“It is not a mythical restriction. There are real restrictions,” said Mr Tan Tarn How at the latest forum by bloggers called Online|Offline: Digital Citizens on Press Freedom. Mr Tan, who is a playwright and senior research fellow at the Institute of Policy Studies (IPS), used to also work in the mainstream Singaporean media, particularly writing for the Straits Times. He was part of an invited audience at the forum.
Panelists also shared their experience of how the media in Singapore is restricted and what can be done to free up the media space here.
The issues of media censorship and control were the focus of the forum, which had Member of Parliament, Mr Baey Yam Keng, as the main guest. Mr Baey is also the deputy chairman of the Government Parliamentary Committee (GPC) for the Ministry for Information, Communications and the Arts (Mica). Mr Baey, however, was attending the forum in his own private and personal capacity.
The other panel speakers for the forum, which was moderated by former Nominated Member of Parliament, Viswa Sadasivan, were:
Dr Cherian George, Associate Professor, Wee Kim Wee School of Communication and Information
Leon Perera, member of Maruah
Elaine Ee, freelance writer and editor, publichouse.sg
Kirsten Han, writer, blogger and activist
Richard Wan, editor, TR Emeritus
The forum lasted two hours. Here is Part 1 of the recording.