$90K seed funding: Who is the real sugardaddy of Singanews?
September 13th, 2009 | 
Author: From our Correspondent
During his interview with The New Paper, Singanews founder Mr Matthew Yap said that his venture had got $90,000 in seed funding so far.
Singnews was supposed to be a “secular” news portal to promote “mainstream family values” as defined as “natural families focused on procreation”.
It is owned by Singa Communications, set up in July this year in the aftermath of the Aware fiasco.
With due respect to Mr Yap, it is unlikely that he has so much personal savings to set up Singanews on his own. Even if one has, few will be so committed to spend over $50,000 just to start a “social enterprise” in Mr Yap’s own words.
$90,000 is no small sum of money. How did Mr Yap manage to raise them in such a short span of time. It was reported that the venture is seeking funds from the Christian community. Unless Mr Yap is a charismatic and influential figure like Joseph Prince, it is not likely that many people will be so generous to donate to his cause.
Who is the real sugardaddy of Singanews? Though there may be several small donors, they are likely to account no more than 10% of the $90,000. Mr Yap did not launch a public donation drive. Neither was Singanews widely publicized. It was only mentioned a few days ago at a Church event to a small crowd of less than 50 people.
All its four known directors are Christians including Mr Yap. One director Victor Ho, a director of Bright Arrows, an investment company owed 40 per cent by the Church of Our Savior.
While we welcome Singanews to add diversity to voices heard in Singapore, we hope Mr Matthew Yap can reveal the primary source of its funding to dispel lingering doubts and scepticism among some.
After the Aware saga, Thio Su Mien protested vehemently that the mainstream media and bloggers were biased in their coverage of the Aware saga to the extent that the Senior Editor of Straits Times Han Fook Kwang had to pen a reply in person to rebut her accusations.
In a recent speech at the same event which witnessed the soft launch of Singanews, the younger Thio argued that it is the responsibility of Christians to speak up in public to prevent others holding “conflicting views” to occupy secular public space.
Thio Li Ann’s mindset is indeed a cause for worry. Secular space is a space for everybody, including those who harbor polarizing world views. It is a common ground which allows Singaporeans to put aside all their differences and work on their shared values and heritage as a nation.
Regardless of what views Thio may have, she is entitled to her right to speak up, but that doesn’t give her the right to impose her beliefs onto others or to “occupy” secular space.
The Thios are obviously still quite peeved with the defeat of their “comrades” at the Aware EGM which was contributed partly by the negative publicity generated by the mainstream media and the socio-political blogs.
Thio claimed that she has been maliciously targeted online and the Internet is filled with ugliness and misinformation. She also accused bloggers of “victimizing” her by playing the religious card and accused her of imposing her Christian values when she was merely debating on a public values as a citizen.
Given the fact that Singa Communications was launched almost immediately after the Aware fiasco, it leads one to query if it is a front for some people to promote their “family values” in mainstream society under the guise of secularism.
The arguments employed by Mr Yap bear a close resemblance to those used by Josie Lau. He was equally as evasive as her when asked if Singanews harbored a religious agenda.
As in the Aware saga, Josie Lau also argued that her religion has no bearing on her plans for the NGO. Within 2 weeks of becoming President, she announced she would scrap Aware’s Comprehensive Sex Education in schools and replaced it with a more “family-orientated” one.
The actions of Josie and team sparked a massive furore and public backlash against them not because of their religion, but because of the covert methods they employed to take over a secular organization and used it as a cover to propagate their own religious values in mainstream society.
Singanews’ message of “mainstream family values” may be shared by the majority of Singaporeans, but not by everybody in secular society which includes the sexual minorities.
Abortion is another contentious issue which is widely accepted in secular society, but may not conform to “mainstream family values”. Will Singanews advocate a strong stance against abortion by packaging its message as one accepted by mainstream society on a “secular” site?
This is an insidious way of encroaching into secular space by hiding behind the cloak of secularism to mislead and deceive unsuspecting readers.
