As a Malaysian who once worked in Singapore, I am glad too see that the Singapore Straits Times as well as the London-based Jane's Intelligence Review have finally offered an apology to PAS for alleging, without proof, that the party is linked to Osama bin Laden.

I am also glad that PAS has magnanimously accepted the apology.

It is time we Malaysians, especially non-Muslims and non-Malays should stop thinking that everything the Singapore media reports or opines is absolutely true and accurate. It is not. Singaporean journalists are human beings too. They do make mistakes as human beings, in terms of facts and judgement.

Moreover, the media there is tightly controlled by the ruling party, PAP, and is usually exploited and used as a propaganda tool to serve the city-state's foreign policy agenda. Singapore has its own vested self-interests to protect vis-a-vis what is going on in Malaysia. We must always be aware of that.

On top of that, Singaporeans are so conditioned by their Spartan system of education that they generally lack creativity and the independence of critical thinking. This affects their standard of journalism and analytical skills in other fields, such as political analyses.