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#46
13-12-2012, 01:30 PM
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Re: Michael Palmer Resigns Due To Grave Mistake
Ex-Straits Times editor reveals gov’t meddling in tell-all book
http://sg.news.yahoo.com/blogs/singa...020754478.html COMMENT Singapore's media history is splattered with the red ink of editors who prefer to take their and their colleagues' bruising stories to the grave. Some do it for fear of reprisal, some for not wanting to break the confidence of their colleagues and sources and some for wanting to just forget the past. But Cheong Yip Seng, the former editor-in-chief of the The Straits Times (ST), has bucked this trend with his memoir, OB Markers: My Straits Times Story. ("Out of bounds" markers often refer to the line between which issues are 'sensitive' and which are not.) It is a compelling story that is part personal, part political and part a survival guide to Singapore journalism. Cheong's tales are not new; they have been whispered about at the watercooler and written with great relish in a book called Media Enthralled by political refugee Francis Seow. But this is the first time a Singapore editor has gone to print with an insider's take on how the republic's first prime minister Lee Kuan Yew systematically controlled the press with draconian laws and protected it with anti-competition barriers. Cheong is a battle-hardened journalist, having risen up the ranks in The Straits Times with a staying power that lasted 43 years, 19 of them as the editor-in-chief. His reporting instincts are evident in the book when he describes incidents with dramatic flourish, especially his first taste of Lee's distaste for media practitioners. "I will break your neck," Cheong describes Lee as telling him when the rookie reporter tried to make a case for not imposing an embargo on a speech the Prime Minister had made. There are lots of delicious details -- a phrase Cheong made famous in the newsroom -- like this in the book. One of the bravest episodes was when Peter Lim, Cheong's predecessor, resisted Lee's pressure to print the full O level results of Opposition politician Chiam See Tong during the 1984 election. Lee wanted to show to voters that Chiam did not have the academic credentials to be a capable MP. Lim resisted because he felt it would backfire on the ruling party and the newspaper. The author is a smart survivor, too. He had a ring-side view of how his boss, Peter Lim, tried to run the newsroom with some form of independence and paid the price for it by having to resign. "The board told me my deputy was ready to take over'' -- that was the loaded answer Lim gave when historian Mary Turnbull asked him about his 1987 departure in another book on The Straits Times. Cheong was careful to make sure that he was not going to face that kind of fate. He knew when to give in, when to remain stoic and when to argue — gently, that is -- when the famous phone calls came. In the process, he built up trust with the political leadership, a rare quotient to develop with a government that looked at reporters with grave suspicion. "What is your agenda" is an often-repeated question thrown at journalists to put them on the defensive. The Singapore government's intervention in media is legendary. Cheong describes many episodes -- from appointments of editors to shaping coverage of political and foreign events and even to minor stories like stamp-collecting, carpet-buying and MSG - with the pen of a master story teller. A book of this nature is never complete and never meets one's full expectations because the omissions are many and the shades of truth are varied. For instance, the over-night contraction in ST's coverage (after a phone call, that is) of the 1988 election in which former Solicitor General Francis Seow was an Opposition candidate is never mentioned, the private conversation between Cheong and the second prime minister Goh Chok Tong that the government wanted him to take over as editor-in-chief is not explained and how the paper handled the 1987 Internal Security Act arrests for an alleged "Marxist conspiracy" which rankle the elite till today is erased out. Despite such inadequacies, OB Markers: My Straits Times Story is a laudable effort to put on record the media-government tensions and the astonishing meddling that editors like Cheong had to deal with regularly. It is a half-told story. We wait for the other bits from those who, hopefully, will be spurred to fill the gaps left by Cheong. P. N. Balji, a Singapore journalist for more than 35 years, is now a media consultant Related Stories: Online media keeps alive debate on death penalty Singaporeans, go forth and multiply The missing piece in a smart government 
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#47
13-12-2012, 01:59 PM
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Re: Michael Palmer Resigns Due To Grave Mistake
Was Michael Palmer affair about to be exposed?