To increase the site’s crediblity, Mr Yap should reveal all sources of his company’s funding and let readers judge for themselves if Singanews is really a “secular” site or a religious site coated with a secular “favor”.
Christians are most welcome to share their views and values with others, but they have no right to unilaterally declare them as “mainstream family values” to be followed and accepted by all.
The only way for the different races and religions to co-exist with one another peacefully is to respect the boundaries separating their individual communities from secular space.
When one group crosses its delineated boundary too often, it will surely create an opposite reaction from other groups thereby leading to unnecessary conflicts.
We have worked so hard to get to where we are today – a peaceful, stable and harmonious society for every Singaporean to live in.
Let us strive together to preserve and maintain the system which has served us so well over the years by keeping “mainstream family values” with religious connotations out of the public domain altogether.
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Tags: 24 Responses to “$90K seed funding: Who is the real sugardaddy of Singanews?”
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“To increase the site’s crediblity, Mr Yap should reveal all sources of his company’s funding and let readers judge for themselves if Singanews is really a “secular” site or a religious site coated with a secular “favor”.”
So says the people who hid like little girls when the media went to their event at Hong Lim Park and openly said to be exposed was the kiss of death,
Incidentally, the pot hates the kettle for being black.
“Christians are most welcome to share their views and values with others, but they have no right to unilaterally declare them as “mainstream family values” to be followed and accepted by all.”
So where’s the legislation banning Christians from declaring their values as being mainstream vis a vis the family? Last time I checked Christianity was a mainstream religion.
Glass houses, stones, I don’t really have to complete the sentence do I?
You are so simple-minded. Objection to abortion is not a value confined to Christians. Lots of non-Christians are against abortion. If $90,000 can help to reduce the mindless killing of defencless babies, it is money well-spent. As a Sporean, I am deeply ashamed that we have one of the most liberal abortion laws in the world.
Read this comment on Solo Bear’s blog.
“Simple. Now there is a backlash against the backlash and what the govt fears is happening; the divide between the 2 camps and getter wider and wider.”
I would like to make this call to both sides to remain calm, to refrain from making personal accusations or attacks, and to avoid adopting an adversarial tone or approach to this matter. I am sure that by keeping our composure, we will be able to achieve much more.
http://wherebearsroamfree.blogspot.com/2009/09/thiophobia-why-are-gays-and-pro-gays.html
foetus is a live human
even going with your assumption that foetus is a live human, are you sure that killing is wrong?
ah tong enjoys torturing people. he cuts off their genitals and sells them off to ah bong.
i kill ah tong. wrong or right?
I think there is always some degree of vested interests in any media operation. Lets not be naive. Even Wayang Party and The Online Citizen have a slant and folks running these sites have their biases. So SingaNews tilt toward a conservative viewpoint. Whats the problem?
Since TR raised issue abt funding source of SingaNews, TR should issue statement on how it funded itself since WP started. We know it is a volunteer site but still $ are needed.
I am not interested in WP/ TP funding sources, but what is “Sauce for the goose, must be sauce for gander” (Or is it the other way round?)
“People in glass hses, should not throw stones”
Hi A Tan,
Go and read “About us”.
This site is 100% self-funded. Of course, if we have $90K in our kitty all of sudden, then you have to seriously question where we got the money.
Admin
I noticed in this website whenever the Thios’ are in the news, the commentararies are pretty biased against them. Also comments are quite vicious and the attacks quite personal. If you want to appear unbias I suggest you go through your reports and have a poll to confirm your writings are unbias. I am sure the silent majority will agree with me.
Look here! This singanews roll out was hardly a surprise.
I remember during the height of the AWARE saga. Some people here, most notably darkness of the brotherhood had warned NMP Siew, Alex Au and others who were quiet vocal that they should try to engage the likes of TLA et al on a meaningful basis.
He warned against excessive labelling and pigeon holing. He even went so far as to say, if you ppl cont to shut them out, then they may re-organize themselves and come back again stronger. But one thing is very clear. They will return again like General McArthur!
