Straits Times deleted Ris Low’s photo, but “sg-stupid.jpg” remains
October 1st, 2009 | 
Author: From our Correspondent
Following our revelation that the Straits Times had named a photo of ex-Miss Singapore World Ris Low as “sg-stupid.jpg”, the photo has been deleted though the link remains here
The photo was uploaded to the Straits Times’ server on 25 September 2009 and was in the public domain for 6 days till 30 September 2009 until we exposed the inappropriateness of its JPG name.
One reader commented that it is only a small mistake. This is not simply an oversight, it is outright personal attack on an innocent Singaporean. Though we do not have favorable opinions of some public officials, we have never named their photos in such a derogatory manner.
There was also surprisingly no news on Ris Low or the fiasco today after one week of relentless media publicity on the poor girl which has created a backlash from Singaporeans.
If the Straits Times think it can remove the evidence of its mistake by deleting the photo, then it cannot be more wrong.
Thousands of Singaporeans have seen the photo named “sg-stupid.jpg” saved conspicuously under a “STIMEDIA” folder on the digital edition of the Straits Times.
The journalist who is responsible for the naming Ris Low’s photo as such should come out openly and apologize for his/her mistake instead of hiding behind SPH and pretending that nothing has happened.
Who is this journalist who deliberately label Ris as “stupid”? Does he/she bear a grudge against her? What are his/her real motives for disparaging her in public?
SPH should issue an open apology to Miss Ris Low and have the errant journalist punished for such an unprofessional mistake or its image will be tarnished beyond repair.
While there are so many critical issues affecting ordinary Singaporeans for the media to report on such as the rising prices of HDB flats and influx of foreigners, SPH journalists chose to turn a blind eye to them and instead electing to spend one entire week hounding a defenseless girl whose only mistake is to sign up for a beauty pageant without revealing her past convictions.
Is Ris Low being used as a smokescreen to distract Singaporeans from the real issues of the day? Is this the kind of journalism we expect from SPH, which is a public-listed company? And is the journalist who posted “sg-stupid.jpg” photo of Ris Low living up to the expectations of Rear-Admiral Lui Tuck Yew?
One cannot help but suspect if the journalists who took the trouble to dig out Miss Low’s past conviction and blowing it up in the media have a personal vendetta against her.
After all, her record will soon come to light when she applied to leave for South Africa and the onus will be on the authorities to grant her permission for her to leave, failing which the organizers will have no choice but to rescind her title.
There is really no need to wash her “dirty linen” in public to put her down when she has already been punished under the law for her mistakes. Yet, the state media found fit to lampoon her day after day to the extent of labeling her as “stupid”.
This is the kind of gutter journalism we have in Singapore when the media industry is completely dominated by one single player under the control of the ruling party without any other competitors.
Singaporeans have no choice but to read the Straits Times and other SPH publications. If we have an alternative media, then SPH will not dare to ride roughshod over us because its customers can always protest by boycotting it.
When other papers in the world are facing the spectre of closing down due to decreased readership and advertising such as FEER, SPH is still coping well by virtue of its monopoly in Singapore which will fall afoul of anti-trust laws in the United States.
Singaporeans should lobby for a change in the Newspaper and Printing Preses Law, break up SPH into various companies and liberalize the media industry in the future.
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28 Responses to “Straits Times deleted Ris Low’s photo, but “sg-stupid.jpg” remains”
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“SPH should issue an open apology to Miss Ris Low and have the errant journalist punished for such an unprofessional mistake or its image will be tarnished beyond repair.”
Ha ha ha!
You shallow monkeys really want state’s propaganda machine to apologise?
打狗也得看主人。
Ha ha ha!
She could really do singapore proud by going to the extreme like how her comrade Annabel Chong had done. That would be her redeeming act.
maybe the journalist’s friend or girlfriend is the one who would stand a good chance of replacing ris. or the journalist’s friend not happy she lost to ris in the contest.
better come clean hor!
better investigate hor, how can use state media for personal reason? no integrity hor!
I am really sad that Luke should associate her with Annabel Chong and calling her the comrade of Ris.
The fact that Luke knows who Annabel is speaks for itself.
Right from day one when the photo of Ris appeared in the papers, I did not feel anything repulsive, unlike some other
contests.
What was most admirable was she had always been truthful and remorseful. That I think Singapore can be proud of.
Using other people’s credit card is wrong, no doubt, but what is it compared to surfing sites like Annabel?
If luke were to apply for a post like say a teacher, do you
think interviewers should select him if they knew about
his surfing history?
Well, since the name Luke suggests to me something, may I say
let those who have no sin, cast the first stone.
If read the original source of the quotation “let him cast the first stone”, the story ends with saying that the crowd
went away without anybody casting any stone, beginning with the oldest to the youngest. Incidentally, I am 72.
此地无银三百两
做贼心虚, 掩耳盗铃
這叫欺善怕惡嘛！
這也叫捨本逐末！本末倒置！
這就是新聞壟斷的惡果！
到底誰是龍頭惡棍？
Rear-Admiral Lui Tuck Yew should come out and apologize to Singaporeans about the misinformations he claimed about the state media.
with ring worms crawling around in the kingdom of Great Asia, we don’t need two comedians.
They should label all the TH n GIC losses as ’sg-stupid-losses’
Only mindless chicken shits with no brains bash fallen little people to this extent of public amusement.
