Hentam Joceline

If you're a reader of The Star, the name Joceline Tan should be no stranger to you. She is Star's political journalist. However just before the General Election, my aunt told me to read her article "A platter of new issues". That was when I decided enough is enough. Here below I reproduced her article and how wrong she was when the results were out in 08-Mar-08. And my letter to her on the following day voicing my displeasure and my doubts on her journalistic ethics.

Alas, DAP won Penang state slaughtering BN component parties, literally speaking. And Joceline yet again shows how shallow her observation skills are. Just makes me wonder, is this lady worth every cents she is paid for?

A platter of new issues
COMMENT BY JOCELINE TAN

DAP is trying to drum up support by playing up new issues as traditional ones like Chinese education and corruption are about as palatable as cold dim sum.

FIRECRACKERS were exploding in the distant background as DAP leader Lim Guan Eng stood on top of a makeshift stage (actually it was a small lorry) speaking in a mixture of Mandarin, English and Southern Hokkien.

The Chinese New Year may be over but the festive mood seems to have lingered on thanks in no small part to the start of the general election campaign.

Penang will see fierce battles in the days ahead and the DAP shifted right away into campaign mode after nominations closed on Sunday morning.

The Bagan parliamentary seat is where Lim, who is also DAP secretary-general, is staging his entry into Penang politics. Hence, it was no surprise that he chose to kick off his party's ceramah campaign in Bagan.

The contest for the Chinese vote will be fought out mainly in seats like these where the Chinese make up nearly 70% of the voters.

The opposition party also launched the party’s election video with a theme song borrowed from a pop hit by the boy-band Westlife and which provided a pretty good idea of the topics that they will be playing up in the campaign.

Times have really changed.

This is probably the first general election in history in which Chinese schools is not an issue.
Chinese education used to be an election hot potato that was guaranteed to swing votes to the opposition. Today, it is like cold dim sum, still tasty but less saleable.

The DAP would be loathe to admit it but the fact that Chinese schools are no longer an election issue is testimony to the MCA’s efforts and good working ties with Education Minister Datuk Seri Hishammuddin Tun Hussein.

Corruption, the all-season favourite of the DAP during the Lim Kit Siang era, also seems to have taken a backseat.

This election will be about cost of living, crime and security and, for the Chinese crowd, the antics of Umno Youth and especially the high-profile Khairy Jamaluddin.

Pictures of him taken during the Ijok by-election are guaranteed to draw reaction from the crowd.

The DAP will not be short of issues in Penang but Datuk Seri Ong Ka Ting’s announcement that this would be his last polls and Datuk Seri Chan Kong Choy’s stunning decision not to seek re-election has thrown a double spanner into the DAP works.

There is considerable goodwill for the show of professionalism by MCA's top two and DAP leaders would have to think twice about attacking MCA's leadership.

But one of Lim’s concerns that evening was to assuage feelings on the ground. His presence in Bagan has been at the expense of long-time Bagan DAP strongman Lim Hock Seng who had to move to contest in a state seat.

He pulled a grinning Hock Seng onstage and they held hands up in the air like wrestling champs.

Lim can expect an easy victory in Bagan but Hock Seng will now have to struggle to win against one of MCA’s most promising assemblymen Ooi Chuan Aik, known locally as the Michael Chong of Penang.

Even some of those at the ceramah that evening said they would have a difficult time choosing between Hock Seng and Ooi.

Both are very likeable personalities. Hock Seng’s ties with the area goes back decades but Ooi has the advantage of incumbency as well as being younger and more energetic.

In fact, as senior MCA politician Tan Sri Dr Sak Cheng Lum pointed out, people will be busy checking out the candidate.

“The issues are there of course but they have been talking about it for more months.

“Over the next week or so, people will be assessing the track records of incumbents, scrutinising the new faces and basically asking themselves what each candidate can do for them,” he said.

“It’s going to be challenging but if you are able to deliver, people will recognise what you have done.”

There is an undeniable feeling of “boh song” or dissatisfaction among Penang Chinese over a variety of issues and about the Government.

But there is none of the “wind of change” mood that had blown through the state in 1990.

The opposition is hoping to fish in these troubled waters and it is up to the ruling coalition to convince voters why their bait, just like freshly-steamed dim sum, is tastier.

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Letter to: Joceline Tan

Hi Miss Joceline,I am writing to you in reference to the article you wrote "A platter of new issues" dated 26-Feb-2008. I have read alot of your articles through the years and I must say this article really made me say enough is enough. I am not sure how you can go to office everyday writing packs of lies and still live your life proudly.

Yes, you can still enjoy your dim sum with your ill gotten money. And if I were to compare a robber robbing a poor old lady on the streets versus you earning a living as a journalist writing packs of lies each day, you're no different than the former. In fact, you're a bigger robber because your article had deceived many readers.

I am coming back to vote in this election, the people will show you what finer values in life are. Something my parents taught me which I find you're lacking of.And trust me, your journalistic writting is pale in comparison to mine and your political deduction is like a soggy piece of rotten cabbage. Even a novice like me can write and view things more objectively than you.

I have heard many stories about how you sucked at writing. That piece of article you just did tops it all. I find all your writing borders what I envisioned the propaganda team in North Korea will dissseminate to its people. I suggest you re-evaluate your journalistic ethics and give readers a more balanced choice of reading.

And by the way, the "congrats" on the subject header,is just a carrot to ask you to read this email. Imeant congrats for being a biased journalist.

From: Disgruntled Reader