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TLM: For the first time, Singapore residents of all ages had their eyes glued on Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong on Friday (3 April) as he delivered his big announcement on Covid-19.

So many questions were our minds, with the biggest one at that time being: “Are we going on lockdown like many other countries around the world?”

While it was eventually made clear that Singapore was not under lockdown but merely a “circuit breaker”, plenty of questions were still in the air. Fortunately, our nation had trusty reporters from various news agencies who asked the ministers all the questions that mattered… well, most of them at least.

Unless you are like The Lit Movement team, who was “encouraged by our boss” to watch the media Q&A after PM Lee’s speech (since MCI did not extend the invite to us. Pfftt), you probably did not catch the questions the reporters asked.

So here’s sharing with you what TLM had learnt from that session, as a homage to our front line workers. Yes, reporters are frontliners too who play an important role in conveying verified, first-hand information to the public.

(It’s tongue in cheek, so no offence, reporters!)

1. Huh, did she Really ask that?

Si Hui from Channel NewsAsia got the ball rolling asking the multi-ministerial task force for their measure of success for the “circuit breaker”. Sounds very typical civil servant (oops), boss says something new, immediately ask about KPIs.

She then enquired on the continuity of contact tracing and how the authorities are going to build up the resources for it. Very fair. Finally, to Education Minister Ong Ye Kung she asked about graduation and then…

“….And what about graduation ceremonies?”

Hello xiao mei mei, restrictions on events have been gradually tightened from up to 250 people to cancellation or postponement. Si mi graduation ceremony? People worry about job after graduation, you worry about… nevermind.

One of our most lian teammate at TLM sums up our reaction rather aptly: “Eh wahlan eh, she from CNA lehhhhhh…”

2. We’re just asking what our readers are asking…

Vernacular media (simply put, the Mother Tongue media) also had some reporters who asked questions.

Lianhe Zaobao asked a range of pertinent questions ranging from contact tracing updates on earlier cases to whether the nation’s existing infrastructure has enough bandwidth to cope with the surge of working and studying from home.

THEN, he ended off with “On a more lighthearted but, nonetheless, almost as important note, some of our readers have expressed concern whether Singapore Pools will remain open?”

Note that the reporter broke into what seemed like a sheepish smile while asking that.

Nice try, bro. But Minister Lawrence Wong’s response: “They will be closed. They are not considered essential services.”

Other vernacular media agencies like Berita Harian and Channel 8 News asked more community-oriented questions, such as childcare arrangements and about elderlies who live alone.

All in all, it is great that these agencies are asking about things that really weigh on the community’s mind, but kudos to the LHZB reporter for providing the most entertaining moment out of the almost 2-hour stream hahahahaha

3. International media asks

Business and economic news agency, The Financial Times, also asked a few questions. (Yes, now you know there are more media agencies in Singapore besides Mediacorp and SPH)

On top of her ang moh accent that automatically makes her sound smart and impressive to some viewers (more on this next time, ok?), Stephanie Palmer asked about how hospital capacities will be expanded – very practical concerns for a long fight against the pandemic. She posed questions regarding the legal consequences for companies or individuals who do not abide by the circuit breaker measures.

Nothing entertaining here but the queries serve to clarify what we felt were the most pressing questions that should have been asked from the get-go.

4.The Got Balls one

But at the end of the 2-hour stream, we only gave standing ovations to two gentlemen: Faris Mokhtar from Bloomberg and Timothy Goh from The Straits Times.

As mentioned at the start of this article, the most basic question on everybody’s mind was whether a) Singapore was going to be on lockdown, and b) whether we are going DORSCON Red.

PM Lee’s announcement and the explanation by the task force that followed were still unclear regarding this, causing many to draw comparisons and are asking among themselves like what then were the differences between circuit breaker and a lockdown and DORSCON Red.

Timothy Goh: “With all these in place, I have to ask, is there a further set of measures you can put in place, the equivalent of as you’ve been saying, “Dorscon Red”, at this point?”

In plain Singlish: You do so many things, got anything else left to do meh before finally declaring Dorscon Red?

Minister Gan Kim Yong’s response: ‘Let me say categorically that we are still in Dorscon Orange’. And he added that the measures being taken, and plenty more to be taken, would still fall under Dorscon Orange.

But Faris, capping off the Q&A, did not let it slip by and asked point-blank: “Just two questions. So what would constitute Dorscon Red? Because based on your current guidelines, closure of workplaces and schools, would come under Dorscon Red – so what is your current definition of Dorscon Red then, in this unprecedented situation? And how far – or how near – are you to a lockdown? Because many Singaporeans would effectively see this as a lockdown.”

Two, straightforward questions, that took two full ministers and director at MOH to fully explain. But here’s Minister Lawrence Wong’s reply at the end to give you the sense of it:

“Rather than think about (using) the phrase ‘lockdown’ which means different things to different people, let’s focus on the specific measures.”

Reporters are essential frontline workers. Especially good reporters.

To us, what set Faris and Timothy apart from some other reporters were that they touched on the topic bits directly not only with confidence but also conviction.

Kudos as well to the rest of the reporters who asked about important details to clarify the unprecedented announcements, but to demand answers from our political officeholders until they finally answer, hats off to you, guys!

We end off today’s write up with a quote from former local journalist and editor Bertha Henson:

[Main Photo: MCI]