Publishing of False Information on The Real Singapore on 13 Jul 2013 (Response 2)
I thank The Real Singapore (TRS) for their response earlier today (http://therealsingapore.com/content/trs-official-response-mp-zaqy-mohamad).
As at 1235AM, 24 hours following my post, TRS has not taken down the post. Despite its reply, it has not provided proof on the two allegations I took issue with in my post.
The allegations about the replacement of railings at the staircase are false. All evidence is in public view that the railings have been there for some time and not new.
TRS could have also checked with Ms Tham or the insurers with a simple question, which it has not so far. Has she been in contact with insurer's Loss Adjustment officer to investigate her case over the past 2 months? We were only informed there was a typo in the contact number provided only on 10 Jul 2013, a few days ago. We acknowledged to Ms Tham that this may have caused some inconvenience, but had no bearing on the claims investigations ongoing for 2 months.
My intent for the post is to set the record straight for public record as TRS had allowed the posting with serious allegations in the public domain. It is unfortunate that in its reply, TRS set out to cloud the situation further rather than abide by editorial integrity, even though I personally put forth our facts to defend the allegations.
Our interest here is not with Ms Tham nor any opinions of the case that TRS wishes to allow posted. We reserve our rights to protect the interests of all parties involved in the claims, including the interest of Ms Tham.
Our position remains that we will respect the claims investigation being conducted and the legal process, and be accountable for the outcome - whether in our favour or otherwise.
Zaqy Mohamad
*Article first appeared on https://www.facebook.com/zaqymd/posts/10152021627959256
Editor's Note:
We appreciate the effort that MP Zaqy has taken to clarify his stand on this issue and while we realise that more than the 24 hours since MP Zaqy's post has passed, we are currently still in communication with Ms Serene Tham.
We will stick to our original response here: http://therealsingapore.com/content/trs-official-response-mp-zaqy-mohamad and in addition to that we have included some pictures of the old staircase which Miss Serene Tham has fell down and also some photos of her injuries.
We have spoken on the phone with Ms Tham and she has expressed that she wishes to write a clarification article on the issue to address MP Zaqy's points including pictures of the staircase. Firstly, however, as this is still currently a case pending with the insurer, she is seeking legal advice on what information she is able to release.
Our understanding is that we will receive an update from her later today and her response will be published on our website once we recieve it.
We don't wish to make this issue any bigger than it needs to be and we continue to endeavour to present both sides. Ms Tham's repsonse will be published shortly and we hope that with that, everything can then be put to rest.
Again, we attempt to allow citizens to voice their concerns and as we are yet to receive the final clarification article from Ms Tham, we will not be altering her previous articles as the issue is still outstanding. We have noted MP Zaqy's concerns about some of the information in her original article and we will make any appropriate editorial adjustments following her official response.