11 July 2007

Theonlinecitizen replies

Choo Zheng Xi, currently a law undergrad at NUS and the co-editor of theonlinecitizen, has replied via MSN. He is the original author who broke Alfian's story, advised Alfian to send in his essay on Francis under a pseudonym, and also published Alfian's op-ed piece "Should homosexuals be allowed to teach" as an uncredited article.

The sum of it: Choo Zheng Xi has refused to answer any of the questions raised almost 2 weeks ago. I am reproducing his reply, stating his refusal to reply, word for word here, with no additions, subtractions or alterations:

[01:47] choo: hey sorri dont think ile be replying to your piece
[01:47] akikonomu: i didn't expect you to
[01:48] choo: ok
[01:53] akikonomu: you see, i don't expect you to have what it takes to explain away that breach of journalistic ethics
[01:53] choo: more like i dont think i need to actually
[01:54] akikonomu: nope. because you can't explain it anyway
[01:54] choo: well you wouldnt know would you =)
[01:55] choo: honestly it'd give the issue more publicity than a non issue deserves
[01:56] choo: none of the grand total of 3 ppl ive asked to look at your piece thinks it matters
[01:56] choo: they're probably the only ppl who read it
[01:56] choo: if i'd replied
[01:56] choo: i might have doubled your readership
[01:59] *** "choo" signed off at Wed Jul 11 01:59:14 2007.

I would like to thank Choo Zheng Xi for taking the time to explain that an explanation isn't needed, and to take the effort to impress upon me that this is a non-issue.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Hi friend,

I have read your article on TOC. Choo's reaction is not surprising given the fact that he is a YEC and PA member. Do you know that TOC is run by YPAP and MDA members now ?

I have written a few articles on TOC's gutter journalism here:

http://wayangparty.wordpress.com/2007/11/27/is-the-online-citizen-bringing-mdas-watchful-eyes-into-cyberspace/

http://wayangparty.wordpress.com/2007/11/22/is-the-chief-editor-of-toc-mr-choo-zheng-xi-a-ypap-member-too/

http://wayangparty.wordpress.com/2007/11/21/is-toc-practicising-gutter-journalism-as-well/

TOC is obviously a MDA ploy to gain a foothold in cyberspace. It is our duty to expose them.

Email me at wayangparty@hotmail.com to discuss how we can collaborate.