Tag Archives: Press freedom

So, is it any wonder that our Press Freedom ranking is 151st in the world? Almost every time that we hear that taxes need to be increased because of increasing social spending – there are hardly any details on the projected sums and how the increased tax revenue will be used? This is not the norm for practically every developed country in the world when they talk about raising taxes.

Our reader disagreed with DPM Tharman's comments that our mainstream media is well-balanced as he lists 8 examples where he thinks it did not go about balanced reporting. What do you think? Is it really 151st media?

While the ASEAN is important for continued success of ASEAN nations, do you think it has brought about tangible benefits to the people? Why is Singapore still ranked poorly in many aspects such as press freedom, gini inequality, and employee engagement?

Congratulations! Singapore has improved in press freedom by jumping from the 154th to 151st ranking worldwide. This is based on the 2017 World Press Freedom Index collated by Reporters Without Borders. Singapore is ranked 151 because of our intolerant government and strict censorship. The report described our government as one that will not hesitate to sue others who think otherwise. It said that defamation charges are rather common here and also raised issues with our increasingly strict censorship. We were placed 154th a year ago and are currently ranked below Ethiopia, Tajikistan and Bangladesh. Seriously?

The Court of Appeal rules against the government and suddenly we see the machinery of the state and compliant media working hard to re-frame an incident - in which the apex court said would not have been a "just and equitable" use of POHA *even if* the law covered organisations - so as to justify its position.