AL JAZEERA INTERNATIONAL TV REPORT

AL JAZEERA INTERNATIONAL TV REPORT:

(Impact): 6.

Mr Viswa Sadasivan asked the Acting Minister for Information, Communications and the Arts (a) what the Government's response is to the recent Al Jazeera International TV reports on homeless Singaporeans camping by the East Coast beach stretch; (b) how these reports have affected our standing and reputation internationally; and (c) whether the Ministry will address the speculation on the ground that this was the reason why the channel was taken off mio TV's menu.

RAdm [NS] Lui Tuck Yew: Mr Speaker, Sir, the Minister for Community Development, Youth and Sports has highlighted the assistance that the Government offers to the homeless. Let me now address the other questions on Al Jazeera.

On the Al Jazeera report that was mentioned previously, I would say that this is not unexpected given their penchant for sensationalising such stories and being selective with the facts. Regardless of how Al Jazeera reports on Singapore, the Government’s track record speaks for itself. An international study published in January this year by global PR firm Edelman showed that Singaporeans’ trust in the Government is the highest among 22 countries polled, at 84% compared to the global average of 49%. The IMD World Competitiveness Yearbook 2009 ranked Singapore the most transparent country in the world.

On the speculation that recent critical or negative reports by Al Jazeera were the reason why the channel was taken off mio TV service, this is unfounded. In a report by TODAY , a local newspaper, Al Jazeera itself was quoted as saying that

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"it was a 'mutual' decision between Al Jazeera and SingTel for the broadcaster to drop out of the latter's pay TV service. Al Jazeera’s contract with SingTel was coming to an end, and in view of the low number of subscriber households, it saw the need to look into other distribution avenues".