Transcript part ll : CSJ vs LKY

"And if you go over the line, if you defame us, we're prepared to sue you, go into the witness box and be cross-examined. You can brief the best lawyers and demolish us. If I'm involved, I go to the witness box. And you can question me, not only on the particular defamatory issue, but all issues in my life."

- Minister Mentor Lee Kuan Yew, Time Magazine, Dec 2005

The following exchange was first posted on SDP website here. The transcript is based on the digital audio recordings obtained from the High Court. Again, as a watcher in the public gallery that day, I can attest that they are true.

I will post as much of the available transcripts here for purpose of future reference. Suffice to say it is unlikely that such an encounter will ever take place again in the Singapore courts, or for that matter, in any venue open to public scrutiny.

Meanwhile, US lawyer Gopalan Nair was arrested by the police in his Serangoon Road hotel on Saturday night and will be charged in court today.

Latest : Dr Chee Soon Juan and Ms Chee Siok Chin have been sentenced to 12 and 10 days imprisonment respectively for contempt of court. The sentences were meted out by Justice Belinda Ang Saw Ean, who also presided over the defamation hearings. The Chees are expected to file appeals on Wednesday.

And according to this reuters report, Gopalan Nair will be detained for the next 7 days pending further investigations.

For updates of Gopalan Nair's arrest and detention, visit his lawyer's blog.

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CSJ: Mr Lee, we get to meet at last.

LKY: (pause)...Sorry?

CSJ: We get to meet at last.

LKY: I thought we've met many other times across election rallies.

CSJ: Your memory fails you. I've never met you before and you know why? Because you keep avoiding me. (Mr Lee laughs) Well, we have this opportunity right now. Let me ask you this question. You gave an interview saying: "If you defame us, and if I'm involved, I go to the the witness box and you can question me not only on the particular defamation issue, but on all issues in my life." Do you stand by your words?

LKY: I do.

CSJ: Good. In the course of the cross-examination, will you then answer questions not just on this particular defamation issue, but on all issues in your life -- and I don't mean your personal life, I mean your political life? Will you stand by that?

LKY: Your Honour, we appeared in court when the issue was whether or not the summary judgment was proper. That was the time to challenge --

CSJ: Mr Lee, that was not my question.

Judge: Allow the witness to answer. Mr Lee, please go on.

LKY: I have to answer. I'm a lawyer. I no longer practice the law. I know your purpose. You dodged that occasion and you're trying -- Dr Chee is trying today when the issue is the question of quantum of damages, it's not liability. I'm here to answer questions relating to the quantum of damages.

CSJ: Thank you. Then why is it that you say you will go to the witness box --

LKY: I have already explained that, Your Honour --

CSJ: -- and answer questions not just particular to this defamation issue but on all issues of your life. Now tell me, are those just brave words meant for public consumption and in this situation right now you're turning tail and running?

LKY: Ha ha ha, no Your Honour --

CSJ: Good. Then you won't mind me asking you why is it that you make this application to cut short your cross-examination precisely when you walk in at noon and say that you have to be stopped in the cross-examination by 2:15 giving me. the defence, only two hours and fifteen minutes, and then insisting that all of us can't go for lunch. And on top of that refusing to tell the court what this "important matter" you have this afternoon is.

LKY: That's...Your Honour...(pause)

CSJ: I'm lost for words too as I think you are right now.

LKY: ...(pause; Mr Lee was seen opening his mouth to answer but no words came out)

CSJ: Go ahead, Mr Lee.

LKY: ...(pause)

CSJ: No answer? That settles the question then.

LKY: Ha ha ha.

Judge: Dr Chee!

CSJ: Fine, let Mr Lee continue. I'm just waiting. He's probably lost for words because he doesn't quite know what to say at this stage.

Judge: If you keep interrupting the witness...Yes, Mr Lee.

LKY: ...(even longer pause)

CSJ: Please don't run down the clock. I've only got a few minutes.

At this stage, Mr Davinder Singh jumped in to bail out Mr Lee.

Singh: What is the question? Dr Chee has made so many points in his speech. He has already been told that the time to cross-examine the witness was during the summary judgment. If he had leave to defend. All issues would have been open for Dr Chee to have questioned him. The witness said that for Dr Chee to have questioned him. The witness said that Dr Chee had dodged that application and is now trying through the back door to introduce impermissible material. The witness said he is here as he said to answer questions on quantum. Dr Chee should really get on with the issue of quantum.

CSJ: Let me ask the question again. Mr Lee, you have said that you are here to answer these questions and I say that in that case why did you make an application to, halfway through the session, want the court to cut short this entire hearing. Now, I remind you that we have got until the end of tomorow, the end of tomorrow. So we have one-and-a-half days. But you insist that we have to finish by 2:15 for you to attend to some matters that you won't even reveal to the court. Now I ask you now does this sound like somebody who's willing to come to court and meet and resolve the issues?

LKY: Your Honour, I had a message from one of my counsel's aides to say that I should be in court by here 2 o'clock - by 12 o'clock because Your Honour has imposed a guillotine that the cross-examination of the prime minister would end at twelve. So I turn up at twelve. I was told that the guillotine allowed - had already been late he would be given 2 hours. I suggest - I asked my counsel to request the court to finish this two hours so that I can attend to some important matters. There's no disadvantage to anybody to be sitting here and finishing off this cross-examination within the two hours. What I do not want to be a party to is a deliberate abuse of the process, of the proceedings of the court by delaying tactics.

CSJ: So, Mr Lee --

LKY: And by asking irrelevant questions, Dr Chee is running out the gullotine. At the end of the day, we've had this confrontation face to face have you thrown any dirt, have you dug up any scandal? Are you still saying as you've said before that this government is run like the NKF?

CSJ: Now, Mr Lee, let me try to --

LKY: No, we are here because you have said that --

CSJ: Mr Lee, I'm going to ask you this question and I wish you'd just stick to the questions that I pose to you. I'm asking you why did you come to court --

LKY: Because I was asked --

CSJ: Let me rephrase my question. Are you telling the court that you had nothing to do with the curtailment of this entire process?

Singh: Your Honour, I made the application this morning and Your Honour would remembers that I said I was very troubled with what the Chees did yesterday and that it was quite apparent that they had nothing to ask which was of any relevance and that unfortunately or otherwise has been proven in this exchange. And I said, Your Honour, that the whole purpose of the cross-examination was to insult, annoy and to scandalise and that's also been proven true. For that reason, I had asked that there be a guillotine. Your Honour had full powers to control the proceedings. The order has already been made and I don't see why this witness should be asked to explain something that was the subject of my application and Your Honour's order.

CSJ: Do you see the game that's being played here, Mr Lee? Do you see how you are beginning to hide behind your counsel and then claim, "Look, I'm willing to confront them. It's my counsel." Now I'm going to ask you a very simple question: Right here, right now, tell Mr Davnder Singh "Don't interrupt. I will answer these questions as they are put to me right now."

LKY: Heh-heh. Your Honour, I've briefed counsel, I've always found it's never wise to be my own lawyer in my own case. I know that some perople believe that they can do otherwise, and I'm quite sure that Dr Chee is making a very great impression on all the reporters in this court of how he is better than Mr Ravi --

CSJ: I think you meant Mr Singh.

LKY: I believe Mr Singh is better qualified to deal with the legalities of this case.

CSJ: Well, I should hope so with all the training that he's got. Now, coming back to my question, Mr Lee, is your answer no, that you wll not tell Mr Singh: "Stay out of this. Let me answer my question because --

LKY: I --

CSJ: Let me finish my question -- because you have said -- and I repeat to you -- that you will answer not only questions about the "particular defamation issue, but on all issues in my life."

LKY: Yes...as long as that was what was an issue and that was the, it was an issue in the summary judgement was appealed against. [Note how garbled the answer is.] And we turned up for the hearing but you dodged the hearing.

CSJ: Mr Lee, you are not unintelligent.

LKY: Thank you.

CSJ: You knew precisely what you meant and what you mean is: "Come and ask me all these questions that doesn't pertain to this defamation suit and I will answer you because my entire standing, inlcuding the standing of this government, is at stake." Is that not correct?

LKY: I think, Dr Chee, we'll cut short this proceeding to become more relevant.

