Shin Min Daily News - 4.6.2004 (Pg 9) When the Nicoll Highway incident happened, all kinds of information were circulating around. Even Dr Lee Boon Yang, Minister for Information, Communications and the Arts, who was in Shanghai at that time, received many SMSs which were far from accurate. This made him realise that such false information, if left unattended, would quickly degenerate into a crisis of confidence. Speaking at the opening of the 3rd PR Academy Annual Conference this morning, Dr Lee said that in the age of the Internet and 24-hour media, information must be released in a timely manner and efforts be made to ensure its consistency. Otherwise, any information vacuum was going to be instantly filled with rumours and distortions. He also said that governments, corporations and organisations risked loosing their credibility if they responded too slowly to crises. Besides timeliness, Dr Lee added, transparency was also important as in the case of NEWater. When the Government introduced NEWater two years ago, it knew that it might not be well received by some Singaporeans. So Ministers, Members of Parliaments and experts went out to meet members of the public to openly discuss how NEWater could help Singapore become more self-sufficient in water supply. Today, Singaporeans accepted and supported the use of NEWater. SARS was another good example. During the SARS outbreak, the Government adopted an open manner and released all information. Such transparency not only won the Government public trust but also international recognition. Such openness was important even in the handling of certain sensitive issues. Singapore chose to manage the Jemaah Islamiah incident openly. It did not try to lull the people into a false sense of security, even though the Republic was well prepared to face the threat of terrorism any time. 'Let organisations become hero of crisis and not its victim' Dr Lee told those present that the duty of a public relations (PR) officer was to help his corporation or organisation build its credibility and reputation. PR officers must therefore be pro-active and create opportunities to communicate the good work of their organisations, to allow people to understand their organisations' policies and to continue to build trust with the public. In this way, Dr Lee added, when it came to the crunch, good communication skills would ensure that their corporations or organisations would emerge a hero of the crisis and not its victim. |