Straits Times refuses to publish Chee Soon Juan's unedited letter reply to Minister Chan Chun Sing

They wanted to remove three paragraphs that made references to Lee Kuan Yew.

Belmont Lay| January 17, 01:56 PM

Singapore Democratic Party leader Chee Soon Juan has revealed in a Facebook post on Jan. 17, 2015, that The Straits Times had wanted to edit three paragraphs out of his letter to them before publication.

Chee refused.

Referring to himself in the third person, Chee wrote on his own Facebook page about himself: "The Straits Times has refused to publish Dr Chee Soon Juan's letter to Mr Chan Chun Sing. It wanted to edit out the essence of Dr Chee's reply."

 

Apparently, ST had wanted to remove the following three paragraphs that made references to Lee Kuan Yew:

[If Mr Chan insists that I am undermining Singapore, then he should note that it is not I but Mr Lee Kuan Yew who, in an interview with National Geographic, a Western magazine, rather uncharitably likened Singaporeans to indolent animals where "spurs" had to be "stuck into the hide” to make us work harder.

It is not I but the PAP who are persuading young Singaporeans not to pursue a university education while giving foreign students generous financial grants to study at our universities.

It is not I but the Government who has allowed in millions of foreigners to work in Singapore at the expense of Singaporeans' jobs and wages.]

No reason was given for the edit.

However, readers should appreciate the fact that this is one of those instances where The Straits Times can never win.

If they publish Chee's letter in full, they would immortalise Chee's words about Lee Kuan Yew in print and will be searchable within their archives.

In this way, ST is used as a proxy for insinuation.

If they refuse to publish it, Chee can turn it around and accuse them of censorship.

Well played, Chee, well played.

 

Related articles:

5 reasons why Minister Chan Chun Sing decided to poke Chee Soon Juan via Huffington Post

Chan Chun Sing pokes Chee Soon Juan. We imagine Chee’s response.

 

Top photo via

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