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PART l

http://singaporerebel.blogspot.sg/2008/05/transcript-excerpts-of-lees-vs-chees.html

PART ll

http://singaporerebel.blogspot.sg/2008/06/transcript-part-ll-csj-vs-lky.html

PART lll

http://singaporerebel.blogspot.sg/2008/06/transcript-part-lll-csj-vs-lky.html

PART lV

http://singaporerebel.blogspot.sg/2008/06/transcript-part-lv-csj-vs-lky.html

PART V

http://singaporerebel.blogspot.sg/2008/06/transcript-part-v-csj-vs-lky.html

PART Vl

http://singaporerebel.blogspot.sg/2008/06/transcript-part-vl-csc-vs-lhl.html

PART Vll

http://singaporerebel.blogspot.sg/2008/07/transcript-part-vll-m-ravi-vs-lky.html

Transcript excerpts of Lees vs Chees

The following excerpts of court transcripts were first posted on SDP's website here and here. I was in the public gallery when the exchange took place so I can testify that they are true. I am posting them here again for sake of posterity.

If you don't know the background of this case, read this, this, this and this. Meanwhile, another member of the public gallery that day, Gopalan Nair - a former dissident who has since taken up US citizenship - has issued a challenge to PM Lee Hsien Loong and MM Lee Kuan Yew to sue him for libel. Read his account of the trial here.

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Chee (to Lee Hsien Loong): Would you refer to pg 192 of your AEIC, para 3 and read it to us.

Mr Lee Hsien Loong starts reading. Just before he gets to the words he uttered about fixing the opposition and buying over his supporters, Mr Davinder Singh stands up.

Singh: Objection, Your Honour.

Judge: I’ll read it.

Chee: Mr Lee, you read it.

Judge: Dr Chee please tell us the relevance.

Chee: This paragraph will show it's true of him -

Judge Move on, the question is disallowed.

Chee: He has used words like "fix" and "buy votes". He's here to tell me that his reputation is based on so much. I’m here to demolish it, when he buys votes -

Judge: Disallowed.

Chee: Let it be recorded then. Mr Lee, come out and don’t hide behind your counsel. You have every opportunity to answer the questions. You allow your counsel to cover -

Singh: Objection, Your Honour.

Judge: Court has taken note of Dr Chee’s conduct.

Chee: Mr Lee, please refer to pg 39 of your AEIC sub-heading "lack of transparency." Do you agree with the last line and last paragraph that the GIC operates in secrecy?

Singh: Objection. Dr Chee is seeking to reopen the issue. This article relates to the offending words. The meaning has been taken to be false. The question of liability is done.

Chee: Turn then to pg 75 of your AEIC, bottom of the page. Is the Government transparent? Do you agree with this statement?

Singh: I object.

Judge: Irrelevent.

Chee: Do you believe the funds belongs to the people?

Singh: Irrelevent.

Chee: Same line and reason, that he is the Prime Minister and takes pride in the integrity -

Singh: The question is on the matter of Assesment of Damages -

Judge: Move on, Dr Chee.

Chee: You are the Deputy or the Vice Chairman of the GIC?

Singh: Irrelevant.

Chee: I want to establish that he says his reputation is sterling -

Singh: My client didn’t say that.

Judge: Yes.

Chee: How and where you have invested the GIC funds?

Judge: Move on.

Chee: Were you aware of the scandal at NKF -

Singh: Relevancy? NKF is a matter of liability.

Judge: Dr Chee, irrelevant.

Chee: Then you agree that T T Durai's salary was excessive?

Singh: Objection.

Judge: Sustained.

Chee: Do you agree the salary -

Singh: Your Honour, my client was not aware of the NKF scandal -

Judge: Irrelevant.

Chee: If T T Durai had a summary judgement -

Singh: Objection.

Judge: Sustained.

Chee: Do you agree that the openness of the Government -

Singh: Objection.

Judge: Sustained.

Chee: I disagree as the witness was a Prime Minister during the period and argued in Parliament -

Singh: Maybe the Health Ministry was misled and my client did not know. The Government did proceed to investigate the matter.

Chee: The Ministry of Finance and the Ministry of Health made comments and continued leading the people to donate to the NKF. You were the Prime Minister -

Singh: Objection.

Chee: Did you know the warning signals -

Singh: Objection.

Chee: These were raised in Parliament and whether he was sleeping like some of his colleagues -

Singh: That is not necessary and insulting -

Judge: Dr Chee, move on.

Singh: I want to remind Dr Chee of the injunction against repeating -

Chee: Do you agree if the salary is too much?

Judge: Disallowed.

Chee: Do you think that your Ministers spend too much -

Judge: Disallowed.

Chee: I put to you that the PAP is bent on greed and power.

Singh Objection.

Judge: Sustained.

Chee Refer to pg 9 of your AEIC. Is the information on the cost of labour of building HDB flats available?

Singh: Objection.

Judge Sustained.

Chee: Is information on the cost of material of building HDB flats available?

Singh: Objection.

Judge Sustained.

Chee: Do you agree that the HDB is operating in secrecy?

Singh: Objection.

Judge Sustained.

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PART l

http://singaporerebel.blogspot.sg/2008/05/transcript-excerpts-of-lees-vs-chees.html

PART ll

http://singaporerebel.blogspot.sg/2008/06/transcript-part-ll-csj-vs-lky.html

PART lll

http://singaporerebel.blogspot.sg/2008/06/transcript-part-lll-csj-vs-lky.html

PART lV

http://singaporerebel.blogspot.sg/2008/06/transcript-part-lv-csj-vs-lky.html

PART V

http://singaporerebel.blogspot.sg/2008/06/transcript-part-v-csj-vs-lky.html

PART Vl

http://singaporerebel.blogspot.sg/2008/06/transcript-part-vl-csc-vs-lhl.html

PART Vll

http://singaporerebel.blogspot.sg/2008/07/transcript-part-vll-m-ravi-vs-lky.html

Video : One Nation Under Lee

Go to one-nation-under-lee.org to watch or download all available formats of the video.

Directed by Seelan Palay under Honest Productions.

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Singapore to Dissident Leader: Shut Up

The senior Lee, now the “minister mentor,” who served as Singaporean prime minister from 1969 to 1990, once won extra damages from a Singaporean judge for what the judge considered too rigorous a cross-examination by a defense lawyer.

As an example of how prickly the 84-year-old Lee and his government can be, last Saturday, officials from the Media Development Authority, which regulates the media and censors films for public broadcast, descended on a room in the Peninsula-Excelsior Hotel where about 70 opposition figures were holding a fundraising event and private screening of a 45-minute film of titled “One Nation Under Lee,” which is critical of the former premier’s rise to power and subsequent crackdown on his opponents. The officials seized the DVD.

Read full article here.
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Libel case shows Singapore's limits

Another opposition party would then disappear from the scene, joining a long list of previous challengers to Lee's dominance of Singapore politics since he became its prime minister in 1959.

The list is handily presented in a new 45-minute documentary video by activist Seelan Pillay, One Nation Under Lee, which can be viewed on a number of websites and blogs, including one called Singabloodypore.

A private screening at the Peninsula-Excelsior Hotel in Singapore last Saturday was interrupted by three officials from the Media Development Authority, who seized the DVD and equipment, after warning that under the Films Act it was an offence "to have in your possession or to exhibit or distribute any film without a valid certificate".

Full article here.

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Singapore authorities confiscate film on Minister Mentor at private screening

22 May 2008
Source: Southeast Asian Press Alliance (SEAPA), Bangkok

Singapore authorities attempted to stop a private screening of a critical film on Minister Mentor Lee Kuan Yew on 17 May 2008, alleging that the screening violated the Films Act, according to news reports.

Section 21(1)(b) of the Films Act forbids the screening of a film that has not been vetted by the censors, punishing violators with a maximum fine of S$40,000 (approx. US$29,428), or jail term of up to six months, or both.

Three officers from the Media Development Authority (MDA), claiming they were acting on a "tip-off", went to the hotel where the film, "One nation under Lee", was being premiered and requested for the disc, alleging that it has not been vetted by the censors.

The night before the screening, the Board of Film Censors had warned the organisers of the offence they would be committing under the law if they had not submitted the film for approval.

The 45-minute film is produced and directed by artist/activist Seelan Palay. It documents former premier Lee's rise to power through a host of restrictive measures on civil liberties, criticises the economic and political governance of the ruling party and pays tribute to the efforts of activists and citizens who persist in claiming and exercising their democratic rights. The film is available online here.

