Shame on you TNP! Shame on you!
I don’t buy The New Paper on a regularly basis. But I purposely went around searching for a copy of 28 May 2009 issue of TNP after hearing from someone on twitter saying that TNP published the name of the first Singaporean girl who caught the H1N1 virus. At first I didn’t believe the twitter-er. I thought the media were told not to publish the name of the lady who caught the H1N1 virus. I thought they would be responsible enough. I was wrong. TNP really published the name of the lady who caught H1N1 virus.
Shame on you TNP!
Why is there a need to publish the name of the girl who caught the H1N1 virus? Is there a need to publish her name? We all know your reporters are good at news investigations. There is no need to proof to us that you have the abilities to find out the girl’s name. It is not her fault that she caught the H1N1 virus. You think she want to catch the virus? You think she want to bring the virus back to Singapore and spread it in Singapore? Come on, she is the victim here. Why did you publish her name and subject her to public shaming when she is not at fault? How do you think her family and love ones will feel? What will her friends think about her after this incident? I’m very disgusted by the irresponsible reporting by The New Paper. Shame on you!
And to add on to the article, TNP also reminded us the name of the first Singapore gal who caught SARS by publishing her name again after 6 years. For those who have forgotten, she caught SARS at a time when nobody knew anything about that virus. She was the BIGGEST victim of the SARS virus in Singapore. Not only has her name been published by all the mainstream media in Singapore, she was also labelled as the “super spreader” because she spread the SARS virus to many other Singaporeans. Her father, mother and a few friends passed away after they caught the SARS virus from her. But if you think about it, it is totally not her fault for catching the SARS virus. It is also not her fault that she spread the virus to others. It is not her fault that the SARS virus killed her loved ones. She is the innocent party and the biggest victim. Why did the media publish her name back in 2003 and label her as the “super spreader”? Put yourself into her shoes. She has already lost her love ones because of SARS. How would you feel if you in her position? Why is there a need for TNP to publish the name of SARS patient 0 again? Why is there a need to make reference to her? Why the need to publish her name again? Did TNP think about her feelings when they were writing about her? Shame on you!
I still remember someone writing to the mainstream media and criticized all the media for their irresponsible reporting during the SARS. It is totally unnecessary to name the first person who caught the SARS virus and subject her to public scrutiny and shaming. I thought the mainstream media already learn the lesson from their past experience. Well, most of the mainstream media did learnt from the lesson and decided not to publish the name of the first H1N1 patient. Except for TNP. Shame on you!
And to sensationalize the story, The New Paper wrote this on the front page: “ZERO TOLERANCE? NETIZENS FLAME S’PORE’S FIRST H1N1 VICTIM. SUE HER, SAY SOME”. I was quite shocked to see this. I thought Singapore netizens have become more mature and responsible recently. In fact, I didn’t came across any blog/forum/twitter that flame the girl. Curious to find out who is the black sheep among the netizen, I read the article. It appears that all the netizen being mentioned in the article are from Stomp. My first reaction was “What else do you expect from Stomp?”. Stompers are famous for such irresponsible posting. Just browse thru the site and you will surely shake your head in disbelief. There have been calls to shut down stomp because of all the irresponsible posting by the Stompers and lack of regulations. Stomp is not a representation of the Singapore netizen. The culture there is totally different from what you see in the rest of Singapore blogs/forums/twitter/plurk. The rest of Singapore netizen are becoming more and more mature and responsible in the things they say.
And like many Singapore netizen, I heard about the first H1N1 case from Twitter. Everyone on twitter is re-tweeting about the first H1N1 case to warn the rest. One of the most re-tweeted message is a message by FluSingapore, a twitter account set up by Singapore Health Promotion Board.
RT @FluSingapore Passengers on SQ25 on 26 May from NY to SG (arrival 6.30am) seated in rows 52 to 58, pls contact MOH at 1800-333 9999.
A lot of Singapore Twitter-er re-tweet that message because we know that we need to find those people as soon as possible to prevent the H1N1 virus from spreading in Singapore. We know that it will be too late to wait for the main stream media. We re-tweet that message so that those people who are following us but not following FluSingapore can get the message too and pass it around. Hopefully thru the word of mouth, this crucial information will reach those passengers before anymore damages are done. Did TNP report about these responsible netizens who play their part in the fight against the H1N1 virus? Does TNP know that Singapore Health Promotion Board has already been prepared for the H1N1 virus by setting up @FluSingapore twitter accout a couple of weeks back so that they can broadcast information about the H1N1 virus to Singapore twitter-er? Does TNP knows that more than 300 Singaporean Twitter-ers are following @FluSingapore so that they can get first hand information about H1N1, and when there is a need, help spread the message to the rest of Singapore? No, TNP doesn’t know that Singapore netizen has been mature and responsible during the H1N1 crisis. All TNP does is to report just the irresponsible comments in Stomp and sensationalize the whole story. Shame on you!
