Slashdot Mirror
Singapore Bloggers Charged Under Sedition Act
ChannelNewsAsia is reporting that for the first time in at least 10 years Singapore has invoked the sedition act and charged two local bloggers for posting racist comments on an online forum. From the article: 'Said Singaporean blogger Benjamin Lee (Mr Miyagi):" A lot of them will be looking at their blogs and wondering if they made any legally seditious remarks. I think because of the way this will be played up, it's negative publicity for the Singapore blogging community."'
Without that much information, am I supposed to just believe the charges? (Yeah, right!)
Remember: It's only sedition/rebellion if you lose.
No folly is more costly than the folly of intolerant idealism. - Winston Churchill
In my experience, it's the opposite.
"Racism doesn't exist in America anymore!" followed quickly by "Fucking niggers stealing hubcaps!" (Rural Western PA, about 2 months ago)
For instance, if you don't like someone, someone (lobbiest who 'contributed' to your 'fund') you know doesn't like someone, or you in general don't like what they are saying, you can at any point decide they are espousing 'hate speech|sedition|slander' and have them thrown into the dungeon.
This also applies to 'politically incorrect' speech, of course.
Only by allowing politicials and judges to decide where the 'line is drawn' can we be truly be safe and have 'free speech'.
I think its respectable for a country to punish people for seditious behavior, if done appropriately.
n : an illegal action inciting resistance to lawful authority and tending to cause the disruption or overthrow of the government.
racism
n : discriminatory or abusive behavior towards members of another race.
No folly is more costly than the folly of intolerant idealism. - Winston Churchill
www.hrw.org/reports/2001/prison/
Singapore Canes 1000 people per year. About 22% of all use inmates are raped at some point in their stays in prison. Which is really the less humane society?
How do you define racist speech? Believe me, there would be as many definitions as there are people.
For example, if I say "White men are violent" is that racist?
What if I say "Black males comprise 6% of the population in the US, but perpetrate 40% of the murders" Is that racist, if a statement of fact, because I didn't qualify it by saying that the high rate is due to 200+ years of oppression?
If I say "everyone but Asians are dumb" is that racist? What If I show test scores that show that Asians are more intelligent?
Believe me- just about anything you say can be construed as racist. "The sky is blue" "Why it gotta be blue? Why can't it be black, you racist..."
And All I Ask is a Tall Ship And a Star to Steer Her By
Although another poster claimed friction by the 'Chinese' class, this is a country that claims four official languages, and is a melting pot on the order of Hong Kong, or Bangkok.
Holding this contentious group together is a miracle given the tensions in the region. The economic success of Singapore is legendary in a region where its neighbors routinely slaughter each other- Indonesians with rebels, Malaysians with sectarian strife, Thai with sectarian strife, and so on. Singapore has to hold together ethnic Chinese, Malay, Tamils, as well as expats from all over the region, Euros, and so on. They take racial prejudice very seriously, and if they didn't they'd have bedlam.
Yes, Singapore is draconian in other ways, and is also known as the "Fine City" where every offense is a S$500 fine. They execute drug smugglers. So, don't smuggle drugs there. It's a follow-the-rules place. Not much crap is put up with. But it's not a police state, it just lacks a lot of democracy and free speech. This seems to suit the population, who are the envy of all of their neighbors. I've traveled the region many times; Singapore is the 52nd US State (after British Columbia)
---- Teach Peace. It's Cheaper Than War.
Even then you'll be accused of excluding someone from your conversation because of race.
Welcome to the Tyranny of the Easily Offended.
"It's the height of ridiculousness to say for those 9 lines you get hundreds of millions."
In the examples you gave, it seems to me that the difference is that the non-racist statement is supported with empirical evidence, whereas the racist statement is an unqualified assertion, phrased in a belligerant way.
It's the difference between the statement "the sky is blue because the gases in the atmosphere block the other wavelengths" and "the sky is blue because God loves only blue-eyed, blond-haired anglo-saxons, which are the Master Race (heil Hitler!)." It should be obvious which of those statements is racist, and which one isn't.