The MDA officers claimed that the action was a matter of compliance and not an objection to the content of the film. Yet, when organiser Chee Siok Chin, a leading member of the opposition Singapore Democratic Party, argued that the broad terms of the law would also subject such censorship to every wedding dinner that showed videos of the happy couple, one of the officials said, "This is not the same as a wedding dinner", clearly showing otherwise.

The MDA officials later brought in plainclothes officers in an attempt to hold the organisers for obstruction of justice. They left, however, when Chee agreed to hand over the film as the screening had fortunately ended by then.

However, the officials returned moments later for the projector, they were faced with a spirited refusal by the organisers and the 70-strong audience, who insisted they had no right to the equipment. A recording of what transpired is available here.

The authorities are reportedly investigating the screening.

The Singapore government has long maintained a tight rein on free expression in the country, allegedly in the interest of maintaining public order and social harmony in the tiny city-state of 4.6 million people. The local media are controlled through ownership, while foreign media and the opposition leaders are given a beating in the courts through successful civil defamation suits, sending a chilling message to the citizens. Even so, pockets of civil society continue to find creative ways of claiming their right to expression, from holding demonstrations of one to four (the law imposes a permit for gatherings of five or more, which is often refused to the opposition) and expressing themselves through the arts.


Singapore probes political film on Lee Kuan Yew

SINGAPORE (Reuters) - Singapore's media regulator is investigating the screening of a political film that an opposition party said critically examines the city-state's first prime minister, Lee Kuan Yew.

The film, "One Nation Under Lee", was made by a group of political activists and looks at the rise of Lee and his relationship with the media, Chee Siok Chin, a senior member of the opposition Singapore Democratic Party (SDP), told Reuters.

It was screened to an audience of about 70 at an opposition party fundraising event last week, before Singapore's media regulator interrupted the showing and took the film, said Chee, the event organiser.

"After investigation, the Board of Film Censors (BFC) proceeded to serve a notice to the appropriate person that it would be an offence to screen a film that has not been submitted to the BFC for classification and that is not approved for exhibition," Tan Chiu Kee of the BFC said in a statement late on Tuesday, adding that a copy had been handed to officials.

Singapore, which has been ruled by the People's Action Party (PAP) for over 40 years, bans the production and screening of all political films, imposing a maximum fine of S$100,000 ($73,260) or a jail term of two years on those caught.

Lee Kuan Yew, 84, is credited with policies that have been critical to making Singapore one of the region's most prosperous countries, but has been criticised by human rights groups for his use of lawsuits against political opponents and the media.


Film seized by censors after organisers went ahead with screening despite being warned

The Straits Times, Singapore
by Sue-Ann Chia

A 45-MINUTE film portraying Singapore as lacking in press and political freedoms is under investigation by the Board of Film Censors (BFC).

Titled One Nation Under Lee, the film was being screened to an audience of about 70 at the Peninsula Excelsior Hotel last Saturday when officials from the BFC turned up to seize the film.

Organisers of the screening, led by Ms Chee Siok Chin of the Singapore Democratic Party, argued it was a private event, but BFC officials said they had been tipped off that the film had not been passed by the censors and they had the right to investigate.

The police were called in when negotiations hit a stalemate.

Ms Chee eventually let BFC officials into the room and handed over the film.

The altercation was filmed and put online on video-sharing site YouTube.

Guests paid $20 each to attend the screening-cum-lunch, said Mr Martyn See, a film-maker who was in the audience.

Produced by 23-year-old political activist Seelan Palay, the film depicts a Singapore tightly controlled by Minister Mentor Lee Kuan Yew and includes a call for civil disobedience.

It also includes interviews with former political detainee Said Zahari and opposition politician J.B. Jeyaretnam.

Ms Chee told The Straits Times: 'It seems bizarre that the authorities would come to this private event. At a wedding, they don't expect people to send in their videos being screened for classification. What's the difference here?'

Section 21(1)(b) of the Films Act makes it an offence to exhibit a film that has not been approved for exhibition. The penalty is a fine of up to $40,000, or jail of up to six months, or both.

BFC assistant licensing officer Tan Chiu Kee said yesterday it was alerted last Thursday to the forthcoming screening of One Nation Under Lee.

As no film of that title had been submitted for classification, and the BFC had not issued any certificate for a film with that title, it launched an investigation, and later issued a warning to the 'appropriate person'.

Ms Chee confirmed that a BFC official told her of the offence at 9pm last Friday.

Still, the screening proceeded the next day. So BFC officials went to the event to investigate, said Mr Tan.

'The persons connected with the event had chosen to disregard the BFC's notices...that it would be an offence to screen a film that has not been submitted to the BFC for classification and that is not approved for exhibition,' said Mr Tan, adding that investigations are continuing.

Videos : Censors and police disrupt private screening

Part l



Part ll

Censors and police seize video at private screening

Complete videos of the seized film and the seizing have been uploaded. Go to main page.


Censorship enforcement in Singapore sank to a new low today as officers from the Board of Film Censors (a department of the MDA) turned up at Peninsula-Excelsior Hotel's Tulip Room to demand that organisers of a film screening hand over the video for classification.

The invitation for the screening of "One Nation Under Lee" had been circulated via email with the explicit note that it was to be a private function. Still, the BFC delivered a letter to the Singapore Democratic Party's office last night, warning the organisers that Section 14 of Films Act requires all films (and the Act do mean ALL videos, including those stored on your mobile phone) to be submitted to the Board for classification.

Undeterred, the organisers pressed on with the screening today. Just before it began at 2pm, officers from the Board of Film Censors showed up at the door to serve the reminder. Still, the 45 minute video was screened in its entirety, interrupted periodically by raised voices outside the hall. Apparently, plainclothes police officers were called in to seize the video as the organisers had refused to budge.

Just as the screening ended, BFC officers were ushered into the hall, given microphones and were told to explain to the audience, numbering about 80, about their intentions. They didn't use the PA system, but were heard uttering something about wanting to seize the video, which were eventually given to them. Minutes later, another government officer came in, muttering about wanting to see the projector. After being repeatedly told that he could not, he left in a puff.

The film itself was surprisingly slick and compelling but the off-screen drama was the highlight for me. Life imiatates art, and vice versa. All in all, a pretty entertaining afternoon.

I'm sure there'll be photos, videos and more reports coming up soon about today's drama. Check back for link updates.

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Film on Lee Kuan Yew seized by MDA

Government officials disrupt private screening of film on LKY

Pictures here

The gatecrashers

MDA没收私人放映录像

This is Singapore

Filmmaker submits six videos featuring political protests

Six videos documenting a recent spate of public protests in Singapore were submitted to the Board of Film Censors yesterday. Filmmaker Ho Choon Hiong, who shot and edited the videos, said in a email that he hopes that the authorities will grant him the license to screen his videos so that an "outreach" program can be organised to create a "meaningful discussion about peaceful assemblies in Singapore."

Prior to submission, the six videos have already been uploaded on youtube.

1. BURMESE SAYS NO
Youtube link here
Related article : Myanmar nationals protest constitution in Singapore

2. Burmese staged peaceful demonstration in Singapore
Youtube link here.
Related article : Activists Defy Protest Ban At ASEAN Summit In Singapore







3. NUS international students Vigil Walk
Youtube link here
Related article : Protest Singapore Style; 3 Marchers, 19 Media, 1000 Police












4. Human rights torch relay by Falungong in Singapore
Youtube link here
Related article : Singapore Welcomes the Global Human Rights Torch Relay















5. Singaporean started 5 days fasting against ISA on Hindraf 5
Youtube link here
Related article : Palay ends hunger strike for Hindraf five


6. Morning May day Montage
Youtube link here
Related article : Report on SDP's Walking for Workers

Singapore Government's biggest blockbuster since 1987

Straits Times headline 22 April 2008.

"Gone in 11 minutes"
Starring Wong Kan Seng and Lee Hsien Loong.
Supported by a cast at the parliamentary sitting on 21 April 2008.
Screenplay by Goh Joon Seng, Tee Tua Bua and Dr Choong May Lin.
Produced and directed by Lee Kuan Yew.

The greatest jailbreak, or the boldest story ever told?













Straits Times headline 27 May 1987.

"The Marxist Conspiracy"
Written, produced, directed and acted by Lee Kuan Yew.

"Marxist Conspiracy" arrests - 20 years on







Sunday Times headline 21 June, 1987.