Because, this is not your public square i.e it does not belong to gays only. He said, even if you claim it is, it is so big, anyone can just choop one corner and call it their own. So you better get with it!
They did not listen then. They will not listen now either.So why the feign surprise?
When you understand all this, then the 90K is really a bi-product that can be easily understood from the inside out.
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@ “Foetus is a live human”
Your simplistic black-white view of the world is astounding.
Whether people are against abortion or not, it is not a “christian” but a personal thing. People should have the freedom to make personal choices.
Simply putting in another context, if someone rapes your daughter, and your daughter gets impregnated, would you want the abort the foetus, or would you want the child to get born, and remind your daughter every single day of her life about her traumatic rape experience? In any case, this would cause massive psychological harm to victims as well as the child that results from a rape. (Why my mummy hates me?)
If you consider foetus as “human life”, then the fertilised eggs used for IVFs(in-vitro fertilisation) are also human lives and those not implanted are routinely thrown away. Is this murder, and if not, then how is abortion murder?
I am not interested in WP/ TP funding sources, but what is “Sauce for the goose, must be sauce for gander”
A Tan, how right you are. The implication is that Christians are financing the portal to impose their views on others, and that Singanews must reveal the source of their funding to disprove it. Actually, even if it is so, didn’t many of their critics say that they should form their own organization to forward their agenda instead of hijacking AWARE? Since they are doing exactly that, why the criticisms now? After all, one can easily argue that gays should form their own organization to forward their agenda instead of hijacking AWARE themselves first. And for that matter, who or what is stopping non-Christians from forming their own news portal? Nobody. So for those who are complaining about this, why don’t you form your own news portal to counteract their “negative influence” instead like what Temasek Review itself has done?
Sheldon, the Ah Tong in your scenario is a murderer. Executing him after due process of law is correct; killing him yourself without trying and convicting him for it first is not. That makes you a murderer yourself, and you should be the one to face execution for it. Maybe you know more about such things than I do, but last I heard, no fetus has ever committed murder. Or any other crime for that matter. Unless, of course, you think killing innocent babies is acceptable.
Right. I now call upon AWARE to publicly reveal who funded their now discredited CSE program to prove that the persistent rumors that foreign gay activists had funded it to impose their views on others is untrue. After all, as A Tan put it, whatever is sauce for the goose is also sauce for the gander.
Failure to do so shall be taken as an admission that the rumors are true.
why all the big fuss, just another news portal. I welcome any newbies newspaper/portal. At least we get to read different views and opinions. I enjoy reading wayang party and TOC, with an open mind. When we dont agree with the writer, one can put in his/own views or read and forget. Those who read, agree or disagree with an issue/article, you have already taken a position. Lets have another or many news portal, it’s good for the heart, mind and soul too.
Source of funding? What the big deal if it 100% christian funded. Can’t one think for himself/herself to believe what is written, you decide what to agree/disagree, believe/disbelieve. Are we smart or stupid? You decide for yourself.
“Foetuses are unborn children; therefore abortion is murder” has been the most publicised war cry of pro-life monotheistic fundamentalist groups in USA. They regularly blockade pro-choice clinics providing pregnancy termination aka abortion services to women who seek such services. Some of their fervent fundamentalist believers even shoot to kill doctors such as the late Dr. George Tiller who had dared to openly declare his support for the pro-choice movement in USA by providing late-term abortions. There were even instances of pro-choice clinics being bombed causing injuries, death and destruction but such actions were not labelled terroristic by the major main-stream media in USA thereby stoking the audacity of these fundamentalist elements in repeating such violent actions against pro-choice clinics and supportive doctors such as Dr. Tiller.
