Book sheds light on Lee's media
control
In my opinion, Francis Seow is Singapore's -- and Lee Kuan Yew's
-- most perceptive public critic (many others are perceptive only
in private), and Media
Enthralled lives up to the reputation he has
established. It sheds bright light on the methods Lee Kuan Yew has
used vis-a-vis the media to make Singapore the political
straitjacket nation it now is, and is the only media study I know
with insights applicable to Asian countries struggling to establish
open societies. Media Enthralled makes an
authoritative contribution to the understanding of not only a
Singaporean, but also an Asian and global problem, and, it is
hoped, to its eventual alleviation.
In 1956 Lee Kuan Yew referred, with apparent humour, to the
desirability of "an intimidated press and the government-controlled
radio [that] can regularly sing your praises" so that "slowly and
steadily the people are made to forget the evil things that have
already been done, or if these things are referred to again they're
conveniently distorted and distorted with impunity because there
will be no opposition to contradict." Media
Enthralled addresses with encyclopaedic detail the
implementation of the "joke" into Singapore reality.
Seow's exhaustive research exposes the lengths to which Lee Kuan
Yew went in order to muzzle vigorously independent-minded media
such as newspapers Nanyang Siang
Pau and Singapore Herald.
Journalists were arrested, "problematical" newspapers closed,
remaining newspaper shares held largely in indirect government
control, government-issued press and printing licences required,
critical foreign commentators refused work permits, lawsuits
brought against and circulation restrictions imposed on foreign
media -- all these measures, and many more, brought the desired
result: an "intimidated press" and, with similar ruthlessness
applied in the political arena, "no opposition to contradict."
Critical comment of government policies quickly became almost
non-existent. Crucial issues such as the abolition of the jury
system, the abolition of appeals to the Privy Council, the ban on
political comment by the Law Society (except on government
request), under-reporting of opposition campaigning and defamation
lawsuits against government critics, all have been reported almost
exclusively as if by the ruling People's Action Party.
Self-censorship arrived. David Saul Marshall, a former Chief
Minister, was quoted as commenting in 1994, "Today, Singapore's
censorship is worse, broader and more strict than any time under
British imperial rule."
I have read Media Enthralled with the eyes of
a human rights campaigner seeking enlightenment on the context of
Amnesty International's concerns during the past three decades, on
which the crackdown on the media has a direct bearing.
I have found a thorough and enlightening examination of the
circumstances surrounding media-related detentions as well as media
complicity in reporting on prisoners of conscience, ill-treatment,
torture, executions and the use of amended legislation to threaten
or punish political critics.
Francis Seow documents with exactness the gradual tightening of
the noose around the media even to the extent that journalists have
been co-opted into government service by conducting staged
"interviews" of untried and unconvicted prisoners of conscience
making public "confessions" of guilt.
Many of the all-too-familiar names and events of concern to
Amnesty International since the early sixties are addressed within
that context: Chia Thye Poh, Teo Soh Lung, Vincent Cheng, Lee Eu
Seng, Operation Cold Store, the 1987 arrests, the Internal Security
Act and misuse of the courts to punish critics (through defamation
suits, for example) and many others.
In the vast range of human rights concerns he addresses and
through his careful attention to detail, Francis Seow makes a
fascinating and essential contribution to truth and justice.
Media Enthralled is published at a notable time in
the development of human rights. It is the fiftieth anniversary of
the historic United Nations Universal Declaration of Human Rights
and the year in which the Asian Charter of Human Rights has been
formulated by over 200 Asian non-governmental organizations and
countless individuals.
This expression of the people of Asia directly contradicts the
claim by some Asian leaders -- notably Singapore's Lee Kuan Yew --
that universal human rights are alien to Asia. Further, the Charter
reflects Asians aspirations for an end to the circumstances in
which human rights violations are committed.
Government control of the media is one of those circumstances.
Asians will therefore seek the book out and attempt to use its
lessons to press for the open, co-operative and harmonious Asia for
which they strive. Their hope will be that Francis Seow applies the
same assiduousness to studies on government control of economic,
judicial and religious contexts.
Media Enthralled will also, not surprisingly, be
seized on by the media in Singapore and elsewhere, whatever their
public or private political views, for information on their
Singaporean (and other) colleagues and for a chilling analysis of
media control by a sophisticated government.
Francis Seow offers no comforting or inspirational conclusion.
He quotes Professor Tommy Koh, Director of the Institute of Policy
Studies, as making the point at a 1991 forum on the future role of
the press that journalists "must constantly work under a cloud of
fear."
Media
Enthralled hammers this main message right to
the last pages of the book: the People's Action Party, led still in
all but name by Senior Minister Lee Kuan Yew, ruthlessly and
efficiently crushed the media knowing that "the hand that rules the
press ... rules the country."
Worse, Francis
Seow foresees a post-Lee government will not lossen but rather
strengthen its control through trusted influential media
appointments.
This sober
study impresses for its comprehensiveness, thoroughness and
analytical shrewdness. More than that, Francis Seow writes out of a
sense of conscience: he is deeply troubled about the country in
which he was born and lived for six decades.
Media
Enthralled is a timely book, written as
Asians' determination to enjoy freedom of expression, democracy,
concord and partnership becomes more pronounced. Its most important
contribution is its relevance to such
resolution.
BY Margaret John: Cordinator
for Singapore and Malaysia Amnesty International Canadian Section
(English Speaking)
http://www.singapore-window.org/80710mj.htm