Media content analysis: Signs that elections are coming
November 9, 2009 by admin01
Filed under Columnists, Economics, Khalil Adis, Opinion
By Khalil Adis, Social Correspondent
One has to read in between the lines to decipher news from propaganda
Is it just my imagination or has the state media been orchestrating “feel good” news to prepare Singaporeans for the upcoming elections to be held by 2011?
From the Housing Development Board (HDB) recording a deficit of S$2.119 billion to companies fighting for higher wages for low-skilled workers, the news are almost too good to be true.
The average man on the streets may not be able to understand media content analysis.
With elections looming, it would be to Singaporeans’ advantage to understand Singapore’s press system and that media ownership does affect news reporting.
Understanding media content analysis will then help Singaporeans read news more critically so that they can make an informed decision when they go to the polls (assuming there are no walkovers in readers’ ward).
Singapore’s press system
While western democracies such as the United States sees the media as a “market place of ideas” and a watchdog of the government, Singapore practices a “nation building” press system.
Minister Mentor Lee Kuan Yew has maintained that this was needed for Singapore’s development when he first took over as the first Prime Minister of Singapore.
A free wheeling press, he argued, will eventually lead to the collapse of a nation as evidenced by the liberal press of the Philippines.
“The Philippines, before martial law, was an Asian version of the US system. The Philippine press enjoyed all the freedom but they failed the Filipino people,” said Lee in an address to the American Society of Newspaper Editors on 14 April 1988.
Lee does have his point as a nation building press was crucial for Singapore’s development due to the racial conflicts and religious fault lines that the Singapore government had to tackle post independence.
Media ownership
Let’s take a look at MediaCorp which publishes Today newspaper. MediaCorp is 100 percent owned by Temasek Holdings – the Singapore government’s wholly owned investment arm.
Its chief executive officer is Ho Ching, daughter-in-law of Minister Mentor Lee Kuan Yew and wife of Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong.
The government, thus, has a monopoly on television broadcasting and directly holds most of the radio channels in Singapore.
As a media entity that is owned by Temasek Holdings, MediaCorp has to report on stories that support the ruling party’s ideologies.
Any other news that is critical of the Singapore government is generally not tolerated. Remember Mr Brown anyone?
Media content analysis
Fast-forward 43 years later, Singapore still practices the “nation building” press system as evidenced by an analysis of Today’s media content on 3 November 2009.
The first page itself screamed a mini headline called “HDB turns community builders”.
In it, the HDB said it had set up a new Community Relations Department two months ago to tackle the problems of squabbles among neighbours and the assimilating immigrants in the heartlands.
HDB’s news appeared amid rising concerns among frustrated netizens over the government’s open doors policy towards immigrants which has priced Singaporeans out from the HDB resale market, as cash rich immigrants are able to offer higher cash-over-valuations (COVs)
Flyers from property agents, acting on behalf of permanent residents, have been flooding the heartlands, promising high COVs to prospective sellers.
Another “feel good” news is the “Drop in arrears despite recession”
HDB said it was partly due to the introduction of trained counselors to help distressed families.
However, it is worth noting that the Resale Price Index (RPI) is now at its record high, which means distressed owners were able to sell off their properties at a good profit and downgrade to a smaller flat.
This is something that was affirmed by Nicholas Mak, formerly from Knight Frank, and now a lecturer in real estate at Ngee Ann Polytechnic.
One only needs to go down to the grassroots and see the genuine hardship cases at the Meet-the-MP session, to see for oneself, how many Singaporeans are facing problems in servicing their HDB mortgage loan either through genuine hardship cases or their own folly.
Another big shocker was HDB’s $2.119 billion deficit this financial year.
However, this has already been discussed by fellow contributor Damon Yeo, in his well-researched piece.
While the HDB feels the need to engage the public via the traditional press like Today, it has continued to ignore netizens as evidenced by its refusal to respond to Temasek Review’s press query.
It is worth noting that the People’s Action Party (PAP) just last week said it was using online media to win the hearts and minds of Singaporeans – a media popular among opposition parties and those who are critical of the Singapore government.
HDB on the other hand has refused to engage with Temasek Review’s readers.
Its continued silence will only create more questions.