http://sg.news.yahoo.com/woman-in-mi...150504326.html [UPDATE Thursday 13/12 109pm: Adding details of relationship between Laura Ong, Michael Palmer] Just how and why did the Michael Palmer affair come to light? The Thursday edition of local tabloid The New Paper suggests the affair that led to Palmer's resignation as Speaker and Member of Parliament came to light because he had been discovered and on the verge of being exposed. SMS and email exchanges sent to the paper by an anonymous source on Saturday -- the same day Palmer came forward and confessed to DPM Teo Chee Hean -- showed he and his lover, Laura Ong, were in an intimate relationship. One SMS read, "Hello darling... I love you loads. More than I sometimes show... Sorry. Love love". Other email exchanges showed the pair met up regularly on Mondays and that Palmer had given gifts to Ong, a former constituency director with the People's Association. On Wednesday, Palmer appeared alongside Deputy Prime Minister Teo Chee Hean to announce his resignation as both Speaker and Member of Parliament. DPM Teo said the party first found out about the matter on Saturday and that Palmer offered to resign on the same evening. Late on Wednesday, the PA also confirmed Ong had resigned from her post. "Ms Laura Ong, constituency director of Pasir Ris West Constituency Office tendered her resignation on 10 Dec 12, citing family commitments," said the PA statement sent to the media. When contacted by Yahoo! Singapore, several of Ong's colleagues at Pasir Ris Elias Community Club were not aware she had resigned. Two said she was currently on leave but expected her to be coming back to work. Meanwhile, The Straits Times reported that the married 33-year-old Ong had been separated from her husband before her affair with Palmer. It quoted her colleagues as saying she was lively, mature and capable and that was she was an avid golfer. Photos of Ong are also spreading online after they appeared on a mystery blog that was set up on Wednesday. They showed Ong and her colleagues during a People's Association retreat in Beijing, China. It was not immediately clear when they were taken but when contacted by Yahoo! Singapore, Pasir Ris-Punggol MP Teo Ser Luck, who was pictured in several of the photos, confirmed they were taken during a grassroots organisation overseas retreat. Teo, who will take over Palmer's ward in the meantime, said he knew Ong from the time he used to be the MP/Adviser for Punggol South before the 2011 general elections. Ong was then the constituency director of Punggol South. Local media reported that Palmer, accompanied by his wife of 15 years Diane, said his goodbyes to 30 grassroots volunteers at the PAP's Punggol East Branch Office on Wednesday evening. Related stories: Speaker of Parliament, PAP MP Michael Palmer resigns due to 'improper conduct' Punggol East residents divided over MP’s resignation PM Lee expresses 'great sadness' over Palmer's resignation Workers' Party calls for by-election in Punggol East 'as soon as possible'
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#48
13-12-2012, 02:01 PM
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Re: Michael Palmer Resigns Due To Grave Mistake
[GPGT] Laura Ong Hui Hoon - in Beijing 'retreat' 2010, but Palmer not there
http://forums.$$$$$$$$$$$$.com.sg/ea...e-4017163.html
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#49
13-12-2012, 03:03 PM
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Re: Michael Palmer Resigns Due To Grave Mistake
Morale of the story:
Women are meant to be played by men. Ms Laura Ong just being played by a married man who happened to be a PAP MP. Maybe she just want to be famous, most of the times women purposely fooled with attached men for benefits like how Thai sluts use their bodies to let Singaporean men marry them and be singapore PR. Maybe Ms Ong just want to prove that she can seduce a married man, at least it can satisfied herself and increase her self confidence. Or else why would she want to be involved with a married man?
