<TABLE border=0 cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width="100%"><TBODY><TR>Grassroots puzzle in new censorship panel
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<!-- START OF : div id="storytext"--><!-- more than 4 paragraphs -->I REFER to yesterday's reports, 'Diverse panel to review censorship' and 'Who's on censorship review panel', and congratulate the appointed members of the Censorship Review Committee.
However, my disappointment, and that of my fellow members of the arts community, is that none of the 23 artists we suggested was selected.
We are puzzled as to why a grassroots effort by a community that will be among the most affected by the committee's recommendations was rebuffed, in contrast to the recent appointment of Ms Audrey Wong as a Nominated Member of Parliament.
As artists who agree with the Government's call for active citizenship, we have tried to hold a dialogue with the Government about the committee.
We have raised questions such as the principles used for constituting the committee.
Initially, we received replies but the answers petered out substantively.
The last e-mail message acknowledged only that the Government would 'take feedback into consideration', without addressing any substantive issues we had raised.
Doubtless, the Censorship Review Committee will canvass the views of all, but our concern is about the insufficient diversity on the committee itself, in the range of views on liberalisation; and hence, the inadequately robust debate on diverging viewpoints.
We welcome the set-up of the committee and will continue to try to engage its members, and hope it will be more receptive than the Government has been hitherto.
We hope the committee will represent the views of artists like us who support regulation within a framework of freedom of expression and no censor-ship.
Tay Tong
FORUM NOTE: This letter carries 38 other names.
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<!-- START OF : div id="storytext"--><!-- more than 4 paragraphs -->I REFER to yesterday's reports, 'Diverse panel to review censorship' and 'Who's on censorship review panel', and congratulate the appointed members of the Censorship Review Committee.
However, my disappointment, and that of my fellow members of the arts community, is that none of the 23 artists we suggested was selected.
We are puzzled as to why a grassroots effort by a community that will be among the most affected by the committee's recommendations was rebuffed, in contrast to the recent appointment of Ms Audrey Wong as a Nominated Member of Parliament.
As artists who agree with the Government's call for active citizenship, we have tried to hold a dialogue with the Government about the committee.
We have raised questions such as the principles used for constituting the committee.
Initially, we received replies but the answers petered out substantively.
The last e-mail message acknowledged only that the Government would 'take feedback into consideration', without addressing any substantive issues we had raised.
Doubtless, the Censorship Review Committee will canvass the views of all, but our concern is about the insufficient diversity on the committee itself, in the range of views on liberalisation; and hence, the inadequately robust debate on diverging viewpoints.
We welcome the set-up of the committee and will continue to try to engage its members, and hope it will be more receptive than the Government has been hitherto.
We hope the committee will represent the views of artists like us who support regulation within a framework of freedom of expression and no censor-ship.
Tay Tong
FORUM NOTE: This letter carries 38 other names.