"[Regarding the 'cloud,'] ownership was what made America different than Russia." -- Woz
Sedition laws are almost as reprehensible as racism, so I see little reason to choose sides here.
But, bloggers should expect no free pass compared with other means of publication. The laws that apply to publishing -- sanctions and protecions -- ought to apply to every blogger just as they do to the major commericial players.
-- Slashdot: When Public Access TV Says "No"
How do you define racist speech?
Believe me, there would be as many definitions as there are people.
For example, if I say "White men are violent" is that racist?
Yes. Try "Many white men are violent".
What if I say "Black males comprise 6% of the population in the US, but perpetrate 40% of the murders" Is that racist, if a statement of fact, because I didn't qualify it by saying that the high rate is due to 200+ years of oppression?
Not racist. Try "Blacks are murderers."
If I say "everyone but Asians are dumb" is that racist? What If I show test scores that show that Asians are more intelligent?
Racist. Try "on average, Asians tested better than other races".
Believe me- just about anything you say can be construed as racist. "The sky is blue" "Why it gotta be blue? Why can't it be black, you racist..."
How about this: applying a term uniformly across a mixed [ethnic/religious/whatever] group is [rac]ist.
Did I miss anything?
Ignorance is the natural breeding ground of racism.
This means that you cannot combat racism by limiting information or expression. The only effective way you can combat racism is by countering it with good information-- demonstrating the racists wrong, rather than silencing them.
If you try to fight racism by silencing it, you are only hurting yourself in the long run. Even aside from the slippery slope problem, you inevitably wind up with a situation where the fact you are trying to silence these people brands them with a false stamp of legitimacy. The old "help help I'm being oppressed" thing is a powerful tool, even to those whose message is itself in favor of oppression; the racists can easily twist the fact the government is trying to silence them into an argument in their favor.
In the long run this just isn't helpful; it's like trying to put out a grease fire by pouring oil on it. No good will come of what Singapore is trying to do here, only collateral damage.
Irritable, left-wing and possibly humorous bumper stickers and t-shirts
This is the first time bloggers are being charged in Singapore and it is sending shockwaves through the local blogging community.
Confused! Not sure why everyone refers to bloggers as a community. It doesn't seem to be anymore a community than people who use public toilets, read Harry Potter or speak English. So I write a bit of nonsense on a website about a topic I barely understand and which nobody else is likely to be interested in and is only likely to be seen by some government web spider looking for sedicious content. Am I now part of a community?
The bikini - security through obscurity since 1943
Of course, what is more pathetic is that the West should stand up to such governments, but the West has been taken over by corporate lackeys who are only interested in bottom lines.
"We don't like what you do, but we like what you pay."
The world's burning. Moped Jesus spotted on I50. Details at 11.
In the language of people who study such things, this is called essentialism. It is very important to understand that the model minority myth about Asians can be just as pernicious as saying "All Negroes are savages."
Not racist. Try "Blacks are murderers."
It really depends. At its face, it's a misleading statement, and his "qualification" is too vague. Control for economic status and other factors, and race doesn't play much of a role in crime rates. You twist facts and "science", and you get junk research like The Bell Curve, which is clearly racist crap.
LOAD "SIG",8,1
The world has been aghast at how the Pennsylvania ADL hate laws could arrest and imprison eleven Christians for simply preaching the gospel at a "gay-pride" event...
Althought I hate this kind of law, it serves them right, because the Christian Right are the ones who are pushing these laws into effect. I suppose if they want to curtail the Bill of Rights, they had better damn well live with the concequences.
I'm a good cook. I'm a fantastic eater. - Steven Brust
I agree he supported terrorists in other parts of the world, used gas on his own (Kurdish) people, and deserved no better treatment than we gave him. In short, he was a very, very bad man.
However, it would behoove us to remember what has happened in the past when we've taken it upon ourselves to "encourage" regime change.
Short version:
Ignoring our history, it seems like things can only get better in Iraq with Saddam out of the way, and I sincerely hope that in 5-10 years you can tell me that you told me so.
Of course, I can't finish this comment without pointing out this gem. By your logic, it would seem that those who supported Saddam can also be blamed for 9/11.
Ben Hocking
Need a professional organizer?