Tan Pin Pin's film To Singapore, With Love not to be shown in public

[makapaaa]

Channel news asia changes title to remove "ban" on article about mda censorship

[h=1]CHANNEL NEWS ASIA CHANGES TITLE TO REMOVE "BAN" ON ARTICLE ABOUT MDA CENSORSHIP[/h]
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11 Sep 2014 - 2:46pm





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The MDA ban of award winning film 'To Singapore, With Love' by local filmmaker Tan Pin Pin is being justified by the government and mainstream media as an issue of "national security".
The reality is that this is just blatant political censorship being done to try and preserve the pristine image of the ruling PAP.
(See: MDA bans award winning local film to try and cover up history of political oppression)
As if the politically motivated ban wasn't enough to show you that Singapore does not enjoy a free and fair democracy, the mainstream media has also been towing the PAP line by avoiding the use of strong words such as "ban" when writing about the incident.
Originally, Channel News Asia had put a clear headline to their article, saying that the film was banned in Singapore:

However, several minutes later, they must have received a call from someone higher up as their title was amended to say the film was "not to be shown in public":

They even went to the trouble of changing their original facebook updates about the issue, however in an effort to preserve the comments and shares on the post they decided simply to 'edit' it instead of deleting and re-posting.
This results in the edit history being there for all to see:

It seems that the word "ban" is too strong a word for the MDA's action of censorship and mainstream media has been asked to leave it out of their reports.
The film is a documentary that looks into the lives of political exiles of Singapore and while it does touch on their views and explanations of why they were forced to move away, it focuses more on their new lives in their adopted homelands.
For the government to claim such as movie as a "threat to national security" it apparently means that the peace and security that we enjoy in Singapore is so thin and fragile and a documentary of political opponents of the PAP can shatter it into pieces.
The detaining of political opponents to the PAP through Operation Cold Store and Operation Spectrum is a very real and dark part of Singapore's history.



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The "truth" that the PAP sticks with and puts in our textbooks saying that these people were terrorists is as true as the notion that Nelson Mandela or Aung San Suu Kyi, who were both once detained for opposing their governments, are terrorists.
The government is not interested to let the people hear the other side of the story through the film and others in the past that they have banned, in order to let them make their own decisions.
The government can claim all they want that this is a "threat to national security" in reality it is just a threat to their good image and a threat to the "truth" that they have touted for so long about the political exiles being terrorists.
The MDA ban is a blatant act of censorship designed to protect the PAP's votes.
If the film was allowed to be shown, they could say that they acknowledge the past mistakes and have changed but it is clear that they have not changed at all.
The question remains, would the PAP have lost more votes by letting the people see the film and decide for themselves if they felt it was an accurate representation of Singapore's dark past, or has this action of banning and whitewashing the issue caused them to lose more votes?

 

[makapaaa]

Re: Channel news asia changes title to remove "ban" on article about mda censorship

[h=1]YAACOB IBRAHIM: EX-POLITICAL DETAINEES ARE NOT ALLOWED TO SHARE THEIR SIDE OF THE STORY[/h]
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10 Sep 2014 - 5:07pm





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With MDA's decision to ban award winning film "To Singapore, With Love" by local filmmaker Tan Pin Pin, Minister of Communication and Information Yaacob Ibrahim has said that he agrees and supports the MDA's assessment.
The documentary following the lives of ex political detainees and exiles of Singapore, was deemed by MDA to be a "distorted and untruthful" account.
(See full story: MDA bans award winning local film to try and cover up history of political oppression)
Dr Yaacob also said that "The individuals in the film have given distorted and untruthful accounts of how they left Singapore and claimed that they were unfairly denied their right to return to Singapore."
He added that "the truth of the matter was that many of them, by their own admission, were members or supporters of the Communist Party of Malaya which sought to overthrow the legitimate elected governments of Singapore and Malaysia through armed struggle and subversion, and replace them with a communist regime."
He further declared that "individuals who have chosen to leave and remain outside Singapore, and refused to account for their past actions, should not enjoy a public platform to share distorted and untruthful accounts to mislead the public, absolve themselves or deny their past action."
The problem with this assessment is that Dr Yaacob is declaring that the film, as told from the side of the former political detainees, is distorted based on his version of "truth" that the PAP has made.
The very nature of a conflict means there are two opposing sides to the story and the version that the PAP claims is true is not necessarily the actual truth.
From the side of the ex-political detainees, the PAP's side of the story is the one that is distorted and misleading however it is the one that is written throughout our history books and the one that is endorsed by the PAP controlled Mainstream Media.
How can the public make their own decision about which is true if the political detainees are never given a chance to share their side of the story.



