Foreign media must get it right or be taken to task

As with a Reuters report, and now that of The Economist, the Western media has a tendency to try and interfere in our affairs (S’pore hits back at Economist: Protesters not in court over criticism; March 18).

Though I read The Economist, a current affairs publication out of the United Kingdom, it does assume too much at times. This attitude carried over to its coverage of a success story: Singapore.

In other words, it overreached itself and found fault with something that did not need fixing. Being on the ground and having a feel for what had happened would have helped.

This magazine, which prefers to be seen as a newspaper, has always been about commentary — to be expected in this time of news not being all it seems.

Its article on a protest group in Singapore which had been censured failed to mention that they had overstepped bounds and distressed some special-needs children involved in an unrelated activity.

This is something a small, vulnerable nation like ours can ill afford, and must prevent from happening. Why allow people to jeopardise our organised, peaceful way of life? There are channels through which to raise legitimate issues civilly.

And why highlight something that happened some time ago? When foreign media report such issues in a misleading way, they must be taken to task. The suspicion of an agenda comes to mind.

This can be disruptive to the running of a country, if believed, and detrimental to the lives of our people. We must be wary and are justified in never allowing it to upset what we have built over five decades.