A History of Torture under Singapore's ISA Detention :

(l) Prisoner case histories

(ll) The ISA as a political tool

(lll) Methods of arrest, detention and interrogation

(IV) Long term detention







"Harold & Kumar Escape from Guantanamo Bay"

Starring John Cho and Kal Penn
Written and directed by Jon Hurwitz and Hayden Schlossberg

Speakers Cornered rated NC16 by censors

It took the Board of Film Censors more than four months to come to a decision, but finally, Speakers Cornered has been passed clean and rated NC16.

However, this does not mean that it is cleared for public screening as that would require a separate application. So I hereby welcome anyone who wishes to screen the video in public to contact me (do note that unlicensed exhibitors will have to make a security deposit of $10K for screenings of films rated NC16 and above).

If you need to ask why it is necessary to submit a film to the censors when it's already playing in youtube, then you need to read this and this, and then join the call to trash the Films Act altogether.

A timeline of Martyn See's odyssey :

May 2005 : Called up by the police over the making of 'Singapore Rebel.'

Jan 2006 : Submits 'Zahari's 17 Years' to SIFF but screening cancelled.

Aug 2006 : Police investigation over 'Singapore Rebel' called off after "stern warning."

Oct 2006 : 'Speakers Cornered' screens in Taiwan.

Oct 2006 : 'Zahari's 17 Years' screens in Malaysia.

Feb 2007 : 'Zahari's 17 Years' and 'Speakers Cornered' screens in Toronto.

Apr 2007 : 'Zahari's 17 Years' is officially banned.

Sep 2007 : 'Speakers Cornered' screens in Malaysia.

Dec 2007 : 'Speakers Cornered' uploaded on youtube.

Dec 31 2007 : 'Speakers Cornered' submitted to censors.

Mar 2007 : 'Speakers Cornered' screens in Singapore under 'private function'

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Related

Censors pass film on Hong Lim demo

NC16 rating for film on Speakers' Corner protest

“Submit your boldest work to the censors.” - Martyn See

Prosecute or nothing

An open invitation to political bloggers

Update : Reviews and analyses by Alex Au and Selene Cheng.


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Attention bloggers,

You are invited to the forum 'Cyber Activism : The Malaysian Experience' on Thursday, 10 April at 7.30pm in Jalan Besar.





Confirmed speakers are Mr Steven Gan, the co-founder and editor of celebrated news portal Malaysiakini, and Mr Nathaniel Tan, an internet activist with the Malaysian opposition Parti Keadilan Rakyat.

Local blogger/activist Mr Alex Au will moderate the discussion.

For details of the venue, please RSVP and state the name(s) of person(s) who wish to attend to: daretodocument{at}gmail.com

Please note that this event is billed as a private function.

The forum is jointly organised by Martyn See, Seelan Palay, Isrizal, Ho Choon Hiong and Muhammad Shafi'ie.

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Related talks

"Impact of ICTs in the Malaysian Elections- Lessons for Singapore"
A forum by the IPS, Lee Kuan School of Public Policy on April 9, 2pm
Speakers : Mr Ahirudin Attan (Rocky Bru), Mr Steven Gan, Mr Haris Ibrahim, Mr Jeff Ooi, Mr Ibrahim Suffian and Mr Nathaniel Tan
Email : ips@nus.edu.sg

Public Talk at the Wee Kim Wee School of Communication and Information, NTU
We Told You So: Independent Journalism and the Malaysian Government’s “Biggest Mistake”

Gay Muslim filmmaker calls Singapore's regime "almost fascist"

'A JIHAD FOR LOVE' IS BANNED IN SINGAPORE

Singapore censors say four films banned from film festival (FROM AFP)

Posted by Parvez Sharma at 9:18 AM 5 comments

CENSORS BAN 'JIHAD' IN SINGAPORE

We have just received word that the Censor Board in Singapore has refused to approve the film for the Singapore Film Festival. They have in their words 'disallowed' it. The Festival was trying very hard to get the film approved by the censors. This small nation, where I have many friends, has a small but significant Muslim minority. In many of the descriptions of this antiseptic shopping paradise, what is often missed is that an almost fascist regime controls every aspect of life. I promise to keep you updated.

In Copenhagen, the film has been received with warmth and excitement. Muhsin commented that the nation was in many ways 'God-less'. This is true, because in Denmark, religion is often seen as a destructive and alien force. Another friend commented on this nation where 'there are no curtains'. I looked, and indeed many curtainless windows make me wonder if religion does not have even a private space? The press was overwhelming.

Visit ajihadforlove.blogspot.com/ for updates.

Censors ban four foreign films

4 films banned at movie festival

Two films deemed sympathetic to terrorism, a third about gay Muslims, and another too explicit.

By Zakir Hussain

THE censor has banned four documentary films from being screened at the ongoing 21st Singapore International Film Festival.

Two of them, Arabs And Terrorism and David The Tolhildan, were 'disallowed on account of their sympathetic portrayal of organisations deemed terrorist organisations by many countries', said Ms Amy Chua, chairman of the Board of Film Censors.

'Films which portray terrorist organisations in a positive light by lending support and voice to justify their cause through violence are disallowed under the film classification guidelines,' she said in an e-mail reply to The Straits Times.

The third film is about gay Muslims while the fourth has 'several prolonged and explicit sado-masochistic sequences'.

The four were among 200 films submitted for classification by festival organisers. The film festival began yesterday and ends on April 14.

The 135-minute Arabs And Terrorism, which was to have been shown today, includes interviews with United States and Middle Eastern policymakers as well as academics and leaders of radical groups on their conflicting definitions of terrorism.

The news that it was 'disallowed' was given to festival director Philip Cheah by the Media Development Authority, which oversees the censorship board.

Mr Cheah told The Straits Times he got the news over the phone on Thursday.

He declined to comment further, but the festival website showed tickets for the film had been sold out by Tuesday.

Ms Chua said the censorship board had consulted relevant agencies and the Films Consultative Panel (FCP), and found the documentaries had 'exceeded the film classification guidelines'. The FCP, made up of Singaporeans from various segments of society, helps the board evaluate controversial films.

David The Tolhildan, a 54-minute Kurdish film, is about Swiss national David Rouiller joining the militant Kurdistan Workers' Party.

In A Jihad For Love, an 81-minute documentary, a gay South African imam argues that homosexuality is not banned even as another imam rebuts his view.

Ms Chua said the film was 'disallowed in view of the sensitive nature of the subject that features Muslim homosexuals in various countries and their struggle to reconcile religion and their lifestyle'.

Bakushi, the fourth film that failed to escape the censors, is a 90-minute documentary on the practice of 'rope-tying' in Japan.

'It contains several prolonged and explicit sado-masochistic sequences, demonstrating how the rope masters tie up nude women and subject them to various degrees of physical abuse and sexual degradation for erotic gratification,' said MsChua.

'The theme normalises unnatural fetishes and behaviour which is disallowed under the Film Classification Guidelines.'

zakirh@sph.com.sg

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Read also :

Singapore censors say four films banned from film festival - AFP
Singapore censor bans 4 films at film fest: report - reuters
Sexuality, terrorism films banned by Singapore - CBC
Documentaries too terroristic for Singapore - dpa report

"Jihad for Love" seeks gay Muslim audiences - Reuters report
Arabs and Terrorism - NYT review
Bakushi - NYT review
David The Tolhildan - A background

Activists screen political films in "private function"

Despite the Government's ban on "party political films", Singaporean activists on Saturday organised a video exhibition entitled "Dare To Document : Political Films by Singaporeans".

As the law requires that all public screenings in Singapore are to be sanctioned by an exhibition licence, the organisers were quick to bill the event as a "private function." Still, about 50 people, including members of the opposition Singapore Democratic Party, Workers' Party, civil activists, academics and even former ISA detainees, packed into a room above an art gallery off Jalan Besar to view three videos - Speakers Cornered, Seelan's Five Day Fast and 鸡蛋碰石头 or How My Favourite Opposition Party Fought the PAP (and lost their pants, again) made by local directors Martyn See and Ho Choon Hiong.

The latter film, directed by Ho, features scenes of the 2006 General Elections where the opposition SDP, already beleaguered by libel suits served on them by PAP leaders, was eventually defeated in the polls by a landslide margin. That the film's content would contravene the Films Act mattered little to the organisers, as See told the audience after the screening that he is issuing an open challenge to the censors to clamp down on the uploading of political films online and such private screenings.

