(A more complete summary of PM Lee’s National Day Rally speech will be provided later. These short notes are my critique of various key points raised in his speech.)
PM Lee said in his National Day Rally speech that an outright ban on party political films is no longer sensible. He attempted to illustrate how easy it was to be an amateur film maker by fishing out a mobile phone and filming the audience before him in the auditorium.
Currently, Section 33 of the Films Act (Chapter 107) bans the manufacture or distribution of party political films.
I think PM Lee should realize that being a film maker, even an amateur one, takes much more than just whipping out a mobile phone and capturing random images. Where political films are concerned in particular, it is the message that is of utmost importance.
PM Lee said that censors will allow factual footage, documentaries, and recordings of live events, but he drew the line at what he termed “purely made-up material, partisan stuff, footage distorted to create a slanted impression”. He said that “those should still be off-limits”.
Political films will be dealt with in ways similar to non-political films, with censorship and film classification standards, PM Lee said. “The overriding consideration is to preserve the integrity, quality, and honesty of our political discourse.”
While I am glad that PM Lee has acknowledged that an outright ban on political films is no longer sensible (it never has been sensible regardless of technology), his new move to me is hardly liberalization. It is hardly liberalization if it is still up to the authorities to determine what is true or untrue, what is partisan or non-partisan, what is distorted or not distorted.
It is hardly liberalization if the government still wants to have the right to disallow films based on its own self-serving criteria.
I simply do not know how all this can be remotely construed as even a small step forward.
PM Lee also said that by the next General Election, due in 2011, Singaporeans should be able to post political videos and campaign materials on the Internet without running foul of the law.
He even said that the rules set just before the 2006 polls were “very restrictive”, but he also added that there remained a need to maintain accountability and responsibility.
PM Lee said, “The overall thrust of all these changes is to liberalise our society, to widen the space for expression and participation. We encourage more citizens to engage in debate, to participate in building our shared future. And we will progressively open up our system even more.”
My take on the whole matter is that the government has realized that current laws regarding the banning of party political films or the regulation of election advertising on the Internet during an election period under Section 78A of the Parliamentary Elections Act (Chapter 218) are not enforceable at all, given the freewheeling nature of the Internet.
They have thus decided to make modifications to existing laws so as to given an outward appearance of liberalization.
However, hardly anything has been liberalized if the government insists, in PM Lee’s own words, on retaining a panel to decide whether or not a political film would pass censorship. It is back to square one, literally.
PM Lee said in his National Day Rally speech that an outright ban on party political films is no longer sensible. He attempted to illustrate how easy it was to be an amateur film maker by fishing out a mobile phone and filming the audience before him in the auditorium.
Currently, Section 33 of the Films Act (Chapter 107) bans the manufacture or distribution of party political films.
I think PM Lee should realize that being a film maker, even an amateur one, takes much more than just whipping out a mobile phone and capturing random images. Where political films are concerned in particular, it is the message that is of utmost importance.
PM Lee said that censors will allow factual footage, documentaries, and recordings of live events, but he drew the line at what he termed “purely made-up material, partisan stuff, footage distorted to create a slanted impression”. He said that “those should still be off-limits”.
Political films will be dealt with in ways similar to non-political films, with censorship and film classification standards, PM Lee said. “The overriding consideration is to preserve the integrity, quality, and honesty of our political discourse.”
While I am glad that PM Lee has acknowledged that an outright ban on political films is no longer sensible (it never has been sensible regardless of technology), his new move to me is hardly liberalization. It is hardly liberalization if it is still up to the authorities to determine what is true or untrue, what is partisan or non-partisan, what is distorted or not distorted.
It is hardly liberalization if the government still wants to have the right to disallow films based on its own self-serving criteria.
I simply do not know how all this can be remotely construed as even a small step forward.
PM Lee also said that by the next General Election, due in 2011, Singaporeans should be able to post political videos and campaign materials on the Internet without running foul of the law.
He even said that the rules set just before the 2006 polls were “very restrictive”, but he also added that there remained a need to maintain accountability and responsibility.
PM Lee said, “The overall thrust of all these changes is to liberalise our society, to widen the space for expression and participation. We encourage more citizens to engage in debate, to participate in building our shared future. And we will progressively open up our system even more.”
My take on the whole matter is that the government has realized that current laws regarding the banning of party political films or the regulation of election advertising on the Internet during an election period under Section 78A of the Parliamentary Elections Act (Chapter 218) are not enforceable at all, given the freewheeling nature of the Internet.
They have thus decided to make modifications to existing laws so as to given an outward appearance of liberalization.
However, hardly anything has been liberalized if the government insists, in PM Lee’s own words, on retaining a panel to decide whether or not a political film would pass censorship. It is back to square one, literally.