Lighter touch for new media: MICA

In response to a letter to the Straits Times by Choo Zheng Xi (see here) on the power of the Internet in engaging “new constituencies of tech-savvy voters”, the Ministry of Information, Communications and the Arts (MICA) said that the Government “(has) been reviewing [its] light-touch approach and [is] considering how [it] could take a lighter-touch approach.”

Choo had earlier singled out the Films Act and called it “surprisingly retrograde”.

“Section 33 bans the ‘making, distribution and exhibition’ of party political films. This blanket prohibition extends beyond the Internet to all forms of film,” he said. Read more

5 Minutes With… Leong Sze Hian on wages

TOC speaks to Leong Sze Hian and asks him for his views with regards to this report on June 30 by Channel NewsAsia, “Total wages in Singapore rise by 7-year high of 5.9% in 2007”.

CNA: Despite the fact that Singapore’s economy grew by a lower 7.7 per cent in 2007 compared to 8.2 per cent in 2006, wages grew strongly last year.

TOC: What’s the first thing that comes to your mind when you read this?

Sze Hian: The question that struck me was, what was the median wage growth in 2007? Inflation for the lower-income has always been higher than average inflation. So, if inflation for the lower-income was say 1.6 per cent or more for the last 10 years (1997 to 2007), 5 of the 8 categories of workers’ median monthly gross wage (listed in the Straits Times report “Wages rose but not for those at the bottom”, July 1, 2008), may have had no real increase in wages.

Only 3 out of the 8 categories - Sales & Service Workers, Plant & Machine Operators, and Managers, had an increase of 4, 2.4 and 1.7 per cent annualised wage change, respectively. Read more

Activists charged for protest

From the Singapore Democratic Party’s website:

The group of activists who protested outside the Parliament House on 15 Mar this year have been charged for two offences: participating in an assembly as well as a procession without a permit in a public place.

Those charged under the Miscellaneous Offences Act are Mr Gandhi Ambalam, Mr Chong Kai Xiong, Mr Chia Ti Lik, Ms Chee Siok Chin, Mr Ng E-jay, Ms Go Hui Leng, Mr Muhammad Shafi’ie, Mr Govinda Rajan, Dr Chee Soon Juan, Mr Jeffrey George, Mr Carl Lang, Mr Sylvester Lim, Mr Muhammad Jufri, Ms Suraya Bte Akbar, Mr John Tan, Mr Seelan Palay, Mr Mohamed Jufrie, Mr Yap Keng Ho and Mr Francis Yong.

Each offence carries a penalty of fine of up to $1,000.

Mr Seelan Palay said this of his charge: “This is our constitutional right that cannot be taken away. I hope that through our persistence and conviction for the cause, others will be inspired to stand up.”

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Activists also staged a protest against the recent ERP hike.

From the Singapore Democratic Party’s website:

Activists protested against the Electronic Road Pricing (ERP) by unfurling a Tak Boleh Tahan! banner underneath the ERP gantry at Bras Basah.

Protesters were also at hawker centres to protest against rising food prices. The Tak Boleh Tahan! activists call on Singaporeans to join the campaign and tell the PAP: “We can’t take it anymore!”

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5 Minutes With… Tan Kin Lian on gambling

TOC spends 5 minutes with former CEO of NTUC Income, Mr Tan Kin Lian, and asks him for his views on this Straits Times report - “Gamblers spent estimated $4.2b on 4-D” - about how more S’poreans are turning to gambling.

TOC: Do you think Singaporeans are turning to gambling because of the record-high inflation rate we are experiencing?

Tan Kin Lian: I do not consider most people who buy 4D or Toto to be gamblers. Many of them enjoy the excitement of these games of chance and are willing to set aside a certain amount each month for this fun. If they bet within their means, the games should be considered as entertainment. They could have spent the same amount of money for a concert, show, travel or vacation. If they find 4D or Toto to be more fun, let them enjoy it. Read more

Why no international recognition for S’pore’s fighters?

A question sent to us from one of our readers:

Just wondering if you would post a topic on why from US President Johnson to Bush, from UN Sec. Gen U Thant to Ban Ki Moon, Singapore has not been internationally criticised for its semi-authoritarian rule and not subjected to any sanctions.

Or why people like Aung San Suu Kyi get Congressional Awards and Nobel Prizes while none of our home grown fighters get any sort of recognition for their efforts. It is not as if people don’t know what happened to Chin Peng, Francis Seow etc etc etc.

Please share your views.

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Picture from Leo Strauss Stiftung.

