Wednesday, February 27, 2008

Freedom of the Press: Minister of Home Affairs from 09S07A

Good morning one and all. I am Wong Kan Seng, Minister of Home Affairs, and I am here today to present my views on media censorship in Singapore. The first and foremost duty of the government is to protect its people. In the MHA, the welfare, safety and security of the public is our priority. As such, we are very particular about filtering information that could potentially harm them in any way. Media censorship in Singapore has to be stringent in order to avoid unnecessary conflict.

Firstly, media censorship in Singapore must be strict to prevent dissemination in our small community. Singaporeans must live and work in harmony as a tightly bonded community for the development of Singapore. Biased content in the media could pose a threat to this peace by stimulating negative feeling toward people of different cultures. In 2005, two men were charged in court under the Sedition Act for criticizing and insulting Muslim customs using online posts. If censorship action had not been taken, the Muslim community would have been angered, and the biased ideas and opinions of Muslims could have been spread throughout society. Such a scenario occurred in December 1950. The Maria Hertogh riots broke out over the custody of Maria Hertogh, and the biasness in the colonial system toward Muslims. The English and Malay press(es) both added fuel to the fire by depicting Maria’s emotions in favour of the side they were biased for. Blood was shed in the riots. I feel that such an event cannot be allowed to take place again. To prevent our community from sliding into such social disorder, and to instead preserve racial harmony, ethnocentric or any biased content in the media would have to be filtered out.

The impact of the media on all who subscribe to it is undeniable and inevitable to an extent. Its influence is especially evident amongst the impressionable youth, who attempt to emulate the culture marketed by the media as fashionable. At an age where they’re quite vulnerable and susceptible, it is imperative we filter the information they receive. One reason for this is to preserve our unique Asian culture. With the media dominated and dictated by the Westerners, their values and opinions tend to be imposed on the viewers. Even if it propagates views and actions that are generally an accepted social norm, it may not exactly tie in with our Asian culture. When grappling between two worlds like this, they tend to pick the option that’s considered ‘cooler’. Increasingly, chopsticks are swapped for forks and spoons and saris willingly exchanged for shirt and jeans. While cultural homogenization does have its benefits, by succumbing to the western culture, we’re compromising on our own traditional rituals.

Also, there is a need to restrict our youths’ exposure to controversy and obscenity through the media, who at their age can be quite easily swayed and influenced. With constant exposure to obscene content over the media, Singaporean youths would eventually deviate from the expectations of societal norms. This threat is especially pertinent to Singapore as our most valuable resource is our small population - allowing our youths to stray would be detrimental to Singapore’s future as these youths would become our future leaders in years to come. Thus, close management of local media is essential to ensure that Singaporean youths would uphold good moral values and not be negatively affected by unwanted content in the media.

Done by: Christian, Nikhita, Yik Sin, Yuwen, Emily from 09S07A

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