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PM Lee approves One Nation Under Lee!!!

omega

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http://straitstimes.asia1.com.sg/Breaking+News/Singapore/Story/STIStory_269464.html

Political films to be allowed

What will now make the cut: factual footage, documentaries and recordings of live events.

By Sue-Ann Chia & Jeremy Au Yong

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'There you are, simple as that. I've just made our first non-political video,' remarked Mr Lee after filming the audience at the National Day Rally 2008. -- ST PHOTO: DESMOND WEE
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MIDWAY through his National Day Rally address, the Prime Minister fished out a mobile phone and proceeded to film the audience before him in the auditorium.

Behind him, on a giant screen, the audience saw themselves featured on the web page of the Prime Minister's Office - live.

'There you are, simple as that. I've just made our first non-political video,' he said to laughter from the audience.

Mr Lee's candid camera moment held a serious point. Anyone can now be an amateur film-maker, capturing politics on film, and people will do so.

'So, we've got to allow political videos but with some safeguards,' he said. 'An outright ban is no longer sensible.'

Thanks to new media technologies, people can easily make videos and upload them on the Internet.

'This is how people communicate on the Web in daily life. They make videos, they pass clips around,' said Mr Lee in his National Day Rally speech on Sunday night.

What will now make the cut with the censors: factual footage, documentaries and recordings of live events.

But some things still won't pass. 'If you make a political commercial so that it's purely made-up material, partisan stuff, footage distorted to create a slanted impression, I think those should still be off-limits,' he said.

'In between what is ok and what is not ok, there will be grey areas. But I think we can deal with this.'

Political films will be dealt with in ways similar to non-political films, with censorship and film classification standards, he said, with a panel to decide whether or not a political film would pass.

'The overriding consideration is to preserve the integrity, quality, and honesty of our political discourse,' he said.

Political films were banned 10 years ago, two years after Singapore Democratic Party chief Chee Soon Juan applied for a licence to sell a videotape on the SDP.

Section 33 of the Films Act disallows the making, reproduction, distribution and screening of 'party political films'. Such films are defined as those favouring a political party or pushing a political end.
 

omega

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http://straitstimes.asia1.com.sg/Breaking+News/Singapore/Story/STIStory_269635.html

Yes to factual footage

By Sue-Ann Chia & Jeremy Au Yong

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PM Lee filming the audience in the auditorium with a mobile phone. The candid camera moment held a serious point - anyone can now be an amateur film-maker. -- ST PHOTO: DESMOND WEE
</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>

MIDWAY through his National Day Rally address, the Prime Minister fished out a mobile phone and proceeded to film the audience before him in the auditorium.

Behind him, on a giant screen, the audience saw themselves featured on the web page of the Prime Minister's Office - live.


BETTER ENGAGEMENT

'PAP welcomes the liberalisation announced by the Prime Minister. This will increase the opportunities for Singaporeans to give their views and allow political parties to better engage cyber-citizens. PAP will operate responsibly within the new and expanded boundaries to inform, educate and reach out to younger voters through various platforms. Overall, our goal is to create a conducive environment, whether online or within the general public, for political issues to be discussed seriously and productively, to help find solutions for challenges that Singapore faces.' - Education Minister Ng Eng Hen, PAP organising secretary (special duties and new media)

NO FAVOUR GRANTED, JUST A RIGHT

'The Prime Minister is hoping that Singaporeans will go on their bended knees to thank him for these concessions. He seems to forget that the right to make political films or the right to hold demonstrations are part and parcel of human rights.
... more




'There you are, simple as that. I've just made our first non-political video,' he said to laughter from the audience.

Mr Lee's candid camera moment held a serious point. Anyone can now be an amateur film-maker, capturing politics on film, and people will do so.

'So, we've got to allow political videos but with some safeguards,' he said. 'An outright ban is no longer sensible.'

Thanks to new media technologies, people can easily make videos and upload them on the Internet.

'This is how people communicate on the Web in daily life. They make videos, they pass clips around,' Mr Lee said in his National Day Rally speech on Sunday.

What will now make the cut with the censors: factual footage, documentaries and recordings of live events.

But some things still won't pass. 'If you make a political commercial so that it's purely made-up material, partisan stuff, footage distorted to create a slanted impression, I think those should still be off-limits,' he said.

'In between what is ok and what is not ok, there will be grey areas. But I think we can deal with this.'

Political films will be dealt with in ways similar to non-political films, with censorship and film classification standards, he said, with a panel to decide whether or not a political film would pass.

'The overriding consideration is to preserve the integrity, quality, and honesty of our political discourse,' he said.

Political films were banned 10 years ago, two years after Singapore Democratic Party chief Chee Soon Juan applied for a licence to sell a video-tape on the SDP.

Section 33 of the Films Act disallows the making, reproduction, distribution and screening of 'party political films'. Such films are defined as those favouring a political party or pushing a political end.

Mr Lee said political films were banned for a reason.

