Although we feel a bit cut off from the rest of the world while in Florida, we get good reads in the New York Times (which our neighbours say is too liberal!) and the Wall Street Journal.
In Hong Kong we get the South China Morning Post and International Herald Tribune. Sometimes we get the free HK Standard which is delivered to the lobby of our apartment complex. Despite a decline in overall quality (I was going to say 'standards' but you'd have taken it for a poor pun), the Post is still the 'read' for mono-lingual newspaper readers of the English language ilk.
You know you are in a Cantonese territory when all the most interesting tid bits and advertisements are in the local Chinese papers; neither English newspaper captures the flavour of Hong Kong quite as well. Thus, I rely on my HK friends for the juicy stories, latest eating places and other goings on.
Since I don't read Chinese (to the astonishment of my Hong Kong friends who keep saying, "don't all Singaporeans speak Mandarin?"), I cannot compare the English newspapers and Chinese newspapers in Singapore. But I would rather imagine that all the newspapers here convey a uniquely Singapore feel and flavour and one can keep abreast of all the 'happenings' no matter which language is used in your newspaper.
Having said that, we have some friends who have stopped subscribing to the paid print editions and, instead, read the news online. They aren't dinosaurs like us.
Apart from having a newspaper in my hands, being able to see - all at once - an entire page or spread of pages is something that cannot be replicated on a laptop screen. Not if the print has to be legible while the entire page is displayed in full page format.
And I still prefer reading a newspaper from left to right; it's disconcerting to suddenly come to a page in the paper and then find that it's the continuation of an article - and I have to flip to the back to start reading the article!
I have no experience in a newsroom or production department, but even an ignoramus like me can hold an opinion about the newspapers she reads.
And having friends who are or have been journalists, I do feel that on the whole journalists are honest - and some are great fun at parties.
Sure, who wouldn't appreciate a story that is presented on a silver platter and only needs a bit of tweaking - I would, if I were a journalist.
And in some places it is accepted practice to be reimbursed for "transport and expenses" to attend a press conference or launch event, to be feted and then sent home with a token of appreciation.
Even then one's praise (prose?) is usually leavened with the grain of truth - or have I been doing a Rip Van Winkle and been asleep while the world changed?
I went in search for a part for a food processor (more about the food processor later); our journey to and from home entailed driving on Newton Road, Thomson Road, then the flyover by Mr Alvernia (and in reverse).
On the way home, I noticed a hoarding for 368 Thomson, not too far from the Balestier/Thomson junction. It was quite striking and I wondered what it would be like to live so close to traffic.
Blow me down if I didn't see a full page advertisement for that very development in one of the newspapers the very next morning, and then a "puff" piece in TODAY.
I could not believe what I read about the development being only "a quick stroll from the Novena MRT station" and "a stone's throw away from the MacRitchie Reservoir"!
Only Usain Bolt would call it a quick stroll, provided he strolls as fast as he can run. And no human being can possibly throw a stone from the location and reach MacRitchie Reservoir.
It's not even a stretch of the imagination - if Pinocchio was responsible for the piece, the end of his nose would not fit within the covers of the story book!
As a newspaper subscriber I am dismayed and utterly disillusioned that such rubbish could be written and published (what was the reporter thinking and what were the sub-editors doing that night?).
And, if I were a journalist (whether retired or still practising), I would be even more upset.
You don't have to believe me, read it all here starting with my reply of today's date (or read it in chronological order and start from the bottom up):
I REPLIED ON AUGUST 2nd, 2010:
Dear Ms Seow,
I first sent you an email on July 18th, 2010.
It was IGNORED.
I then followed up on July 31st and copied it to different recipients; perhaps that did the trick.
You have emailed me today, August 2nd and have NOT addressed the matter of providing incorrect information regarding the distance of the development from both the Novena MRT and MacRitchie Reservoir.
"We will.." suggests you may (or may not) look into the matter.
"...note the accuracy....." doesn't mean a useful thing in the context in which you used it.
Had you been as careful in writing the "puff" piece as you have attemtped to in crafting this response, the matter need not have arisen.
I make it a point to read TODAY, which until now has been a refreshing change from the ST, but I fear that you have done it's credibility little good.
Indeed, I am surprised your editor and colleagues have not taken you to task for this, especially as your offices are in Andrew Road (also somewhere between Novena MRT and MacRitchie) and you must be thoroughly familiar with the area!
Yours sincerely,
Anne Wong Holloway
On Aug 2, 2010, at 4:29 PM, Ephraim Seow Siew Lee wrote:
Dear Ms Anne Wong Holloway,
Thanks for your feedback. We will look into the matter and note the accuracy when it comes to property development details.
Yours Sincerely,
Ephraim Seow
Reporter, Business News
Mediacorp Pte Ltd
TV Building Level 2
Caldecott Broadcast Centre
Tel: (65) 6350 3139
Fax: (65) 6251 5352
* if you bought a Tefal La Moulinette chopper and find it doesn't do a good job of chopping up your belachan or rempah ingredients, go to the agent's service and store location and buy the "old" type blade (DPA1, part no:SS-989749, the cost is SGD22.00). Works a treat - a long story how I discovered it so won't bore you now!
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