Aside from See and Ho, the other co-organisers were activists Seelan Palay, Isrizal and Muhammad Shafi'ie. See quipped that Ho is the only "virgin" as four out of five of them have been or are still undergoing police investigations for their civil activities. In the post-screening dialogue, Isrizal related how his moment of truth came when he witnessed the police arrest of his friend Seelan outside the City Hall MRT station on 13th of September, 2006. Three days later, he participated in his first open protest in Hong Lim Park, captured in See's film Speakers Cornered.

Noting how audience member Dr Chee Soon Juan's acts of civil disobedience since 1999 has generated much heated debate over the role of opposition politicians vis-à-vis extra-parliamentary measures as opposed to gaining votes via traditional methods like working the ground, See issued another challenge - this time to opposition groups and civil society - that one has to do both. He went on to cite how the three opposition parties in Malaysia managed to mobilise 40,000 people onto the streets of KL in a single largest act of civil disobedience ever recorded and yet at the same time worked hard to gain grassroots support for the elections.

Artist/activist Seelan related how he was recently advised by a senior local artist, a former Cultural Medallion winner, that he should lay off political activism and just concentrate on his art. The irony, Seelan noted, was that the aforementioned artist's claim to fame was his ability to infuse his works with socio-political issues.

At the same time, Ho and See said they were uncomfortable at being called 'political filmmakers.' "I'm doing no more than what journalists all over the world do - interview political dissidents, talk to an ex-political detainee, record a street protest. It's just that our CNA and Straits Times are not doing it so I'm filling that vacuum. I'm just a citizen journalist," explained See.

Yawning Bread's Alex Au also brought up the subject of the anti-Islam film made by a right-wing Dutch politician and asked for the organisers' response. None of them supported any outright banning of the film but noted that it should perhaps be restricted. Seelan's philosophical take was that the artist and the community who supported his right of expression should also bear the consequences should repercussions occur.

To applause, Au also announced that a committee of bloggers, formed recently to look into internet reform, will make a recommendation to the Government for the total abolition of the Films Act.

After the glitch-free, three-hour event ended, some participants went up to the organisers to express their wish to see more of such screenings in the future.

---------------------------------------------------

Read WP member Yaw Shin Leong's review here.
Another point of view from Rachael Absinthe.

Why the Films Act should be thrashed by Yawning Bread

Rebels of the Malaysian political tsunami

In 1974, Anwar Ibrahim, then 27 years old, was arrested and detained for 20 months under the ISA for leading student protests against rural poverty. In 1998, he was sacked from his post as Malaysia's Deputy Prime Minister. A week later, after he led a march to the Prime Minister Mahathir's residence demanding reformasi (economic and political reforms) and the PM's resignation, he was again detained under the ISA. In 1999, he was sentenced to six years in prison for corruption and in 2000 to another nine years in prison for alleged homosexual acts. Released in 2004, he is now the de-facto leader of the opposition in Malaysia.
http://www.anwaribrahim.com/







In 1969, Lim Kit Siang was detained for 18 months under the ISA. In 1979, he was convicted of five charges under Official Secrets Act. In 1987, Lim spent another 18 months in detention without trial under the infamous Operation Lalang. He is the leader of the opposition DAP and has retained his parliamentary seat in Ipoh Timur.
http://www.limkitsiang.com/





In 1987, a 26 year old Lim Guan Eng first tasted prison when he was arrested and detained without trial under Operation Lalang. In 1998, Lim was again imprisoned for 12 months after he was convicted under the Sedition Act and the Printing Presses and Publications Act. “When you are in jail, you lose all your humility. They want to suck you out completely but you must fight, persevere and come out stronger...I never imagine that I will be CM one day. This is a huge transformation for me - from a jailbird to CM,” Lim told reporters at his Chief Minister’s office in Komtar, Penang.
Lim: From ex-prisoner to Penang CM



A leading opponent of the death penalty in Malaysia, Karpal Singh was detained in 1987 under Operation Lalang for close to two years. In 2000, while acting for Anwar Ibrahim, he was arrested and detained under the Sedition Act. He is the Chairman of DAP and retains his parliamentary seat in Bukit Gelugor, Penang.







Detained for 18 months under the ISA during 1987's Operation Lalang, Dr Nasir Hashim was briefly arrested earlier this year over the Bersih protest rally. He is the newly-elected assemblyman for Kota Damansara, Selangor.
Nasir: People's welfare above party ideology








Detained for two years under the ISA in 2001, Tian Chua has been in and out of police lock-ups for an array of charges in recent months, including one for attempted murder. Last December, while on his way to the Parliament building to deliver a memorandum, police arrested him by dragging him out from his car. No such reception is likely to await him the next time, as he is now the newly-elected MP for Batu, Selangor.
tianchua.net





Human rights lawyer and activist M. Manoharan has been in detention under the ISA since October for leading an anti-government demonstration. From his jail cell in Kamunting, he contested the State assembly seat of Kota Alam Shah and beat the incumbent by a landslide margin. A statement from his wife says that "he is ready and waiting to serve and has started to draw up the agenda for Kota Alam Shah in the (prison) camp."

The greatest jailbreak, or the boldest story ever told?

Two dummies Prime Ministers checking out durians in happier times.

Making great music

"If you already have a great orchestra, you can put a dummy there and you still got great music."
- Minister Mentor Lee Kuan Yew on good governance, CNA, March 5 2008

"How did it happen? We're not absolutely sure yet.. This was a lapse, what to do, it's happened.. As Minister Mentor says, we are not infallible."
- Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong, ST, March 9 2008

If you haven't notice, both spoke as if the matter is already closed, with little regard that a terror suspect might still be on the loose. This blogger pretty much nailed it.

PM Lee also calls the 'escape' a "setback to our reputation" - exactly the same words I think MM had used in his 'conversation' with Wong Kan Seng before that public announcement at 8pm on 27th February. (Read below)





Random thoughts on the Mas Selamat mystery

**********

Here is the key to unlock the mystery of the greatest "jailbreak" in Singapore's history - the family of Mas Selamat. What were they told when they arrived at Whitley Detention Centre on the 27th February? Was it the first time that they were told that Mas was unable to meet them? Did the family threaten to go public about his supposed disappearance before the Government finally decided to make public the "escape" story? How are we to believe that Mas decided to take off just before he could see a family whom he brought with him to Indonesia while on the run there? Why hasn't anyone, including the international wire agencies, managed to contact the family members for comments?

Update : A topic entitled 'Mas Selamat Anak AWOL' has been posted on this forum.

**********

What transpired in the last 7 days is not typical behaviour of a Government that summarily shot dead four hijackers on a SIA plane, mobilsed a riot squad to take on four silent protesters, threatened to shoot misbehaving protesters and deployed paramilitary troops, including armoured vehicles and helicopters, to watch over the IMF-World Bank meetings. If this was a real escape by an alleged leader of a terror organisation, the entire nation would be on high security alert, helicopters would be buzzing over our heads, reservist personnel on standby duty, suspected safe houses broken into and increased police presence all around. It would be an opportune time, given a heightened sense of fear, for the Prime Minister to score massive political points by making stout assurances and rallying the nation behind him.

But alas, this is not a security crisis, but a costly cover-up for a ghastly blunder. There is no evidence of a getaway, absolutely no leads and Wong Kan Seng would still have us believe that Mas acted alone and that he is still in Singapore.

The facts are getting murkier by the day. Lee Hsien Loong does not want to get his hands dirty in a stinking pot that may boil over. It is better, therefore, to send out wild goose chases, involving Interpol and regional police force, than anger the World Muslim Community by announcing that a brother had died while under custody in Singapore. It is Lee Kuan Yew- style pragmatism in full swing here. Any wonder that at a time like this, the MM is in Saudi Arabia waxing lyrical about making music? And no one dared to ask him about the great "escape"? How convenient.

***************

A probable conversation sometime between 4pm to 8pm on 27th February 2008.

Wong Kan Seng : Sir, detainee Mas Selamat bin Kastari has died. The family is here waiting to meet him. Shall I tell them?

Lee Kuan Yew : No, wait, we can't do that.

WKS : But sir, the wife is getting impatient, even threatening to go to town about not being able to see her husband.

LKY : I am going to Saudi Arabia. I am not going to announce to the Arabs that a Muslim detainee has died in my custody, on my watch. This is unacceptable.

(Long pause)

LKY : Alright, we'll announce that he escaped.

WKS : But how?

LKY : Come on Wong, think! An underground passage, a hole in the toilet, whatever! Just get it done for now.

WKS : But sir, this would be a major blow to our reputation.

