Originally posted by angelsNDemons:
Dear patdog112,
before you comment on the jailing of the bloggers as unfair, pls think about the large picture and the historical context that this incident was coming from. For this moment, I'm going to argue that Singapore does not restrict the freedom of speech, but it does not meant that people can abuse the right and make irresponsible remarks such as racist ones. Even if you want to make anti-government or anti-PAP remarks, I think it's your responsible to provide a constructive and responsible response.
In case you have never bothered to check out Singapore's history, let me give you a very short lecture on Singapore history, which will explain why these people are tried for making their remarks in their blog.
Have you ever heard of 1964 racial riot? Ever wondered why it happened? If you ask me, in addition of the political situation that time, it was mainly due to people making irresponsible remarks, which fired up the crowd. Although, till this day, historians and politicians are still arguing who was in fault for starting the riot, I will say that the irresponsible remarks made by M'sia (not meant to criticise the other side, just my viewpoint only) had directly created the racial tension that led to the riot. Right here, I'm not pointing the arrow to anyone, but the point that I'm making was that the allowance of 'free speech' without supervision can be destructive to the peace in Singapore, given its societal pluralism. That's the reason why the Singapore government has been advocating racial harmony.
However, pls note that right now, I'm not saying that Singapore should not be moving towards a more liberal democracy but given the fragile social structure of Singapore, one should exercise more caution in making remarks, especially any remarks which explicitly targets at any particular community in Singapore, be it Chinese, Malay, Indian or whatever.
Anyway, when you are talking about 'min zhu' in Singapore, have you ever considered the context by which why Singapore does not seem to be 'min zhu' to you?
Jack van Tongren and his supporters firebombed Chinese restaurants and synagogues, but were they charged with anything resembling sedition? What the 3 bloggers did is very mild compared to last year's spate of racist attacks in the Swan Valley.
