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02-06-2013, 03:00 PM
An honorable member of the Coffee Shop Has Just Posted the Following:
Why is our government treating us like the enemy? (http://www.tremeritus.com/2013/06/02/why-is-our-government-treating-us-like-the-enemy/)
http://images.dmca.com/Badges/dmca_protected_sml_120n.png?ID=f11d7371-0ef1-483b-888a-04e8d2ba2e94
http://www.tremeritus.org/wp-content/themes/WP_010/images/PostDateIcon.png?9d7bd4 June 2nd, 2013 | http://www.tremeritus.org/wp-content/themes/WP_010/images/PostAuthorIcon.png?9d7bd4 Author: Contributions (http://www.tremeritus.com/author/contributor/)
Like many fellow Singaporeans I am outraged and deeply saddened. Outraged by
how our government seems to treat us like the enemy in the way it keeps trying
to suppress and control us and saddened that their oppressive actions have
brought so much distress to our people and shame to our country.
Oh sure, we have had many technical accolades of being a clean and green
city, an efficient and prosperous country. But many of us know full well, clean
and green aside, that we are being mocked by the international community for
living with draconian laws and rules that violate our human rights and civil
liberties.
The latest oppressive and embarrassing salvo fired by our government was when
it announced the new licensing regulations via the Media Development Authority
(MDA) on Wednesday. From today June 1, Singapore will be the first country in
the world to impose a S$50,000 performance bond on a list of licensed online
sites that report on local news, which now includes Yahoo! News. Under the new
licensing regime, online news sites (with news defined to cover practically
everything) with more than 50,000 unique viewers from Singapore a month will be
asked to put up a S$50,000 bond (which can be confiscated if they breach certain
rules) and they will have to comply within 24 hours to MDA’s directions to
remove content that it deems as “prohibited”.
The criteria for this regulation is so loose and general and the power given
by this ruling is so sweeping that technically, it can affect all popular local
websites including The
Online Citizen (http://www.theonlinecitizen.com/2013/05/mdas-belated-assurances-dont-let-your-guard-down/), blogs and even comments made by netizens. In response to the
public’s backlash, Communications and Information (Control?) Minister
Yaacob Ibrahim has tried to make soothing noises that our worries “will prove to
be unfounded”. This was promptly dismissed by Singaporeans including blogger Mr
Brown who retorted on Facebook :”Don’t worry, I can crush you with my licensing
hammer but I rarely use my power one.”
The implications of this ruling has ignited the fury of Singaporeans who
interpret, rightly, that our government is doing this to try and control the
Internet universe after failing to get our netizens to voluntarily come up with
an Internet Code of Conduct. Yaacob also admitted as much that this licensing is
to ensure that when people read things online, they are going to “read
the right things”! Go figure how this will benefit or damage the
development of our people and our country.
This brazen censorship regulation has also shocked the rest of the world.
Besides the news being reported by international agencies, it has also been
picked up by various media including BBC TV news (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KfteYPSg7Zc), Aljazeera (http://stream.aljazeera.com/story/201305302216-0022797) and
even The Hollywood
Reporter (http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/singapore-broadens-censorship-online-news-560637)!
What an international embarrassment! What a crying shame that our own
government would treat its citizens with such disrespect and humiliate our
country yet again with their tyrannical ways. We certainly did not trade
colonial rule for an authoritarian regime. Or did we?
I won’t go into more details on the licensing regime which has already been
covered in depth by various media (read this excellent commentary
by ZDNet that points out many dubious areas in the ruling (http://www.zdnet.com/sg/singapores-online-licensing-rule-a-sign-of-more-to-come-7000016016/)) and bloggers.
(http://spuddings.net/2013/05/31/mdas-licensing-regime-and-me-and-you/)
Instead I want to focus on one important question – “Why does it feel
like our government is treating us like the enemy?”
This may seem like an exaggeration to those who couldn’t care less about
politics and civil rights so long as they are living a comfortable life. But to
those of us who care deeply and want the freedom to speak up and shape our
country’s future, it has been an exhausting journey as we are constantly wary
when we comment on the government and flawed national policies. It is like
living with the Sword of Damocles hanging over us every day.
In Singapore, our government has broad powers to limit citizens’ rights and
to inhibit political opposition. Ever since the PAP came into power, they have
used all sorts of methods from educational moulding (such as Social Studies and
the new Character and Citizen Education studies) and fear to manipulate us into
acquiscence.
