18 Dec 2013
Press Statements & Speeches
In response to media queries on the broadcasts by CtiTV programme News Tornado on 9 and 10 December 2013 and the subsequent statement of News Tornado on its Facebook page on 13 December 2013, a Spokesman from the Singapore Trade Office in Taipei said:
“We note the clarifications made by News Tornado in the statement published on its Facebook page on 13 December 2013. However, these clarifications had failed to address all the inaccuracies and misleading arguments in its recent coverage on Singapore.
For instance, News Tornado’s discussion in its 9 December episode regarding the riot in Little India in Singapore carried a gross inaccuracy. The programme host claimed that Singapore Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong had said that he would cane the 27 rioters caught. We want to point out that Prime Minister Lee did not make this comment. Instead, Prime Minister Lee wrote on his Facebook page on 9 December that, “We will spare no effort to identify the culprits and deal with them with the full force of the law.”
In its 10 December episode, a CtiTV commentator erroneously said that Singapore government officers are allowed to change locks of public housing units indiscriminately, and that during the dengue season, the officers are allowed to pick locks and enter private residences to check for stagnant water and issue summons.
These are inaccurate and misleading. Singapore government officers only enter vacant premises to check for mosquito breeding if the situation warrants it, such as when there is a cluster of dengue fever cases in an area and the owner cannot be contacted; and when there are strong indications that there is mosquito breeding within the premises and the owner cannot be contacted.
There were many more other inaccurate, misleading and baseless points made in reference to Singapore during News Tornado’s episodes on 9 and 10 December. However, we do not intend to make a point-by-point correction. We hope that CtiTV will exercise due diligence and be more responsible in its future reporting.”
SINGAPORE TRADE OFFICE IN TAIPEI
18 DECEMBER 2013