Nonetheless, certain matters, such as security, foreign policy and tax, were not
‘amenable to public consultation’, because of secrecy issues or market sensitivity.
This is a far cry from the 1990 s when Singaporeans were admonished not to address
political authorities as equals in public debate.^25
The Singapore media, long criticised for its informal government links,^26 was
exhorted not to be an adversarial watchdog or inquisitorial bloodhound but to play
a ‘constructive role in nation-building’, necessary if ‘freer debate is to lead to
consensus and understanding’ rather than ’cacophony and confusion’. The media
should not presume to ‘set the national agenda’ or ‘pass judgment on the country’s
leaders’, unlike the US model of the ‘fourth estate’.^27 Journalists or publishers
wanting to participate in the political process should ‘join a political party’ and
‘not use the privileged access to the media to push a political perspective’^28 through
‘crusading journalism, slanting news coverage to campaign for personal agendas’.
Unlike the Internet, which was ‘chaotic...unfiltered, un-moderated’, and carried
lopsided ‘negative views and ridiculous untruths’,
29
it was imperative that the
mainstream media engage in serious journalism, marked by ‘reliable, verified and
insightful’
30
reporting. The courts have observed that ‘there is no room in our
political context for the media to engage in investigative journalism which carries
with it a political agenda’.
31
Singapore continues to retain preventive-detention laws, like the Internal
Security Act (ISA) which it has no plans to abolish. The government issued a
statement that it would not follow Malaysia’s plan to abolish and replace their ISA
with legislation targeting subversive acts and violence, noting that despite shared
roots as former British colonies, ‘the two countries and their respective societies
have evolved differently over time’, underlining the differences in Singapore
legislation.^32 The ISA had been ‘sparingly’ used to deal with subversive threats
(^25) Then Minister George Yeo, who lost his seat in 2011 , said that citizens should preserve a
certain deference in public debate, encapsulated in the Hokkien sayingboh tua, boh suay
(‘Debate yes, but do not take on those in authority as “equals”’,Straits Times, 20 February
1994 , 19.
(^26) Singapore Press Holdings, which basically owns the major newspapers, has had directors
with close government ties. In 2011 , a former minister for information, communications
and the arts was appointed an SPH director: ‘Dr Lee Boon Yang Set to Be Next SPH
Chairman’, Channelnewsasia, 22 September 2011.
(^27) Deputy PM Hsien Loong, Harvard Club Speech.
(^28) Speech by Minister for Home Affairs and Minister for Law K. Shanmugam, ‘A Free Press
for a Global Society’, Columbia University, 4 November 2010 ,[ 40 ].
(^29) PM Lee Hsien Loong, National Day Rally Speech, 14 August 2011.
(^30) PM Lee Hsien Loong, ‘Role of Media’, Speech at the 6 th Asian European Editors Forum,
6 October 2006.
(^31) Review Publishing Co Ltdv.Lee Hsien Loong[ 2010 ] 1 SLR 52 at 177 [ 272 ].
(^32) Under the Singapore ISA, a person could be held in custody for thirty days, after which a
detention or restriction order must be issued, or else the person must be released without
conditions. Since 1991 , there has been an additional safeguard in the form of the elected