Public protests or demonstrations of any form are not allowed, unless a
police permit is obtained.Without police permits, such outdoor assemblies (even
if it is just one person) are illegal. The only place in Singapore where
outdoor public assemblies do not require police permits is at the Speakers’
Corner at Hong Lim Park which is monitored by many CCTVs. Even there, one can
expect police presence at most events. Speaking of CCTVs, thousands are in the
midst of being installed across the island in some 10,000 public housing estates
where most of the population resides.
The PAP-government also used the law, intimidation and power exceedingly well
to quash opposition leaders like JB Jeyaratnam and Francis Seow over the
decades. Just reading reports on the vicious destruction of those who dared
challenged the government, was enough to frighten many Singaporeans away from
the topic of politics.
But thankfully, the Internet and social media changed this. They allowed some
measure of anonymity and helped unite kindred spirits. It is like oxygen
reviving our innate human desire for democracy and freedom of speech. It brought
many of us out of the unhealthy shroud of fear.
The Government is well aware of the power of the Internet and how it is fast
igniting the people’s conscience and socio-political consciousness. This is why
they are trying to cut off our oxygen with more draconian measures. And they are
in a position to do so as they have absolute power and control over almost
everything in tiny Singapore.
But what is worrying is the trend of our government turning hostile towards
civilians, the very people they are elected to protect. In recent years, they
have started sending threatening lawyers’ letters to those whom they deem as
having crossed the line in criticising them (such as blogger Alex Au), used
heavy pressure tactics on activists like Nizam Ismail to muzzle their views and
even arrested political cartoonist Leslie Chew for having drawn allegedly
“seditious” cartoons critical of the government.
Yes I agree sometimes we can be very critical, but often it is done out of
growing frustration that our government is not changing and not listening to the
cries of the people. And yet, instead of heeding the feedback and taking the
criticisms in the right light, our government seems to be treating us like the
enemy. The latest MDA Internet ruling is the clearest sign that sends a chill in
cyberspace. Will the government play hardball and root out dissent to ensure it
stays in power?
We should all be worried and concerned. To understand how rough and tough
this government can get, one needs only recall the sayings of their omnipresent
Machiavellian leader – former Prime Minister and Minister Mentor Lee Kuan
Yew.
“…If I want to fix you, do I need the Chief Justice to fix you?
Everybody knows that in my bag I have a hatchet, and a very sharp one. You take
me on, I take my hatchet, we meet in the cul-de-sac….” – LKY 1997
And rewind back to when LKY was an opposition member in the 1950s, speaking
then supposedly against repression :
“Repression, Sir is a habit that grows. I am told it is like making
love-it is always easier the second time! The first time there may be pangs of
conscience, a sense of guilt. But once embarked on this course with constant
repetition you get more and more brazen in the attack.” - Lee Kuan
Yew as an opposition PAP member speaking to David Marshall, Singapore
Legislative Assembly, Debates, 4 October, 1956
Everything he described about the insidious ways of repression shows just how
well he understands how to use it, and use it he did when the PAP came into
power. The total control of mainstream media, the weakening of the clans and
de-politicising of student unions, the politicising of the grassroots
organisations like the People’s Association and the CDCs, the singing of praises
by the MSM of the government regardless of what they do and the vicious
destruction of leading opposition leaders.
Has anything changed with his son Hsien Loong as PM? Outwardly yes as Lee
Junior sports a more congenial manner with his toothy smile. But beneath the
light pink shirts lies hard steel says some who know him. And let’s not forget
Lee Senior is still very much a force to be reckoned with.
Should we, the little people, be concerned that they are creating a “Them vs
Us” situation? Yes. Should we be afraid? No. We cannot afford to be afraid of
speaking up when we see the wrongs being done to us as worse will follow if we
allow it. We must all start taking a firm stand and defend ourselves if we
believe in democracy, and if we want to make Singapore a happier, freer country
for us and our future generations.
Do you believe in democracy? I do, as did LKY in his younger years before he
came into power.
“But we either believe in democracy or we don’t. If we do, then, we must say
categorically, without qualification, that no restraint from the any democratic
processes, other than by the ordinary law of the land, should be
allowed… If you believe in democracy, you must believe in it
unconditionally. If you believe that men should be free, then, they should have
the right of free association, of free speech, of free publication. Then, no law
should permit those democratic processes to be set at nought, and no excuse,
whether of security, should allow a government to be deterred from doing what it
knows to be right, and what it must know to be right...” – Lee Kuan
Yew, Legislative Assembly Debates, April 27, 1955.
.
Jentrified Citizen
* The writer blogs at http://jentrifiedcitizen.wordpress.com/
Click here to view the whole thread at www.sammyboy.com (http://www.sammyboy.com/showthread.php?153519-Why-is-our-government-treating-us-like-the-enemy&goto=newpost).
