This "Roses and Rockets" idea comes from my old mentor, Reuters, which used it to distribute compliments (Roses) or criticisms (Rockets) to its large force of correspondents and sub-editors during the 60s and 70s.
It was all in good spirit done for a vital feedback purpose. Even the best got a rocket once a while; and the newest recruit would sometimes earn a bouquet of roses.
Readers' contributions that are concise, informed and reasoned are very welcomed - but please, no personal complaints or rude remarks. Littlespeck will, of course, subject itself to the same criterion.
May 11, 2003

Roses
Unbelievable! $100 million in charity collection, and a large role comes from the two media companies.

So here's a very big bunch of roses for both media groups - Singapore Press Holdings and MediaCorp - for raising tens of millions in charity funds every year.

Thanks to journalists in all the newspapers (in both camps), actors and actresses, risking body and limb, working for it.

It's easy to take such acts for granted, but truthfully it is very rare anywhere in the capitalist world for media owners to play such persistent roles in charity-generating.

As a result, scores of institutions (of all races) that look after the old, sick, unwanted and needy are benefitting from it - the biggest being The Community Chest, The Singapore Kidney Foundation, and now in these Sars-troubled days, the vitally important Courage Fund.

Rockets
"My close death (call) with Sars" proclaimed The Straits Times in one of its reports.

Banker Ken was obligated to go to Hong Kong and came back with a fever that just would not go away. The report added: "He lived to tell his story to.."

Without wanting to reduce Ken's sense of responsibility, I feel that the sub-editor's effort to emphasise drama and the danger of Sars was exaggerated.

We've all been taught to write a good story simply - no cliches, no exaggerations. Many a first-year student will remember being told not to say: "The fire engines rushed to the scene." (How many fire engines do not rush to a fire.)

The banker "lived to tell a story" will more aptly refer to a real danger to life, like a plane crash, not merely risk being infected with Sars in Hong Kong. Some 90% survive, remember?

The story serves frighten - rather than reassure - readers unnecessarily about the disease.

Roses
Two good human interest stories about Sars.

(1) In New Paper (May 7, 2003) "Mami missed you and love all of you. I will be back" By Ng Wan Ching.

The touching story was about nurse Hamidah Ismail's first meeting with her two children after 59 days in hospital via video. She had been infected while working with patients.

Photos of the two children told a thousand words. The article was touching and had brought tears to many readers. People really felt for this family. (Sadly, Hamida succumbed to Sars a few hours after this article was posted.)

It should be archived for history as part of Singapore's great Sars war.

(2) TODAY newspaper - For its report "Not Afraid of the Dark" inside Sars-designated Tan Tock Seng Hospital by Rahul Pathak and Tan Hui Leng.

The report covered the battlefront hospital, now bedecked with flowers and "thank you" cards sent by the public, giving a glimpse of its grim, inspiring fight by 3,600 health workers.

A doctor spoke of colleagues lost, lessons learned and 32 days of successful prevention of cutting off further infection.

The newspapers should have more stories with a human face like these. Understand MediaCorp plans to run some of these soon. Good show!

The public, I believe, has a great hunger for information about how these fine individuals - nurses, patients, cleaners, doctors, lab assistants - are coping with life and work.

Rockets
During Iraq war, Streats chose to lead on its Page 1 in a heavy day of news a story that seven US soldiers were found alive.

Thousands of Iraqis were being bombed, many of them killed and others lying in hospital with no medical supplies, reporting that seven GI's were unharmed is - to put it mildly - not the best of judgements.

At worse, it is insensitive.

It may be an American story (I doubt many US newspapers would make it the Page 1 lead), it is certainly not Singapore's. During colonial days, we used to laugh at British editors playing up news of a Briton stubbing his toes, while reducing 1,000 Indian dying in floods into a "filler".
Seah Chiang Nee