things in the past". (Reform Party Secretary-General Kenneth Jeyaretnam)

The Counter Claim:
"But it's just that the way society is, you'll inevitably have tensions that pull us apart. So it's a work-in-progress and you have to just keep on working at it." (People's Action Party Member of Parliament Indranee Rajah)

The Facts:
Former Minister Mentor Lee Kuan Yew had made insensitive comments about Malay Muslims previously. Last year, Mr Lee was quoted as saying Muslims integrated less easily here than other communities in his book "Lee Kuan Yew: Hard Truths To Keep Singapore Going". He later issued a statement saying his call was "out of date" and that he stood corrected. And his holier-than-thou views about "Race, Culture and Genes" extend beyond the bias towards a minority ethnic group:

"Look at the number of smart Teochews there are... just count them. Teo Chee Hean, Lim Hng Kiang, George Yeo, Lim Boon Heng. Is it a coincidence? In a Cabinet of 15, how do you explain that? For that matter, the Hakkas consider themselves very special too.
... You also have more Hakkas in the Cabinet than are represented in the population. They are supposed to be harder-working, tougher and therefore higher-achievers.  So there are these differences even within the races."
(LKY: The Man And His Ideas, 1998, page 173)

Another "I stand corrected" statement is in order now that George Yeo has come clean and confessed that, for the 23 years of his laid back political life, he was, and we quote him, just "in the flow, rather than trying to fight the flow".

Amazing, isn't it? How a presentation of information can cut through the fog of politics and the truth comes across clear as day.