Monday, October 23, 2006

Negative headline is unfair

Last week, a leading newspaper had a headline that suggested that a prominient entrepreneur (a multi-millionaire) based in Singapore, is sued for fraud.

This created an impression among a few knowledgeable people that this entrepreneur is acting dishonestly.

I pointed out that the suit was taken by a private individual. The circumstance of the dispute is under litigation.

It was unfair of the newspaper to use a headline that created a wrong impression among the general public.

It is a different matter, if the case is taken by the public prosecutor. The prosecutor has a duty to carry out some investigation to be satisfied that there is sufficient evidence to press a case.

I urge the public to be careful about reading the headlines, especially if there is a tendency for some newspaper to be sensational or negative. Do take a more generous view about people who may be charged or sued unfairly.
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1 comment:

Heng-Cheong Leong said...

I do not agree that "it is a different matter, if the case is taken by the public prosecutor." There can be many reasons -- such as corruption, incompetence, or political pressures -- that we may want to distrust public prosecutor too.

I am not saying the current public prosecutor to be distrustful. But, I think we shouldn't differentiate.

In *all* cases, it has to be innocent until proven guilty in the courts. To apply different standards based on whether it is Lee Kuan Yew or Random Person X that is suing is doing a disservice to our legal system.

October 23, 2006 9:32 AM

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