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SINGAPORE — Surveys that rank countries on press freedom, religious intolerance and the like should be taken with a pinch of salt, because they do not always reflect the “lived experience” of the people in that place.
Some global studies rank Singapore poorly, while others give it top marks, and these vary because of the methodology used and the political objectives the researchers are helping to push.
Law and Home Affairs Minister K Shanmugam made this observation in Parliament on Tuesday (Oct 3), during the debate on the motion to strengthen the country’s resolve to remain united against the threat of terrorism.
While addressing how Singapore deals with racial and religious fault lines, he noted that certain studies were cited by Members of Parliament in their presentations.
“I am usually careful of such studies and reports that sometimes rank us at the top and sometimes rank us at the bottom... we have to be discerning about these rankings and how they are done and the political objectives behind them. Sometimes, ignore them, when they are patently false and not hold them up as a mantra.”
He gave the example of Reporter’s without Borders (RSF), which ranks nations on press freedom.
“In 2008, RSF ranked us 144 out of 173 countries, below Guinea, Sudan, Pakistan, among others. I pointed out in 2009 that the International Herald Tribune (IHT) had a news story on Guinea. It was one or two days before I made my speech. IHT said that people were being gunned down by ‘brutal military junta’ and women were being raped on the streets, but in RSF’s eyes, their press freedom was higher than ours.”
He pointed out that Singapore continues to fare badly and is ranked 151 out of 180 countries this year by RSF, below countries such as Guinea.
“Gambia, where journalists were detained, media outlets shut down, Internet disconnected, international phone calls banned last year; South Sudan, where it was described as having one of the world’s most serious refugee crisis, suffering the effects of a devastating civil war. Afghanistan is ranked ahead of us. Pakistan is ranked ahead of us. I would invite RSF to please go there,” he said.
Over the years, when it came to building a multiracial society, the Government has had “an activist policy of fostering inter-religious and inter-racial harmony”, Mr Shanmugam said. With that, the Government has been often accused of “being too interventionist and too focused on race”.
Yet, when it comes to religious diversity and guaranteeing religious minorities, Singapore “should be doing quite well in comparison with many other countries”, he said.
He cited examples of leaders in Britain and Germany, who were quoted as saying that there has been far too much tolerance of extremism in their country (British Prime Minister Theresa May), or that they have failed in creating a multicultural society (German Chancellor Angela Merkel).
Singapore is “going in the right direction” on the whole, he said, even if it is a “work in progress”.
“And really, you don’t need studies and reports. You look at our lived reality. What is the experience? Your experience, my experience, experience of our people. You know the answer.”
http://www.todayonline.com/singapor...-reflect-reality-countrys-situation-shanmugam
