Khaw Boon Wan Says New Position Will Disrupt His Retirement, But Will Accept Heavy Responsibility
When Singapore Press Holdings (SPH) announced on 6 May that it was changing its media business to a non-profit business model, it augured a significant shift in the media landscape indeed.
Though Singaporeans were distracted by the “umbrage” incident, we finally got back on track to focusing on the ramifications of this move on Monday (10 May).
That’s when it was announced in Parliament that former minister Khaw Boon Wan would come out of retirement to be chairman of the new nonprofit entity.
In response to this surprising news, the man himself has said that he’s anxious about the new role, as he has no digital media experience.
We guess being frank about what needs to be done is the best way to begin.
Bombshell appointment selected by shareholders
The bombshell appointment was revealed by Minister for Communications and Information S. Iswaran via a ministerial statement in Parliament on Monday (6 May).
He said Mr Khaw had agreed to take up the role, and was in fact selected by SPH’s current management shareholders.
They will become the founding members of the new public company limited by guarantee (CLG), which SPH’s media business will be transferred to.
Khaw has no experience, will learn from other firms’ successes
In response, Mr Khaw issued a statement carried by The Business Times (BT), saying that he accepts the “heavy responsibility”.
However, he does so with some anxiety.
That’s because, he said, he has “no digital media experience”.
But he will ostensibly learn from the experiences of other companies that have succeeded in transforming themselves, as he also said,
I will see how we can adapt relevant experiences from successful transformation elsewhere.
Khaw was blissful in retirement
Mr Khaw stepped down from politics just last year, when it was revealed that he was not contesting in the 2020 General Election.
Since Jul, he’s been “blissfully content”, he said.
That’s why he candidly “lamented” that,
This assignment will disrupt my retirement!
However, he’s willing to throw himself into the fray again because he “cannot allow a Singapore institution to go into decline”.
After all, he agrees that the local media plays a critical role, as Mr Iswaran said in Parliament.
Khaw wants to unleash talent & passion
On his plans for SPH, Mr Khaw said he wants to help “unleash the talent and the passion” in the newsroom.
To do that, he will refocus the CGL on its primary mission: Providing quality journalism.
That’s necessary to help build the “young nation” of Singapore, he added.
This is his full statement as carried by BT:
It is a heavy responsibility. I accept it with some anxiety as I have no digital media experience. I will see how we can adapt relevant experiences from successful transformation elsewhere. I agree with Minister Iswaran on the local media’s critical role and will do my best to ensure we succeed in this national project.
This assignment will disrupt my retirement! In the last year, I have been blissfully content. But I cannot allow a Singapore institution to go into decline. I will see how I can help unleash the talent and the passion in our newsrooms. We will re-focus on our primary mission of providing quality journalism to help build this young nation.
Khaw chided the media in 2017
The unexpected announcement came as a surprise not just because Mr Khaw was already in blissful retirement.
Some may remember that in 2017, when he was still transport minister, he chided – or perhaps we can say took umbrage with – the media for their coverage of MRT breakdowns.
According to The Straits Times (ST), this was during a forum on infrastructure maintenance, when he said he didn’t like the media reporting on the MRT resignalling project “because they’ve magnified the problem unfairly”.
He added,
Even the main media have turned tabloid.
Mr Khaw also said that the media thinks resignalling is “so easy… like holding a pen and writing a few articles, and get the signalling done”, adding,
I wish it was so simple. If it were so simple, they don’t need us. We can ask the reporter to run the train system.
The 2017 video by Channel NewsAsia (CNA) can still be watched here.
Now that he may become chairman of a media group, we wonder whether he’ll see things differently.
‘Mr Fix-It’ aims to fix SPH
Back in the day, Mr Khaw took charge of various portfolios that were seen as tricky, leading to him earning the nickname “Mr Fix-It”.
Now, kudos to him for taking up the challenge of fixing SPH, which has been sadly losing money.
The management shareholders seem to have confidence in him despite his lack of digital media experience, so we’ll just have to wait and see how he achieves the feat.
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