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Human Rights activists - a bunch of ‘fanatics’?

The following are extracts of Attorney General Walter Woon’s speech at a Law Society gathering last Thursday where he touched on the topic of human rights. The event was to mark the launch of the Law Society’s Public and International Law Committee.

The extracts are culled from reports by the Straits Times and TODAY.

Human rights has become a ‘religion’ that breeds devotees who border on the fanatic.

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It would be ‘hypocrisy’ for such people to decide what is acceptable for the rest of society.

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We have to be careful when we talk about public law, and not to confuse law with politics. There are many people who think if a decision is made and they don’t like it, then this is something the law can correct. There is a line between a political decision and a legal decision.

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You have, like in some religions, the fanatics. And it’s all hypocrisy and fanaticism (for these people) to set the views, as the leading spokesmen, of what is acceptable and what’s not.

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What we are against is the assumption of some people that when they define what’s human rights, that decision is the decision of the rest of humanity.

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Below are the letters from Maruah (Singapore Working Committee for an ASEAN Human Rights Mechanism), AWARE (Association of Women for Action and Research) and the subsequent replies from Attorney General Walter Woon.

Maruah (Siew Kun Hong) – Keep Our Door Open To Ideas

AWARE (Constance Singam) – Human-Rights ‘Fanatics’ Is What Singapore Needs.

Walter Woon (reply to Maruah) – No One Solution.

Walter Woon (reply to AWARE) – Human Rights Key To Good Governance But…

Read the exchanges and share your views on the issues.

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Amnesty International Report 2008 – Singapore

Criticism of the government grew despite restrictions on freedom of expression and assembly. Suspected Islamic militants continued to be held without charge or trial under the Internal Security Act amid concerns that some were at risk of torture or other ill-treatment during questioning. Death sentences were imposed and at least two people were executed. Criminal offenders were sentenced to caning.

Background

Critics pointed to a persistent misuse of laws by the ruling People’s Action Party (PAP) and a perceived bias within the judicial system, reiterating the continuing influence of Minister Mentor Lee Kuan Yew in maintaining the country’s restrictive human rights climate. The authorities rejected a proposal to de-criminalize homosexuality. Concerns emerged about a reported increase in the gap between rich and poor. Singapore chaired the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), during a year in which the regional body adopted a charter including human rights commitments. Read more

What is Chee Soon Juan’s game plan?

Excerpts from TODAY:

Call it the touch of the unusual in Singapore politics. He has been jailed six times, hauled to court for defaming Singapore’s top political leadership and has even taken his civil disobedience campaign to an American university — where the then-Prime Minister Goh Chok Tong was to receive an honorary degree — by attending a forum organised by those who had opposed the award.

And most recently, he publicly grilled two of Singapore’s most powerful men — Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong and Minister Mentor Lee Kuan Yew — in a high-profile defamation case. The lawyer for the Lees described the defendants’ actions and statements in court as political theatre.

But what is it that drives this 46-year-old former Anglo Chinese School student with a doctorate from the University of Georgia to engage in a form of noisy political brinkmanship with civil-disobedience style resistance as the centrepiece of that struggle?

Click here for the full article.

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Call for sedition charge against US blogger to be dropped

From Reporters Without Borders:

Reporters Without Borders today condemned a case brought by the authorities under the Sedition Act against blogger Gopalan Nair, a 58-year-old American lawyer, who criticised the Supreme Court’s handling of a defamation case.

Nair, who allegedly emailed a judge to criticise her handling of the high profile political case, has been held in custody since 31 May. His trial is set for tomorrow and he faces up to three years in prison and a fine equivalent to nearly 2,400 euros.

“We urge the authorities to drop charges against Gopalan Nair, who has only exercised his right of free expression. This charge is improper and will add to the intimidation of bloggers and Internet users who express themselves about Singapore’s political life”, the worldwide press freedom organisation said. Read more

Chiam fulfils walkway promise made at 2006 polls

From the Straits Times

May 31, 2008

Chiam fulfils walkway promise made at 2006 polls

THE completion of a covered walkway in Potong Pasir marks the fulfillment of a promise Mr Chiam See Tong made during the 2006 General Election.

On Saturday, the opposition MP ‘opened’ the walkway which links the MRT station to the town centre, amid a shower of colourful confetti and a rousing lion dance.

Hailing the walkway as proof that the opposition ‘will fulfill whatever we promise’, he told reporters: ‘At the last election, I said I will build this covered linkway, and now this task has been completed. We have done our job.’ Read more

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