LKY : Let's weigh the options. Do we suffer a setback in reputation, which given time we can repair, or do we permanently cast a lingering doubt on the minds of Muslims all over the world that a Muslim detainee has died in our custody?

WKS : But sir, we can say there is no foul play. We can call it malaria, heart attack, suicide or ...

LKY : Not everyone will believe us, Wong. All it takes is to plant the seeds of doubt in the minds of a few Jihadists and we are in trouble forever. I'm willing to sacrifice a setback in our reputation but not put our national security at permanent risk by announcing that Mas Selamat has died, in whatever circumstances, under my custody.

WKS : Alright, sir.

LKY : Look, make a short and terse statement tonight. Don't give anything away. I'm leaving for Saudi in two days. Meanwhile, tell the press to lay off questions about the hows and the whys. Tell Loong not to make any rash statements until I get back. And yes, appoint three of your most trusted men to investigate. Call it an "independent commission". Get the CID on it as well. Don't publicise any findings until I've fine combed through the report. The other ministers must not know. Let them think and act as if Mas has really escaped. We should keep a semblance of a manhunt but let's not waste too much resources on this. Try to minimise international involvement too.

WKS : Yes, sir.

LKY : Oh yes, by the way, have you buried him?

WKS : Yes, we did. Within 24 hours, on consecrated ground.

LKY : Very well. That's all.


*************************

A real manhunt or just photo opportunities?


Police and Gurkha officers on high alert at Woodland ICA Checkpoint. -- BH PHOTO: JOHARI RAHMAT


A Gurkha clears undergrowth as he enters a forested area, searching for Mas Selamat. -- PHOTO: REUTERS


Police road checks at Malcolm Road leading up to St. Joseph's Institution and Catholic Junior College. -- ST PHOTO: LIM YONG

Censorship under the PAP : 1959 - 2008

Below is a summary of a list compiled here by Ng Yi-Sheng. As Ng himself noted, it is by no means exhaustive, as many cases of censorship in Singapore often get swept under the rug as artists fear more repercussions (such as withdrawal of State funding) should they blow the whistle.

See also : A Chronology of Authoritarian Rule in Singapore.

• 2008: The Complaints Choir Project is invited to Singapore as part of the M1 Fringe Festival. The MDA passes the text of the songs without cuts. However, police inform the organisers a few days before the show that no foreigners will be allowed to perform.
  
  
• 2007: At the Singapore Design Festival's 20/20 exhibition at the National Library, Brian Gothong Tan's video installation is pulled on opening night. Tan had included a mockup trailer, which includes a shots of a girl playing a Singapore Airlines stewardess smoking cigarettes and snorting cocaine.
  
  
• 2007: The MDA's Board of Film Censors announces that it will ban the soon-to-be-released Xbox video game Mass Effect II due to the presence of a scene of lesbian intimacy. Amidst media coverage, the decision is reversed, but reports note that two other video games have been banned earlier in the year: "God of War II" for nudity and "The Darkness" for excessive violence and religiously offensive expletives.
  
  
• 2007: Two minutes of material are cut from Ekachai Uekrongtham's Pleasure Factory, a feature film set in Singapore's red-light district of Geylang.
  
  
• 2007: The National Arts Council drops an essay by Jason Wee from the catalogue of Raised, an exhibition on foreign workers, featured as part of the biannual Singapore Art Show. The essay made reference to Operation Spectrum. NAC says the article "was inappropriate in the context of the project theme and the rest of the catalogue contents". To date, the article has not been published. See here and here.
  
  
• 2007: The MDA bans Cut Sleeve Boys, a London film on gay British-Chinese men, starring Singapore-born actor Steven Lim. See here.
  
  
• 2007: At the IndigNation Pride Festival, ten items are banned by the MDA and police authorities, including Alex Au's "Kissing", a photographic series of same-sex couples kissing; "In the Pink", a picnic at Botanical Gardens (banned by National Parks Board); and a talk by law professor Dr Douglas Sanders on homosexuality and Asian law.
  
  
• 2007: The MDA officially bans Martyn See's Said Zahari's 17 Years, a short documentary on the imprisonment of Said Zahari, a former editor of the newspaper Utusan Melayu and long-term political detainee of Singapore.
  
  
• 2007: The MDA bans Solos from the Singapore Film Festival. Directed by Kan Lume and Loo Zihan. The Board of Film Censors takes issue with the “prolonged and explicit homosexual lovemaking scenes including scenes of oral sex and threesome sex”.
  
  
• 2007: SooBin Art Gallery opens a month-long exhibition showcasing the oil paintings of female Beijing artist Chen Xi. The centrepiece was to have been Fly Onto Clouds, a 4-metre high image of a nude woman covered with soapsuds, but the painting is deemed too sexually provocative by MDA, which bars the gallery from displaying the work in full public view at the gallery’s location at the ground-floor atrium of the MICA Building.
• 
  
• 2007: The MDA bans the DVD of Madonna's The Confessions Tour: Live from London, as it features the singer performing the ballad Live To Tell while suspended from a giant mirrored cross, on grounds that it is religiously insulting to Christians.

• 2006: The MDA bans SuperStar, a book of Asian celebrity photographs by internationally-acclaimed Singapore-born photographer Leslie Kee. The rationale given is that the book features full frontal male nudity, revealing genitals and pubic hair. For more information, click here and here.
  
  
• 2006: MDA imposes a fine of $10,000 on Singapore's only cable television operator, Starhub Cable Vision (SCV), for airing scenes of lesbian sex and bondage in the American reality TV show Cheater. SCV representatives communicated that they were disappointed with MDA's decision, and noted that no problems had arisen when the episode was aired in China, India and Indonesia.
  
  
• 2006: The Far Eastern Economic Review publishes a sympathetic interview with opposition party leader Chee Soon Juan. MM Lee Kuan Yew and PM Lee Hsien Loong sue FEER for defamation, claiming the Review had alleged they were corrupt. For more information, click here.
  
  
• 2006: The IMF and World Bank Meetings are held in Singapore. Due to local law, for the first time in the history of the meetings, outdoor demonstrations are banned. Indoor demonstrations are only allowed within an area in Suntec City spanning 14m by 8m. 27 accredited protesters are denied entry to Singapore and are forced to leave the country as police claim they have been involved in violent demonstrations; when WB/IMF officials object, 22 of these 27 are eventually permitted to enter the country.
  
  
• 2006: At the time of the IMF meetings, three local activists, including the 20 year-old guitarist Seelan Palay, are detained for two days and have their computers seized for planning to distribute anti-globalisation flyers. They are investigated under the Printing and Processing Materials Act, which states that those in posession of materials that contain "any incitement to violence or counselling disobedience to the law" could be jailed up to 3 years, fined, or both. Police also confiscate flyers from opposition politician Chee Soon Juan and his sister Chee Siok Chin, who were distributing them to advertise an Empower Singaporeans Rally and March.
  
  
  
• 2006: Political podcasting and videocasting is banned during the election period. All bloggers who desire to "persistently propagate, promote or circulate political issues relating to Singapore" are required to register with the MDA. Nonetheless, the Internet becomes a strong force for political discussion during this period, and no penalties are suffered when the "Persistently non-political podcast" of the mrbrown show satirises the PAP's treatment of opposition candidate James Gomez.
  
  
• 2006: Smegma, an English-language play by Agni Kootthu (Theatre of Fire) is denied performance in a strange sequence of events. Despite the issuance of the licence on 1 August, the licence is suddenly annulled the MDA on 5 August, the day of performance.
  
  
• 2006: On 30 June, blogger mrbrown writes an article, titled "S'poreans are fed, up with progress!", for his weekly opinion column in Today newspaper concerning the rising costs of living in Singapore. An official from MICA publishes a response letter on the same newspaper calling mrbrown a "partisan player" whose views "distort the truth". On July 6, the newspaper suspends mrbrown's column. To express protest, 30 people gather in Raffles City wearing brown in a "flashmob" demonstration orchestrated via SMS. Although this is in contravention of the Unlawful Assemblies Act, no-one is charged.
  
  
• 2006: Filmmakers Colin Goh and Woo Yen Yen are forced to remove trailers of Singapore Dreaming from television due to their heavy use of Singlish. The Board of Censors also requires the filmmakers to dub over all Hokkien vulgarities from the film. An interview here.
  