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What Minister Yaacob is saying is that the PAP is right, the political detainees are wrong and Singaporeans don't have the right to decide for themselves.
When Yaacob claims that the exiles have refused to account for their past actions, he is forgetting that many of them were detained without trial and never given a chance to prove their innocence. They have already paid the price for trying to stand up against the PAP.
The very nature of democracy is to have many opposing views, open public discourse and then decisions based on the common or middle ground. If the other side of the story is never shared, and is banned from being shared, how can we arrive at a reasonable middle ground.
The film itself has received multiple awards in film festivals and it is praised by the international audiences and Singaporeans alike who have seen it overseas.
If it was so distorted and clearly untruthful, would it have gotten such high praises?

 

[Confuseous]

We let in millions of communists and govt worried about a movie?

This has to be the joke of the year. We allow millions of communists from China to drive buses, lorries and roam all over Singapore.
And allow people like the $40million tour guide to help MPs, no less than in AMK.
And we worry about a movie of Singaporeans living abroad?
Why is MDA now involved with national security? Home Affairs Ministry now in charge of screening of movies in homes?
If security threat, why isn't the producer interrogated?
We all know the real reason but the "transparent" manner and continued stupidity of the MIWs in pulling wool over our eyes still never fail to amaze me.
What do you think?

 

[tanwahtiu]

Re: We let in millions of communists in and govt worried about a movie?

make sure old frat don't deserve a grand funeral wake when he died.

This has to be the joke of the year. We allow millions of communists from China to drive buses, lorries and roam all over Singapore.
And allow people like the $40million tour guide to help MPs, no less than in AMK.
And we worry about a movie of Singaporeans living abroad?
Why is MDA now involved with national security? Home Affairs Ministry now in charge of screening of movies in homes?
If security threat, why isn't the producer interrogated?
We all know the real reason but the "transparent" manner and continued stupidity of the MIWs in pulling wool over our eyes still never fail to amaze me.
What do you think?

 

[Papsmearer]

Re: We let in millions of communists and govt worried about a movie?

This has to be the joke of the year. We allow millions of communists from China to drive buses, lorries and roam all over Singapore.
And allow people like the $40million tour guide to help MPs, no less than in AMK.
And we worry about a movie of Singaporeans living abroad?
Why is MDA now involved with national security? Home Affairs Ministry now in charge of screening of movies in homes?
If security threat, why isn't the producer interrogated?
We all know the real reason but the "transparent" manner and continued stupidity of the MIWs in pulling wool over our eyes still never fail to amaze me.
What do you think?

Commies FTs already given PR status by PAP, and MHA never even check their background to see how many are card carrying members of the Communist Party Of China. And many more of these new commie FTs/PR are ingratiating themselves into the PAP grassroot political movements. Can you say 5th column? Can you say communist infiltration of the PAP?

 

[steffychun]

Re: We let in millions of communists and govt worried about a movie?

This has to be the joke of the year. We allow millions of communists from China to drive buses, lorries and roam all over Singapore.
And allow people like the $40million tour guide to help MPs, no less than in AMK.
And we worry about a movie of Singaporeans living abroad?
Why is MDA now involved with national security? Home Affairs Ministry now in charge of screening of movies in homes?
If security threat, why isn't the producer interrogated?
We all know the real reason but the "transparent" manner and continued stupidity of the MIWs in pulling wool over our eyes still never fail to amaze me.
What do you think?

Read Orwell's "Animal Farm".

"Four legs good, two legs better!"

 

[Papsmearer]

Re: PAP bans documentary as it can't handle the truth

That's because the communist bogeyman and 'national security threat' are just lies, excuses for censoring a movie that does not parrot the PAP narrative. Communism is dead. Even China's economy is capitalist; the only thing communist is the authoritarian one-party rule

The real reason for the ban is to preserve old fart's mythical legacy of founding the nation with a few good men and turning it from 3rd to 1st World in one generation. Because if the myth is destroyed, PAP's credibility will be destroyed, and its legitimacy to rule will go.

