K. Shanmugam & Michelle Chong Responded to ‘One-Sided’ ST Article About the Ah Lian Video

You might have seen it.

If not, you don’t deserve to be on Facebook.

And if you’re one who doesn’t deserve to be on Facebook (good for you; which means you’ve a life), here’s the video we’re talking about:

Yeah, we’re talking about the funny Premium Ah Lian interviewing our no-nonsense Law Minister, K. Shanmugam.

I bet that even without watching it, you’d have more or less expected it to be epic.

Lest you’re wondering why our Law Minister (who’s, by the way, very sporting but still non-nonsense in the interview) has granted Michelle Chong Premium Ah Lian an interview, here’s why: it was to let more people know about the new fake news laws, which is known as Protection from Online Falsehoods and Manipulation Act (POFMA).

To us, it worked extremely well: even XiaoBeach73, who last read a newspaper 10 years ago and currently did not even know why people are selling Huawei phones, saw it and suddenly knew more about this new law.

Mind you, XiaoBeach73 didn’t even know there are laws for e-scooter. That’s how ignorant and apolitical she is.

But on The Sunday Times (the physical paper – yes that’s how old I am), and as a Premium Article in Straits Times Online, an article spoke about the video, and it’s not all praises.

ST Premium Article Vs Premium Ah Lian

So, in an article piece called “The art of soft sell: Political leaders changing how they communicate with public” published last Sunday (19 May 2019), the journalist went in-depth into how the authorities have been using new media to reach out to the public.

It’s an interesting read and it doesn’t just focus on the K. Shanmugam x Michelle Chong video, but the authorities’ effort in general.

And let’s just say that it’s not all roses: the article doesn’t lean anywhere, but didn’t exactly paint a completely rosy image about the video: something that we disagree with, since it could well be the video of the century.

And both K. Shanmugam and Michelle Chong, and an unlikely cameo, stepped in.

Shanmugam Shared the Article & Provided More Facts

Two days ago, Law Minister posted this, together with a link of the article:

Simply put, he spoke about the high reach of the video (estimated at one million views) and how it could have reached more people who can’t be reached via mainstream media. ST instead focused on a few people who “didn’t like the video.”

Premium Ah Lian Didn’t Share Premium Article But Spoke Out

And then Premium Ah Lian stepped in without sharing the Premium article; instead, she just commented on the post:

Long post cut short, Ah Lian not song that article so one-sided lah, and she very the sure the video very popular one. She think-ed the writer already want to go one angle, so bobian anyhowly just interview 7 or 8 humans who maybe don’t like the video. Cheesepie, but she say that one is her opinion and according to her bff, opinion not covered in the fake news laws. Then she flirt with Nas Daily.

Wait, Nas Daily?

Nas Daily Also Joined in the Conversation

Nas Daily decided to join in the fun, because why not?

Here’s his comment:

And the Law Minister replied to his comment as well:

Nevertheless, good or bad publicity, at least now we know more about POFMA, no?

And by the way, Nas Daily was referring to this video: