Since my name appears in the post, I feel I need to fact-check it line by line.
First line:
In May, after F&B entrepreneur K.F. Seetoh shared a post showing the dwindling crowds at Jewel after the initial hype ... PAP trolls and cronies were quick to bark that it was "fake news" as he had gone on a weekday morning.For the most part, this is true... except...
It's impossible to confirm whether it was "PAP trolls and cronies" who were "quick to bark". It could be just people wanting to get all the facts right.
Also, I want to point out that even quicker were the people who immediately derided Jewel as a "white elephant" in response to Seetoh's post.
It was only later when commenters started questioning what time Seetoh's photos were taken that he revealed that it was at 9.30am.
So while he did share a post "showing the dwindling crowds at Jewel after the initial hype", Seetoh subsequently amended his post to add that he was referring specifically to "pre-opening" hours.
He also added: "I see the usual crowds closer to opening and regular hours..."
Which contradicts the "dwindling crowds" claim in The Alternative View post.
Granted, Seetoh also added "The decline is slow and real", but this is stating the obvious because of course the crowds would decrease from opening day. At least "the decline is slow" rather than fast.
Finally, he added: "I feel for the tenants, esp the 24/7 ones."
So apparently, this was what his post was really about, not "dwindling crowds" per se. In a reply to a comment, Seetoh wrote: “If nobody at some hrs..why make them open 24/7 in these depressed manpower conditions.”
Which I guess is a fair point.
Here is Seetoh's post:
Second line:
One notorious IB even went on a weekend to "prove" him wrong.This is accompanied by sceenshots of my column on The New Paper website with the headline: "S M Ong: Fake news? Explaining K.F. Seetoh's Jewel post".
I'm not an "IB" if it means what I think it means. As in I am not a member of the PAP Internet Brigade, paid to rebut anti-PAP views online.
I'm just a guy who every two weeks, has to come up with something to write about in 500-700 words for my column and that week, Seetoh's Jewel post was it.
In fact, I considered headlining the article: "Fake news? Defending K.F. Seetoh's Jewel post", but decided to go for something more neutral instead. If I had stuck with my orginal headline, I probably wouldn't have to write this blog post. People mostly just read headlines anyway.
You may argue that simply by writing for The New Paper, I’m an IB by default. If that is your perception, no amount of denial on my part is going to make a difference. I could point to some not so pro-establishment articles I have written, but who cares?
As for whether I'm "notorious", that's an opinion and I'm flattered that someone thinks I am.
And I didn't go to Jewel "on a weekend". As I wrote in my column, I went on a Friday afternoon, which is close to the weekend, but not technically the weekend yet.
Also, I went to Jewel not "to 'prove' him wrong".
As mentioned above, Seetoh already wrote in his post: "I see the usual crowds closer to opening and regular hours..."
So if anything, I went to Jewel to prove him right.
Third line:
But now PAP's own MSM are reporting that indeed the hype at Jewel appears to be dying down.This is accompanied by screenshots of two Today reports:
- Restaurants on level 5 of Jewel Changi Airport hit hard by requirement to stay open till 3am
- Jewel effect wearing off? Some F&B outlets at Changi Airport say business has dipped, after initial boost
Is Today "PAP's own MSM"? Not factual but I would call it a fair assertion. (See "Here Today, gone tomorrow: Remember the time Mr Brown's column got suspended?")
Is Today "reporting that indeed the hype at appears to be dying down"? Well, no and sorta maybe.
The most recent article, which was published on Friday, is about how restaurants on level 5 of Jewel have little or no business after midnight. This jibes with Seetoh's point that tenants shouldn't be required to open 24/7.
But it has nothing to do with the hype dying down.
Yes, the other Today article can be loosely described as about the dying hype, but it's more specifically about how businesses in the other airport terminals are affected, not Jewel itself.
Moreover, the article was published on May 19, which was before my column (May 27) and before Seetoh's post (May 22).
So it's a bit disingenuous to claim that "now PAP's own MSM are reporting that indeed the hype at appears to be dying down". It’s not “now”. It was four weeks ago.
Also, I just want to say there's nothing scandalous about the hype dying down anyway. That's the nature of hype.
No one expects the crowds to be as big as when Jewel first opened.
But when I was there two days after Seetoh's post, it was still pretty damn crowded.
Some businesses will do better than others. Yes, opening 24 hours or till 3am is probably not a great idea.
And maybe one day, Jewel will become a ghost town which some are eagerly looking for signs for as proof of PAP's ineptitude.
But that day isn't here yet.
Elsewhere in The Alternative View post, there's this line:
One notorious but brainless IB even went on a weekend to join the queue for one of the restaurants and claim that Seetoh was putting out fake news.I've already addressed the "Notorious" and "IB" part. As for "brainless", yeah, I wish I could be smarter and avoided this contretemps.
In my column, I didn't mention joining any queue. I just sort of said I saw a lot of people in Jewel. And I didn't "claim that Seetoh was putting out fake news". I just reported that one person commenting on Seetoh's post warned that the post may be considered fake news and I expanded on it.
I swear.
Take it from the Notorious S M Ong.
EARLIER: Fake news? Are there no more queues at Shake Shack in Jewel as K F Seetoh seems to claim?
