The New York Times apologized today to Singapore Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong, Minister Mentor Lee Kuan Yew and Senior Minister Goh Chok Tong for an article which said: "Singapore's Lee Hsien Loong is Lee Kuan Yew's son."
That nine-word sentence was the only reference to the Lees and Singapore (there was none to Goh) in the nearly 800-word article, which was also published by the Khaleej Times on February 17. It was stating a fact, not passing any judgment. Yet the New York Times issued an apology considerably longer than the offending sentence. Why? Not because of what was said in that sentence but because of the thrust of the article.
Philip Bowring, an old Asia hand who had run-ins with the Singapore government in the past, was criticizing what he called "dynastic politics" in Asia.
He named several Asian leaders, including Prime Minister Najib Razak of Malaysia, President Asif Ali Zardari of Pakistan, Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina of Bangladesh and Aung San Suu Kyi of Myanmar, who are related by birth or marriage to previous leaders. He did not say they are incompetent or undemocratic. "With the exception of North Korea, Asian dynasties are a phenomenon of countries that are more or less democratic," he wrote.
They can be a stabilizing or unifying force, he said.
"In India, the Gandhi name has been an important element in ensuring that Congress remains a major national force at a time when the growth of regional, caste and language based parties have added to the problems of governing such a diverse country," he wrote. "Ms. Megawati was a poor leader but just by being there helped the consolidation of the post-Suharto democracy."
But he argued: "Dynasties are a poor commentary on the depth of democracy in their countries. Without parties with a coherent organization and a set of ideas, politics becomes about personalities alone and name recognition more important than competence."
Apparently, that was why the New York Times apologized. It did not want anyone to think PM Lee was incompetent.
But the article nowhere questioned his ability. It only said he is MM Lee's son.
But the mere mention of that could give rise to the wrong impression since the article criticized Asian political dynasties, said the New York Times. So it said "sorry".
I am linking to the article because it should be read as a warning against the pitfalls of journalism. Journalists have to be careful about what they write about some countries. It certainly wouldn't have appeared in a Singapore newspaper.
Incidentally, I first read the article several days ago on Singapore's National Library website — where it can still be found through the eNewspapers links — and thought how open information systems have become.
Here's the full apology from the New York Times:
In 1994, Philip Bowring, a contributor to the International Herald Tribune’s op-ed page, agreed as part of an undertaking with the leaders of the government of Singapore that he would not say or imply that Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong had attained his position through nepotism practiced by his father Lee Kuan Yew. In a February 15, 2010, article, Mr. Bowring nonetheless included these two men in a list of Asian political dynasties, which may have been understood by readers to infer that the younger Mr. Lee did not achieve his position through merit. We wish to state clearly that this inference was not intended. We apologize to Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong, Minister Mentor Lee Kuan Yew and former Prime Minister Goh Chok Tong for any distress or embarrassment caused by any breach of the undertaking and the article.
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