Val chua

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Val Chua

Born n/a
Singapore
Occupation Journalist

Val Chua is a former journalist at Today newspaper who was sacked from her job following an article[1] she wrote for the newspaper[2]. She has become a cause célèbre in Singapore, especially in the Singaporean blogosphere, because of the way the issue was handled by the PAP government of Singapore. In reporters without borders's 2004 report on Singapore, the Val Chua incident was mentioned as follows:

"An adviser to former Prime Minister Lee Kuan Yew reprimanded Today editor Mano Sabnani in November for allowing a report to be published about a trip by Lee’s wife to London for medical reasons. The young journalist who wrote the story, Val Chua, reportedly had her press card suspended." [3]

Contents

[edit] Lee Sr and the eye-opening trauma in London

The article was written on the 3rd of November 2002 and concerned certain remarks Minister Mentor Lee Kwan Yew made at a community event in Jalan Bukit Merah. It was not an opinion piece and was merely a news account covering Mr Lee's speech. The article did not contain the journalist's views at all but quoted Mr Lee extensively. The reason why it was controversial was because of what Mr Lee said at the event. Minister Mentor related how his wife has suffered a stroke while she was accompanying him in the United Kingdom and how they suffered a "humiliating" treatment in the hands of the NHS. The most controversial statement Mr Lee made as written in Ms Chua's article was:

"She would have had to wait till 8am the next morning for her CT brain scan if 10 Downing Street had not intervened to get her early attention. High Commissioner Michael Teo had sought help from 10 Downing Street at 2am on Sunday and she received treatment at 3.30am on the night itself."[4]

[edit] Mobile Hospital

Val Chua's article also quoted Mr Lee on the arrangements that Singapore Airlines had taken to bring his wife back safely to Singapore. Doctors had asked Mr Lee to wait for 3 weeks before returning to Singapore to allow his wife to recover. However, not satisfied with the healthcare in the UK, Mr Lee and his wife flew back to Singapore on SQ321 which had been equipped with medical equipment to monitor Mrs Lee's vital statistics.

Within 48 hours, SIA had fitted out SQ321 with medical support of oxygen tanks and other fixtures for a drip. "No other airline would have done this," Mr Lee said, looking visibly touched. On board were also two Intensive Care nurses from Changi General Hospital, two doctors, as well as officials from SIA who made sure all the equipment worked.

It became clear that the cost of such an arrangement was covered by SIA, a publicly traded company on the Singapore Exchange. SIA and CGH did not reveal how much money was spent for the special flight.

[edit] Media Storm

When the article was published in Today, 10 Downing Street denied categorically that preferential treated had been given to Kwa Geok Choo[5], the wife of Mr Lee, forcing Mr Lee to retract his earlier statement[6]. Mr Lee also made some elitist statements such as "We run a (healthcare) system where you have to co-pay ... but you get the attention. There, no attention, just join the queue." The national health service in the UK provides free health care for all patients and there is no preference given to anyone. Singapore however, does not have a universal health care system where every citizen has to pay, depending on how much they earn, for health care.






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