pressing issues
Tuesday, October 27, 2009 (10:14 AM)
october 27, 2009, law minister k shanmugam said "if it is said that someone is stupid... then you can't sue" effectively giving us the right to call anyone stupid, including minister mentor lee kwan yew. not that i think he is stupid. and more than for just political correctness, he is through-and-through a highly intellectual individual. but i digress. no less than what mr. shanmugam did.
the topic was on singapore's press freedom ranking by reporters without borders. and to tackle such "misperceptions among some Americans", which he claimed were at times "divorced from reality", he decided to argue with points that are totally irrelevant and, intentionally or unintentionally, mislead readers. and on his side, ironically, the press (today) made the same irrelevant point.
today talked about singapore being below guinea, "whose military junta of late was reported to have gunned down people and had women raped on the street." and mr. shanmugam himself said that we are now below kenya, "which saw riots following a disputed election." the above 2 examples relate to autocratic dictatorship which does not refer directly to press freedom. were the people gunned down and raped because of what they published in the papers? and what does a disputed election have to do with press freedom?
a look at the local press reveals a lot. just look at how the straits times publishes. there is as good as zero negative publicity on the government. look at the local broadcast media, they are extremely careful about jokes played on political figures, even for good harmless fun. and there is the recent forum with mr. lee. questioners were planted and questions vetted before the forum. and i totally agree with the guy who wrote in to the papers asking what the point of the forum is when you can't really ask what you want...
but truth be told, i am thankful and grateful for the safety and comfort we have here. though that has nothing to do with press freedom.