Because of the relentless pressure on the Leegime through non-violent means, CSJ and co. have finally made the Familee to go into retreat. Remember how the French Revolution was started?
<TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width="100%" border=0><TBODY><TR>Political films to be allowed <!--10 min-->
</TR><!-- headline one : end --><TR>What will now make the cut: factual footage, documentaries and recordings of live events. </TR><!-- Author --><TR><TD class="padlrt8 georgia11 darkgrey bold" colSpan=2>By Sue-Ann Chia & Jeremy Au Yong
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</TD><TD width=10>
</TD><TD vAlign=bottom>
'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
</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>
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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.
<TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width="100%" border=0><TBODY><TR>Political films to be allowed <!--10 min-->
</TR><!-- headline one : end --><TR>What will now make the cut: factual footage, documentaries and recordings of live events. </TR><!-- Author --><TR><TD class="padlrt8 georgia11 darkgrey bold" colSpan=2>By Sue-Ann Chia & Jeremy Au Yong
</TD></TR><!-- show image if available --><TR vAlign=bottom><TD width=330>
</TD><TD width=10>
'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
</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>
<!-- START OF : div id="storytext"-->
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.
