Source: Today

Some things in life started as good things. Then some of them become rotten to the core.

If we do not have the heart, or the courage to get rid of them, they may eventually harm us.

A FILM on a former leftist leader and political detainee, Dr Lim Hock Siew, will be banned from tomorrow, for being “against the public interest”, said the Ministry of Information, Communications and the Arts yesterday.  It said that the film by Martyn See, 41, “gives a distorted and misleading portrayal of Dr Lim’s arrests and detention under the Internal Security Act in 1963″.  “The Singapore Government will not allow individuals who have posed a security threat to Singapore’s interests in the past, to use media platforms such as films to make baseless accusations against the authorities, give a false portrayal of their previous activities in order to exculpate their guilt, and undermine public confidence in the Government in the process,” it added.

Source: Asiaone

The film has been banned under Section 35(1) of the Films Act. Those who own or distribute a prohibited film can be fined up to $10,000 and/or jailed up to two years.   I suppose YouTube Singapore, if there’s such a local office, runs the risk of prosecution. 

Anyway, compare the ban with this (from ST):

A CHINA historian is here to offer reasons why the once-powerful leftist movement Barisan Sosialis disappeared entirely from Singapore politics.  Dr Cheng Yinghong’s thesis is that China’s Cultural Revolution of 1966 influenced the Barisan movement significantly, causing it to become more extreme.  The change led eventually to the Barisan’s decision to have its remaining seven Members of Parliament stage a walkout from the House in October 1966, so as to launch an extra-parliamentary struggle.  Dr Cheng, 51, an associate professor of history at Delaware State University in the United States, will present his theory in a lecture at the Institute of Southeast Asian Studies tomorrow.  What may prove controversial is his stance that while the massive security crackdown of 1963, codenamed Operation Cold Store, seriously damaged the leftists, it did not lead to the Barisan’s demise.  ‘I’m not defending the PAP, but you have to compare (the reasons why the leftist movement in Singapore disappeared),’ he said in an interview with The Straits Times.

It goes without saying that this talk wasn’t banned.  Clearly, what is ‘right’ for Singapore and her history is very one-sided.  The government’s side.

 PEKAN, July 4 (Bernama) — Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak said he leaves it to the authorities to take action against blogger Raja Petra Kamaruddin.  The prime minister said the people should not believe the claims made by the blogger who has fled the country to London.  “If Raja Petra is funded by the opposition, it means that his statements are politically-motivated. We should weigh them carefully and not merely accepting them,” he told reporters after opening the Pekan Umno meeting here Sunday.  He was asked to comment on the statement by Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department Datuk Seri Mohamed Nazri Aziz yesterday that the government had proofs that Raja Petra was funded by Parti Keadilan Rakyat (PKR).

Source: Bernama

It’s an interesting position by the M’sian PM, one that is likely taken in Singapore too (can anyone recall a similar incident here?).  The premise is that if someone is financially obligated to the opposition, he or she is not speaking in a bona fide capacity of a concerned citizen.  In fact, the title of this report in Bernama is “Don’t Trust Raja Petra – Najib”.   What’s the difference if a blogger or entity is funded by the government, wouldn’t his/its statements be politically motivated and ‘untrustworthy’ too?

SINGAPORE: State Coroner Victor Yeo has recorded a verdict of misadventure on the death of a teenage boy during a taekwondo tournament last year.  17-year-old student Vincent Tan Sze Hao died after he was kicked in the neck region by his opponent during the Fourth Taekwondo Invitational Friendly Championship last July.   The fatal blow from Vincent’s 15-year-old opponent ruptured his carotid artery, a major blood vessel from the heart to the brain.  This resulted in a large amount of bleeding in the brain, causing it to swell.  Vincent was declared brain-dead two days after the incident and died not long afterwards in Changi General Hospital. It was the first time a death occurred during a taekwondo tournament in Singapore.

Source: CNA

The younger boy had earlier said that he targeted the kick at Vincent’s head to score points.   The court heard that such kicks are allowed during the tournament.   Speaking to reporters after the hearing, the 15-year-old’s father said that his son regretted his actions and has quit the sport.

