TR EMERITUS

By Elizabeth Looi, Malaysia Correspondent Kuala Lumpur - Ms Elizabeth Wong was better noted for her passion for the environment and commitment to social justice and human rights before sexy pictures of her were circulated on the Internet. Now, friends have started to flesh out the unusual life of the 38-year-old Selangor assemblywoman better known as Eli. A graduate in fine arts from Sydney University, Ms Wong is said to chain smoke, and play the guitar, violin and piano. She loves cats and was once a national swimmer. Friends also spoke of her as 'highly principled' - she refused bribes from developers when she was in charge of the environment portfolio. 'Her habits such as sleeping late at 2am or 3am, waking up late, chain smoking and everything else are things that her activist friends are used to,' said a former colleague, Mr S. Arutchelvan, who has known Ms Wong for more than 12 years. 'But behind her public image, she is an environment lover, a cat lover, a musician...and a human rights defender, whether for illegal immigrants or anyone who is a victim.' Former executive director Cynthia Gabriel from the human rights group Suaram described her as fearless. 'She's uncompromising when it comes to what she believes in,' said Ms Gabriel, who has known the opposition politician for more than a decade. 'She had performed excellently in her portfolio and seeing what happened to her is very difficult to accept.' Ms Wong rose to political stardom when she contested last year's March polls for a state seat in Selangor on the opposition Parti Keadilan Rakyat (PKR) ticket for the first time and won. She was then appointed the state executive councillor in charge of environment, tourism and consumer affairs. But her political career came to a grinding halt on Feb 13 when some newspapers published pictures of her sleeping alone in her sarong. The pictures were believed to have been taken by her former boyfriend Hilmi Malek, who is believed to be in Indonesia. She offered to relinquish her posts. But the PKR said no and she is said to be on holiday at present. Friends and former colleagues believe that she will soon return to action. Indeed, Mr Arutchelvan said that Ms Wong is dedicated to her work and principles. 'When I was working with her, she would spend the nights in the office if she had to,' he said. 'If I were to call someone in the middle of the night or early morning, I would call Eli because she would be one of the only comrades still awake.' Ms Wong was also a human rights fellow of Carnegie Council for Ethics in International Affairs. 'After she became a state executive councillor, she complained to me that developers tried to offer her gifts and expensive chocolates but she said she totally ignored them,' Mr Arutchelvan said. He also described her as well-read. 'In fact, she is one of the most intelligent state executive councillors in Selangor,' he said. 'Her house usually looks as if it has been hit by a typhoon with her things sprawled everywhere. But the only two things that stand out as they are neatly arranged are her books and her photos. 'She loves taking photographs as a hobby and she has a passion for the arts.' Her blog has a section titled Aufheben, which she says is a German term that the philosopher Hegel used 'to explain the synthesis one would come upon after creating thesis and antithesis'. A section about herself says she 'enjoys looking at the paradoxes and intricacies of democracy and politics. In her spare time, she researches and writes on the War on Terror and security in the region. Her interests are in political imagery and symbolism, history, South Asian politics, resistance and Islamism in South-east Asia, technology and the politics of change'. Another old friend, Ms Anne James, questioned the motives behind the release of the photos. 'The scoundrels who are accusing her should look in the mirror themselves,' she said. 'Is lying in the nude worse than raiding the state coffers?" Ms James said she hoped Ms Wong would return to her post soon. 'Politicians like her are few and far between,' she said. Source: Straits Times  Read More →