  
• 2006: At the annual IndigNation festival on gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender issues, two artworks are censored by the MDA. Poet Koh Jee Leong is prevented from reading aloud a poem entitled "Come On, Straight Boy", on the grounds that it encourages gay sex. MDA places an R(A) rating on the exhibition Shitlosophy: Everybody Shits and removes four photographs. For more information, click here.
  
  
• 2005: Singaporean director Martyn See is forced to remove his debut documentary film Singapore Rebel from the 2005 Singapore International Film Festival due to his violation of the Films Act section pertaining o political films. See withdraws the film because he faces a $100,000 fine and a two-year jail sentence imposed by the Singapore Board of Censors.
  
  
• 2005: MDA withholds the license for the play Human Lefts by the Fun Stage until the group rewrites portions of their script; specifically, references to the death penalty. The play was originally written about the hanging of Shanmugam Murugesu and was to have been staged one day after the controversial execution of Australian national Nguyen Tuong Van.
  
  
• 2005: Hung at Dawn, a Substation concert in commemoration of former national athlete Shanmugam 'Sam' Murugesu, who was executed for marijuana dealing on Friday May 13. Police ban the use of Sam's face on publicity materials, as this would be tantamount to "glorifying" an "ex-convict" and "executed person". From here.
  
  
• 2005: Chen Jianhao, a graduate student at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, is made to apologise and shut down his blog containing criticisms on government agency A*STAR, after its Chairman Philip Yeo threatens to sue for defamation. Also, three bloggers are arrested and charged under the Sedition Act for posting racist comments on the Internet; two are sentenced to imprisonment.
  
  
• 2005: The gay website www.fluffboy.com is banned in October. Another gay website, sgboy.com, is fined $5,000 by the MDA and forced to remove "offensive" content. Click here for more information.
  
  
• 2004: The Economist magazine pays US$230,000 in damages to PM Lee Hsien Loong and his father MM Lee Kuan Yew, and apologises "unreservedly" for an August article that noted "a whiff of nepotism" in the appointment of Lee's wife, Ho Ching, as chief executive of a government investment company.
  
  
• 2004: A new series of anti-gay initiatives ultimately culminates in the banning of the "Snowball" and "Nation" gay parties. Manazine, a gay-oriented magazine, is told to "tone down" its "overtly homosexual content" and subsequently ceases production. A forum called "The Lovers' Lecture Series" is denied a license. The gay Taiwanese movie Formula 17 is banned.
  
  
• 2003: Royston Tan's short film 15, on teenage gangsters in Singapore, suffers from 27 cuts from the Board of Censors. Among the objections raised are that scenes depict gangsterism, truancy, self-mutilation, delinquency, Hokkien rap and the Esplanade. The film is eventually released with an R(A) rating.
  
  
• 2003 : Following a report in Today newspaper on the trauma of SM Lee Kuan Yew in London after his wife had suffered a stroke, an advisor to Mr Lee reprimands Today editor Mano Sabnani for allowing the report to be published. The young journalist who wrote the story, Val Chua, reportedly has her press card suspended. From here.
  

• 2003 : The police reject three applications by a White Ribbon Campaign group to stage outdoor events to mark the International Day Against Violence Against Women. Police first deny the group a permit for a march - and later turn down its application to hold a children's drama presentation - because such events may threaten "law and order." The group then apply to hold an outdoor children's choir performance, but that is also rejected. From here.

• 2002: Causeway, a Malay language play by Teater Ekamatra is censored by NAC, which expresses concern over a scene where a Malaysian character has the final say on a debate with a Singaporean character over the tudung issue.
  

• A documentary on opposition politician J. B. Jeyaretnam, called A Vision of Persistence, is withdrawn from Singapore International Film Festival. Lecturers and students from Ngee Ann Polytechnic, who made the video, are warned that the Political Videos Act could be used against them.
  
  
• 2002: Escape from Paradise, a bestselling book by John and May Chu Harding, is withdrawn from bookstores and libraries. Enquiries reveal that the book was removed due to threats of legal action by Helen Yeo, a Singapore lawyer and wife of former Cabinet Minister Yeo Cheow Tong, as her firm had been mentioned in conjunction with an illegal house sale. Click here for more information.
  

• 2002 : UnionWorks' Mandarin radio station is fined $15,000 for adding "injections of personal remarks and observations by the newsreader, which were unwarranted in normal news bulletins," said the Singapore Broadcasting Authority (SBA). From here.
  

• 2002: The zany Hollywood comedy Zoolander is banned in both Singapore and Malaysia for its fictional depiction of Malaysia as impoverished and dependent on sweatshops. The ban is lifted in 2006.

• 2001: Sintercom, a non-partisan Internet website set up by Tan Chong Kee, closes in response to the Singapore Broadcasting Authority demanding that the site be gazetted as a political website that "engages in the propagation, promotion and discussion of political issues relating to Singapore." Sintercom had been one of the first websites where Singaporeans could exchange political opinions.

• 2001 : Police arrest internet critic Robert Ho Chong at his home after being charged with an offence punishable by up to three years in jail. The 51-year-old former journalist posted articles before the general elections urging opposition candidates to enter polling stations, as did the PAP leaders in the 1997 elections. The police classified Ho's article as an attempt to incite violence or disobedience to the law that was likely to lead to a breach of peace. From here.
  
  
• 2000: Agni Koothu's English-language run of playwright/director Elangovan's play Talaq is banned for its depiction of marital violence in the Indian-Muslim community. The Public Entertainment Licensing Unit (PELU) has no objections to manager S. Thenmoli seeking to document the rehearsal at the Drama Centre, where she had made a paid booking. However, on her arrival, the then Executive Director of NAC calls the police in for alleged trespassing, resulting in a four-hour standoff ending in S. Thenmoli's arrest.
  
  
• 2000: National Arts Council pulls out funding for a production of Drama Box's Mandarin play Vaginalogue, protesting against the use of the image of a vagina in the play.
  
  
• 2000: Speaker’s Corner opens at Hong Lim Park. The Straits Times reports that "the Speakers' Corner at Hong Lim Park is a place where Singapore citizens can speak freely in public without having to apply for a Public Entertainment License", although speakers must apply for a permit at the nearby police post first and are forbidden from discussing racially or religiously seditious issues. A year later, James Gomez, commemorating the Corner’s first year anniversary, says, "The only thing which has grown at Speaker's Corner is the grass."
  
  
• 2000 : A Radio Corporation Singapore (RCS) radio report on a Human Rights Day event at Speakers Corner was re-edited after the first report went on air containing comments by JB Jeyaretnam and a letter by Kofi Annan. Shortly after, a spokesperson for RCS said that the journalist Fauziah Ibrahim had "resigned." From here.
  
  
• 1999: sex.violence.blood.gore by The Necessary Stage, receives 3 cuts to the script for being "racially/religiously inflammatory". The decision by PELU is delivered one day before the play opens. The play is eventually performed and the censored portions photocopied and distributed to audience members.
  
  
• 1999: In the heat of the moment, lead guitarist and vocalist of the Boredphucks, San Singer (aka Sanjeev Veloo), utters a Hokkien expletive during a performance at the Youthpark. He is consequently charged with offending the decency of women and violating the Public Entertainment Act. Although the charges are later dropped, Singer, along with Boredphuck's bassist, JBoss, and drummer, Wayne Thunder are suddenly not permitted to play live in Singapore.
  
  
• 1999: The title of Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me is seen as too sexually graphic, and it is suggested that it be changed to "Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shioked Me"; this decision is ultimately overturned in favour of the original title.
• 
  
• 1998: An amendment is made to 1981 Films Act with an introduction of the Political Videos Act, approved overwhelmingly in Parliament. In part, the vague and sweeping legislation defines a party political film as one "made by any person and directed toward any political end in Singapore" or one that contains "partisan or biased references on any political matter."
  
  
• 1998: Hong Kong artist Zunzi Wang's artwork, a political cartoon featuring caricatures of then-SM Lee and PM Goh, is removed by officials from the Singapore Art Museum and destroyed just prior to the opening of ARX5. The artist is not informed until the opening.
  

• 1998 : The Undesirable Publications Act is amended to include CD-ROMS, sound recordings, pictures, and computer-generated drawings, and to raise the fine for distribution or possession of banned publications. The Government also publicises the list of banned English-language publications, which is made up primarily of sexually-oriented materials, but also includes some religious and political materials. From here.

• 1997: Singapore Broadcasting Authority issues Internet Code of Practice.
  