Other social news include “On better terms” which cites companies like the National University Hospital (NUH) fighting for higher wages for its low-wage staff alongside comments by Senior Parliamentary Secretary (Manpower) Hawazi Daipi.
This is in contrast to MM Lee’s comments on the widening gap between the rich and the poor.
In response to a question by a SMU student on what Singapore could do to help its bottom 20 per cent, MM Lee answered that Singapore’s approach has been to create as many jobs as possible, while leaving the market to decide the right type of pay.
“Never mind your Gini coefficient. If you don’t have a job you get zero against those with jobs. So our first priority is jobs for everybody,” Lee said.
Another news piece, aimed at opposition held Hougang, had headlines that read “In Hougang, help in now closer at hand”.
It mentioned that Community Development Council (CDC) officers are now stationed in their community to better help residents in distress.
Bread and butter issues are important to heartlanders and announcing this news can be seen one way for the PAP to win voters in the opposition held ward.
However, one has to remember that going through the welfare process and asking for help is a different thing altogether.
Welfare is a dirty word in Singapore.
For those who have fallen on hard times and seek CDC’s help, they have been subjected to CDC officers who can be rude and unsympathetic to their concerns.
The CDC officers are just merely going through the motion, as it is their jobs to do so.
One also has to show how pathetic one’s bank account is plus credit card spending to lament a “scolding” from CDC officers.
In the meantime, Singaporeans can expect more “feel good” news until election times are over.
The only consolation is that they are now better equipped to decipher news from propaganda.
About the Author:
Khalil Adis graduated from Monash University with a Bachelors of Arts (Communications). He helps out at the Taman Jurong Constituency Meet the MP session whenever time permits and has seen genuine hardship cases from fellow Singaporeans.
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A Tan on Mon, 9th Nov 2009 4:48 pm
Sounds abt right.
But let’s face reality. There is gd, gd news if you have a property and have paid off yr mortgage or most of it.
A hse along my street went for 61% more than its neighbour which was sold in 2006. And we juz got out of a recession! I feel gd. I did f@#$ALL and can reap an additiona 61% if I sell now. I got options.
Yes the propoganda machine is rolling but there is gd news for all property owners.
fpc on Mon, 9th Nov 2009 5:12 pm
too tame for TR…
Emb on Mon, 9th Nov 2009 5:47 pm
Where is the Swiss standard of living you promise us? We vote for you because of your promise. I see old folks in China practicing TaiJi during retirement but our old folks retire cleaning tables in coffee shops. We will grown old one day, I don’t want myself, my children n average s’porean cleaning tables. If I vote for you to end up as a cleaner, I may as well put my future with opposition. I have a better chance to retire gracefully. I don’t want my grandchildren and friends to see me cleaning tables.
Political SalesMaN on Mon, 9th Nov 2009 6:40 pm
The more U drink New Water the more U get weaker & weaker,
Get tire easily, Brain can’t work properly.Hand & Leg get numb.
U can’t even vote properly. Always vote the PAP.
Anonymous on Mon, 9th Nov 2009 8:04 pm
Lots of “happy” Singaporeans surveys lately. But I don’t hear
clap, clap, clap anywhere
cy on Mon, 9th Nov 2009 9:03 pm
election should be after budget 2010 and before June 2010.
Anyway reading propaganda news, just remember mathematician Carl Jacobi – invert, always invert!
Call For Change on Mon, 9th Nov 2009 10:11 pm
Yes, I am also of the view that elections are coming. But I think it will most probably be held in December this year than next year.
My reasons:
1. The PAP MPs have already started house visits in their respective constituencies.
2. PM Lee has already spoken to his PAP members, youths and supporters.
3. The Election Register, which has been updated up to Feb 2009 still can be used as long as elections are held within 2009. That means at least 30,000 young voters who are mostly going to vote against PAP will not be able to cast their votes.
4. If elections are held next year, then the Election Register has to be revised.
5. A rosy picture on our economy has started to take shape, culminating with the latest forecast by the Minimen (Minister Mentor in short) for next year at 3% growth.
6. Last but not all, knowing that his son is weak in working up the ground, lately the Minimen is desperately projecting himself as the symbolic backbone of Singapore in order to get the votes of the old folks once again.
