Today's presentation was short and concise. Huda, explained about the Localisation of newspapers in the Singapore context and Anjana explained about Globalisation, specifically on freedom of speech in Singapore. Both of them addressed the topic well by providing relevant examples and they substantiated their facts with evidence.
Localisation is when the country thinks globally but acts locally (Hines, 2003). Using Localisation in the Singaporean context, a standardisation of news can be seen for majority of the newspapers. Taking The Straits Times and The Newpaper as an example, it can be noted that The Straits Times covers more extensive and serious content but The Newpaper is more of a tabloid paper. However, when a comparison of a prominent story is made in both newspapers, the content is almost similar. This shows that important news stories will not be altered even if they are owned by different corporation. This is because, the public has the rights to know the truth and there is no way that an important story will get manipulated by different corporations.
Moving on to Globalisation, technology has indeed made our world more interconnected and has also caused an increase in online and social media platforms. This has led to freedom of speech as well. However, is ANYBODY able to say ANYTHING they want online? Singapore indeed has freedom of speech but, of course, it comes with numerous restrictions as well (Singapore Statutes Online, 2011). Thus, the question of whether we are really a country that promotes free speech is one to ponder.
In conclusion, I think Singapore is still trying it’s best to attain a free speech society but we always have to be careful of how much free speech we want to have. We will definitely get there, slowly but surely – or atleast I hope so.
References
1) Hines, C., 2003. Understanding and explaining localisation [Online]. Available from: http://www.sovereignty.org.uk/features/footnmouth/local11.html (Accessed 31st May 2011).
2) Singapore Statutes Online, 2011. PART IV: FUNDAMENTAL LIBERTIES [Online]. Available from: http://statutes.agc.gov.sg/non_version/cgi-bin/cgi_getdata.pl?actno=1999-REVED-CONST&doctitle=CONSTITUTION%20OF%20THE%20REPUBLIC%20OF%20SINGAPORE%0A&date=latest&method=part&segid=931158659-000271 (Accessed 31st May 2011).
Because the Singapore government has placed great importance on racial tolerance, among other top priorities since its independence, free speech is not on the agenda list of the government. Indeed, having social stability is important, but that is not to say that people have to be suppressed and be unable to voice their opinions on issues that are important to them. As people become increasingly educated, and theycan speak with sense and sensibility, freedom of speech can be achieved in Singapore.
ReplyDeletexoxo, calcy
Hi Calcy,
ReplyDeleteThanks for your comment. Well, we are already indeed seeing more and more people voicing out their opinions already. They may not be voicing it out in the mainstream media but it is still happening.
xoxo
nivitra
Heya Nivi,
ReplyDeleteI agree with your point that technology has caused our world to be more interconnected. I think that with online media like Facebook and Twitter, more people are openly expressing their views and opinions online. But when it comes to free speech, I feel that there should be a certain restriction like where to draw the line as we don't want to see too many defamation cases and online harassment cases right? Therefore, each of us has to be a responsible Netizen.
Hi shasi,
ReplyDeletethanks for your comment. yep, it's true that there has to be some sort of restrain when it comes to free speech to maintain some form of order in the country.
xoxo
nivitra