(AFP file photo)



The revelation that cracks were found in China-made SMRT trains has shown that the government cannot control the flow of information and command the conversation the way they have done for so long.

For long has this policy been enforced with a combination of legislation, controls on competition that give the two media houses a free ride to make money and the induction of journalists who generally are convinced to become official megaphones. So numbed has the government been by this policy that it has been blindsided by a reality that is breaking down barriers that very few had imagined even just 10 years ago.

At the heart of this new reality is a media policy that has castrated mainstream media to the point where journalists write and edit for fear of losing their jobs and dump investigative journalism practices to the great benefit of the government.

The results of this outdated and archaic policy blew up in the faces of both the journalists and politicians when a new media platform called FactWire in Hongkong broke the news that 26 MRT trains found to have cracks were being shipped back to the manufacturer in China for repairs.

The news agency, which says its unique selling point is investigative journalism, had videos of the trains being wrapped up in green covers and being moved via road and then sea in the middle of the night.

It caused a sensation here with the government and media caught totally off guard and scrambling to respond to a story that was stolen right under their noses.

For three days since the story broke last week, the government tried to play catch-up by spinning story after story in official media trying to allay fears about safety of the trains.

The cracks are not “safety-critical” (what the hell does this mean?), do not affect the trains’ systems or performance, were found three years ago and the affected vehicles were put on the tracks since five years ago.

But not once did the Land Transport Authority explain why news of the defaults and the subsequent dispatch of the affected trains to China was kept away from the public.

The government probably felt the defaults were not serious as the affected trains had been in service since 2011. Or, worse still, perhaps the government thought that with the local media under its thumb, there was no way the information would get out.

How wrong it was.

Investigative journalism frowned upon

The government forgot that in a globalised world where news breaks borders, the MRT story could break elsewhere and flow into Singapore via the Internet. Once that happens, the government will have no choice but to let the local media report it.

It could have given this news to the local media and got it covered in a manner that was responsible and credible.

Investigative journalism has been frowned upon by the establishment here. The mantra was that it has its own checks and balances which can correct its own mistakes, prompting the online world to create a phrase – ownself check ownself – to mock a government that resents media playing the watchdog.

The embarrassment is not just for the government. The MRT story exposed the local media’s inability and/or unwillingness to investigate government scandals and thus help play its rightful role in society.

Investigative journalism is a lost art here. Our newspapers are filled with press-release journalism, making them dull and at most times unreadable.

Things were not this way many years ago when reporters thrived on scoops and exposes. In 1989, the Straits Times’ Sandra Davie exposed the activities of a group called the House of Israel as those of a cult. The religious group sued, the newspaper refused to cow, went to court and won the libel suit.

Lee Han Shih of the Business Times forced LTA to stop its plans to move its premises to a new building after his report caused an uproar.

As government and media mull their status in the aftermath of a scoop by an upstart HK wire agency, the fundamental question they must ask themselves is this: Are the media practices of two generations ago relevant in this age of instant information where borders are swept aside?

P N Balji is a veteran Singaporean journalist who is the former chief editor of TODAY newspaper, and a media consultant. The views expressed are his own.



Stay updated. Follow us on Facebook.