Nevertheless, no matter when the elections are held, our collective will and collective power must be put to good use this time. We must all vote wisely.
Vote to ensure the social divide between the rich and the poor, between commoners and the elites, between the powerful and the powerless do not continue to widen.
Vote for the well-being and the welfare of our people instead of the well-being of the wealthy and those in power.
Vote for our future generations instead of the present convenience and comforts, and the little sweeteners once every four years or so.
Vote for CHANGE. We have been taken for a ride for a very long time. It is time for Change. We have the power. The power is in our collective will.
Indonesia has changed. Malaysia has changed. Thailand has changed. Taiwan has changed. Japan has changed. US has changed. China and India are changing. So are many other countries. Yes, we can also change.
Lehman Brothers on Mon, 9th Nov 2009 10:39 pm
The PAP probably want elections to be held as soon as possible in case a double dip recession hits Singapore some time in the near future and weakens their voter base. I hope all opposition parties are ready.
citizenofSG on Mon, 9th Nov 2009 11:07 pm
TR, thanks for the input. However even everybody here voted for opposition there are so many more who are fed by MSM, they may not vote for opposition, what should we do.
They only got one source of news where here we have diverse sources of news. That make us more and better informed. We must help those whose mind are trapped by the constant brain wash by the MSM.
What should we do in order to drum up the war against the PAP? We cannot let them win again this time else we have a lot to lose. For all we know TR may no longer be available after election due to expensive law suit.
We must free the Singapore from the grip of the PAP. We must tell fellow share holder of Singapore that we want a cheaper, faster and better management team for Singapore. PAP is too expensive and we no longer can pay such an expensive team and we are going for something that is more lean and give us service instead of us being use by them to serve their purpose and richness.
For starter how about giving us an insight of the opposition parties. Who are their candidates and let us do a stringent test on them before PAP start using MSM to bombard them during election and damage the opposition changes once again.
More lies on Mon, 9th Nov 2009 11:26 pm
From past elections dates…
http://www.elections.gov.sg/elections_past_parliamentary.html
…we can see that general elections fall into 3 categories:
1) APR/MAY: After budget (read: goodies) is announced (2006,1968)
2) AUG/SEP: After national day rally (read: goodies) (1991,1988,1972)
3) DEC/JAN: During the feel-good holiday season (read: young people traveling out of town), and after new-year goodies are announced (1997,1984,1980,1976)
An odd one is the 2001 GE, right after Sep 11 attacks, to capitalize on the pervasive fear.
There must be goodies announced prior to an election. Currently, there are not that many (they’ll probably need a lot to buy citizens over this time). The only big one I can think of is upgrading for opposition wards.
VOTEWISE on Mon, 9th Nov 2009 11:39 pm
So,election’s coming.
good..just VOTEWISEly!
the future is in our hands..yes! WE also CAN lah!
Exposer on Mon, 9th Nov 2009 11:50 pm
“6. Last but not all, knowing that his son is weak in working up the ground, lately the Minimen is desperately projecting himself as the symbolic backbone of Singapore in order to get the votes of the old folks once again.”
Hey, you forget number 7 !
7. Old fart is having his last breath.
ronin on Mon, 9th Nov 2009 11:59 pm
The local press and local TV are merely the public relations division of MIW……nothing more.
I really wonder why any journalist with even an iota of journalistic integrity/pride would want to work in The Shit Times, or any local newspaper for that matter.
ronin on Tue, 10th Nov 2009 12:05 am
I won’t be surprised if the garhmen secretly block or attack websites such as TR and theonlinecitizenship when election is near.
Ex-PAP supporter on Tue, 10th Nov 2009 12:12 am
Yes, all we are reading is good news from the Shitty Times. Is is obvious to all that the Shitty Times is softening up the people for elections. But it is not going to work this time.
Thousands and thousands of Singaporeans are unemployed. And whenever we step out of our house, we are surrounds by thousands and thousands of foreigners who have taken our jobs.
Unless they can remove all these foreigners, these ‘trash’ will be a constant reminder why we need to vote for Change.