And the entire TNP article didn’t even provide the most important information: Her flight number. As a responsible media, it is your duty to broadcast important information like these so that the people who might have close contact with patient 0 can take extra precaution and visit the doctor immediately if they have any flu like symptoms. But no, TNP didn’t report the flight number and row number. All they are interested in is to tell the whole world the name of the first Singaporean who caught the H1N1 virus. Shame on you!
Everyone played their part when news about the first H1N1 case in Singapore broke. The patient did the right thing by going to the doctor when she is feeling unwell. The doctor did the right thing by sending her to TTSH. Health minister did the right thing by getting everyone prepared weeks before the incident. The patient’s boyfriend did the right thing by isolating himself because he is afraid he might had caught the H1N1 virus too. HPB and MOH did the right thing by being well prepared for the first H1N1 case. Netizen did the right thing by spreading the message on twitter, forums and blog. The mainstream media did the right thing by reporting the story responsibly. All except for The New Paper who choose to publish the name of H1N1 patient 0, the name of SARS patient 0 again and slamming local “netizen” for flaming patient 0. Shame on you! All the reporters and editors involved in this article should be ashamed of themselves for such irresponsible article!
I stop reading the rest of The New Paper after reading the 4 page H1N1 report. I feel very disgusted by the irresponsible reporting by the reporters at The New Paper. I’ve thrown my copy of The New Paper where I think it should belong.
I’ve decided to stop buying The New Paper from today onwards until TNP apologise for the irresponsible reporting on 25 May 2009. Join me if you think that the H1N1 article by TNP is irresponsible. Help spread the words and say no to irresponsible reporting.
Update 29 May 2009, 12pm: Someone just told me that the article is now available on the online version of TNP. Which means that if someone google on her name, they might see that article by TNP. Shame on you TNP!
Update 29 May 2009, 3pm: The girl who caught the H1N1 virus requested not to reveal her identity. But TNP did not listen. Shame on you TNP!
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Leave a comment!
i’ve long stopped purchasing TNP for the fact that they sensationalise everything. i’ve met some of their reporters as well and suffice to say, their arrogance and attitude did little to convince me to even touch the tabloid.
if i’m not mistaken in the first article CNA published, they mentioned that the victim -did not want- her name to be published. seems more like TNP beat around the bush, gathering information from the most ‘credible’ of sources and using it as a basis for their article.
indeed. shame on you TNP. shame shame shame.
Not going to buy TNP again.
That was very mean to name the first person who caught SARS a “Super spreader”. How can anyone be so insensitive? I feel shocked as well.
Hillary’s last blog post..Having ten children is not a lot, is it?
I’m with you. Shame on TNP!
Love that picture. Yeah! That’s where TNP belongs, in the dustbin.
never a fan of TNP and STOMP should be closed for it’s immature community anyways. I’m assume most of them are teens because of the immature and irresponsible comments, shouldn’t schools be educating them on this too? sex education is not much of a big deal if the people can’t even behave like a ‘proper human being’..sheesh
well said btw, the journalists and editor ought to reflect on their action. I expect them to apologize to the girl anyways.that’s the least they can do, not like it changes anything but basic manners.
iammyy’s last blog post..Blogging Blues
Totally well said, DK. The girl has actually requested the school not to reveal her identity, and that was included in the official release from Office of Corporate Communications SMU. Why can’t they respect that?
They should at least apologize. And to the SARS victim too.
sylv’s last blog post..To Be Thankful pt 2
2 words. Tabloid. ok thats 1 word.
tabloid newspaper would do anything to get that juicy news/gossip. now where is the integrity in that?
trashy newspaper, evil and insensitive editor.
Thanks for this post and standing up to them DK. Shame on TNP indeed. I’ve not bought TNP in years, and after this, don’t intend to either. They report on the behaviour of irresponsible netizens, but what about the irresponsible journalists themselves? Respect and decency totally went out of the window here.
Nabilah Said’s last blog post..spoilers
i read the article this morning and was shocked too. shame on TNP indeed. i’ve never liked STOMP. i think it’s total trash with all the bitching. they should really wise up.
Jacelyn’s last blog post..Survey on Smartphones – Stand a Chance to Win!
I support this
while you can blame the paper for publishing the name, but don’t you think the immature reader population has to be blamed as well? If they are mature enough, not only will they not blame the victim but pass on care and concern and encouragement to the girl.
But then again, tabloid readers…..
chillycraps’s last blog post..going on circle
Like many others, I’ve also stopped buying TNP for years.
