Powerful Passport: Top Priority; Press Freedom: No Priority

By Augustine Low

Much diplomatic huffing and puffing went towards securing Singapore as a venue for the Donald Trump-Kim Jong-un historic summit (which will now unfortunately not take place).

Similarly, diplomatic efforts go into overdrive to make the Singapore passport the most powerful in the world (sometimes second most powerful, like currently with the latest Henley Passport Index).

Having a powerful passport is good bragging rights and good branding for the country. It is obviously very important for the government, for it to religiously channel so much diplomatic efforts into it.

There are other global rankings that the government assiduously avoids having anything to do with. Chief among which is the World Press Freedom Index, recognised as a barometer of independence and freedom of the media in countries around the world.

The 2018 World Press Freedom Index has Singapore in the dismal 151^st spot out of 180 countries. Neighbouring countries are ranked higher – including Indonesia#124, Myanmar#137, Cambodia#142 and Malaysia#145.

This is certainly one index or ranking which does not see coverage in the mainstream media, for obvious reasons. And for the government, climbing up the rankings for this one is the least of its concerns or priorities.

For the citizens, a powerful passport is nice to have, but visa-free access to 188 countries is more for bragging rights than for practical reasons. How many of us are excited at the prospect of visa-free access to Kosovo, Kiribati, Namibia, Vanuatu, Guyana, Faroe Islands and Solomon Islands?

The bottom line is, a free and independent press can responsibly inform, educate, enlighten and provoke. A free and independent press is an essential pillar of a healthy, democratic society. Not a powerful passport.

Augustine Low is a proud but concerned citizen. Voicing independent, unplugged opinion is his contribution to citizen engagement. 

This entry was posted in Opinion.

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