By Fang Zhi Yuan When news broke out that Singapore's Sovereign Wealth Fund, Temasek Holdings have lost S$58 billion dollars of its investment portfolio last year, one would expect many serious questions to be asked in the press. There were none. More disappointingly, the extent of GIC's loss was not published in the English papers either while it was revealed by U.S. news agency Dow Jones that GIC may have lost an estimated amount of S$50 billion dollars. Few Singaporeans would have bade an eyelid 20 years ago at the gross discrepancy between what was reported by the mainstream and foreign media. Now, readers are spoilt for choice. They will simply source for whatever information which was not published by the press on the internet where local bloggers are more than willing to serve them their own dose of propaganda. The mainstream media risks losing credibility in the eyes of the public if it continues to adhere strictly to its anachronistic policy of self-censoring news of national importance such as the catastrophic losses suffered by our SWFs. As Singaporeans become increasingly exposed to diversity of views offered by the alternative media, the blatant one-sideness and prejudices of the state media will not be lost upon them. Though there may not be a visible drop in readership in the near future, the influence it exerted over a more astute, discerning and informed population will be diluted. Two recent reports highlight the growing threat the new media pose to a traditional media which has yet to catch up with the times: a Straits Times report on Singapore being the most wired nation in the world and in a recent study conducted by marketing agency OgilvyOne Asia Pacific, more than one in two Singaporeans said they trust blogs as much as newspapers or TV news bulletins. In spite of the state media's frequent exhortations to the public to take what was written on blogs with a pinch of salt, more Singaporeans are finding the reverse to be true. Where there is a vacuum of information from the officialdom, myths, half-truths and rumors will move in naturally to fill its place, thereby becoming the new (distorted) truth. The best way for the mainstream media and the government to counter these endless speculations is to be forthcoming in the release of information to the public. The more reticent it is, the more it will be perceived as having something to hide. The mainstream media's refusal to speak out on critical issues of national importance will inevitably breed cynicism, resentment and contempt for its news coverage amongst Singaporeans, promoting the growth of an adversarial blogosphere which has become disproportionately anti-establishment to counter the official propaganda in recent times. Had the mainstream media allowed more space and flexibility for dissenting views contrary to the government to be expressed in the public domain, the great political divide between the new and the old media would be narrower instead of growing apart as of present. It makes little sense to conceal information from the public in this day and age where it can be easily obtained elsewhere by a simple click of the mouse. Nor will internet ramblings be confined strictly within cyberspace as long the press carries no reports on it. In a wired world without any frontiers, the influence of the new media can reach even those who do not surf the internet via word of mouth, brochures and VCDs. The state media will only make itself look stupid if it chooses to ignore the voices of the people on the ground at the expense of serving the vested interests of the government.  Read More →

By Lim Yii Tong, Guest Columnist Singapore's two Sovereign Wealth Funds - GIC and Temasek Holdings have drawn considerable flak over the past few days from both the foreign media and local bloggers on their reluctance to release more information about their investment strategies, directions and operations to the public. Part of the anger swelling from the ground is understandable - the funds have lost about S$100 billion dollars of taxpayers' monies in between them which is an awful sum given the current economic predicament we find ourselves in. While the reaction from the ground is expected and understandable, we should not allow ourselves to be carried away by raw emotions to dismiss the crucial roles these SWFs have played in generating returns to our reserves since their inception. Both SWFs, especially Temasek Holdings have made gigantic strides towards greater accountability and transparency. It was Madam Ho Ching who published Temasek's first annual report during her tenure as CEO. With increased international scrutiny on SWFs, my hunch is that they will open up gradually in time to come. Our SWFs are not doing too badly in terms of international standards if we examine closely their transparency indexes in comparison to other SWFs. The Linaburg-Maduell Transparency Index was developed at the Sovereign Wealth Fund Institute by Carl Linaburg and Michael Maduell. It is a method of rating transparency in respect to sovereign wealth funds. Temasek scored a high 8 on this index while GIC is not far behind at 6. The scores for other modern democracies are as follows: Australia Future Fund: 9 Canada - Alberta's Heritage Fund: 9 Hong Kong Monetary Authority Investment Portfolio: 7 Ireland - National Pension Reserves Fund: 10 Korea Investment Corporation: 9 New Zealand Superannuation Fund: 10 Norway Government Pension Fund: 10 As we can see, Temasek's score is pretty decent and respectable. Of course there is still plenty of room for it to improve on its transparency record. Though GIC scores lower on the scale, it is far more transparent than many countries in the region: Abu Dhabi Investment Authority: 3 Brunei Investment Agency: 1 China Investment Corporation: 6 Malaysia Khazanah Nasional: 4 Our SWFs have come a long way to establish themselves as in the international arena. Let us give them a bit more time to improve on their transparency record. References: Sovereign Wealth Institute Linaburg-Maduell Transparency Index EDITORS' NOTE: The above article is contributed by one of our guest writers whose views do not represent that of the team managing this blog. We welcome a diversity of views from everybody, including pro-establishment ones.  Read More →