The Beginnings of Strict Censorship in Singapore
Singapore is a democratic nation ruled by the People's Action Party, better known as the PAP since it became independent 1965. Singapore is notorious for its strict censorship and copyright laws. These laws are made and governed by the Media Development Authority of Singapore (MDA). [CS-2] When Lee Kwan Yew first came into power, he immediately took charge of the Singapore Straits Times and began to abolish all the free independent press in Singapore. Lee Kwan Yew forced the closure of the Utusan Melayu, the Nanyang Siang Bao, the New Nation, The Singapore Herald, The Singapore Monitor and other independant presses and brought the rest under the government control of the Singapore Press Holdings (SPH) which was headed by now President SR Nathan at the time. Now former Minister of the Internal Security Department Tjong Yik Min is the President of the SPH. [CS-2] The Straits Times has been labelled as a government propaganda sheet on many occasions.
Lee Kwan Yew made a remark in the run-up to independance that his early experience in Singapore and Malaya had changed his views about the press as being the defender of truth and freedom of speech. To him, “the freedom of the press was the freedom of its owners to advance their personal and class interests” (Lee, 2000) [CS-3]. After taking Control of the press, he implanted spies among the journalists to identify those who oppose him. Most of Lee Kuan Yew's cabinet ministers are taken from the SPH. The Singapore government is also notorious for slamming defamation suits on those who dare to speak ill of them. Since the foreign press is hard to control, the Singapore government threatens them with lawsuits to keep them from badmouthing the Lee family to the public. Lee Kwan Yew has cited that control of the press is vital, often bringing up the Mariah Hertogh case in the 1964 race riots where the press contributed to tension between races and fuelled riots.
All films, videos, television and radio stations and the internet come under the Media Development Authority of Singapore (MDA). The MDA was formed by the merger of the Singapore Broadcasting Authority (SBA), the Films and Publications Department (FDP) and the Singapore Film Commission (SFC) in an attempt to make a name for Singapore in the global media industry. The MDA is under the Ministry of Information, Communication and the Arts. The way the government controls video and audio content is no different from the way it controls the press. However since the government has full control over what is screened in Singapore, offensive content is simply not broadcasted to the public. Lee Kwan Yew Stated his reasons for these restrictions in a speech for the American Society of Newspaper Editors in 1988 [CS-3].
"No foreign television station claims the right to telecast its programmes in Singapore. Indeed America's Federal Communications Commission regulations bar foreigners from owning more than 25 per cent of a TV or radio station. In other words, only Americans can control a business which influences public opinion in America. Thus before Rupert Murdoch purchased the independent TV stations of the Metromedia group in 1985, he first took up US citizenship. If a mightly nation of 240 million finds such safeguards necessary, what about a plastic, uniformed society like Singapore?" [CS-4]
Lee Kwan Yew made a remark in the run-up to independance that his early experience in Singapore and Malaya had changed his views about the press as being the defender of truth and freedom of speech. To him, “the freedom of the press was the freedom of its owners to advance their personal and class interests” (Lee, 2000) [CS-3]. After taking Control of the press, he implanted spies among the journalists to identify those who oppose him. Most of Lee Kuan Yew's cabinet ministers are taken from the SPH. The Singapore government is also notorious for slamming defamation suits on those who dare to speak ill of them. Since the foreign press is hard to control, the Singapore government threatens them with lawsuits to keep them from badmouthing the Lee family to the public. Lee Kwan Yew has cited that control of the press is vital, often bringing up the Mariah Hertogh case in the 1964 race riots where the press contributed to tension between races and fuelled riots.
All films, videos, television and radio stations and the internet come under the Media Development Authority of Singapore (MDA). The MDA was formed by the merger of the Singapore Broadcasting Authority (SBA), the Films and Publications Department (FDP) and the Singapore Film Commission (SFC) in an attempt to make a name for Singapore in the global media industry. The MDA is under the Ministry of Information, Communication and the Arts. The way the government controls video and audio content is no different from the way it controls the press. However since the government has full control over what is screened in Singapore, offensive content is simply not broadcasted to the public. Lee Kwan Yew Stated his reasons for these restrictions in a speech for the American Society of Newspaper Editors in 1988 [CS-3].
"No foreign television station claims the right to telecast its programmes in Singapore. Indeed America's Federal Communications Commission regulations bar foreigners from owning more than 25 per cent of a TV or radio station. In other words, only Americans can control a business which influences public opinion in America. Thus before Rupert Murdoch purchased the independent TV stations of the Metromedia group in 1985, he first took up US citizenship. If a mightly nation of 240 million finds such safeguards necessary, what about a plastic, uniformed society like Singapore?" [CS-4]
