by Wan Ting Koh
INVESTIGATIVE news agency FactWire, which broke the scoop on Singapore’s MRT trains being returned to China last week, has responded to Transport Minister Khaw Boon Wan’s latest remarks about its report.
Describing his remarks as “false statements” in a note titled “An Open Letter to Singapore’s Transport Minister”, FactWire took issue with Mr Khaw’s comments, which he gave in a press conference held on Tuesday (July 12). He had suggested then that the report was evidence of a power struggles at play between China and Hong Kong.
“We are caught in a crossfire and there are factions in Hong Kong who wanted to cause some difficulties for mainland China,” Mr Khaw told reporters. “Unfortunately, we become a convenient bullet and collateral damage.”
FactWire said it “deeply regretted” the minister’s remarks, adding: “Instead of taking responsibility for an incident which has damaged the Singaporean public’s trust in the authorities, the Minister blamed the Hong Kong news agency for exposing the cover up of the recalls of defective trains.”
The online news publication also denied any political motivation on its part, adding that it served the public “independent of any commercial or political interests”.
“As a news agency committed to serving the public, when public officials are riled by our reporting, it is merely proof that we are doing the right thing.”
The Facebook note posted by FactWire included a poster which carried a quote popularly attributed to writer George Orwell. The quote read: “Journalism is printing what someone else does not want printed; everything else is public relations.” Since the note was posted at around noon, it has been shared and liked by hundreds of readers.
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Defending its report, the agency added: “Every investigative report published by FactWire must be founded on impregnable evidence and cover serious public interests at stake. We will never allow commercial or political considerations to override our professional journalistic judgement.
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“As a news agency committed to serving the public, when public officials are riled by our reporting, it is merely proof that we are doing the right thing.”
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FactWire reported last Tuesday that the 26 MRT trains were to be sent back to their manufacturers Japanese train-maker Kawasaki Heavy Industries and CSR Sifang in Qingdao, China, for repairs. It also said that the defects were “kept secret in both Singapore and China”.
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Responding to the report, the Land Transport Authority (LTA) said that the hairline cracks were due to “localised impurity in the aluminium car-body material” during the manufacturing process and that the trains remained safe for service.
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Featured image C151A by Wikimedia Commons User Willis Chong (CC 3.0 Unported).
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The post FactWire to Khaw: ‘When politicians are riled, it’s proof we’re doing the right thing’ appeared first on The Middle Ground.