Hong Kong’s FactWire rebuts Minister Khaw

By: 永久浪客/Forever Vagabond

Hong Kong’s online media FactWire has posted a message on its Facebook page in response to what Transport Minister Khaw Boon Wan said earlier about “factions in Hong Kong” wanting to cause trouble for China, and that Singapore has become “a convenient bullet”.

This was what Minister Khaw said during a press conference to defend LTA for not disclosing news of the defective Chinese-made trains to the public earlier:

“We are caught in a crossfire and there are factions in Hong Kong who wanted to cause some difficulties for mainland China. I have no inside information on whether that is true or not, but it’s possible. Unfortunately, we become a convenient bullet and collateral damage.”

At the press conference, Mr Khaw also said that the defects were “not a major event” and going public might cause unnecessary panic to the public.

FactWire was the first news media to have broken the news. The following is their response to Mr Khaw’s remarks: (http://bit.ly/29FeBf3)

FactWire noted the Minister’s remarks with deep regret. It said that FactWire is news media funded by 3,300 people in Hong Kong. It is funded by the Hong Kong public and as such, accord its services to the Hong Kong public. It has no backings from any political nor commercial interest groups.

It also said that in publishing an article, its editorial principle is to ensure that the news must involve significant public interest and that it has acquired solid evidence. Its professional judgment will not be overriden by any commercial or political considerations.

Taking a swipe at Minister Khaw, FactWire added, “As a public service news agency, when a public official potentially guilty of dereliction of his duty gets angry as a result of being embarrassed by our report, it proves that what we did is right.”

FactWire then left a quote from the famous writer George Orwell on the same Facebook message for Mr Khaw:

“Journalism is printing what someone else does not want printed: everything else is public relations.” – George Orwell