“Freedom of the press... must be subordinated to the overriding needs of the integrity of Singapore, and to the primacy of purpose of an elected government.”
Lee Kuan Yew
While Singapore is a representative democracy, politically censored mainstream media dominates the Singaporean mediascape. Editor of The Online Citizen, Terry Xu, attempts to overcome restricted freedom of speech faced by government sponsored media by presenting a diverse range of stories and opinions. I was surprised that press freedom was such a concern in Singapore, as the country’s official narrative presents Singapore as a progressive nation accepting of multicultural perspectives. By reporting on more contentious issues, Terry highlights the successful role of social media as an increasingly alternative channel of national dialogue, forcing mainstream media to address more diverse issues.
Augustine Anthuvan described media as a catalyst for change. Mainstream media’s success in encouraging change was cleverly reinforced by the display of the chair in which former Prime Minister Lee Kuan Yew emotionally discussed Singaporean independence. As our Mediacorp tour guide conceded, the Singaporean people saw Lee on the television and were inspired to support independence. While the government may coerce media to continuously follow its official narrative, The Online Citizen is clearly striving to challenge the censorship of minority perspectives.
Mediacorp’s interactive activities inspire visitors to positively interact with the media. If future generations trust mainstream media, independent alternatives such as the Online Citizen may become less of a threat to successful government censorship. This links to a recurring emphasis on transparency during this tour. Just as glass walls in Parliament represented accountability to the people, our ability to look down on the Mediacorp journalists made us feel like we could see everything that was going on, and could therefore trust the company as a reliable source. Further, the comparatively high number of staff at MediaCorp made me realise why this media company can more openly address contentious issues such as government elections. Defamation in Singapore is not always about who is right, but who has access to better resources.
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