Tag Archives: Singapore

Media censorship in Singapore

Working through my backlog of issues of The Economist, I’ve been amused by the spate in its pages between the government of Singapore and the press concerning the storied history of the Far Eastern Economic Review (FEER) in the country. To chronicle the story, the whole thing began when the newish Banyan column in The Economist published a piece on the recent demise of the FEER. It included a paragraph on the magazine’s legal troubles in Singapore and referred to bans imposed against the publication by the Singaporean government.

I’ve been a regular reader of The Economist long enough to know that the Singaporean government never misses an opportunity to rise to the bait whenever its name is disparaged in the press, so predictably enough a letter from the High Commissioner of Singapore in London was duly published in the next issue. In it, the High Commissioner claimed that the FEER has never been banned by the government. Instead, publication of the FEER in Singapore ceased because the magazine voluntarily declined to comply with local rules.

A week after that, The Economist published a letter by Philip Bowring, a former editor of the FEER. He claimed that while the Singaporean government never actually used the word “ban”, what happened was effectively the same thing. The usual circulation of about 10,000 copies a week was cut to only 500 copies to be circulated according to directions from government officials. The FEER declined to publish at all under such restrictions but the Singaporean government chose to create an advertisement-free pirate edition anyway to circulate as it saw fit.

Once again, the Singaporean government had to respond. This time, the High Commissioner claimed that the government acted to restrict the circulation of the FEER in the country because it had interfered with its domestic politics. The implication is that by allowing a limited circulation anyway, the government was extending a favour to the publication. He also claimed that there were further discussions about regularly circulating an advertisement-free edition of the FEER but as the government was only willing to approve a circulation of 2,000 copies a week, the FEER declined and voluntarily ceased publication in Singapore.

What’s more interesting is that at the same time, The Economist also published a letter from a reader who correctly pointed out that as the Singapore government demands a right of reply to criticism against it, The Economist would be forced to give it the last word or else have the argument drag on interminably. This however would have the unfortunate implication that The Economist agreed with the Singaporean government’s version of events. The reader therefore suggested that the newspaper publish his own letter alongside the reply from the Singaporean government to indicate that this was not so, which as can be seen, The Economist indeed did.

The reason I chose to relay all this is because I think it is a timely reminder that Singapore isn’t quite the clean-cut boy scout it likes to portray itself as being. Malaysians in particular seem too ready to hold up Singapore as an example of a country that gets it right. While the Singaporean government is unquestionably more competent at what it does, I believe it’s worth keeping in mind that they’re not necessarily any nobler or cleaner. Of course, Malaysians shouldn’t be too complacent as well. In 1999, the Malaysian government jailed Murray Hiebert, a correspondent of the FEER for criticizing the judiciary, becoming the first country in the Commonwealth to jail a journalist for what he wrote in more than 50 years. I have a particularly vivid memory of that episode because I was working as an intern for the New Straits Times when Hiebert was first charged.

Self-banning from casinos

I’ve been too busy at work to post anything recently so here a bit of regional news that I’ve found amusing. It concerns the new casinos in Singapore which I’m sure everyone has heard of by now. What’s new is that in a move meant to assuage concerns about gamblers becoming addicted and ruining their lives as a result, the government now allows families to ask for their loved ones to be banned from them even before the casinos have opened. The article notes that the Singapore government will soon also allow individuals to apply for a ban on themselves and for third parties to apply to ban others who owe them money.

Now, it’s not like I’m hugely against this but I can’t help but be a bit leery about people who have so little self control that they need to call in the government to do it for them. Still, if this trend hits it off, I’m sure there’s going to be plenty of folks who will be happy to ban their family members from things like buying cigarettes or alcohol. Hey, if you’re fat and blame fast food companies for your predicament, you could even apply to be banned from them so you’ll never be tempted again!

Visiting Singapore

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I haven’t been able to update my blog or even do much of anything connected with the online world since I’ve been in Singapore for a job interview for the past few days. The job thing didn’t turn out so well, though I’m still holding out some hope that I might get some freelance from these folks Still, since my wife and I had planned on it being a short sightseeing trip as well, at least it didn’t turn out to be a complete waste of time. As always, whenever I visit Singapore, the most striking thing is how orderly everything is. For example, even pedestrian footpaths closed for construction have signs saying, “Footpath closed. Please do not walk on the road. Use the footpath on the opposite side of the road instead.” It’s as if every little thing in Singapore, no matter how small or insignificant, is filed in a huge database somewhere and assigned under the responsibility of a specific bureaucrat. It’s an amazingly efficient way to run things, but in a way, it’s also a bit scary as well.

On the other hand, because we stayed in a dingy hotel in Geyland to save money, we got to see the seamier side of Singapore as well. I’ve known about Geylang’s less than savoury reputation of course, who doesn’t, and I even warned my wife about it and told her that we could pick a more expensive hotel if it bothers her to stay in a red light district. All the same, I was surprised, after having checked in to the hotel and going out in the evening for dinner, to see dozens of scantily clad prostitutes lining the road right in front of our hotel. I expected something, but not that many of them wearing so little clothes standing so brazenly out in the open.

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