Singapore arrest highlights censorship

July 19th, 2010

British Author Alan Shadrake has been arrested in Singapore for writing a book critical of the city state’s use of the death sentence. Ben Bland reports on the city-states suppression of free speech
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British author arrested in Singapore

July 19th, 2010

Earlier today British author Alan Shadrake was arrested in Singapore for alleged criminal defamation and contempt of court .The state run Media Development Authority filed a complaint against Shadrake’s book, which examines the death penalty in Singapore, accusing it of questioning the impartiality of the judiciary. Last year Singapore ejected British journalist Ben Bland and charged the Wall Street Journal with contempt of court . Last week the authorities banned a film containing a speech made by an ex political prisoner.

Singapore government bans internment film

July 13th, 2010

A film by director Martyn See featuring a speech by former political detainee Lim Hock Siew, has been banned by Singapore’s Information, Arts and Culture Ministry.  The films shows Siew discussing the details of his internment, prompting the government to deem it “contrary to public interest” and demand its removal from YouTube. See has published details of the incident, including scans of the government’s letter to him, on his blog.

Singapore: censorship city

November 30th, 2009

Ben Bland is the latest journalist to be barred from working in Singapore. Here, he explains the city state’s stranglehold on free expression
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Singapore: WSJ charged with contempt

March 16th, 2009

A senior editor of the Wall Street Journal is being taken to court by the Singapore government. (more…)

Singapore: magazine guilty of defaming leaders

September 24th, 2008

The Far Eastern Economic Review (FEER) and it’s editor Hugo Restall have been found guilty of defaming Singapore’s prime minister, Lee Hsein Loong, and his father Lee Kuan Yew. The summary judgement was made without the case going to trial, in compliance with the wishes of the Lees. Read more here

Blogging: a hazardous business

June 11th, 2008

Online criticism of politicians is not tolerated in Singapore, writes David Jardine

Singapore, long known for what is sometimes described as ‘soft authoritarianism’ is a dangerous place in which to post dissident blogs. The latest person to discover this is Gopalan Nair, a US citizen of Singaporean origin.

Nair, in his Singaporean days a lawyer and activist for the opposition Workers’ Party, is the latest to fall foul of Minister Mentor Lee Kuan Yew’s penchant for suing his critics in an effort to both bankrupt them and silence them. Now an immigration lawyer in California, Nair claims on his blog Singapore Dissident that he was ‘harassed and persecuted by Lee’ and this was his reason for taking up citizenship in the USA.
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