2 of 3

Write now Article Tools

Having lived on this tiny island for all of my entire twenty years, I daresay that there are quite a couple of things I have noticed about Singapore.

First of all, we seem to be a very disciplined people when it comes to work. It is a tradition that has carried us since independence in 1965, and when we faced those economic restructuring challenges in the 70s and 80s. Before this essay soon deteriorates into a national education article, I just want to conclude that well... we certainly did better than the Soviets did with perestroika.

This discipline seems to spread itself unevenly through our own behaviour. For example, we can go absolutely nuts over limited-edition Hello Kitty toys, or maybe the annual National Day Parade tickets, queuing up for up to 48 hours at a time; at other moments, we just freeze - take the lukewarm local arts scene for a perfect example, and the recent half-nude female dancers imported from Paris. Crazy Horse called time even before they had their audience seats warmed.

Where newspapers are concerned, we carry as non-judging a tone as I have ever seen for a local newspaper. The Straits Times is renowned in the region (which is what it says on the cover) as a newspaper that carries itself proudly in terms of design and its dynamism of news coverage. Conclusion: What media control? We're not controlled. We're just disciplined, that's all.

But wait: There might be just one important point about the media that seems to have been forgotten, about the ascension to the Prime Minister's Office for a certain Mr. Lee Hsien Loong.

No derogratory remarks here; it is interesting to see how the papers spoke of his coming into politics, having had a father who, in his three decades as Prime Minister, never truly came out to acknowledge their relations while in office. Mr. Lee Kuan Yew will always be a revered figure in Singapore politics and for his contributions, yet you'll wonder: how is it that the fact that the two Mr. Lees were actually father and son so conveniently forgotten in media coverage?

Perhaps it may be the fact that Loong (as former Prime Minister Mr. Goh Chok Tong calls him) is his own man - he may be his father's son where political prowess is concerned, yet he calls the shots and he wants to show that he is doing so. The media has hence never done any convincing comparison (nor even tried to name father and son in the same breath, for that matter), and this has certainly aided the younger Mr. Lee in office.

There is less pressure (slightly less in the pressure cooker of a job) on Mr. Lee, who is serving after Mr. Goh stepped down in 2004, because it is always difficult - if not impossible - to live up to a father who in his 30 years in office transformed the tiny island with no resources into a bustling knowledge hub.

He is his own man, and now everyone in Singapore knows that. Mr. Lee Hsien Loong is a Prime Minister who had a father who was also Prime Minister, but no one does any comparison or says that "his father was better", though it may be too early yet to say whether the statement is right or wrong.

Why is the media in Singapore so controlled? Sometimes, it is not about letting loose and speaking things that can destabilise entire nations - discipline may well be the key to keeping a country focused on its more important targets of prosperity, progress and happiness.

Learn more about this author, Jeremy Bildwell.
Click here to send this author comments or questions.

Add your voice

Know something about Why is the media in Singapore so controlled??
We want to hear your view. Write now!