And yes SHAME ON YOU TNP!
cl0udi3’s last blog post..the morning when everything went wrong
Utterly shocked!
DC’s last blog post..端午节快乐!
Shame on you TNP!!!!
Shame on all media that posted the poor girl’s name up.
But on another note, although it might not be fair or representative of netizens when they say Stompers say ‘such and such’; it is easy to think that they are representative considering how popular the website is. I don’t like their ways as well but it is easily one of the biggest pools of black sheep we can find around.
We can just all hope that the majority who reads the article have some sense that the poor girl is just a victim and not someone we should be blaming.
krisandro’s last blog post..Lessons From The 4th Week Of Marathon Training
Shame on you LOCAL PRESS.
Excellent write-up!
I wonder if this poor Singaporean girl who got the virus were the editor’s relative, would they have published her name?
Plain irresponsible and low-handed tactic that care more about readership than respect for humans!
Kudos to your article my friend!
Best regards,
MN
Melvin Neo’s last blog post..Building Blocks For Successful Living
STOMP is just some lazy way to check on some accessible irresponsible comments. Netizens, netizens. This blog is an example of where they should gather their online opinions.
Shame on you TNP!!
I hope TNP read this. I’ll stop buying TNP from today.
Shame on you!
I’ll stop buying TNP from today.
[ Not only has her name been published by all the mainstream media in Singapore, she was also labelled as the “super spreader” ...]
Lest we forget, it was Lim Hng Kiang aka Hairdo Lim who said “{NAME OF 1ST LOCAL SARS VICTIM} infected the whole lot of us.” at an April 2003 press conference. Also said that spalling concrete was caused by homeowners spraying water on ceilings.
So sad TNP did this, hope the girl recover soon.
Aaron: You mean the label was given by Lim Hng Kiang and not the mainstream media? k, thx for informing. I thought that label was given by the mainstream media.
insensitive. irresponsible. so sad, so sad.
Its kinda pointless to flame TNP, it only gives them more publicity
dk. Lim Hng Kiang used “super-infector”. If you look under Earliest Citation in http://www.wordspy.com/words/superinfector.asp , he was the one who coined the term. Must have thought it was an achievement at that time, similar to Lee Bee Wah using “pang sai” in Parliament.
I think both mainstream media and netizens have a part to play in this whole issue.
True, there are some irresponsible netizens who make dumb, irresponsible comments e.g.
(She’s a ‘troublemaker’, netizen deritz said on The Straits Times interactive website Stomp.
‘Should sue her for bringing in the virus!’ he added.) (taken from the Electric New Paper – and yes dk you can find her name when you google it
)
However, in the mainstream media, there are also tabloid papers who thrive on sensationalism and it’s totally disgusting (like TNP). Readers are to blame too if they buy TNP and supported it’s growth.
All in all, while I would not buy TNP as well, I think it’s time for readers of both the mainstream media and netizens to start showing more sensibility in the choice of newspapers or sites they read and support, and start showing more maturity and responsibility in the comments they make. STOMP should go, so should TNP.
DK… You just increased people curiosity to buy TNP. LOL.
But anyway very irresponsible of them. Although in common, we tend to blame people who spread the virus, but who can the sick person blame?
And to be labeled as super spreader, gosh.. should we be adding on the agony for the person? Imagine being sick and quarantined. And the others who are being quarantined. We should be more positive and give them encouragement.
Being negative about H1N1 virus will only cause people who are sick unwillingly to see doctor.
Jessie: No no no no no no. Don’t go and buy TNP just to read that article. Not worth it. (Anyway, its yesterday’s TNP. Can’t buy already) Don’t go to their website and give them page view either. That will only reward them to do it again.
If you really curious and want to read, my copy of TNP is still in the dustbin. I can pass to you.
oh yes, i was reading about it, my parents buys TNP, i think most of the headlines comes from STOMP.
If you eat cockles, u shit, the cockles eat your shit, and you eat the cockles.
now not only happening in TNP, shin min papers are crap too.
All the city state controlled media newspapers are alike found in Singapore ONLY! Same shits! Wondering how many Singaporeans stop buying the papers! Just talk cock , no actions! Sad, sad, …sad!
SingaporeanCA: To be fair, I think ST, CNA and Today did a good job by not revealing the name of the girl. I’m not sure about the rest of the Mainstream media.
I think TNP / Shin Min / Wan Bao are reflective of a side of local society which many of us distant ourselves from – the heartlanders.
If you look at then-PM Goh’s definition when he first coined it, it pictures your typical HDB aunty / uncle, lesser educated, leading utterly mundane lives.
They live, nay, thrive on such rubbish “news”. And hence the 3 papers mentioned above are full of who got raped / murdered / molested / robbed.