Why is our government treating us like the enemy? (http://www.tremeritus.com/2013/06/02/why-is-our-government-treating-us-like-the-enemy/)
http://images.dmca.com/Badges/dmca_protected_sml_120n.png?ID=f11d7371-0ef1-483b-888a-04e8d2ba2e94
http://www.tremeritus.org/wp-content/themes/WP_010/images/PostDateIcon.png?9d7bd4 June 2nd, 2013 | http://www.tremeritus.org/wp-content/themes/WP_010/images/PostAuthorIcon.png?9d7bd4 Author: Contributions (http://www.tremeritus.com/author/contributor/)
Like many fellow Singaporeans I am outraged and deeply saddened. Outraged by
how our government seems to treat us like the enemy in the way it keeps trying
to suppress and control us and saddened that their oppressive actions have
brought so much distress to our people and shame to our country.
Oh sure, we have had many technical accolades of being a clean and green
city, an efficient and prosperous country. But many of us know full well, clean
and green aside, that we are being mocked by the international community for
living with draconian laws and rules that violate our human rights and civil
liberties.
The latest oppressive and embarrassing salvo fired by our government was when
it announced the new licensing regulations via the Media Development Authority
(MDA) on Wednesday. From today June 1, Singapore will be the first country in
the world to impose a S$50,000 performance bond on a list of licensed online
sites that report on local news, which now includes Yahoo! News. Under the new
licensing regime, online news sites (with news defined to cover practically
everything) with more than 50,000 unique viewers from Singapore a month will be
asked to put up a S$50,000 bond (which can be confiscated if they breach certain
rules) and they will have to comply within 24 hours to MDA’s directions to
remove content that it deems as “prohibited”.
The criteria for this regulation is so loose and general and the power given
by this ruling is so sweeping that technically, it can affect all popular local
websites including The
Online Citizen (http://www.theonlinecitizen.com/2013/05/mdas-belated-assurances-dont-let-your-guard-down/), blogs and even comments made by netizens. In response to the
public’s backlash, Communications and Information (Control?) Minister
Yaacob Ibrahim has tried to make soothing noises that our worries “will prove to
be unfounded”. This was promptly dismissed by Singaporeans including blogger Mr
Brown who retorted on Facebook :”Don’t worry, I can crush you with my licensing
hammer but I rarely use my power one.”
The implications of this ruling has ignited the fury of Singaporeans who
interpret, rightly, that our government is doing this to try and control the
Internet universe after failing to get our netizens to voluntarily come up with
an Internet Code of Conduct. Yaacob also admitted as much that this licensing is
to ensure that when people read things online, they are going to “read
the right things”! Go figure how this will benefit or damage the
development of our people and our country.
This brazen censorship regulation has also shocked the rest of the world.
Besides the news being reported by international agencies, it has also been
picked up by various media including BBC TV news (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KfteYPSg7Zc), Aljazeera (http://stream.aljazeera.com/story/201305302216-0022797) and
even The Hollywood
Reporter (http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/singapore-broadens-censorship-online-news-560637)!
What an international embarrassment! What a crying shame that our own
government would treat its citizens with such disrespect and humiliate our
country yet again with their tyrannical ways. We certainly did not trade
colonial rule for an authoritarian regime. Or did we?
I won’t go into more details on the licensing regime which has already been
covered in depth by various media (read this excellent commentary
by ZDNet that points out many dubious areas in the ruling (http://www.zdnet.com/sg/singapores-online-licensing-rule-a-sign-of-more-to-come-7000016016/)) and bloggers.
(http://spuddings.net/2013/05/31/mdas-licensing-regime-and-me-and-you/)
Instead I want to focus on one important question – “Why does it feel
like our government is treating us like the enemy?”
This may seem like an exaggeration to those who couldn’t care less about
politics and civil rights so long as they are living a comfortable life. But to
those of us who care deeply and want the freedom to speak up and shape our
country’s future, it has been an exhausting journey as we are constantly wary
when we comment on the government and flawed national policies. It is like
living with the Sword of Damocles hanging over us every day.
In Singapore, our government has broad powers to limit citizens’ rights and
to inhibit political opposition. Ever since the PAP came into power, they have
used all sorts of methods from educational moulding (such as Social Studies and
the new Character and Citizen Education studies) and fear to manipulate us into
acquiscence.