We cannot blame the 15-year old for this unfortunate incident as it was an accident.   However, the fact that this is the first time such a death occurred in a tournament in Singapore is significant.  I would expect most of these tournaments in Singapore are for adults.  Possibly, youngsters shouldn’t be sparing so competitively.  Regardless how well trained they are, their minds are still young and relatively immature.  In their passion to win, they could ‘lose control’ at critical points during sparring and accidents might follow.

 

SINGAPORE scores highly in areas like infrastructure and stability, but fares poorly in culture and living environment indices. As a result, it was ranked the 53rd most liveable city in the annual survey by the The Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU), which compared 140 cities worldwide. Vancouver again topped the list, followed by Vienna and Melbourne in Australia. Three other Australian cities also made it to the top 10 list – Sydney, Perth and Adelaide.

Source: ST

The Republic scored better than culture capitals New York and London, which lost out because of crumbling infrastructure, but lagged behind other Asian capitals like Hong Kong, Tokyo and Osaka. I guess Singapore’s low ranking in culture could be attributed to our lack of history (and on-going difficulties in establishing a common national identity, exacerbated by a continual influx of foreigners to the mix).

Anyway, the top 10 ranking cities are as follow:

1. Vancouver, Canada

2. Vienna, Austria

3. Melbourne, Australia

4. Toronto, Canada

5. Calgary, Canada

6. Helsinki, Finland

7. Sydney, Australia

8. Perth, Australia

9. Adelaide, Australia

10. Auckland, New Zealand

PM Lee said: “For the opposition, it’s a change – one scholar or two you think “wow” this is a luminous transformation. Well, it is a significant development … but finally let’s look at the person, not what degrees he has, but what he is able to do for Singapore.  “I can tell you, we interview many scholars and each time we field a few of them. And we interview other people too and we often field people who are not scholars. It is good to see it in perspective.

Source: CNA

PM Lee was responding to a question at the Singapore Perspectives Forum on recent reports about ex-government scholars joining the opposition.  Mr Tony Tan Lay Thiam and his wife, Ms Hazel Poa, both 39, are former government scholarship holders who have become members of the opposition Reform Party. They currently run a chain of tuition centres.

PM also said: “We hope that anybody who enters politics is somebody of not just ability but integrity and commitment. These are young people who have got good records academically and been in the civil service.”

The first sentence is fair, and logical.  But when taken together with the second, it appears to suggest that Tony and Hazel only have good academic records to show for.  Did PM just take an oh-so-subtle dig at the couple?  Could integrity and commitment be wanting in these 2 ex-scholars?  Well, perhaps so from the perspective of the PAP.  The duo left the service (’no commitment’) and perhaps broke a bond (’lack of steadfast adherence to the civil service ethnical and moral codes’).  

 PM goes on to say:  “We wish them well, but we hope Singaporeans will judge individuals like that as rigorously as they would judge individuals who join the PAP side. In other words, it’s not just what degree you have, but what sort of person are you and what can you do.”

Well, we will certainly do that and maybe we can do better than the PAP.  Chances are, they never thought the 2 would leave the service, or even join an opposition party.  To clarify, the duo’s actions do not disqualify from being good politicians.  We should applaud them for doing what they thought was right. 

Now the ball is in their court.  And ours.  We are watching you, Mr Tan and Miss Poa. 

 

Another contribution by our reader.  Download it here (in mandarin).

We help ourselves. Don’t expect others to help

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The Institute of Policy Studies (IPS) organised a seminar on March 4 to discuss Singapore’s political blogosphere.  Tan Tarn How, Senior Research Fellow and Research Assistant Tan Simin presented their paper on trends observed in the blogosphere.  As reported in the TOC, the researchers identified the following limitations:

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Recently, I followed a thread “Democracy and Economic Growth” which started in PoliticsForum.org.   Apparently, members there often question the role of democracy in a developing nation. “During the wave of democratization in Africa during the 90s, many people had renewed hope for the continent, immediately equating newly established democracies to economic growth. Are these democracies [...]



Tell Singapore government: Ask them a question or give a suggestion

We informed people about the “Tell Singapore Government” subsite and have received some interesting reaction at some forums.
See: 3in1 Kopitiam, Sam’s Alfresco Coffee, Singapore Kopitiam, SgForums
Our responses to some of the comments are listed below. If we are not answering some other specific questions, that is because we do not know how.
 

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