I refer to “I’m Sorry, Singapore”, “Sombre faces as crisis ends” and “Sports fans say it’s a gracious apology”, articles from August 30th’s edition of the Straits Times.
The recent episode concerning Ms Lee Bee Wah and her publicized announcement regarding the Singapore Table Tennis Association has got everybody talking. As part of an interview with the press, Ms Lee had mentioned that team manager Anthony Lee would be replaced and that head coach Liu Guodong’s future with the association would also be uncertain.
The Singaporean audience lapped up the drama and controversy, mainly because of the timing of her announcement, method of delivery and the incidences prior to her announcement.
This incident received so much buzz because Singaporeans were in a post-Olympic hype, having watched intently as the nation’s table tennis team played for an Olympic medal. Alas, after the medal was provided, our first in 48 years, celebrations were on the way and the Singaporean public celebrated along with the national team.
In the peak of these high spirits, Ms Lee Bee Wah made her announcement. This spelt grave news to the national team and labeled Ms Lee as an extreme party-pooper. She is being so critically scrutinized because she had bad timing, and did not take kairos into account.
Kairos is an aspect of rhetoric to emphasize that effective communications called for the sender to recognize the opportune occasion for speech, including place and time. The announcement was untimely because the people were still very much in the hype of the nation’s Olympic medal victory. Also, the bad news to Anthony Lee and Liu Guodong was rendered to them indirectly. Ms Lee should not have used the media as the channel for her message, given that the nature of the news. In this way, her method of delivery is also questionable. The public started to pin-point, and questioned if Ms Lee had made a rash decision.
The article “I’m Sorry, Singapore” shows that Ms Lee recognizes the negative sentiments resulting from her announcement. She apologizes for “causing any grievances and stress.” In another article, “Sports fans say it’s a gracious apology”, Ms Lee’s apology was regarded as “a gracious gesture” and many noted figures like Woffles Wu and Mr Chong Tee, a former Member of Parliament, agreed that the episode had ended and that it was time to move on.
I also noted from “I’m Sorry, Singapore” that Dr Vivian Balakrishnan, Minister for Community Development, Youth and Sports had intervened as part of damage control. Dr Balakrishnsn stepped in as an authority figure and assures the public that this matter is being taken care of. The article mentions that “he urged Singaporeans to trust in what the association was doing”, aiding in the Singapore Table Tennis Association’s credibility.
The picture shown in “Sombre faces as crisis ends” aptly depicts the members of the table tennis association as wanting nothing more than for the episode to come to a close.
9 comments:
when i first read your post, i was wondering how you would link communications theories to it so i was pleasantly surprised to see karios ( i obviously didnt think hard enough) good job of noting that!
(: janice
hi amanda,
I feel that Ms Lee's actions were really insensitive. It really was not an appropriate timing on her part. These kind of matters should be done discreetly. Even if she was not satisfied with the manager and head coach, she definitely should not have vented her anger to the media.I am sceptical whether she really meant her words when she gave her apology.
Hi Janice!
Yes, kairos is seriously quite an important element to communication! With this case, her timing probably killed her credibility quite a bit.
And Hi Ida!
Correct, it was quite insensitive with the delicate news she was delivering. But I think sometimes these things are being played out dramatically to prove some kind of point. Perhaps Ms Lee did the firing to show that she means business and needs her staff to perform and deliver results, and that there'll be consequences when that doesn't happen.
I acknowledge tat timing is important when delivering a message but I never knew it's technical term. Thanks!
Ya, I also think that the picture on the second article shows that the players, who are really the ones caught in the middle, cannot wait for the whole thing to be over! It must have been such a bad experience, winning an Olympic medal and then finding out that the coach and manager's jobs are uncertain. Kairos is really important when delivering a message!
Hello Anonymous-es!
Yes, kairos is really important when communicating a message, and deserves more emphasis! ANd the second picture really capture the moment eh! I have to find the correct term for it, there may be something to describe the players' facial expressions.
I like wat you say about Dr Vivian Balakrishnan coming in as damage control, didn't see it that way at first! Damage control is vry important to save the situation.
Hahaha Hi May!
Yes! Dr Vivian Balakrishnan stepping in was a very very very very vital move to restore credibility of Ms Lee Bee Wah as President as well as the credibility of the Table Tennis Association! When people of such position communicate, especially when they're communicating publicly - like issuing a statement to the press, they really have to take into the account the credibility of the organisation they represent! I remember my poly lecturers lamenting that bad press releases make for lots of work in the corporate communications and public relations people!
Oh yes, I have more to add.
Dr Vivian Balakrishnan worked well as damage control because of his authority also. So people perceive him as credible enough to trust to put an end to the drama.
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