'Politics is a serious affair. We want voters to consider issues rationally, coolly...and think through decisions which affect your future and make a considered judgement,' he said.

'And our worry is that films are an emotive medium. The impact of seeing something on a film is quite different from reading something in cold print.

'It hits you viscerally. It engages your emotions before your thinking processes can kick in, and if you are watching it in a crowd, (it is) even more powerful.

'Then, passions can get stirred up and people can get carried away.'

The promise of some political films being allowed was cheered by film-maker Martyn See, who had two of his films banned in recent years.

'This is by far the most obvious relaxation of political space in Singapore in the past 20 years. It will lessen the climate of fear,' he said.

But Senior Research Fellow Tan Tarn How from the Institute of Policy Studies preferred there to be no conditions imposed.

'It doesn't make sense to assume that most people are most of the time not smart enough to tell the good from the bad, and truth from falsehood,' he said.

Still, film-maker Tan Pin Pin is happy with the progress.

'A gesture has been made, and I guess it's a positive thing. This is the start of a long journey, towards less frenetic governance,' she said.
 

omega

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http://straitstimes.asia1.com.sg/Breaking+News/Singapore/Story/STIStory_269634.html

Political videos on Net?

Time to update laws as they are 'very restrictive', says PM Lee

By Sue-Ann Chia

BY THE time of the next General Election, due in 2011, Singaporeans should be able to post political videos and campaign material on the Internet without running afoul of the law.

Speaking during the National Day Rally on Sunday, Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong hinted at the liberalisation, saying the rules set just before the 2006 polls were 'very restrictive'.

'The Koreans are very exercised about this. Every time I meet them, I exchange notes with them, and they ask us how we intend to deal with it, and I ask them how they are dealing with it. They don't have an answer, but it's a real problem.' - PM Lee, on Korea's attempts to regulate content on the Internet

His take: It is time to update the rules or risk them being made obsolete by the rapidly changing new media landscape.

'Cyber years are like dog years. One year in cyberspace equals to seven years in real life,' he said.

However, in a suggestion that the liberalisation would not be total, he pointed to a need to maintain accountability and responsibility.

'It's not easy to do this. Do not think that other countries do not face these problems; they do,' he noted, citing Korea as an example of a country that was very concerned about regulating content on the Internet.

In his speech, Mr Lee also hinted at moves to ease the current ban on party political films, as well as that on outdoor demonstrations.

Said the PM: 'The overall thrust of all these changes is to liberalise our society, to widen the space for expression and participation. We encourage more citizens to engage in debate, to participate in building our shared future. And we will progressively open up our system even more.'

The prospective easing of rules comes two years after Mr Lee said the Government needed to ride the digital wave and use new media to get its message across.

In his 2006 Rally address, he said laws would be updated when necessary and cited two examples - regulations on online electioneering and the ban on political films.

A month before the 2006 polls, the Government made clear that political podcasts and vodcasts by candidates and political parties were not allowed during the elections. But they could put up information about rallies and candidates' biodata on their websites.

Blogs and websites which consistently espoused a certain political line were asked to register, and barred from posting political material online.

Still, some bloggers continued to do so.

Analysts said the law was an exercise in futility if it could not be enforced.

The impending changes were welcomed by most people The Straits Times spoke to.

Potong Pasir MP Chiam See Tong - the sole opposition MP who attended the Rally - said: 'It is very good to open up Singapore, a small step forward.'

Media academic Cherian George from the Nanyang Technological University said: 'It's good that the government accepts the principle that the regulations should not be so broad that they catch anything and everything, like a drift net that ensnares dolphins. The latest moves are a step towards more precise regulation.'

Senior Research Fellow Tan Tarn How from the Institute of Policy Studies believed allowing political podcasts and vodcasts was 'a necessary change'.

'There is a dearth rather than an excess of political information for the electorate during elections,' he said. 'The more sources of information on the candidates and their positions and on issues affecting voters, the better it is for democracy.'

The Government-appointed Advisory Council on the Impact of New Media on Society is studying how to revise the rules, and will release its recommendations for public consultation by the end of this month.

Even as he spoke about the need to keep up with new media, PM Lee also reminded Singaporeans that politics is rooted in 'people's lives in the real world'.

'You can't vote for an avatar on Second Life. We are talking about real life, not Second Life. You got to talk, you got to argue, you got to persuade and then you got to mobilise and work together for what you believe in,' he said.

'And you can't do this online, reading e-mails or even listening to podcasts or watching vodcasts. You have to do it face to face.'

[email protected]
 

Hakka Tiow

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Let's wait and see first lah. you think Chua Lee Hoong is now tearing her hair and crying
"Boss! why must give in? After all that I've done for you. Swallowed so much. Why!"
 

3_M

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If you can't beat them join them.

Whether of they allow it or not, it not going to make much different. What can they do even if they forbid political film?

Since there is nothing much they could do, it would be wiser to allow it. At least they can claim the government has an open mind. But we know that not the case.
 
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