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Freedom of speech in Singapore: a matter of security, or of trust?

Freedom of speech in Singapore: a matter of security, or of trust?

Lee Kuan Yew built a Singapore that was free and strong and rich, and none of us were allowed to forget it during the mourning period. Immediately following the state funeral, though, Singapore appears to have become weak and fragile and fearful – so much so that a kid with a webcam and two individuals with placards are deemed dangerous enough to be worth arrest and court charges, lest everything falls apart.

Amos Yee was charged last week for his YouTube video, while two individuals were arrested on Saturday for standing outside the Istana holding placards saying “You can’t silence the people” and “Injustice”. The state presumably read the former sign and simply thought, “Challenge accepted.”

One could say that this is simply a continuation of Lee’s legacy – brook no dissent and deal with ‘troublesome’ individuals with an iron fist. But whether we agree or disagree with Lee’s actions in the past, surely we’ve grown way beyond such pettiness by now? Surely Singapore is now old enough and mature enough to not have to fear a couple of guys standing around with boards on sticks?

What Amos Yee did was crude, rude and insensitive. But he is, at the end of the day, a provocative child playing at being hardcore. He’s certainly not the first – it was only the lack of access to YouTube that saved many of us from eternal embarrassment in our teenage years – and he won’t be the last by any stretch of the imagination. Is Singapore really so fragile, so easily threatened by offensive comment, that there was a need to charge a kid in court?

What Amos and the two protesters did were against the law – but it’s also high time that we think about the laws we have, and whether the trade-offs made make sense in today’s context. Is the Singaporean situation really so precarious that freedom of speech and assembly needs to be curtailed to such an extent?

Can Singaporeans not be trusted to make up our own minds about the things we read and hear and see, and to react sensibly?

It seems like that is the crux of the matter. Despite Lee Kuan Yew’s many years of toil, despite our 50 years of independence, despite the impressive education, unemployment, and GDP figures, Singaporeans are still not trusted to be able to make our own decisions and choices. The state might see Amos Yee as mature enough to face charges, but doesn’t seem to treat Singaporean society, as a whole, as mature enough to process the world around us, warts and all.