SINGAPORE: National athlete Soh Rui Yong has highlighted the Straits Times’ double standards in reporting about founding Prime Minister Lee Kuan Yew’s youngest son, Lee Hsien Yang, as Singapore watches the latest turn in the bitter Lee family feud play out in public.
His observation comes after Senior Minister Teo Chee Hean’s revealed in a parliamentary reply this week that Mr Lee and his wife Lee Suet Fern are being investigated by the police for allegedly lying in a legal proceeding relating to Lee Kuan Yew’s last will.
In a comment under Mr Lee’s Facebook post, national long-distance runner Soh Rui Yong said that he is “quite disappointed the biggest Singapore media publisher completely ignored Li Shengwu’s landmark Sloan Research Fellowship award, but was so ready and eager to pump out the news of this (and previous) persecutions.”
He added, “Doesn’t really do itself any favours to correct accusations of bias/state controlled media in my opinion.”
Mr Soh’s comment is the most popular out of all the responses netizens left on Mr Lee’s post. When one netizen commented that there was coverage of Mr Li Shengwu’s award, the athlete made it clear he was talking about the Straits Times as he said:
“I am aware that SOME media publishers in Singapore reported it. Perhaps I should have been clearer. (Was trying not to single out anyone) But let’s try again: The BIGGEST Singapore media publisher contains absolutely nothing on Shengwu’s award, till today. Do post a link here if I am wrong.”
Another Facebook account, called ‘Mars Venus’ questioned why Mr Lee and and his wife have chosen to stay outside Singapore, as he called the “persecution” claim an “excuse by cowards.”
Mr Soh responded, “not saying whether this was a similar situation or not, but if you were an innocent man in North Korea and were accused of lying, would you stay and stand trial or would you flee?”
This account kept arguing with Mr Soh about his views and even brought his background into the issue, leading Mr Soh to imply that the account is a burner account possibly created by a pro-ruling party individual or the People’s Action Party’s (PAP) Internet Brigade, itself.
He replied, “I’ve represented Singapore and accomplished what I wanted – winning gold for my country. Something someone like you will never be able to do, you’re too busy on Facebook and hiding behind an anonymous account, yet still getting triggered.”
Mr Soh has accurately observed that the national broadsheet maintained conspicuous silence and failed to report on Mr Li Shengwu’s Sloan Research Fellowship award, despite the prominence of the award and awardee.
Ever since the feud between the Lee brothers spilled into the public domain, the Singapore Press Holdings (SPH) owned paper has neglected to cover any news about the achievements of Mr Lee Hsien Yang’s family members.
Mr Lee Hsien Yang has since dubbed the Singapore authorities’ latest action against him as continued “persecution.” In a Facebook post published on Thursday (2 Mar), the estranged brother of current Singapore PM Lee Hsien Loong has also asserted that he is the “real target” behind the authorities’ actions against his wife and son, Li Shengwu.
Positive news about the younger Mr Lee’s family appears to be a self-imposed out-of-bounds (OB) marker for The Straits Times, and news of Mr Li’s Sloan Research Fellowship award appears to be no exception. While this is not unexpected to some, it may reinforce the popular perception that the mainstream media publication is the mouthpiece of the ruling party.
OPINION | Straits Times remains silent over Li Shengwu’s Sloan Research Fellowship award
Lee Hsien Yang protests “continued persecution” amid police probe related to Lee Kuan Yew’s will
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