So are you

Shameless English Media:

Singapore sees decline in tuberculosis sufferers
Channel NewsAsia, 20 March 2007
Singapore looks to be winning the fight against tuberculosis (TB). There has been a steady decline in the number of TB cases over the past ten years - from 1,712 cases in 1997 to about 1,256 in 2006. The incidence rate fell from 54.9 per 100,000 in 1997 to 37.0 per 100,000 in 2005. The Health Ministry said such an improvement would not have been possible without the efforts of the medical community...


Much more truthful Chinese Media:

短期逗留非公民　结核病案例激增
早报2007-03-20
在本地短期逗留的非公民感染结核病（tuberculosis）的案例，从2004年12个，激增至2005年的350个。这些病患以工作准证持有者为主，其次是外国旅客...

(Rough translation:
Singapore sees increase in Tuberculosis-infected foreigners:
The number of foreigners in Singapore who are infected with TB, increased dramatically from 12 in 2004 to 350 in 2005! These people are mostly work permit holders, followed by tourists...)


If Mr. A got his news only from the English media, and Mr. B got his only from the Chinese media, they would think they are living on two seperate Island!

Mr.A would be writing a bootlicking English letter to the Straits Times forum to congratulate MOH and "the medical community" on "winning the fight".

Mr. B, meanwhile, would be scolding in Chinese: "Ta Ma De! Why didn't the Ministry of Manpower require chest X-ray and do some careful checks before granting work permits? My health and my children's health are in danger"! He will think the country is losing the fight, especially since he knows the number of foreigners to be imported is set to increase by a few millions in the future.

Morals of the story?

• The Straits Times - and in fact, other English media such as Channel Newsasia - is not ranked 146th for nothing! Zaobao is much better if you want a balanced news report. (Note the contrast in how Straits Times and Lianhe Zaobao initially reported the organ robbery incident)
  


• Being under the Matrix Master's radar is no good - see my Sat Mar 10, 10:36:00 PM comment on another post.


• It pays to be billingual, or better still, multi-lingual; One more language means one more pair of eyes and ears, which means one more source of info, literature, and entertainment.


• We can all be living on the same Island, and yet be fed different news (and hence be drawing diff conclusion) depending on which language we speak! How much more ironical can life on this Matrix Island get? Access to truth is dependant on which language used!!!
  


• Many English-educated elites think they are "one class up" and more informed when it comes to political issues, compared to the Chinese-educated elite (which is not the same as dialect-speaking non-elite heartlanders). They are wrong. It's a case of the pot calling the kettle black. In reality, both groups comprise of the same human batteries, divided artificially by the Matrix Master into two social classes, and pitted against one another, for easier control via divide-and-conquer:

Agent Smith: You're empty.
Neo: So are you.