Freedom of speech
Via syntaxfree.org, I found this quote from the Singaporean Government, referring partially to a blogger who had had his site shut down, and possibly been arrested, for criticising the aforementioned political group.
It is not the role of journalists or newspapers in Singapore to champion issues, or campaign for or against the Government. (...) If a columnist presents himself as a non-political observer, while exploiting his access to the mass media to undermine the government’s standing with the electorate, then he is no longer a constructive critic, but a partisan player in politics.
That's really thoroughly disgusting. While we spend a lot of time bashing America for a million different reasons, it's worth keeping in mind that there is more freedom there than in some of the world's emerging superpowers. Singapore and America are bastions (bastia?) of political freedom compared to China, for example, and while there was some suspicion around the vote for Mr Bush, at least the other party got to stand, and at least the people got to vote for him.
This is really a note for me, I think, rather than the opening of a discussion (though feel free to ofer opinion). I sometimes forget how fortunate I am to live where I do. And I think in my mind this reinforces my opposition to ID cards, 'terrorist suspects' (or fraud suspects, or whoever the government likes) being extradicted without trial and detained indefinitely without charge, and all the other things that our glorious leaders are pushing through at the moment, while we're arguing over where John Prescott is going to end up, and who is going to win Big Fucking Brother.
It is not the role of journalists or newspapers in Singapore to champion issues, or campaign for or against the Government. (...) If a columnist presents himself as a non-political observer, while exploiting his access to the mass media to undermine the government’s standing with the electorate, then he is no longer a constructive critic, but a partisan player in politics.
That's really thoroughly disgusting. While we spend a lot of time bashing America for a million different reasons, it's worth keeping in mind that there is more freedom there than in some of the world's emerging superpowers. Singapore and America are bastions (bastia?) of political freedom compared to China, for example, and while there was some suspicion around the vote for Mr Bush, at least the other party got to stand, and at least the people got to vote for him.
This is really a note for me, I think, rather than the opening of a discussion (though feel free to ofer opinion). I sometimes forget how fortunate I am to live where I do. And I think in my mind this reinforces my opposition to ID cards, 'terrorist suspects' (or fraud suspects, or whoever the government likes) being extradicted without trial and detained indefinitely without charge, and all the other things that our glorious leaders are pushing through at the moment, while we're arguing over where John Prescott is going to end up, and who is going to win Big Fucking Brother.
