HUMPHREYS: I'd like to say there has, but sadly, no, not enough and I think this one has been something of a national embarrassment for Singapore, because I think they were very much caught out by the vehement reaction to this story in the West. And Singapore's been playing catch up ever since, with the exception of one paper, the New Paper, which has been doggedly following match-fixers for many years. No other newspapers in Singapore put it on their front pages. In one particular newspaper, it was buried, whereas, of course, it's been front and back pages across Europe. So they've been caught on the back foot. Initially when the story broke, the police that you mentioned there refused to comment, there was no official reaction from government sources, there was no official reaction at all and they were caught out and embarrassed by the international criticism that followed. Because what you have to remember and what listeners do not always appreciate is this is nothing new, this nothing new in Singapore. Match-fixing has been rife for the best of 40 years, going back to their Malaysian Cup Competition played between Malaysian States and a Singapore select side. There have been documented cases of match-fixing for over 40 years, where people have been subsequently been found guilty and gone to jail.
So the initial Singapore reaction on the street was extraordinary. There was just a shrug of the shoulders and a case of yep, it's just another case of match-fixing, but this one isn't. This is the biggest match fixing scandal in the history of World football and Singapore, was caught out. Full story