It's all about party survival, not about 'communists'.

I don't even think that is the real reason. Anyone with half an gram of brains will know that Old Goat did not do all those great things he claim did. Only the PAP cocksucker worshippers will believe anything. Most logical people understand the Old Goat myth has long ago been deflated. i think that the PAP is in a turtle mode now. It has been facing a lot of criticism online over the Roy lawsuit, CPF, etc. They just can't handle another bad news episode from this documentary.

 

[tanwahtiu]

Re: We let in millions of communists and govt worried about a movie?

This is because they have been using motion pictures (images and motion images) all the time and know its effectiveness.

Only they are allowed to use this technology and ban other users in Singapore.

This has to be the joke of the year. We allow millions of communists from China to drive buses, lorries and roam all over Singapore.
And allow people like the $40million tour guide to help MPs, no less than in AMK.
And we worry about a movie of Singaporeans living abroad?
Why is MDA now involved with national security? Home Affairs Ministry now in charge of screening of movies in homes?
If security threat, why isn't the producer interrogated?
We all know the real reason but the "transparent" manner and continued stupidity of the MIWs in pulling wool over our eyes still never fail to amaze me.
What do you think?

 

[shittypore]

Re: We let in millions of communists and govt worried about a movie?

Erection Cuming, mah!

 

[johnny333]

Re: We let in millions of communists and govt worried about a movie?

All those security measures has never been about communism, marxists, etc but rather internal threats that might threaten the famiLee rule.

If you look at how wealthy the family & friends have become at the expense of the "lesser mortals" you can see why.
Unfortunately it has taken the theft of their CPF to wake up the 60%.

 

[Equalisation]

Re: We let in millions of communists and govt worried about a movie?

Yes. With over 20,000 new citizenships given freely yearly, this country is going down the dumps !!

 

[Confuseous]

Teo Soh Lung: Tell us why, MDA on Love SG film

It is sad that a film is banned just because the officials dislike what the interviewees said. Surely, a detailed press statement from the government is sufficient to rebut the claims of the interviewees. Further, the government controls the media and it is capable of churning out more films like “The Days of Rage” to counter the narratives of the interviewees who are now in their 80s.

The government have till today, failed to explain why after the September 1963 election, it had deemed it necessary to arrest so many people including three elected MPs of the Barisan Sosialis and imprisoned them for years under the ISA. It was because of the arrests together with hundreds of others under the ISA that year, that elected MPs Wong Soon Fong and Chan Sun Wing who appeared in the film became political exiles. They had put their heart and soul helping Lee Kuan Yew win the 1959 election. They had stood for election and won in September 1963 but had been denied their rightful seats in the legislative assembly. They and others, including He Jin, a prolific writer, told their stories in a calm and uncomplaining manner. Their love for the Singapore is evident from what they say and do today. They follow Singapore’s progress closely, reading newspapers daily and watching news on television.

“To Singapore With Love” is not just about the politicians and members of the CPM who left Singapore soon after Operation Cold Store and the general election in September 1963. It is much more. Indeed, the “star” in the film and the most reflective interviewee is Dr Ang Swee Chai who touches our hearts with personal stories of courage and sacrifice of her late husband, Francis Khoo, a young lawyer who fled Singapore when his friends were arrested in February 1977. They were accused of being “Euro-Communists.” Dr Ang and Francis were married just two weeks before the arrests.

Dr Ang herself was imprisoned and left Singapore to join her husband after her release. Legally, she has not committed any crime and should be able to return to Singapore without conditions or being subjected to the humiliation of giving statements of her past. But she has not been able to obtain a Singapore passport. In the interview, Dr Ang reflected on the hardship that befell her family and that of Francis. Francis’ mother missed her son and wished that he could return. But upon receiving a letter from Francis explaining why he had rejected the thought of returning because he didn’t want to “squeal” on his friends, she accepted the fate that she would not be able to see him. Like many other exiles, both Francis and Swee Chai were unable to return home to visit their parents when they became seriously ill and died.

