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Source:
www.gov.sg |
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SPEECH BY MR GOH CHOK TONG, SENIOR MINISTER, AT THE
5TH ANNIVERSARY DINNER OF TODAY NEWSPAPER, 31 OCTOBER 2005 |
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An Excerpt |
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"Western liberals often argue that press
freedom is a necessary ingredient of democracy and that it is the fourth
estate to check elected governments, especially against corruption. |
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"But a free press by Western standards does
not always lead to a clean and efficient government or contribute to
economic freedom and prosperity. |
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"An international NGO, Reporters Without
Borders, publishes an annual Press Freedom Index. Singapore does not
rank high in this index. |
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"When Singapore was first ranked in 2003, we
were placed 144th out of 166 countries. In 2005, we moved up 4 places to
rank 140th out of 167 countries. Still, nothing to be proud of. After
all, the other four original ASEAN countries were all ranked ahead of
Singapore. Indonesia was ranked 102nd - followed by Thailand at 107th,
Malaysia at 113th. |
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"The ranking of the Philippines was a
surprise. Having occasionally read extracts from the Filipino press, I
have always been under the impression that the Filipino press is
extremely free. But the Philippines was ranked 139th only 1 position
higher than Singapore. Also, to my utter amazement, I discovered that
even struggling war-torn Sudan was ranked at 133rd, 7 places ahead of
Singapore. |
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"Should we be embarrassed because we are
near the bottom of the ladder in the ranking? Should we be worried that
investors may be put off? Not at all. |
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"What then Prime Minister Lee Kuan Yew said
in 1959 is still our position today. He told a foreign correspondent
then, 'You are not going to teach us how we should run the country. We
are not so stupid. We know what our interests are and we try to preserve
them'. Mr Lee proved that he was right. By the time he stepped down as
Prime Minister in 1990, he had transformed Singapore from the Third
World to First. Not only that. Singapore has one of the cleanest and
most efficient governments in the world. |
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"Transparency International¡¯s 2005 survey of
corruption perception for 158 countries ranked Singapore as the 5th
least corrupt country. Malaysia, Thailand, the Philippines and
Indonesia, which had better press freedom ranking, were ranked between
39th and 137th in that order. Sudan was a distant 144th. |
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"What about economic freedom and prosperity?
The highly regarded US-based Heritage Foundation's Economic Freedom
Index gave us top marks. Singapore was ranked 2nd out of 155 economies.
Again, Malaysia, Thailand, Indonesia and the Philippines fell behind
Singapore. They occupied positions between 70th and 121st. |
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"As for economic prosperity, Singapore is
way ahead of many countries with better press freedom ranking. My simple
point is this: it has not been proven that having more press freedom
would result in a clean and efficient government or economic freedom and
prosperity. |
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"I have taken the Reporters Without
Borders¡¯s Press Freedom Index at face value. It is a subjective measure
computed through the prism of western liberals. The Index was compiled
based on feedback primarily from fourteen freedom of expression groups
and 130 press correspondents. It lacks the careful research of hard data
like the World Economic Forum¡¯s Report on World Competitiveness. |
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"Also, press freedom does not equate to
press quality. As Reporters Without Borders pointed out in its report,
'The index should in no way be taken as an indication of the quality of
the press in the countries concerned.' Unfortunately, I have not come
across any index on the quality of the press. However, I have travelled
to many countries and seen their newspapers. I dare say ours are
comparable with many of the better foreign ones..... |
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"Do not get me wrong. I
do not favour a subservient press. An unthinking press is not good for
Singapore. But press freedom must be practised with a larger sense of
responsibility and the ability to understand what is in or not in our
national interests. |
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"Editors need to understand what their
larger responsibilities entail and to demand them of their journalists.
Editors and journalists must have high personal integrity and sound
judgment - people who understand Singapore¡¯s uniqueness as a country,
our multi-racial and multi-religious make-up, vulnerabilities and
national goals. By this, I mean that our editors and journalists must be
men and women who know what works for Singapore and how to advance our
society¡¯s collective interests. |
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"I do not know what our young journalists
learn in their university courses but having our media play the role as
the fourth estate cannot be the starting point for building a stable,
secure, incorrupt and prosperous Singapore. The starting point is how to
put in place a good government to run a clean, just and efficient
system. |
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"Our editors and journalists must work for
the public good in a practical rather than an idealistic way. They must
report the news and present viewpoints with the aim to educate and
inform without pursuing any personal or political agenda. Capturing
readership is an important goal but to do so through sensational
coverage is not the right way. |
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"Opinions and analytical pieces on salient
issues are important for giving readers varying perspectives. However,
editors should take a balanced approach so as not to allow the
commentary and opinion pages of their newspapers to reflect only biased
or partisan views. |
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"More importantly, news should not be
slanted to serve a hidden agenda. The media is free to put across a
range of worthy different viewpoints to encourage constructive social
and political discourse. It should not parrot the government¡¯s position.
It would lose its credibility if it tries to be the government¡¯s
propagandist. A discredited media would not serve our national
interests....." |
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Full Text of Speech |
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Source:
www.gov.sg Media Release 31 Oct 2005 |
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FrontPage Edition: Wed 2 Nov 2005
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