收集整理 新加坡走自己的路(Singaporetogoourownway) inhisarticle,ldquo;ourdevocalisedpublicspacerdquo;,chancheowpongdeploredthelackofpoliticalspacehereforargumentanddebate。inldquo;alettertomydadakathegovernmentrdquo;,juliengsiewchoocontinuedthistheme。www8226; mrchancitesasproofthelackofantiusdemonstrationsoveriraqduringtherecentvisitofpresidentgeorgebushinsingapore。unfortunately,hedidnotexplainhowsuchdemonstrationswouldhavebeeninournationalinterest。 onfreedomofspeechinsingapore,mrchanfailstodistinguishbetweenformandsubstance。thesubstantiveissuemustsurelybewhethersingaporeanshavearighttoadifferentviewandwhethertheyhaveeffectiveavenuestoexpressthem。 theanswerisclearlyldquo;yesrdquo;asisamplydemonstratedbymanysingaporeansexercisingthisrightintheforumpagesofthenewspapers,theinternetandelsewhere。thespaceforpoliticaldebatehasgraduallybutsteadilywidened。thatmrchancouldpublishsuchacriticalpieceinlianhezaobaoshowsthistobeso。 asaform,streetprotestsmaybeanacceptedchannelforexpressioninothercountriesinothercircumstances。insingaporewehavedifferentbuteffectiveavenuesforexpression。 mrchanisdismissiveofthem,arguingthatbecausethegovernmentdefinesthesealternatives,theyaretantamounttorestrictionsonaninpidualspoliticalspace。mrchanadvocatesthatldquo;societyrdquo;,butnottheelectedgovernment,shoulddecidetheboundariesofpoliticalactionandexpression。 howisthistobeachieved?whoistorepresentandinterpretthewillofldquo;societyrdquo;,ifnottheelectedgovernment?incountrieswithanelectedandfunctioninggovernment,itisthegovernmentsresponsibilitytodefinepublicpolicyandtogoverninaccordancewiththeconstitutionandthelawsoftheland,intheinterestsofthecollectiveandpublicgood。 iftheyfailtodosoeffectively,theelectoratecanvotethemoutinthenextelection。everyinpidualinsuchasocietyliveswithintheframeworkofpoliciesandlawsdeterminedbytheelectedgovernment。 msjuliengaskedwhythegovernmentstillneedstocensorfilmsatall,sincesheisalready21。butcensorshipisnotjustaquestionofage,butsocietalnormsofpublicdecencyandmorality。eveninwesterncountriesliketheukandaustralia,censorshipboardsdecidewhatcanorcannotbeshownpubliclyinfilms。everycountryneedstoupholdthevaluesaffirmedbythemajorityofitspopulation。innocountryisinpidualfreedomabsolute。 singaporesocietymustevolveandgrowonitsowntermsandatitsownpace。justbecausewerefusetoapeothersocietiesmindlesslyinhavingstreetdemonstrationsorinourcensorshipstandardsdoesnotmakesingaporeansaldquo;devocalisedrdquo;lot,orsignifyanylackofidealismorselfmobilisation。 onthecontrary,itunderlinesagrowingmaturityandconfidenceinourownmodel,whichhasenabledsingaporetogrowandprosper。 收集整理