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#50
13-12-2012, 04:57 PM
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Re: Michael Palmer Resigns Due To Grave Mistake
Singapore Caps Year of Lust With Parliamentary Affair
http://sg.finance.yahoo.com/news/sin...062428409.html The resignation of Singapore Speaker of Parliament Michael Palmer yesterday over an extramarital affair came two days after readers of the island's largest Chinese newspaper called 2012 a year of lust. Palmer, 44, said he had a relationship with a member of a government agency who worked in a district he used to represent. He's the second person this year to leave Parliament for private indiscretions. "Human failings and affairs are common," said Bridget Welsh, a political science professor at the Singapore Management University. "What is new is the open discussion of these issues, expansion of public sphere and the difficult political navigation of these issues." The former heads of the anti-drug agency and the Civil Defence Force were prosecuted earlier this year for obtaining sexual favors in exchange for contracts. Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong, whose government has cultivated an image of being clean, ethical and efficient, said yesterday that lawmakers in the ruling People's Action Party must maintain the "highest standards of personal conduct." Palmer, who is married with one child, was the eighth speaker of Parliament. He was elected in October 2011 and presided over the sittings by lawmakers, according to the Parliament's website. 'Grave Mistake' "I have resigned to take full responsibility for a grave mistake that I have committed," Palmer said in a statement. "My conduct was improper and it was a serious error of judgment. I have resigned in order to avoid further embarrassment to the PAP and to Parliament." Earlier this year, more than 50 men, including a former bank executive and a school principal, were charged for having sex with an underage prostitute. The former Central Narcotics Bureau chief faces four counts of obtaining oral sex last year from a 36-year-old executive in exchange for assisting her companies Hitachi Data Systems Pte and later Oracle Corp. to win contracts with the agency. Lee has promised that no wrongdoing will be covered up even if it embarrasses the city, which is rated the least corrupt Asian country by Transparency International. The Lianhe Zaobao newspaper said this week that its readers chose the Chinese character for lust to describe 2012 over nine other words that included change and integrate. No Porn Singapore, where Playboy magazine is banned and the distribution of pornography is an offence, was ranked last month as the least emotional country in the world, according to U.S. pollster Gallup. The readers' choice "highlights the many newsmakers who have fallen prey to lust, and that too many events have been tainted by it," said Goh Sin Teck, Lianhe Zaobao's editor. "Is this purely a string of coincidences or is this a revelation of how our society has evolved?" The island's population has jumped by more than 1.1 million to 5.3 million since mid-2004, driving up property prices and stoking social tensions as the government used immigration to counter a fertility rate that has been below replacement levels for decades. Other sex scandals in Singapore this year included a university professor who was charged with corruption for allegedly trading better grades for sex with his student. A female teacher was sentenced to a year in jail in October for sleeping with a male student who was a minor, according to the Straits Times. CIA Scandal In January 2008, Malaysia's then-Health Minister Chua Soi Lek stepped down after he was secretly filmed having sex with a woman in a hotel room. An Indonesian lawmaker who helped pass an anti-pornography law resigned in April 2011 after he was caught watching sex videos during a parliamentary debate, according to the Associated Press. U.S. Central Intelligence Agency Director David H. Petraeus resigned last month following the revelation of an extramarital affair with his biographer. U.S. governors who have stepped down after indiscretions include New York's Eliot Spitzer and Mark Sanford of South Carolina. Former International Monetary Fund Managing Director Dominique Strauss-Kahn left the lender after his arrest on sexual-assault charges. "Singapore is no different from any modern society," said Terence Lee, who teaches politics at National University of Singapore. "You see it in Malaysia, Indonesia, the Philippines, the U.S., the U.K. These things happen, it's part and parcel of life and people just have to deal with it." By-Elections Yaw Shin Leong, a member of Parliament from the opposition, was expelled from his party in February for "indiscretions in his private life." The Workers' Party retained the seat in Hougang district in a by-election to replace Yaw. The Workers' Party, the only elected opposition in parliament, said yesterday it's ready to "offer a choice" to voters as it urged Lee to call for a by-election as soon as possible. Its candidate