June 6, 2009
From The Field Report Team
[NOTE: The CNA report (read here ) that there
were less than 20
signatures collected is
INACCURATE. There were 56 signatures
collected for the petition to remove Lee Bee Wah as STTA President
and 37
signatures for the petition to DPM Teo Chee Hean to
give the special award to Liu Guodong. The turnout will definitely
be greater had not for the huge media presence at the booth.]
It was supposed to be a low key event with an expected turnout
of less than 100. Even so, it did not stop SPH and Mediacorp
journalists, complete with a TV crew to turn up in force at the
first outreach event organized by this blog and its axillaries.
Our three freelancers were absolutely stunned by the presence of
the media which kept hounding them from the very moment they were
spotted - they were descended upon and literally ‘devoured’ by a
pack of ‘hungry wolves’.
In spite telling them that they were only paid to do a job, they
were bombarded repeatedly with questions about the identities of
the organizers, pestered to reveal their particulars and stopped
from manning the booth.
With the journalists filming their every single movement and
taking photos of them without permission, they had to walk away
from the booth instead of stationing themselves there as was
planned.
When one of our freelancers told them straight off to stop it, a
lady journalist rebuked that “Hong Lim Park is a public place and
they have no right to stop her from following them.”
Harrassed, flustered and traumatized by the relentless stalking
of these journalists, two of them left after 15 minutes. Another
was recalled elsewhere to keep watch on the booth at a
distance.
Though our petition booth was unmanned subsequently, members of
the public and Singaporeans who heard about it from the internet
still turned up to sign on it. A few of them were interviewed by
the journalists who were unwittingly manning the booth on our
behalfs.
The event ended at 6.30pm sharp with the journalists still
hanging around the booth. It was really an eye-opener for the two
of us who were dancing with the Pinoy rock band nearby. We would
have thought that Singapore journalists are better behaved compared
to their Western counterparts. It turned out that they are no
different from the paparrazi.
Our freelancers are not some super stars. They are simply
students being paid to do a job. We had made an
announcement here earlier that no Wayang Party columnists will
be present and our temporary staff are not obliged to
answer any questions other than those pertaining to the
petition.
What special scoop will these journalists gain by
snapping at them non-stop with their cameras? Can’t they just do
what was required of them without causing disruption to the
event?
Despite the low turnout, our petition has achieved its primary
objective of heaping continued pressure on Lee Bee Wah to resign as
STTA President and keeping the issue alive in public consciousness
through the mainstream media.
Till now, Lee Bee Wah has not come out to clarify her statements
on Liu Guodong. She must be praying hard that Singaporeans will
soon forget about her mistake. Unfortunately, she will be stirring
MORE public FURORE and OUTRAGE in the weeks ahead………
MORE TO COME TOMORROW:
1. Photo Gallery of Petition Drive at Hong Lim Park, 6 June
2009.
2. An encouraging response from Singaporeans: some handwritten
comments.
EDITORS’ NOTE:
We apologize for the unexpected turn of events which had
thrown our freelancers off guard. All three of them were newbies
who were overwhelmed by the occasion. We had refrained
from using seasoned old birds in this event as they are still
needed as our undercover reporters. We thank all Wayang Party
readers and Singaporeans for turning up to lend support to our
petition drive. Though the turnout is less than expected due to the
huge media presence which may have turned some people away, it is
nevertheless a small, positive step forward. In the future, we will
organize all events INDOORS at hotel function rooms. All
journalists will be BANNED from entry to prevent a recurrence of
this unfortunate episode.
http://wayangparty.com/?p=10110