TNP is just filling that void in the demand. So as much as I agree, that we should call for the blood of the editor (metaphorically of course), let us remember that he was just fulfilling a need.
Its sad, but true.
ra’s last blog post..Relak One Corner
Wow, i wasn’t aware of this “super spreader” label during SARS. That’s nasty, that’s worse than mean. I found out about the first H1N1 case through Twitter too, and believe me, her identity never came to mind at all. That’s the last thing anyone would care about! It could very well be me or you getting the virus.
melly’s last blog post..Pizzaaaa
If you are angry because TNP named the first patient of H1N1 in Singapore, you’ll be hopping mad to know that her picture was on the front page of the chinese newspaper. I can’t remember which one chinese newspaper though.
I’ve been following the developments very closely on the news worldwide. Names are only been mention when the patient is either dead or is being interviewed.
Does the editior of our local papers follow any code of ethics on news reporting?
Motd: Thanks for informing me. I’ll try to find out which one.
Anyway, I hate those chinese evening newspaper.
this article should be published on TNP that would be funny
I refer to your post ‘She requested not to reveal her identity. But TNP did not listen!’
As you rightfully quoted: The affected student has requested that we not reveal her identity. We request all members of SMU to respect her request and her privacy.
Which part of all ‘members of SMU’ sounds like it is part of TNP? How can you assume that TNP would get an internal email circulated by SMU? You’re being assuming here.
If SMU wanted to the girl’s identity to be unknown, they should have gone to the media directly.I don’t think the media is as merciless as you think.
Mimosa: you got a point there. TNP might not have gotten the request. But if TNP is responsible enough like ST, CNA and Today, they would have omitted her name in their article.
This kind of things don’t need to teach one.
DK’s last blog post..She requested not to reveal her identity. But TNP did not listen!
I do not think there is anything wrong with naming her. After all, she did nothing wrong, it is not like she had committed a crime.
The bright side to this is that people who know her will show concern towards her. And that is a good thing, is it not?
As for the people who criticise her, the bloggers will criticise these ‘critics’, and in that sense it becomes a self-correcting mechanism.
hello, if tnp happ 2 know the name, it muz haf been someone hu informed them first right? if all those who knew dont say, tnp cld never have found out. so if someone is willin 2 tell, y nt?
Dear DK,
You have a lot of ppl with warped logic reading your blog. Just look at the 2 foregoing comments.
Just thought i’d point them out to ya. =P
ra’s last blog post..Relak One Corner
anyway, you do realise that you are adding fuel to the fire with all ur discussions right?
It could have been a ‘let bygones be bygones’ thing, but instead you guys choose to continue writing about this and its only gg to make things worse.
u could have given it to me so that my dog could pee on it, it’s a bit wasted when i see it lying in the dustbin.
who is flaming her, I don’t even know her name till TEE NEE PEE reveals it.
Dear Mimosa, also known as hello?, also known as Ngauw
It doesn’t matter if TNP knows or don’t know about the request to keep her identity a secret. As a responsible media, TNP should known that they should keep her identity a secret. Clearly TNP did not. It seems to me that they are more interested in sensationalizing the story rather than provide useful information.
Oh, by the way. In case you still have no idea how blogs work, everytime you submit a reply, your IP address is being logged by the system and I can see them clearly. All 3 of you share the same IP address (203.116.231.234), commented on my blog within 15minutes span and defended TNP’s irresponsible action. How interesting. Since yesterday till now, the “3 of you” are the only people who step out and defended TNP.
You should check out the amount of backslash TNP is getting on twitter and other blog. Try convincing those people that TNP is innocent.
Typical mankind, only care about themselves, blame others for bringing trouble while not putting themselves in the person’s shoes. I’m glad that people still have morals to pity that girl.
Never did buy TNP and never will buy TNP.
I only knew that Singapore had 1 case, but did not know the name of the person. I ain’t interested in knowing anyway.
What’s the point of knowing her name? Put her name in the middle of some sort of ritual in hope to make the disease not spread?
Stupid.
What’s the point of blaming her for bringing in the disease? To protect ourselves from the disease we have to blame her so?
Stupid.
Reasons to label those people as stupid, selfish and inconsiderate.
It’s not as if the disease will be controlled if we blame her, hate her and insult her. Why not just do your own part to protect yourself from the disease? It was only a matter of time Singapore would have its first case, confirmed. There has to be a person to start everything, including the start of the whole H1N1 incident. She’s just another person who brought a start to it for Singapore.
In this case, I can’t really hate TNP for publishing her name. What’s more important is educating those inconsiderate people. They deserve to be the ones insulted and hated.
This is why peace and harmony can never happen in Singapore, only caring about themselves.
Xinmin paper printed her blurried photo…
DC’s last blog post..端午节快乐!