S’pore press gang days over, says ex-ST editor

Those good old days?

Singapore is done with handling the press by grabbing it by the throat as it used to do in the “knuckleduster days” of the 1970s, according to the Straits Times’s former editor Cheong Yip Seng.

He does not expect the current government resorting to the Internal Security Act against journalists and said he felt the government would become “less heavy-handed” over time, and would no longer close down a newspaper.

Speaking at the launch of his memoirs on Friday, Cheong said even the “favourite instrument” of the government, to change editors in the newsroom, would be less effective over time.

His 432-page memoirs, entitled OB Markers: My Straits Times Story, recounts his 43 years as a newspaperman. He began as a cadet reporter in 1963, rising to be editor-in-chief in 1987, in which post he remained until retirement in 2006.

Churches force FHM magazine off racks

Singapore men’s lifestyle magazine FHM is being taken off the racks after heavy criticism from churches about two tongue-in-cheek articles in this month’s issue, entitled "Which of These Celebs Might Secretly be Jesus?" and "Jesus 2.0: What can we expect?".

Singapore’s churches described the articles as deplorable, because they "make fun of the Lord Jesus Christ" and were published in the holy season of Lent, when Christians remember the sufferings and sacrifice of Jesus on the cross.

"They cause serious offence and hurt the sensitivities of the Christian community," said the National Council of Churches of Singapore, representing more than 150 churches of all denominations.

The magazine’s senior editor, David Fuhrmann-Lim, apologised on Friday for any offence caused, and said that "while the article was written with a tongue-in-cheek humour, we do realise now it was not done in the best taste or judgment. An apology was also posted on the magazine’s Facebook page.

Singapore’s media regulator, the Media Development Authority, said it is investigating the magazine "for possible breach of content guidelines".

Council president Bishop Dr Robert Solomon and three vice-presidents signed the statement, which noted that it had become "fashionable" to depict religions in the media in ways that are offensive to religious communities. The council urged that "society must be on guard against such trends".

FHM Singapore is a title produced by MediaCorp Publishing, which also publishes the Today newspaper. The company is part of the MediaCorp corporate group that grew out of Radio & Television Singapore, and operates nine television channels, 13 radio stations, a stable of 12 fashion, entertainment and lifestyle magazines, and other media businesses.

via Today online, AsiaOne

 

Rumours, women, politicians and S’pore bloggers

Bloggers back down after ministers’ libel threats

Two Singapore blogs have backed down and deleted postings after threats of libel suits by ministers. One was a comment mentioning rumours about law minister cum foreign minister K Shanmugam, another an article with the word "cronyism" and which mentioned Ho Ching, wife of prime minister Lee Hsien Loong.

Even though both could probably be justified as fair comment, the blogs retreated anyway. No surprise. Singapore politicians have collected large awards in damages (usually donated to charities) in libel suits against media houses.

Singapore’s unwritten law seems to be: You say, you pay.

But what did they really say? Nothing much.

S’pore DJ in trouble for scoop on Tube breakdown

A scoop on delays and a breakdown of underground train services landed Singapore radio personality Hossan Leong in trouble. He had reported the disruption to Circle Line services, based on Twitter comments, before an official statement was released by Singapore Mass Rapid Transit.

Hossan later commented on Twitter that he was now “getting into trouble” for reporting the incident on-air. He could only “talk about it if (an) official SMRT statement is given”. It is not clear whether the warning came from MediaCorp, which owns the station, or SMRT. Circle Line services were disrupted for three hours.
» AsiaOne via Malaysia Chronicle

 

Wikileak: S’pore journos stifled by govt limits

WIKILEAKS | CABLEGATE REF 09SINGAPORE61

Two protected ST journos’ names exposed online

Younger Singaporean journalists told a US diplomat in 2009 that they felt increasingly frustrated by government limits on reporting and pressure on Straits Times editors to ensure coverage toed the line, according to a leaked diplomatic cable released at WikiLeaks on Tuesday.

A new crop of younger ministers eager to make their mark also placed greater pressure on editors to make sure reports came out exactly as they wanted, a senior Straits Times journalist said. Although the government restricted what could be reported in local news, there was great latitude in reporting from overseas.

Yahoo photo

The cable names the Straits Times’ current US bureau chief Chua Chin Hon, reporter Lynn Lee and journalism student Chong Zi Liang as those who spoke to the US diplomat, the deputy chief of mission Daniel Shields. Their names were marked “strictly protect” in the cable i.e not to be made public — but they have already been named in online news reports in Singapore.