I won’t be surprised there’re quite a few such pro-life fundamentalist elements in our society seeking to abolish our liberal legislation permitting abortions in Singapore. Of course it’ll be foolhardy for them to resort to blockading clinics providing abortion services or shooting to kill doctors performing abortions in Singapore. So the next best thing to do is occupy whatever secular opening to get their views across the widest possible spectrum in our society to create public opinion for their pro-life and other monotheistic fundamentalist views and practices. I suspect Singanews may just be their first such steps in their mission to widely publicise their monotheistic fundamentalist social agenda in our multi-ethno-religious society.
Deepest regards.
Is it me or is this solo bear guy (and his clones) going around directing people to his site? Nuffnang?
Will.I.Am asked:
“If someone rapes your daughter, and your daughter gets impregnated, would you want the abort the foetus, or would you want the child to be born, and remind your daughter every single day of her life about her traumatic rape experience?
”
My answer: Not only I want to abort the baby. I’d probably want to kill the rapist. But I simply do not have the right to do take lives.
You said;” People should have the freedom to make personal choices.”
Wrong. People do not have the right to make personal choices. You do not have the right to take drugs in Spore. You don’t even have the right to smoke a cigarette in your own office. In fact you don’t even have the right to kill yourself; let alone another human. Mothers have no right to kill their babies; neither in the womb or out of it.
As to whether or not a foetus is live human, that question has been settled long ago.
Freedom is an illusion here in Singapore. U think u have the freedom to make choices, but in fact, u are more likely to be compelled by circumstances.
Having said that, who are you to tell people whether or not they should be able to make the choice of abortion? I said, leave that question to yourself when u / ur wife gets impregnated by someone else or when ur daughter gets pregnant at age 16. Then we see what u say abt pro-life.
“More IS Less”? … And
“Less IS More”?
Guys & Gals … “PERSONAL CHOICE” … Can be something made of TOTAL IGNORANCE … or With full knowledge and understnding of the ISSUE thing at hand …
So what S FREEDOM of Choice and FREEDOM …
Since … like this gahmen repeated that we ARe a FREE-Market Economy …
Yet they have stepped in now as also many times “To Cool” market speculations??? WHo and which of gahmen’s Developers ARE guitly of this so-called “proerty speculation BUBBLE”???
A QUESTION to be answered by God only? … no one has such relevant and trust info in a Politically Monopolistic State … WHO IS TO BE BLAMED??? …
Those who gave them PAP to be so or “they” who gave PAP UnPrecedented-support and PAP too!!!???
Being honest and transparent is the only way you can get people to trust you. I’ve noticed Thio Su Mien and the religious crazies always try to cover up their religious indoctrination by calling it secular. Wait till you show me one Muslim woman on the website’s editorial board then I’ll believe you are secular!
I totally support Temasek Review’s coverage of their funding. Why not? You want people to just cover their eyes from the truth issit?
Abortion-wise, like Zed said wait till your daughter gets pregnant at age 16 then you see if you’re so pro-life.
“Singanews” looks like it will feed you “news” straight from the thick black book called the Bible, LOL.
As for gays, if you don’t like gay sex, just don’t do it. Don’t need to copy the government and attribute everything to “foreigners,” aka “foreign gay activists”. Your boss or son probably is gay lor. You think this is like importing IPod’s into Singapore to convert people to become Apple lovers?
People are born gay, like they are born black or Chinese. Even LKY the outdated guy has said that. That question has been settled long ago.
Status is very important for citizens. Why should we have to settle for no recognition, being given scraps of HDB flats and take care of the elderly parents after all the married siblings have gone away?
This is deja vu. The thio group is trying again to take over the secular public square under a different guise after they failed to take over Aware. Their comeback attempt must be exposed early or many innocent people will be taken in by their propaganda. Their ultimate aim is to take over the entire public square as their own and they will justify it by claiming to represent the mainstream.
Why are they so eager to make a comeback when the dust from the Aware saga is still not settled yet? Do these people think that S’poreans are a forgetful lot or are they running out of time based on the timetable disclosed in one of their conventions?
Singanews can never represent the mainstream in S’pore if most, if not all, of their managerial and editorial team come from the same faith. Most people will not have problems with them if they just want to share their views on public issues from the christian perspective, but they must first be open and honest with people by stating that Singanews is a christian site like christian post and is not a secular mainstream site. They should know which part of the public square belongs to them and they shouldn’t keep trying to overstep into others’ domains or the pushback will only get stronger as warned by many ministers.
And the Demon-Empress Homofobia sent out her eunuchs and hungry ghosts to the cornerstones of the Earth with false messages and teachings bringing down the wrath of the Great One, who cast swine flu into the gatherings of the nation.
“Being honest and transparent is the only way you can get people to trust you. I’ve noticed Thio Su Mien and the religious crazies always try to cover up their religious indoctrination by calling it secular. Wait till you show me one Muslim woman on the website’s editorial board then I’ll believe you are secular!”
Seems like no one is interested in hearing their side of the story.
“People are born gay, like they are born black or Chinese. Even LKY the outdated guy has said that. That question has been settled long ago.”
That’s not true. A lot of research shows otherwise.
“Status is very important for citizens. Why should we have to settle for no recognition, being given scraps of HDB flats and take care of the elderly parents after all the married siblings have gone away?”
Problem is conservatives don’t want to normalise homosexuality in society. Granting “status” is also seen as dangerous since it may lead to further demands like gay marriages – which poses even more problems.
Anon. – “That’s not true. A lot of research shows otherwise.”
Yes it is. Go do your research properly. The evidence is overwhelming. Only religious extremists dispute it, for their own agenda.
“it may lead to further demands like gay marriages – which poses even more problems.”
Not likely to be “demanded” in the forseeable future, but so what? What’s wrong with discussing such things?
And what problems does legal recognition of long term relationships of gays pose for anyone else? None. Has it led to any problems in the many countries that recognise them? No. Has it helped make heterosexual marriage more fashionable again amongst young heterosexuals in those countries? I believe so.
@ Foetus is a live human on Mon, 14th Sep 2009 9:42 pm
Your answer: “My answer: Not only I want to abort the baby. I’d probably want to kill the rapist. But I simply do not have the right to do take lives.”
Your answer is non-commital. Since you mention abortion in the same degree as murder of innocent unborn babies, and that you do not have the rights to take like, does that mean you will stick to your guns of not aborting the baby as a result of a rape?
Then, answer my question “If you consider foetus as “human life”, then the fertilised eggs used for IVFs(in-vitro fertilisation) are also human lives (since they are some form of impregnated feotus) and those not implanted are routinely thrown away. Is this murder, and if not, then how is abortion murder?”
I stand by my point that people have to right to make personal choices. I have the rights to take drugs. I have the rights to do anything to myself. The only thing that I have to do is to face the consequence.
Many abortions are not easy decisions. (Oh, I feel like aborting my baby today, so let’s fix an appt with an abortion clinic!) I personally know 2 people who went through abortions after facing internal struggle for a long period of time. They couldn’t bear to do it, but they know that if the baby were to be born they would not be able to support or take care of it, so they made the sad decision after a long deliberation.
I also know another 1 person who went through a late-term abortion which was a traumatic decision for her. Her baby had developed complications in which the spine wasn’t formed properly. If the baby had been born, he/she would be a complete vegetable and unable to feed/drink and would need to be fed via tubes and other medical equipments just to ensure that he stay alive. Rather than bringing in a life to suffer in the world, she decided to go ahead. It was an extremely emotional decision for her parents and her husband, but they were glad that they made the right decision in the end.
The question here is not whether “abortion=murder”, but how you prevent unwanted pregnancies in the first place. And that takes comprehensive sex education (like it or not, people with raging hormones are going to have sex), which is something that the extremist christian community such as Thio are strongly against.
So, in the end, you are just creating problems and dilemmas for yourself.
Oppose comprehensive sex education -> couples engage in unsafe sex due to lack of sufficient knowledge -> unwanted pregnancy -> abortion.
Makes my eyes roll when you can yell about how abortion is murder while insisting that people shouldn’t be exposed to sex education.