Asia Buzz: Plain Facts

The crash of SQ006 in Taipei last October 31 was a terrible tragedy -- for the passengers and crew, their loved ones, Singapore Airlines and for Singapore itself. The public outpouring of grief was unprecedented for the republic.

It was also a test for the city-state's information control regime -- the authorities said from the beginning that they would be judged by the public (and not just Singapore's) over their level of openness in dealing with the crisis.

The accident happened outside Singapore, involved a range of foreign nationals, and...