Wednesday, January 13, 2010

Raymond's letter to the New Paper: On SingPost publicity stunt gone wrong

My letter to the New Paper was published today, Wednesday 13 January 2010, page 22.


I refer to the report, “It wasn't meant to cause alarm” (The New Paper, 7 Jan).

Motorcycles in carparks have been burnt by vandals and loan sharks have splashed paint and scrawled graffiti at households claiming someone there owes them money.

These loansharks threaten innocent neighbours when they are unable to track down the borrowers.

The publicity stunt by SingPost sends the wrong message to such criminals that vandalising public property is okay.

I am disappointed that Mr Teo Ser Luck, Senior Parliamentary Secretary in the Ministry of Community Development Youth and Sports (MCYS) is not taking a tough stand on this matter.

As the official sponsor for the 2010 Youth Olympic Games (YOG), did SingPost keep MCYS informed of the “vandalism” publicity stunt?

And if so, was the publicity stunt approved?

Can both MCYS and SingPost clarify this
?

The police have a responsibility to ensure that law and order is maintained in Singapore and they must take a serious view of this publicity stunt.

At the same time, compassion must also be shown to people who are going through stress which they find hard to cope with.

RAYMOND ANTHONY FERNANDO

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