Low ranking for press freedom here absurd: Shanmugam

[giggity_shit]

And who knows how many countless critical letters to the forum are sidelined for those that sing kudos to the Government.

 

[streetsmart73]

Funny that a Law Minister of a huge country should, be so bothered by rankings published by Reporters Without Borders- have they been hit below the belt, is it not true that lky's son's govt often claims PESI COLA ?, - i wonder.

hi there


1. the other thing is what does the keling expect?
2. shittytimes being number one!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! in the survey.
3. my foot is laughing.

 

[SIFU]

FIFA : u Singapore is ranked 119 out of 203 countries..

Malboro Tan : FIFA, u r absurd

 

[Jabba]

progress and freedom are two different things...

 

[kingrant]

http://www.asiaone.com/News/AsiaOne+News/Singapore/Story/A1Story20091027-176233.html

Tue, Oct 27, 2009
AsiaOne

Low ranking for press freedom here absurd: Shanmugam

LAW Minister K. Shanmugam yesterday said rankings that place Singapore lowly on press freedom "struck him as quite absurd and divorced from reality".

At the Opening of the seasonal meeting of the New York state bar association International Section, Mr. Shanmugam addressed the perception American newspapers portray of Singapore being "a repressive, state that controls the people's thoughts" and "unfairly target the press".

He referred to the Press Freedom Index compiled by the organization Reporters without Borders - which placed Singapore 144th out of 173 countries on press freedom in 2008 below Ethiopia, Sudan, Kazahkstan, Venezuela, Guinea, Haiti.


This year Singapore was ranked 133rd out of 175 countries below Kenya - which saw riots following a disputed election - and Congo - which continues to struggle with the aftermath of an armed conflict that has claimed more than 5 million lives.

Mr. Shanmugam said that it did not make sense that Singapore is ranked lower than countries trying to progress. "My point is not that we are in any way inherently superior to them - the question is whether a truly objective assessment will give us such a ranking."

The Singapore government has had tussels and won law suits against with several newspapers such as the Wall Street Journal and Far Eastern Economic Review. He said that the press is not used to this anywhere else in the world and "they don't like it one bit".

"So every Law suit is met with the same reaction - we are out to silence the press. That feeling has been pervasive and has, in my view, coloured the general reporting on Singapore."

"Is it possible to have a modern, successful, open economy if the people are not empowered and educated?"

He added that it is perfectly possible to be deeply critical of government policies without the addition of totally unnecessary remarks on some form of corruption, as he had seen such cases when he was previously in private practice.

"Our approach on press reporting is simple: The press can criticize us, our policies. We do not seek to condemn that.

"But we demand the right of response, to be published in the journal that published the original article. We do not accept that they can decide whether to publish our response."

There will be libel suits if personal factual attacks are made. "Public discourse does not have to descend into the gutter, " he said.

He went on to emphasize that there is a public right to comment on policies and even if it is "someone is stupid or that policies make no sense and the policies are attacked vigorously you can't sue."

He stressed the public right to comment on policies while the goverment will respond to defend policies and ignore comments on intellect.

Mr. Shanmugam said that proof of our stability can be seen by the billions of dollars invested in Singapore annually by international organizations.

"Our main selling point is that there will be good value added when they invest here, their investments will be protected, and that we are a stable democracy."

He's the worst lackey of all!

 

[takcheksian]

garmen is good at getting por lampar lackeys to speak for it.

what do u expect?

if you give a talentless piece of shit who can't survive in real competition a million dollar golden curry bowl, of course he will lick his masters' boots

 

[halsey02]

progress and freedom are two different things...

Keiling has a point about the law the Law is for the protection for the people....true but freedom is different from progess & the law..

Of course Shitty Time is the number one news print company, for all the news print company is owned by one company, and whatever so-called free papers is owned by one company, whose parent company, owned also the one news print company..

Even North Korea, Cuba, Afhanistan, Iran , Libya etc..have their laws..FREEDOM is a different matter.

 

[borom]

Heard it on 1st Nov night news that HDB posted a $2 bn deficit.

This important piece of information on a statutory board that has probably the biggest impact on the daily lives of Singaporeans has yet to be mentioned in the ST.

Also not mentioned in the internet edition.The print edition today (Tues, 3 Nov 2009) in pg B1 highlighted things like dip in mortgage arrears,HIP, NRP but I can't find the $2 bn deficit .

Can anyone find the $2bn HDB deficit being mentioned anywhere in the ST?.
I find it very strange indeed as I was expecting a detailed report and analysis.
Instead the silence was deafening.
What does it say about the press here?

 

[Einfield]

End of the day, it's all about money, this mama is more concern of other people's investment then his own people.


"Our main selling point is that there will be good value added when they invest here, their investments will be protected, and that we are a stable democracy."[/QUOTE]

 

[mscitw]

Minion Shan owes his fat cat pay cheque to the regime, therefore he has to cook curry and say good things about the regime. This is how a neh operates, nothing extraordinary about it.

This is the main reason why a common saying calls for peasants to kill a neh before dealing with a cobra.