Ex-PAP supporter on Tue, 10th Nov 2009 12:17 am
Nobody bothers about the news in our MSM. More and more Singaporeans are turning to new media. No sure who bothers to turn to the MSM nowadays.
Exposer on Tue, 10th Nov 2009 12:32 am
“There must be goodies announced prior to an election. Currently, there are not that many (they’ll probably need a lot to buy citizens over this time). The only big one I can think of is upgrading for opposition wards.”
There are already very generous goodies given out, though sadly it is not for us but for the outside foreigner. Isn’t we given out more than $100 billions dollars Ang Pow to the world through TH and GIC?
Aspen on Tue, 10th Nov 2009 6:31 pm
“Khalil Adis graduated from Monash University with a Bachelors of Arts (Communications). He helps out at the Taman Jurong Constituency Meet the MP session whenever time permits..”
Does this mean the writer is PAPie?
votepapout on Tue, 10th Nov 2009 8:56 pm
vote the MM out in his last election. This should be the retribution he deserve for the many things he did in the past, inorder to secure his power. He has destroyed many of his opponents’ life and never give them a chance to survive.
Collectively, the native Singaporeans should destroy the MM ‘greed of power’. LKY has a communist mindset, he treated the so called’ less intellected’ like dirt. Indeed, in his eye, all the local born Singaporeans are dirt to be under his shoes forever.
Vote LKY out!!!!
Khalil Adis on Tue, 10th Nov 2009 11:24 pm
Aspen,
I am not with any political party. I am just helping needy residents in my area because I want to.
Regards
Khalil
Grass Root Leader on Wed, 11th Nov 2009 5:16 am
Recently I have had three encounters with CDC staffs, when I helped to bring some poor souls to see them.
Yes, I agree with what the writer said about the CDC staff. They are bloody rude, arrogant, uncouth, domineering, stuck-up, like opening their golden mouths to reply to our queries is so damned difficult.
And they really look down on the poor, and down and out people. Treated them like 2nd or 3rd class citizens.
And these fellows are drawing taxpayers money through the PAPa leegally ‘corrupt’ system. And just imagine they got 8 months bonus last year, when economy was bad, for their bad performance!
Exposer on Wed, 11th Nov 2009 8:51 am
TR might be interested in this
http://www.cnn.com/2009/OPINION/11/09/israel.startup.nation/index.html
It mention something of productivity and Singapore’s student
Israel’s lively start-up culture keeps economy thriving
New York (CNN) — Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu returns to Washington, D.C., Monday to address a conference of the American Jewish Federations at a time of concern in Israel that the U.S.-Israel relationship is adrift.
Although Netanyahu has used each of his recent U.S. visits to make the case for confronting Iran and its nuclear ambitions, he might consider broadening the subject.
Israel’s leader should speak to Americans not just about what threatens Israel, or what Israel’s critics say, but also on what is unique about his nation’s economy at a time of great economic uncertainty for Americans, when the unemployment rate here has just crossed the 10 percent threshold.
Israel has stood out among advanced economies as a place where the crisis hit softer, and may have passed quicker, than almost anywhere else. Israel’s economic growth has not been based on easy credit or a real estate boom, but on the technology-driven productivity gains that economists believe is the key to sustained economic growth.
So what are the lessons for the U.S. economy?
The answer is not a mystery. In 1987, MIT economist Robert Solow received the Nobel Prize for his work demonstrating that productivity increases are the basis for durable growth, and the main source of increased productivity is innovation, and especially technological innovation.
This straightforward idea remains central to the economic consensus today. The question has become, as a BusinessWeek cover recently put it, “Can America invent its way back?”
If innovation is the key, where does it come from? The best place to look for a model is the country that has produced the most concentrated combination of innovation and entrepreneurship in the world: Israel.
As an investor in Israeli start-ups (Senor), and as a journalist who has covered the Israeli economy (Singer), we have seen first-hand the dynamic combination at work.
With fewer people than the state of New Jersey, Israel has more companies on the tech-oriented NASDAQ than any country outside the United States — more than all of Europe, Japan, Korea, India, and China combined. Israel also attracts more of the global pool of venture capital investments per capita than any other country — 2.5 times America’s, 30 times Europe’s, 80 times China’s, and 300 times India’s.
