From: [l--h] at [aig.jpl.nasa.gov] (John L Loch)
Newsgroups: talk.politics.drugs
Subject: Singapore's DoubleSpeak Democracy
Date: 13 Dec 1994 22:28:26 GMT


     In response to all the posts regarding Singapore, I thought
the following article would be illuminating.  Christopher Lingle,
formerly a senior fellow at the National University of Singapore,
has fled the country to avoid being prosecuted for making
statements critical of Singapore's "democratic" government.
Part I is from the November 30, 1994 Los Angeles Times
editorial section.  Part II (separate post) is the response given
by the Ambassador of Singapore.


I Wrote the Truth; Now I'm a Fugitive from Injustice
by Christopher Lingle

Inset: Singapore: An American academic joins a long list of 
people targeted for punishment for daring to dissent.

     Try to imagine what would induce you to abandon a 
well-paying job, all your personal belongings and your
professional library accumulated over 20 years.  Now try 
to imagine that an article would trigger a police inquiry
resulting in the filing of criminal charges against you in 
the highest court in the land.
     The episode began when I was employed as a senior 
fellow at the National University of Singapore.  In response
to a commentary of mine that appeared in the International
Herald Tribune, police officers of Singapore's criminal
investigation division interrogated me several times.  My
article involved a general statement about the repressive 
tendencies of some Asian regimes.  No country was 
mentioned specifically.  Nonetheless, the police informed
me that their actions involved an inquiry into whether
my remarks impugned the judicial system of Singapore
and thus might constitute "criminal defamation and 
contempt of court."
     Although I am no longer living in Singapore, I have been
served with a summons from the attorney general to 
appear before the High Court to answer charges for 
contempt of court.  Also cited were the editor for Asia and
the publisher of the International Herald Tribune.
     Most Americans would find the complaints that prompted
the police investigation to be simply unfathomable.
Anyone who has ever spoken critically of politicians or
government is likely to have made statements as strong
as mine, if not stronger.  Based on the policies and 
practises I've observed in certain parts of Asia, there is
little room for citizens to criticize their governments.  In
Singapore and several other East Asian regimes, the 
political elite of a Leninistic one-party state decides what
is best for its citizens and chokes off their means for
dissent.
     In judging this whole sad affair, another reality check
might be in order.  Would you voluntarily return to 
face a judicial system appointed by a regime dominated
by one man for nearly three decades?  As in all case of
contempt, the sentence is left entirely to the discretion
of the court.  This is a daunting prospect, since the 
prime minister of Singapore informed the press that 
the government would "throw the book" at me if I
am found guilty.
     A mature and confident regime would not resort
to using the full force of its government institutions
to intimidate thosewho would speak freely.  If a simple
newspaper article is interpreted as a serious threat to 
a regime that has held power for nearly 30 years, the the
government admits to occupying a house of glass
built upon a weak foundation.
     Asian democracy seems to depend on the persecution
of journalists and opposition politicians to cow them 
into submission.  In my case, it is apparent that
university academics are also on the regime's hit list
of those who must be muzzled.  It is ironic that owners
and employees of expatriate businesses are shortsighted
enough to believe that they or their families would be
immune to this overreach of power.
     Those familiar with the methods of the Singapore
regime recognize the hypocrisy and double standards
relating to press freedom.  While the apologists for 
the regime denounce what they consider to be the 
excessive openness of the media in the West, they 
demand and receive generous access to the free 
media in the United States.  Meanwhile in 
Singapore, the submissive local media avoids 
confrontation with the government as a distinct
editorial policy.  Consequently, the public has limited 
access to the editorial pages to offer criticism of the 
government.
     The regime in Singapore is rapidly running out of
friends.  Recently it has begun to belittle the 
liberalizations of the continuing evolution of the 
democratic system in Taiwan.  Singapore appears to be
poising itself to serve as the region's model for
development.  However, in the long run, Singapore's
authoritarian capitalism will impose strict limits on its
economic growth.  Such strict control on free thinking
is certain to stunt the emergence of home-grown 
innovators.  Singapore's short-run development record
masks the underlying faults that may undermine 
continued growth in Southeast Asia.

Italics:  Christopher Lingle resigned from the National
University of Singapore on Nov. 21 and is now living
in Georgia.  The hearing on this case is set for Friday
in Singapore.

- John L. Loch
[l--h] at [aig.jpl.nasa.gov]