Good God Deity, no wonder the mainstream media is suffering. Whether or not William Hague (a) cheated on his wife with a man; or (b) showed ‘poor judgement’ by sharing a hotel room with an aide, they clearly have nothing more useful to do, like report real news.
If he cheated he needs to answer to his wife, not us. Who knows why he shared a hotel room? Who fucking cares? The media is intimating that if he wanted to save money for the election campaign he was wrong because he’s rich and should have splashed out on his own room, but I’m sure if he had the news would be that he’s a complete toff and can’t relate to the rest of us because he can’t even share a room for a night.
I can only cling to an unrealistic hope that Alan Shadrake won’t be used as an example of what happens when foreigners ‘interfere’ in internal affairs. He may be defiant and continues to speak out, but unless he has some serious health issues, I expect the judiciary to show him no leniency.
Everyone knows that living comfortably in Singapore comes at a price. I’m glad that there are activists beyond the now-tragic figure of Chee Soon Juan willing to take some hits to highlight this. Not that I think it will make a whit of difference to foreign investors. We live under too benign a regime to cause any real political embarrassment.
(Previously.)
An open letter to Singapore’s attorney general regarding Alan Shadrake. While I reckon it won’t make a whit of difference, it’s good to share this information as widely as possible. (Previously.)
Watching Question Time. Bob Crow should note that the WWII fiscal situation where the British government had to borrow madly was only rectified, i.e. repaid, in 2006. It’s not exactly the socialist paradise he’s implying. And he refused to admit that the country is broke.
Alan Shadrake’s out on bail, he is not free, as the headline of the article in the Guardian implies. If the government thinks someone is rightly or wrongly making them look bad, they will never bow to pressure to give up.
Maybe I’m way too cynical, but this smacks of a publishing publicity stunt purely for an international audience (and motivated Singaporeans); it’s not as though the news media in Singapore will report it in any real depth. I know I sound like a typical realist these days, but I do worry about the paranoia of the Singapore government in trying to contain this desire to speak and express opinions.
I disagree with the stance that foreigners don’t have a right to comment on ‘internal’ matters, as it’s all a matter of context. It’s as though the government hasn’t mastered the putting of things into context — they don’t want to add any complexity to their message, perhaps (my mother always said that all the government’s public communications are written for an educational level of Primary Three).
(Previously.)
Par for the course publicity stunt, I reckon – British author gets arrested in Singapore for writing a book about the Singapore judiciary and the death sentence. In any other officially democratic country, there would be real outrage. In Singapore, it’s practically a yawn-fest and clearly designed by the author or publisher to grab headlines. Sad, but true.
Oh dear.
Apparently, possession or distribution of this video in Singapore is punishable by a two-year jail term and a S$10,000 fine. This paranoia is nothing new. If a speech — factually accurate or not — by a former political prisoner could really cause ‘disunity’ or ‘trouble’ amongst the public, one must wonder how stable our society really is. Surely the public should decide what’s in the public interest.
Ah! The emergency budget is out. It sounds fair to me. I just wish we could actually see where all that tax revenue went — maybe the data on government spending, if someone is driven enough to crunch the numbers, will help clear that up.
I love politics, but I hate politics too. I’m tired of ‘pundits’ and supposed political lifers behaving like spoilt children and not showing a little patience, maturity, and decency. I have no patience for tabloids stirring shite and people who revel in their ignorance and blind adherence to warped ideology by spouting provocative nonsense just to get in the news. I’m glad there’s a coalition and I hope they try their best to work together.