SMRT Feedback Exposed the Alleged Writer of TOC ‘Defamatory’ Article

By
George Yang
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By now, everyone would’ve known about the Terry Xu Vs PM Lee story.

If not, here’s a quick recap in one sentence: PM Lee sues Terry Xu from The Online Citizen (TOC) for a defamatory article.

But before you go, “Ah, so that means Terry Xu is the writer lah,” hold your horses. Pretty sure you’re just a headline reader if you think that way.

Terry Xu is the Editor-in-Chief of TOC. Lest you think an editor merely edits a piece of writing, think again: in the publishing industry, the editor is like the general manager. His or her role isn’t to edit, but to ensure that everything goes smoothly.

So far, our editors seem to spend more time scolding people than editing #helloeditorsyouallarehandsomeandpretty

There’s one more position that’s higher than the editor: the publisher. According to how we look at our publisher, who’s our boss, his responsibility seems to be sleeping and watching Netflix.

But anyways.

So, it’s Terry’s responsibility to ensure that the articles aren’t anyhowly written and published, which is why he’s sued.

That begets the question that no one has asked: who’s the writer?

In comes SMRT Feedback, the vigilanteh we need but don’t deserve.

But before that, a little context.

“Rivalry” Between SMRT Feedback and TOC

Back in late April, there was an online spat between TOC and Observer+, a website that’s somewhat affiliated (though not entirely) with SMRT Feedback.

Long story cut short, CNA ran a story about alternate media in Singapore, and Observer+ was featured. TOC took issue with the traffic number provided by Observer+, and well, it kind of ended soon after.

Nevertheless, months passed, haze came and of course, TOC’s Terry Xu got sued.

But it seems like only SMRT Feedback has taken the initiative to find out who the real author is.

Kiara Xavier

If you’ve read the allegedly defamatory article, you’ll notice that the byline for the article is a certain Kiara Xavier, who might or might not be related to a certain professor.

Which is actually pretty common in TOC: browse through their articles and you’d see angmo-sounding names as their writers.

However, SMRT Feedback found out that that could allegedly be a pen name, and she’s not local.

The teh-tarik-loving vigilante found out that it’s a freelance writer from Malaysia, and her rate is USD$12 per hour. The irony is of course TOC’s often xenophobic direction: in the words of SMRT Feedback, “But why is Terry Xu from The Online Citizen paying a foreigner to write critical articles about Singapore’s society? Terry wants to champion Singaporean workers but he hires a foreigner to do a job a Singaporean writer could.”

SMRT Feedback posted that exposé on 18 September, and soon after, a plot twist occurred.

TOC Posted a Job Offer for a Singaporean for S$2,140 Per Month

A day after that, TOC Facebook posted a job offer for $2,140 per month.

The job description, if you’d ask anyone in Goody Feed…doesn’t really sound attractive. Not because of the pay or the “be ready for deployment 24/7”, but because of this threat warning:

“Before applying for the job, you have to got mental preparation for visits by the police to your home, the possibility of being sued by government officials for your work and trailed by the Internal Security Department. Your family must give the go-ahead to you for taking up the job. While the company will try to cover your expenses and damages but we have to warn you of our limited resources.”

OMG I’m so scared I better stay in Baddy Feed and write stories about Steven Lim or Kurt Tay.

And SMRT Feedback struck back.

Second Post by SMRT Feedback

Two days ago, the Marlboro -loving vigilante came back with another post. Apparently, the writer’s name of the allegedly defamatory article has been changed to her original name.

For no reason.

In addition, SMRT Feedback also noticed the job offer, calling it a “nice try”.

You can read their / his / her / its post here:

In addition, the transport operator also mentioned that there were cases of more foreign writers in TOC’s base of writers.

The train operator adds, “Let us be clear: there’s nothing wrong with hiring Malaysian or foreign writers to write critically about Singapore. If they wanna write about how S’poreans are arrogant, we’ll wholeheartedly support that…What’s not right is when you dish out xenophobic articles criticising foreigners working in S’pore but in the same breath hire foreigners.”

So far, both TOC and Terry Xu haven’t responded to these allegations publicly.

Maybe we’ll get to learn more in the trial. #justsaying

Here’s a simplified summary of the South Korea martial law that even a 5-year-old would understand:

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George Yang
Email: [email protected]