SICK ANIMALS!
Appropriate name to name. There should be the freedom to name what we feel like naming. I do not see what’s wrong and I happen to agree with the naming in this instance.
No need to apologise. ANYWAY THIS IS NOT NEWSWORTHY AT ALL. Let’s talk more important stuff.
The thallium snipe is as passe as the Dowager was in history.
If it’s found on the ST website, it’s not the journalist’s fault. It would be the admin staff in charge of updating news reports.
I think she is quite solid.. if only she can do something more daring. Singaporeans and all would love her. I cannot wait. All directors pls look for her.
I think this report is being way too dramatic! It’s just a file name for gawd’s sake! One cant deny what Ris did is wrong and though Ive taken a quiet and mutual stand all this while, this report prompts me to speak out with its overly dramatic contents. Its no doubt, what Ris did is stupid. Why sugarcoat? We are talking about our national pride here, not playing mommy to some young remorseful child.
Is it fair to the other worthy contestants? Its very easy to act all remorseful with the public and media scrutiny – sympathy is the EXACT reaction desired. Not every tom dick and harry can be our national pride. We need someone worthy, kind, eloquent, smart and classy – why should be compromise on our standards all the time??? There are alot of worthy contestants I believe. Its time to up our standards.
Lastly so what if Straits Times deleted that pic? Why the big hoo haa?? Stupid? Hell yea.
I don’t think it’s so much the filename issue; it’s more like the issue of having this woman being under the spotlight when there are other pressing issues a big-time paper like Straits Times should address. let the internet deal with the woman; leave the classier news for straits times instead.
still, it’s hard to look for alternatives when Ass-Pee-H’s the only big news outlet controlling the whole of a totalitarian state.
While its true that they should not have named the photo sg-stupid, you are being too dramatic here when suggest that ST gave publicity to the Ris Low story in order to cover up HDB prices issue. It was a story a lot of Singaporeans were interested in. Pageant winners are celebrities in all countries and such a incident would have gotten loads of press coverage anywhere in the world.
ST let their love of the govt to cloud their judgement, please dont let your hatred of ST cloud yours…
Whats is the big deal of naming a file??? Someone here is playing ANGLE. Would like to ask the author a question: Dont tell me you did not laugh or ever make fun over the Ris Low incident? Come on…come clean with it..
The journalist did not specifiy in anyway that sg-stupid.jpg = Ris Low…anyway, everyone has their unique way of naming a file…for the author to “linked” or assume that the file name refers to Ris Low, one cannot help but to think that he/she must have some degree of agreement to it right?..
This article is somehow unncessary…why blow up the Ris Low incident to another magnitude? why can’t we just let go, shut up and move on?
Anonymous said: Whats is the big deal of naming a file???
Now think for a minute. WHAT IF:
1. ST named a photo of LKY SenileOldMan.jpg ?
2. ST named a photo of your wife as AlreadyBonkHer.jpg?
Then so be it…is up to individual to judge whether the file name = the subject right?
My point here is that, if the author is concern about Ms Ris Low well being, he/she should not have bring up the file name issue and move on.
Anonymous, when a mistake is made, it must be correctly pointed out and rectified. We all learn form our mistakes, don’t we?
Moving on whenever a mistake is made will only help us to go backward and not forward, like where Sinkapore is heading for, right now.
Mistakes are brushed aside as ‘honest mistakes’ and screw ups are conveniently wayang off and Sinkaporeans told to move on.
Placed in similar damaging circumstances, I would pursue and exhaust my rights in a judicial forum. The compelling grounds for action is rights to natural justice.
Ris Low, this is your one fighting chance: Sue SPH for such defamatory intentions. I think you should just do that to teach them a lesson not to be so cocky.
Myopic minds grapple with Ris Low and her ilk when more pressing issues loom globally.
Do not blame the entire body of SPH for the mistake of one individual. It is ironic that the writer implores one to stop lynching Ris but in one singular sweeping statement, subjects the institution of SPH to scorn. (oooh, alliteration there.)
The erroneous act of the individual is one that flouts neither law nor semantics. (Has it occurred to the writer that a single being in a part-time position or internship could have stirred the pot? ) Why then, does the writer choose to defend Ris vehemently despite her blatant criminal act?
Why has this generated a hoo-ha of sorts?
The moral implications are dire. Prying eyes watch every move as the single nod would constitute national congruency in condoning Ris’ defiance, and hence, clanging a resounding message to the impressionable youths that there is no clear distinction between right and wrong.
In the words of Dr Thomas Lickona, a leading professor in Character Development, “Fortitude is the inner strength to do what’s hard when it’s hard to do it….Do the Hard Right instead of the Easy Wrong.”
Discipline may be tempered with grace and mercy but nevertheless, must be enforced.
Sigh…..Is sooooo unfortunate that someone here is still harping on file name and apologies issues. Anyway, many thinks that one has every right to name a file the way they like it…who are we to judge whether the file name is a “mistake”…
Come on move on and get a life
the entire premise of this letter is just… stupid. ris *is* stupid. what does anyone have to apologize for? stating a plain simple fact that is staring any non-stupid people in the face?
the filename is very amusing. and accurate. ris low is one of the worst examples of stupidity in singapore.
this letter is not even outstanding enough to be ranked that high, but it’s extremely stupid all the same.