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</td><td class="msgFname" width="68%" nowrap="nowrap">Fkapore <nobr></nobr> </td><td class="msgDate" align="right" width="30%" nowrap="nowrap">7:15 pm </td></tr> <tr class="msghead"><td class="msgT" align="right" width="1%" height="20" nowrap="nowrap">To: </td><td class="msgTname" width="68%" nowrap="nowrap">ALL <nobr></nobr></td> <td class="msgNum" align="right" nowrap="nowrap"> (1 of 1) </td></tr></tbody></table></td></tr><tr><td rowspan="4" class="msgleft" width="1%"> </td><td class="wintiny" align="right" nowrap="nowrap">22757.1 </td></tr><tr><td height="8">
</td></tr> <tr><td class="msgtxt">Straits Times to express “regret” for factual error about ex-ISD Director Yoong Siew Wah tomorrow
October 15, 2009 by admin
Filed under Top News
Leave a comment
From our Correspondent
Following our publication of SPH’s gross factual error in its propagandist book about the PAP – “Men in White”, its authors have capitulated to public pressure and finally agree to acknowledge the mistake!
The Straits Times will publish a little editor’s note tomorrow to say that they regret causing injury to Mr Yoong’s reputation and will remove the offending the offending line from future editions of the
book “Men in White”.
TODAY will also publish an interview with Mr Yoong together with the clarification
[So please check out the Straits Times and TODAY tomorrow]
In page 441 of “Men in White”, a sub-chapter on Singapore’s ex-Solicitor General Mr Francis Seow, the authors insinuated that then CPIB director Mr Yoong Siew Wah had “conspired” with Mr Seow to have four detectives who were investigating a case involving Seow’s female friend sacked.
Mr Yoong has rebutted the factual inaccuracies strongly on his blog at Singapore Recalcitrant.
The authors had based their account from a speech made by the then Prime Minister Lee Kuan Yew at the Select Committee Hearing of the Legal Profession (Amendment) Bill which was published in the Straits Times on 10 October 1986.
There were four errors in the offending paragraph:
1. As CPIB Director, Mr Yoong was bound to investigate all formal complaints and Mr Francis Seow did lodge a complaint to both him and the police about the four detectives.
2. It was not Mr Yoong who sacked the four detectives, but the Deputy Commissioner of Police Mr Ratna Singam, who had since migrated to New Zealand.
3. Mr Yoong was never asked to resign from CPIB. He was promoted to become the Director of the Internal Security Act from 1971 to 1974.
4. Mr Francis Seow was never asked to resign from the Legal Service. He quitted the service to set up private practice which he had been contemplating for quite some time already in 1971.
Mr Yoong first emailed the CEO of SPH holdings as early as 28 September to protest against the disparaging statement in the book.
SPH did not bother to even publish Mr Yoong’s letter or issue a public clarification to reverse the damage done to his reputation.
Mr. Richard Lim, one of the authors, only gave a blanket reassurance that he will add a line after the sentence that Mr Yoong was also asked to quit to indicate that he was actually appointed Director ISD after his CPIB stint in his next and future editions of the book in order to be fair to him.
It is not until Mr Yoong aired his grievances on his blog and we published an article on it this Monday did SPH relent and agree to express “regret” for their mistake.
“Men in White” was given three weeks of endless publicity by the state media before it was officially launched by MM Lee himself on 8 September 2009.
It is embarrassing that the authors did not exercise due diligence in the writing of the book. They should at least verify the facts with Mr Yoong and Mr Seow instead of depending on MM Lee’s version of events at the Parliament Select Committee Hearing.
Given the fact they could have missed such an glaring error, one cannot be absolutely sure if there are no other factual inconsistencies in the rest of the book.
Read “Men in White” with a heavy grain of salt! Who knows there will be another Mr Yoong coming out in the next few months to challenge the authenticity and accuracy of its contents?
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</td><td class="msgFname" width="68%" nowrap="nowrap">Fkapore <nobr></nobr> </td><td class="msgDate" align="right" width="30%" nowrap="nowrap">7:15 pm </td></tr> <tr class="msghead"><td class="msgT" align="right" width="1%" height="20" nowrap="nowrap">To: </td><td class="msgTname" width="68%" nowrap="nowrap">ALL <nobr></nobr></td> <td class="msgNum" align="right" nowrap="nowrap"> (1 of 1) </td></tr></tbody></table></td></tr><tr><td rowspan="4" class="msgleft" width="1%"> </td><td class="wintiny" align="right" nowrap="nowrap">22757.1 </td></tr><tr><td height="8">
</td></tr> <tr><td class="msgtxt">Straits Times to express “regret” for factual error about ex-ISD Director Yoong Siew Wah tomorrow
October 15, 2009 by admin
Filed under Top News
Leave a comment
From our Correspondent
Following our publication of SPH’s gross factual error in its propagandist book about the PAP – “Men in White”, its authors have capitulated to public pressure and finally agree to acknowledge the mistake!
The Straits Times will publish a little editor’s note tomorrow to say that they regret causing injury to Mr Yoong’s reputation and will remove the offending the offending line from future editions of the
book “Men in White”.
TODAY will also publish an interview with Mr Yoong together with the clarification
[So please check out the Straits Times and TODAY tomorrow]
In page 441 of “Men in White”, a sub-chapter on Singapore’s ex-Solicitor General Mr Francis Seow, the authors insinuated that then CPIB director Mr Yoong Siew Wah had “conspired” with Mr Seow to have four detectives who were investigating a case involving Seow’s female friend sacked.
Mr Yoong has rebutted the factual inaccuracies strongly on his blog at Singapore Recalcitrant.
The authors had based their account from a speech made by the then Prime Minister Lee Kuan Yew at the Select Committee Hearing of the Legal Profession (Amendment) Bill which was published in the Straits Times on 10 October 1986.
There were four errors in the offending paragraph:
1. As CPIB Director, Mr Yoong was bound to investigate all formal complaints and Mr Francis Seow did lodge a complaint to both him and the police about the four detectives.
2. It was not Mr Yoong who sacked the four detectives, but the Deputy Commissioner of Police Mr Ratna Singam, who had since migrated to New Zealand.
3. Mr Yoong was never asked to resign from CPIB. He was promoted to become the Director of the Internal Security Act from 1971 to 1974.
4. Mr Francis Seow was never asked to resign from the Legal Service. He quitted the service to set up private practice which he had been contemplating for quite some time already in 1971.
Mr Yoong first emailed the CEO of SPH holdings as early as 28 September to protest against the disparaging statement in the book.
SPH did not bother to even publish Mr Yoong’s letter or issue a public clarification to reverse the damage done to his reputation.
Mr. Richard Lim, one of the authors, only gave a blanket reassurance that he will add a line after the sentence that Mr Yoong was also asked to quit to indicate that he was actually appointed Director ISD after his CPIB stint in his next and future editions of the book in order to be fair to him.
It is not until Mr Yoong aired his grievances on his blog and we published an article on it this Monday did SPH relent and agree to express “regret” for their mistake.
“Men in White” was given three weeks of endless publicity by the state media before it was officially launched by MM Lee himself on 8 September 2009.
It is embarrassing that the authors did not exercise due diligence in the writing of the book. They should at least verify the facts with Mr Yoong and Mr Seow instead of depending on MM Lee’s version of events at the Parliament Select Committee Hearing.
Given the fact they could have missed such an glaring error, one cannot be absolutely sure if there are no other factual inconsistencies in the rest of the book.
Read “Men in White” with a heavy grain of salt! Who knows there will be another Mr Yoong coming out in the next few months to challenge the authenticity and accuracy of its contents?
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