One report said the cable appeared to be minutes of a meeting at the US embassy in Singapore.

Shields noted that the journalists’ frustration was a result of a generational change, although the level of press restrictions had remained the same. He said: “The traditional media in Singapore are certainly no more restricted today than they have ever been, and other than on race and religion, online speech is generally unrestricted. That raises the question why reporters seem to be complaining more, or at least more openly. We suspect this reflects in part a generational shift:

“

Younger Singaporeans are accustomed to having more latitude, and it likely grates on reporters not to be able to say in print the kind of things people routinely say in cafes or online. It may also be that the leaderships, own frequent suggestions of the need for (incremental) political reforms may be raising expectations that so far have not been met.

Reporters told him they were eager to produce more investigative and critical reporting, but were stifled by editors who have been groomed to toe the line. Reporters said they had to be careful in their coverage of local news, as Singapore’s leaders were likely to come down hard on anyone who reported negative stories about the government or its leadership, Chua told Shields.

NYT: S’pore loosens up on Internet

http://twitter.com/#!/TODAYonline/status/66947623088693248

From the New York Times

Singapore Loosens Grip on Internet
By SETH MYDANS
Published: May 7, 2011
SINGAPORE — The tightly controlled city-state of Singapore took a step into the unknown in advance of its parliamentary elections on Saturday, loosening its grip on political discourse in the unruly world of the Internet, where Facebook, Twitter and other social media have amplified a clamor of voices and points of view.

Video: S’pore dissident going to jail

Watch at YouTube if it doesn’t show up here

The story of Chee Soon Juan, leader of the Singapore Democratic Party, as told by Next Media Animation, a Taiwan-based company which produces animated news clips for news organisations and web sites.

Their report that accompanies the clip:

“

Singapore claims to be a democracy. In reality, however, the ruling PAP maintains oppressive control over the city-state.

Its latest efforts to suppress political dissent include the impending imprisonment of Dr Chee Soon Juan. His crime? Speaking in public.

In Singapore, speaking in public requires a government permit. But the PAP government does not freely grant such permits to political opponents.

The prison term means Dr Chee cannot stand in this year’s parliamentary elections. The PAP presently controls 82 of Singapore’s 84 seats.

PAP also suppresses dissent by suing its opponents for libel. Where in other democracies politicians expect to be criticized, PAP politicians are thin-skinned.

For example, it is a libel to suggest nepotism is the reason why Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong has his job – after his dad held it for 31 years.

Dynastic government? Kind of reminds you of Asia’s other political dynasty.

---

Next Media Animation is a unit of Hong Kong-based Next Media, publishers of Apple Daily, the newspaper founded by Jimmy Lai. Apple Daily and Next Media take a firm and unrelenting stand on civil and political rights. The newspaper and its web sites have been banned by China.

Noted Democracy Icon, Dr Chee Soon Juan
is going to Prison

The Temasek Review

Following the failed appeal against conviction, Dr Chee Soon Juan, Secretary-General of the Singapore Democratic Party (SDP) will be going to Prison on February 10 and will be spending the General Elections(GE) behind bars. This is despite an appeal made to the general public at large for donations in an effort to keep the democracy icon out of jail in order for him to helm the SDP’s General Elections campaign.

LKY: Malaysia could have been like us today

“

I regret having been turfed out of Malaysia. I think if the Tunku had kept us together, what we did in Singapore, had Malaysia accepted a multiracial base for their society, much of what we’ve achieved in Singapore would be achieved in Malaysia. But not as much because it’s a much broader base. We would have improved inter-racial relations and an improved holistic situation.
Lee Kuan Yew
1 Sept 2010
in an interview with the New York Times/International Herald Tribune

See also:
• Khairy Jamaluddin’s running twittermentary on LKY’s remarks

(Transcript link lifted from @zurairi retweeted by KhairyKJ)

• Long extract from the NYT/IHT interview follows:

Penang convent girl fights Singapore’s grey men

Sir, would you send in the army? — her question to Lee Kuan Yew on 2 Sept 2009, if the PAP lost an election

Nice girl from Penang, schooled at the Convent, ends up in where else, sister state Singapore. And then becomes a cili padi making things hot for the grey old men who run The Little Red Dot.

“Arguably the most vivid personality in strait-laced Singapore and, when she is not writing witty romantic novels or telling ghost stories, one of the government’s most acute critics.” That’s the New York Times description of her in a profile on Saturday.