for Punggol East won 41 percent of votes in the 2011 polls, while Palmer won 54.5 percent of valid ballots cast. A by-election won't change the balance of power in government, even after Lee's party won last year's polls with the smallest margin of victory since independence in 1965. The PAP has 81 of 87 seats. In the past year, Lee has cut ministerial pay, accelerated construction of public housing and made permanent a program to provide cash, utility rebates and medical funds for the elderly and low-income households. Still, the country has the highest inflation rate among the developed world's biggest economies while gross domestic product is forecast to expand at the slowest pace in three years in 2012. "What is interesting is the continued tests the PAP is facing with another by-election," said Welsh. "The cases this year highlight the need to remove politicians and civil servants from pedestals and tighten standards for those in positions of power." To contact the reporter on this story: Shamim Adam in Singapore at [email protected] To contact the editor responsible for this story: Stephanie Phang at [email protected] This article was originally posted on Bloomberg.com on Dec 13, 2012 12:57 AM GMT+0800. More from Bloomberg • Singapore Speaker of Parliament Palmer Resigns After Affair • Singapore Air Rises After Virgin Sale: Singapore Mover • Asian Hedge Funds Reverse Slow Start to Beat World
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#51
13-12-2012, 08:17 PM
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Re: Michael Palmer Resigns Due To Grave Mistake
[QUOTE=Alan1205;8214293]
Quote:
everyone make mistake including President Bush, Jacky Chan etc etc MPs, bankers, top civil servants, property agents all have the 'seh' factor which attract woman to our side without us knowing at first. man with $$$, power + looks attract, u don't know. or maybe u really don't know as u are not birds of our feather flocking together. have u ever wonder it's the woman who are the ones that create trouble, not us. but we make mistakes, we admit
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#52
14-12-2012, 09:30 AM
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Re: Michael Palmer Resigns Due To Grave Mistake
affair getting interesting. More details seemed to be dug out. Anyone got photo of Mrs Palmer? Is she really prettier than Laura Ong as suggested earlier here? Laura Ong quite sweet looking to me. Very sunshine type of face.
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#53
14-12-2012, 09:39 AM
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Re: Michael Palmer Resigns Due To Grave Mistake
A lot of "CSI" out there have started to get details and photos and just early this morning receive a photo of Laura Ong sister, Cindy Ong. Rumors that Michael had swings with both sisters before
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#54
14-12-2012, 09:46 AM
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Re: Michael Palmer Resigns Due To Grave Mistake
Quote:
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#55
14-12-2012, 10:04 AM
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Re: Michael Palmer Resigns Due To Grave Mistake
Quote:
__________________
_______________________________________ __________________ 英雄末路不可怕， 自甘堕落最可悲。 __________________ _______________________________________ __________________
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#56
14-12-2012, 01:10 PM
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Re: Michael Palmer Resigns Due To Grave Mistake
Quote:
http://forums.$$$$$$$$$$$$.com.sg/ea...g-4017641.html
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#57
14-12-2012, 01:10 PM
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Re: Michael Palmer Resigns Due To Grave Mistake
Quote:
http://forums.$$$$$$$$$$$$.com.sg/ea...s-4018927.html
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#58
14-12-2012, 02:23 PM
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Re: Michael Palmer Resigns Due To Grave Mistake
I remember when Yaw's affair came to light many many MIW like DPM Teo came out to say Yaw let the pple of Hougang down.
Just back to sg today, did any from opposition commented that palmer let pple down?
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#59
14-12-2012, 04:55 PM
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Re: Michael Palmer Resigns Due To Grave Mistake
if palmer looks young and his wife looks old, guess Palmer will look for another girl who knows how to maintain herself? wife tends to forget or maybe too busy to take care of her looks and figure. when negligence occurs, shit happens.
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#60
14-12-2012, 06:16 PM
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Re: Michael Palmer Resigns Due To Grave Mistake
Quote:
idiot - Yaw let hougang down becasue he keep quiet, no balls like UFO to face the press, run road & just disapper like that! palmer - gentleman face the press, say sorry and resign. that's the difference, idiot!
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