  
• 1996: Singapore begins to regulate Internet usage, officially blocking a "symbolic" list of 100 sites, dealing with pornography, illegal drugs and extreme religion, including www.playboy.com, www.playgirl.com and www.cannabis.com. Click here for more information.
  
  
• 1995: American Academic Dr Christopher Lingle's article in the International Herald Tribune, "Smoke over Parts of Asia Obscures Some Profound Concerns," states that an unnamed country uses a "compliant judiciary to bankrupt opposition politicians". SM Lee Kuan Yew files a civil libel suit. IHT pays S$213,000 in damages plus costs for the civil suit. Lingle is separately ordered by the courts in April to pay S$71,000 in damages, plus costs, to the Senior Minister.
  
  
• 1995: Theatreworks stages a successful run of A Language of Their Own in New York, but is banned from staging it in Singapore as it involves a sympathetic portrayal of gay Asian relationships. It is finally performed in Singapore in 2006 and is nominated for Best Script in the Life! Theatre Awards.
  
  
• 1994: Performance artists Josef Ng and Shannon Tham create artworks in protest against the arrest of twelve homosexual men through police entrapment. As part of their performances, Ng trims his pubic hair and Tham vomits into a bucket before an audience. The New Paper reports on this and brands the performances as vulgar and obscene; as a result, performance art without a licence is banned until 2003, and Ng and Tham are not to be given licences to exhibit art in Singapore. Click here for more information.
  
  
• 1994: The Straits Times publishes a report associating The Necessary Stage, a theatre group in Singapore, with Marxism. One of their dramatic techniques is forum theatre, invented by Marxist theatre activist Augusto Boal, which allows audience members to intervene in plays to solve characters' problems. Although The Necessary Stage is cleared of suspicions of using forum theatre for Marxist purposes, forum theatre is banned together with performance art. (Forum Theatre has been revived by The Necessary Stage since 2001, without repercussions.)
  
  
• 1994: PM Goh Chok Tong publicly castigates author Catherine Lim for writing two politically critical articles in the Straits Times. The PM argues that if she wants to voice her opinion on politics she should join a political party. His invocation of the concept of an invisible "out-of-bounds marker", aka OB marker, becomes a by-word among Singaporeans when discussing the problem of never knowing precisely how much free speech one has.
  
  
• 1994: Eric Khoo's short film Pain wins him the Best Director and Special Achievement Awards at the Singapore International Film Festival. It is banned from public viewing due to its graphic violence. The ban on "Pain" is finally lifted at the 1998 Singapore Film Festival.
  
  
• 1994: All written materials published by the International Bible Students Association and the Watchtower Bible and Tract Society are banned. Both are publishing arms of the Jehovah's Witnesses. Although ownership of Bibles published by both groups has not been outlawed, in practice Bibles have been confiscated, e.g. in 2004, when eleven individuals were detained for attempting to bring JW publications into the country from Malaysia. In such cases, no charges were filed. Click here for more information.
  
  
• 1993: Shortly before staging, the Ministry of Health withdraws its funding from Off Centre, a play by The Necessary Stage on mental illness. MOH claims that the play misrepresents the insane. TNS stages the play with its own funding, to critical acclaim.
  
  
• 1992: Four plays for Theatreworks's Theatre Carnival On The Hill are censored: Desmond Sim's Blood and Snow has 14 pages cut; Theresa [last name not given]'s Bra Sizes has all references to "breasts" cut; Robin Loon's Absence Makes the Heart Grow Fonder has its few "fucks" cut. Gung Ho Theatre's "Too Glam One", a commentary on the 1992 survey on morals, is banned for "crude and vulgar language".
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• 1989: Singapore bans Salman Rushdie's novel The Satanic Verses for its "blasphemous" depiction of the prophet Muhammad.
  
  
• 1988: Lest the Demons Get to Me, a play by Russell Heng, is to be staged by Theatreworks for the Arts Festival Fringe, but its licence is not approved by the Ministry of Community Development, as "perhaps the theme of transvestism and transsexuality was not suitable for the event". The play is given an uncut staged reading in 1992.
  
  
• 1986: Authorities close the Rainbow Lounge at Ming Arcade, Singapore’s first disco and live music venue, on the grounds that a member of the house band, Speedway, had made a risqué remark in Hokkien while onstage.
  
  
• 1984: Japanese New Age musician Kitaro is barred from entry to Changi Airport because of his long hair; officials insist that in order to perform, he must first cut his hair (in keeping with a Singapore campaign from the 70s against long hair in men). Kitaro refuses and cancels his concert in Singapore.
  
  
• 1983: In the wake of the 1979 Speak Mandarin Campaign, local radio stations are barred from airing shows in Chinese dialect from 1 January onwards, destroying the culture of dialect storytellers such as Lee Dai Soh. (Television shows in dialect had been banned a year earlier; even Hong Kong Cantonese serials had to be dubbed in Mandarin before airing.) While the ban remains largely in place today, a brief news programme conducted in different dialects has been permitted for the benefit of the elderly.
  
  
• 1982: Cosmopolitan magazine is banned for "promoting sexual permissiveness". In 2004, the ban is lifted by the MDA, with the stipulation that the magazine must not contain exploitative sex or nudity, and must be shrink-wrapped with a label on its cover reading "unsuitable for children".
  
  
• 1982: Ten years prior to the ban on chewing gum, S Dhanabalan complains that HDB spent $75, 000 a year removing chewing gum wads from walls and floors in housing estates. Consequently, TV commercials for chewing gum are banned.
  
  
• 1980: The Hollywood film Saint Jack is banned. Based on Paul Theroux's novel of the same name on the sex trade in Singapore, the movie was filmed locally by director Peter Bogdanovich in 1978. The ban is lifted in 2006.
  
  
• 1976: Theatre director Kuo Pao Kun is stripped of his citizenship and detained without trial for alleged Communist activities in a sweeping anti-leftist purge. Over his 4 1/2 years of incarceration, Kuo studies Malay and reads Shakespeare. He is released in 1980 and re-emerges as a powerful force in Singapore drama, winning the Cultural Medallion in 1990.
  
  
• 1973: Despite the dwindling of the Singapore film industry following separation from Malaysia, Tony Yeow and James Sebastian direct Ring of Fury, a gripping kung fu action tale set in Singapore. The film is banned locally for its depiction of a gangsterism in Singapore. Its first public screening in Singapore is in 2005. See here.
  

• 1971: A succession of crackdowns on newspapers. On May 2, four editors of the Nanyang Siang Pau, a reputed Mandarin newspaper, are arrested and imprisoned on charges of "fanning Chinese Chauvinism", "glamourising Communism" and for being involved in a "black operation". The newspaper will eventually cease to exist when merged with the Sin Chew Jit Poh on March 16, 1983 to form the current Lianhe Zaobao. On May 16, seven editorial staff resign from the Eastern Sun, an English-language newspaper, after Lee Kuan Yew alleges that "a certain English newspaper" is involved with black operations and is funded with loans from Communist China. On May 28, he Singapore Herald, an English-language tabloid newspaper, has its publishing license suspended by the government. The government accuses the paper of being involved in "black operations", of being funded by questionable foreign sources, of working up agitation against national policies and institutions, and of "taking on the government".

• 1968: The Equator Art Society opens an exhibition of paintings portraying Americans as morally degraded figures; this is interpreted as being a socialist protest against Singapore's endorsement of America in the Vietnam War. The exhibition is closed within a day of opening and the President of the Society is detained; members do not submit their names of board members to the Registrar of Societies in the following years, and the Society is forced to dissolve in 1974.
  
  
• 1965: On 30 September, less than two months after separation from Malaysia, the Managing Director of the Singapore-based Malay language newspaper Utusan Melayu is called to the Ministry of Culture to meet with the Minister and Prime Minister. He is shown a map of Malaya and is warned against reporting anything sensitive occurring below the Straits of Johor. Lee Kuan Yew presents the Director with a copy of the Sedition Act before his departure. The incident will be referred to again in 1967 when PAP MPs Rahamat bin Kenap and Othman Wok accuse the paper of printing "humiliatory articles" to cause political tension between Malaysia and Singapore. In the wake of this, Utusan Melayu shifts its Headquarters to Malaysia, where it remains, although it continues to circulate in Singapore until 1969.
  
  
• 1959: Shortly after PAP takeover, pinball machines and jukeboxes are banned in the crackdown on "yellow culture", the decadent culture of Western imperialists. Jukeboxes are only officially legalised again in 1991. See here.