MDA’s comment on the crimes of the exiles, in particular, the reference to Tan Wah Piow’s escape from enlistment after serving a one year prison sentence on a false charge for “rioting” is interesting. Many Singaporean males have failed to enlist. Surely the penalty cannot be 40 years of forced exile and the loss of one’s citizenship by the use...

http://www.tremeritus.com/2014/09/12/why-mda/

 

[Leongsam]

Re: Teo Soh Lung: Tell us why, MDA on Love SG film

MDA’s comment on the crimes of the exiles, in particular, the reference to Tan Wah Piow’s escape from enlistment after serving a one year prison sentence on a false charge for “rioting” is interesting.

This is one piece of history that I can personally vouch for because I was there on that fateful day. Tan Wah Piow took no part in any riot. The so called "riot" was staged by Phey Yew Kok's lap dogs and with the benefit of hindsight, we all know what sort of character he was.

Had the technology of today been available then, his innocence could easily have been proven. It was a different world in the mid 70s. Evidence was based on the spoken word in court and nothing else.

Tan served 9 months of a jail term and was then given just 3 days of freedom and told to report to an ARTILLERY unit despite the fact that he was a short stumpy guy that did not meet the usual arty criteria of physique.

He feared for his safety and escaped from the country 48 hours after his release never to return. Before he left, he actually appeared on campus to address a large crowd of well wishers. I remember the whole scene as if it had just happened yesterday.

 

[yellowarse]

Re: Teo Soh Lung: Tell us why, MDA on Love SG film

This is one piece of history that I can personally vouch for because I was there on that fateful day. Tan Wah Piow took no part in any riot. The so called "riot" was staged by Phey Yew Kok's lap dogs and with the benefit of hindsight, we all know what sort of character he was.

Had the technology of today been available then, his innocence could easily have been proven. It was a different world in the mid 70s. Evidence was based on the spoken word in court and nothing else.

Tan served 9 months of a one year jail term and was then given just 3 days of freedom and told to report to an ARTILLERY unit despite the fact that he was a short stumpy guy that did not meet the usual arty criteria of physique.

He feared for his safety and escaped from the country 48 hours after his release never to return. Before he left, he actually appeared on campus to address a large crowd of well wishers. I remember the whole scene as if it had just happened yesterday.

Thanks, Sam for the candid piece. Yes, it was a false charge. One reason why the movie rubbed the Pappies up the wrong way is it opens them to demands for a truth and reconciliation commission as well as reparations for wrongful detention and expulsion.

 

[sochi2014]

Re: Teo Soh Lung: Tell us why, MDA on Love SG film

Someone should find Phey Yew Kok. To give him to say the last words before he mati.

Otherwise the false charges will still remained.

 

[yellowarse]

Re: We let in millions of communists and govt worried about a movie?

All those security measures has never been about communism, marxists, etc but rather internal threats that might threaten the famiLee rule.

Ops Cold Store & Spectrum and the Euro-commie detentions were all about threats to party (read Lee dynasty) survival.

Allowing the ex-detainees and exiles to tell their side of the story would expose all the Pappy lies and falsehood and destroy old fart's legacy, as well as PAP's electoral future.

Plus, it also opens the party up to calls for reparations for wrongful detention and arrests as well as international pressure for a truth & reconciliation commission. This is what PAP doesn't need with the next GE is just a year away.

 

[sense]

Re: Teo Soh Lung: Tell us why, MDA on Love SG film

For unconditional love, release the film via Torrent.

 

[sochi2014]

Re: We let in millions of communists in and govt worried about a movie?

Yeah! Blame the communist for everything bad in Singapore.

 

[laksaboy]

Re: Teo Soh Lung: Tell us why, MDA on Love SG film

A movie on poilitical exiles is not allowed.

Meanwhile, such CNA rubbish is allowed.

[video=youtube;YaF69AJC07A]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YaF69AJC07A[/video]

 

[soIsee]

Re: Teo Soh Lung: Tell us why, MDA on Love SG film

So what If you know what is the past?

The Pappy IS in charge and will be and they call the shots.

Trying your luck to 'disturb' that scene with 'little hopeless' films will lead you to NOWHERE except be LOSERS!

If for every 5 years balless Sinkie vote the way they had voted and can live with it, you should just shut up or ship out! loL