Letters | How Hong Kong people standing up for their freedoms can leave some in Singapore puzzled
- A robust exercise of Hongkongers’ right to express their views may well look like chaos to those unused to such freedoms
Such praise, for a city ranked 151st out of 180 nations in the World Press Freedom Index, is rich indeed.
In reply, I’d like to borrow the same line Mr Fong quotes: I do not agree with what you say but I’ll defend to the death your right to say it.
Singapore promotes itself as a modern nation and a democracy, but people in a democracy shouldn’t be afraid to criticise the government or speak up about political issues. Can ordinary citizens in Singapore stake claim to such freedom of speech?
The Singaporean government has broad powers to limit citizens’ rights and inhibit political opposition. Does the Internal Security Act not give the Singapore government power to indefinitely detain people without formal charges or recourse to trial? Has this not been used effectively to imprison political opponents of the ruling party and silence dissidents? The Singapore constitution does not even include a right to privacy and the Personal Data Protection Act does not protect Singaporean citizens from government-sanctioned surveillance.