The reason for this is not that Israel has particularly smart people. Students from Singapore outperform most of their peers in math and science, according to international rankings. But Singapore — and other countries with impressive economies like Korea, Japan and Finland — don’t produce an ecosystem of tech start-ups.
What makes a start-up culture? The Israeli military, surprisingly, is a big part of this, not so much because of its own research and development, but rather as a result of the training that most Israelis must go through.
The military matures young people faster than the American undergraduate college experience, teaches them about teamwork, serving something beyond themselves, and how to improvise and complete missions with inadequate resources and imperfect information.
In the military, Israelis get used to dealing with adversity, as individuals and as a country. Yet unlike other militaries, including that of the United States, they learn that rank and titles are not really what matters, and that junior officers must challenge their superiors if they think they are wrong.
The tendency to tinker, question and improvise that often begins in the military leads to a particular Israeli specialty: technological “mashups.”
Israel leads the world in medical device patents, partly because when Israelis discover a technology, they can’t help considering applications to solve unrelated problems.
Just look at a company called Given Imaging, whose founder realized that the miniaturized sensing systems in the nose cone of a fighter jet could serve a medical purpose.
He adapted the sensor to produce a swallowable camera, the size of a pill, to beam out a movie from inside a patient’s intestines. This is making some highly invasive and painful diagnostic surgeries all but obsolete. As with so many Israeli start-ups, PillCam is now a major company and has spawned a new industry.
Another major ingredient of Israel’s start-up culture is openness to new immigrants, who are natural risk takers. Israel is home to some 70 different nationalities, including Jewish refugees from Ethiopia, Iran, Ukraine and Poland, and the Israeli government has implemented unique policies to assimilate them. Two out of every three Israelis are newcomers or the children of immigrants.
The result of all this has been an economy that for the past five years has substantially outstripped the average GDP growth rate of developed countries.
This pattern was not broken by the recent global downturn. In February 2008, a mystified International Monetary Fund asked in its own report, “Why was Israel’s financial sector not more affected by the global financial crisis?” Its answer: conservative banking practices, high transparency and detailed reporting to regulators.
As a result, the IMF found that Israel had become “something of a safe haven” for locals repatriating capital from more hostile global environments.
For the global economy to recover and thrive, it is not enough for individual companies to cultivate innovation.
What is needed is for countries to build a comprehensive culture of innovation that welcomes risk-takers from all over the world; encourages young people to improvise, to be mission oriented, question established business models; and institute sensible regulations and monetary policies that do not create perverse “easy money” proxies for growth.
While Israel has much to learn from the world, other countries need to look at how Israel has produced the world’s most innovative start-up economy. That’s what Netanyahu should talk about in his address today.
Substance over cosmetic on Wed, 11th Nov 2009 10:03 am
First the MIW (after 2 years preparation), then the LUP, then the grassroot leaders usurping the LUP implementation bundled up with wonder migrants including a Chinese national selling Indian roti prata ( I call this prata election gimmick), then the alleged cutback of new immigrant intake announcement, then the sudden increase in BTO HDB flats, then the extension of Resilience Package, then the encouragement to employers to pay more out of money ( MOST IRONICALLY???) handed out by Resilience Package, then the “happy” citizen survey, then the NY Big Apple hot news,and now the glamorous APEC circus show….. I think the next news item could be
- 1/2 month bonus for civil servants straight after Apec
- followed by election SSSSSSS OOOOOOOOO OOOOOOOOO NNNNNN
after
Any betting men or women hedging their bets
amused on Wed, 11th Nov 2009 3:31 pm
Why did you use an image of Singapore Press Holdings logo and a screen dump of the Straits Times website on this article when there was nothing in it about that company SPH?
If you’re going to talk about Media Corp, use there logo … or Today newspaper …
Not only is it misleading, it’s lazy. At least match up the pictures with the content, even the most basic of news reporting does that!
And why only focus on Media Corp and Today … why not look at Straits Times or My Paper of New Paper stories if you’re doing an authentic look at ‘media content analysis’.
There are all these people complaining about the lack of transparent media in Singapore but Temasek Review is as guilty when you publish this sort of lazy content.
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