新加坡走自己的路(singapore to go our own way)
in his article, “our de-vocalised public space”, chan cheow pong deplored the lack of political space here for argument and debate. in “a letter to my dad aka the government” , julie ng siew choo continued this theme. www•
mr chan cites as proof the lack of anti-us demonstrations over iraq during the recent visit of president george bush in singapore. unfortunately, he did not explain how such demonstrations would have been in our national interest.
on freedom of speech in singapore, mr chan fails to distinguish between form and substance. the substantive issue must surely be whether singaporeans have a right to a different view and whether they have effective avenues to express them.
the answer is clearly“yes”as is amply demonstrated by many singaporeans exercising this right in the forum pages of the newspapers, the internet and elsewhere. the space for political debate has gradually but steadily widened. that mr chan could publish such a critical piece in lianhe zaobao shows this to be so.
as a form, street protests may be an accepted channel for expression in other countries in other circumstances. in singapore we have different but effective avenues for expression.
mr chan is dismissive of them, arguing that because the government defines these alternatives, they are tantamount to restrictions on an individual`s political space. mr chan advocates that “society”, but not the elected government, should decide the boundaries of political action and expression.