Public protests or demonstrations of any form are not allowed, unless a
police permit is obtained.Without police permits, such outdoor assemblies (even
if it is just one person) are illegal. The only place in Singapore where
outdoor public assemblies do not require police permits is at the Speakers’
Corner at Hong Lim Park which is monitored by many CCTVs. Even there, one can
expect police presence at most events. Speaking of CCTVs, thousands are in the
midst of being installed across the island in some 10,000 public housing estates
where most of the population resides.
The PAP-government also used the law, intimidation and power exceedingly well
to quash opposition leaders like JB Jeyaratnam and Francis Seow over the
decades. Just reading reports on the vicious destruction of those who dared
challenged the government, was enough to frighten many Singaporeans away from
the topic of politics.
But thankfully, the Internet and social media changed this. They allowed some
measure of anonymity and helped unite kindred spirits. It is like oxygen
reviving our innate human desire for democracy and freedom of speech. It brought
many of us out of the unhealthy shroud of fear.
The Government is well aware of the power of the Internet and how it is fast
igniting the people’s conscience and socio-political consciousness. This is why
they are trying to cut off our oxygen with more draconian measures. And they are
in a position to do so as they have absolute power and control over almost
everything in tiny Singapore.
But what is worrying is the trend of our government turning hostile towards
civilians, the very people they are elected to protect. In recent years, they
have started sending threatening lawyers’ letters to those whom they deem as
having crossed the line in criticising them (such as blogger Alex Au), used
heavy pressure tactics on activists like Nizam Ismail to muzzle their views and
even arrested political cartoonist Leslie Chew for having drawn allegedly
“seditious” cartoons critical of the government.
Yes I agree sometimes we can be very critical, but often it is done out of
growing frustration that our government is not changing and not listening to the
cries of the people. And yet, instead of heeding the feedback and taking the
criticisms in the right light, our government seems to be treating us like the
enemy. The latest MDA Internet ruling is the clearest sign that sends a chill in
cyberspace. Will the government play hardball and root out dissent to ensure it
stays in power?
We should all be worried and concerned. To understand how rough and tough
this government can get, one needs only recall the sayings of their omnipresent
Machiavellian leader – former Prime Minister and Minister Mentor Lee Kuan
Yew.
“…If I want to fix you, do I need the Chief Justice to fix you?
Everybody knows that in my bag I have a hatchet, and a very sharp one. You take
me on, I take my hatchet, we meet in the cul-de-sac….” – LKY 1997
And rewind back to when LKY was an opposition member in the 1950s, speaking
then supposedly against repression :
“Repression, Sir is a habit that grows. I am told it is like making
love-it is always easier the second time! The first time there may be pangs of
conscience, a sense of guilt. But once embarked on this course with constant
repetition you get more and more brazen in the attack.” - Lee Kuan
Yew as an opposition PAP member speaking to David Marshall, Singapore
Legislative Assembly, Debates, 4 October, 1956
Everything he described about the insidious ways of repression shows just how
well he understands how to use it, and use it he did when the PAP came into
power. The total control of mainstream media, the weakening of the clans and
de-politicising of student unions, the politicising of the grassroots
organisations like the People’s Association and the CDCs, the singing of praises
by the MSM of the government regardless of what they do and the vicious
destruction of leading opposition leaders.
Has anything changed with his son Hsien Loong as PM? Outwardly yes as Lee
Junior sports a more congenial manner with his toothy smile. But beneath the
light pink shirts lies hard steel says some who know him. And let’s not forget
Lee Senior is still very much a force to be reckoned with.
Should we, the little people, be concerned that they are creating a “Them vs
Us” situation? Yes. Should we be afraid? No. We cannot afford to be afraid of
speaking up when we see the wrongs being done to us as worse will follow if we
allow it. We must all start taking a firm stand and defend ourselves if we
believe in democracy, and if we want to make Singapore a happier, freer country
for us and our future generations.
Do you believe in democracy? I do, as did LKY in his younger years before he
came into power.
“But we either believe in democracy or we don’t. If we do, then, we must say
categorically, without qualification, that no restraint from the any democratic
processes, other than by the ordinary law of the land, should be
allowed… If you believe in democracy, you must believe in it
unconditionally. If you believe that men should be free, then, they should have
the right of free association, of free speech, of free publication. Then, no law
should permit those democratic processes to be set at nought, and no excuse,
whether of security, should allow a government to be deterred from doing what it
knows to be right, and what it must know to be right...” – Lee Kuan
Yew, Legislative Assembly Debates, April 27, 1955.
.
Jentrified Citizen
* The writer blogs at http://jentrifiedcitizen.wordpress.com/
Click here to view the whole thread at www.sammyboy.com (http://www.sammyboy.com/showthread.php?153519-Why-is-our-government-treating-us-like-the-enemy&goto=newpost).