Last month, just after I moved to my new place, I ended a relationship that lasted for the better part of three decades. There was no looking back, no second guessing and no regrets. And if there was, the only regret that I had was not ending it sooner.

Not ending it sooner was probably because it was something I had grown comfortable with- like a bad habit, but when I had finally open my eyes, I realised it was a relationship based on illusions. There was really no point in carrying on when there was no truth to be found in it. It was no better than having a relationship with a hooker. And in hindsight, it was very much like having a relationship with a cheap two bit hooker. The only thing difference being, instead of me doing the screwing, I was the one being screwed. Imagine having to pay out of your own pocket to get screwed.

Enough was enough.

And so…

I ended my subscription to The Straits Times. If I was going to have shit shoveled into my face, then goddamnit I should at least be paid. Why should I pay good money to have shit slapped into my face every single day? For close to 30 years, I had started my day reading the Straits Times, its time to put an end to it.

If there’s anything that Mas Selamat has taught us- its that the government and the local media has absolutely no credibility. One would think that one of the biggest responsibility of the media is to serve as the conscience of the nation, the voice of the people. Instead what we have here is a mouthpiece of the government- a media that doesn’t even dare to think without first asking for permission. Is this the sort of nation building press that we want? What kind of a nation are we even building here. Seems more like a party building press to me.

If you had any illusions of a free responsible independent press, the last couple of months should be enough to put those illusions to rest.

Notice how instead of questioning the government, the local press has turned the tables round to question critics of the government- specifically with regards to the Mas Selamat incident and how the government has been founding lacking in their approach to handling it. Instead of pressing the government for a satisfactory explanation, the press has come out with guns blazing- attacking the very blogosphere for doing what they should be doing in the first place.

I am just thankful I am not paying to read this drivel anymore. Its an insult to my intelligence, my dignity.

I am sure the government would like nothing better than to move on- just like they always do whenever there’s a screwup. But make no mistake about it, until this Mas Selamat thing gets resolved, there should be no moving on. The media should be sweating the government everyday, pressing them for results, instead what they have done is to aim their guns at the bloggers instead.

Even if you are one of the minority that thinks WKS shouldn’t be held directly responsible for the escape of Mas, as minister of Home Affairs, then shouldn’t WKS be held responsible for the capture of Mas Selamat.

Selamat has been gone for the better part of two months and the government is still no closer to catching him. So who should be responsible for this now? Are we to get more insouciant shrug of the shoulders from the PM? More “what to do” bullshit? Or should we continue to blame the citizens for the failure to capture Mas, just like how the MM blamed the complacency of you and me for his escape.

At this point in time, the government couldn’t even give a straight answer as to whether Selamat is still in singapore.

Its disturbing. Disturbing because until it gets resolved, the government and the media continues to display their woeful lack of credibility.

Disregarding the conspiracy theories reagrding the death of Selamat, there’s only 2 scenarios to be considered. 2 scenarios the media wouldn’t touch with a 10 foot pole because it does not put the government in a good light.

Scenario 1- Mas Selamat is still somewhere hiding in Singapore.

What does it say about the WKS and the Ministry of Home Affairs when after two months, they still can’t find one limping terrorist on an island no bigger than 682.7 sq km. An island which the MM proudly says you can travel from one end to the other in 20 minutes. An island half of which I can see standing 1000ft in the air from the exit of a C130. After the mobilisation of thousands of nsmen and police, we are still right back at where we started.

Everywhere we turn, there’s a CCTV. Even on the MRT, an employee has the right to search your bags without cause. We put up with so much infringement of our privacy because the government says its for the security of singapore. Yet after 2 months of searching, we still nowhere close to finding a limping man who has his face plastered everywhere.

Scenario 2- Mas Selamat is no longer in Singapore.

Again what does it say about WKS and the Ministry of Home Affairs when someone can escape from singapore this easily despite the fact the singapore is surrounded on all sides by water. and there are only 2 exit points to our nearest neighbour. Heck, we even have concrete obstacles built around parts of our shoreline obstensibly to prevent illegal immigrants from landing in singapore. And lest you forget, if Mas Selamat did indeed escape from singapore, it is not the first time someone has done it. Richard Yong has done it. Took Leng How has done it. Maybe we can put it down to oversight when it has happen once. But how does this happen time and time again?

Either way, the government and the media has come out looking very bad in this incident. Both totally lacking in responsibility, lacking in credibility.

p.s on one final note:
I came across this blog post today which, hard as it is to believe lowered my already low opinion of the local press. I am so happy I no longer subscribe to The Straits Times.

an excerpt from the post-

“… Apparently, the reporter does not want to fix his mistake on the papers; meaning he just want to avoid all the trouble to correct the misquote, putting someone’s reputation into stake on a national paper that “most of the citizens” trust and believe what they read. Think that just a sorry over the phone and a dodgy comment on his blog could fix the problem that he has caused due to his negligence?”