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Recently I come across this article: Link
I am not very good with words, but I shall try and counter his points.
1) We should respect the PM yes. But if anyone should suspect him or any other minister, they should voice out, so that checks to be made to either clear their name or make them pay for their actions. We should never hit out at people who speak out, even if they are wrong. We should just prove them wrong and move on. We bully 1 person who speak up, even if he's wrong, next time nobody will speak up, even when they are right.
2) If a person is unhappy with the PM or the government, the MP should not be their only outlet. Why restrict the path to one? What's the point? We are not a nation of stupid people who can't tell right from wrong. When somebody make a harebrained accusation against the government, they will be rebutted and made to look like a fool by the majority of us Singaporeans and it has happened before.
3) Blogging 300-400 unsubstantiated accusations? Did you even read them? His articles are backed by numbers gotten reliable sources and the sources named. He made some judgement on it no doubt, and you can argue if it carry any weight. But it's not unsubstantiated surely? And the lawsuit that our PM threw at him is only at the article that suggest that our PM is corrupt, and not on the other 299-399 articles.
4) Maybe our PM is really patient. And I agree that he has to clear his name. But is the courts the only way? Especially Singapore courts where the culture of pro bono is weak. How many people can afford legal fees of 50k or more? If I have real proof of any misbehaving of any government officers, I won't be talking about them because I won't have the 50k to risk.
Look at this wikipedia article on political libel.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Political_libel
5) "If anyone can say anything he pleases, lies will be propagated and this will hurt the country’s image and hurt investors confidence."
This is a strawman arguement. Treating us all as idiots. On that level, lies can't be propagated enough to hurt the country's image. Every accusations are under the scrutiny of 2million eyes. Using Thailand as example is bad as their problems is much deeper than the lies that's being thrown about.
My conclusion:
People who say bad things about the government in Singapore, most of the times, they are not out to create trouble. They see something wrong and care enough to make a stand for it. It's that they care that they do what they did. Silence them, and the one to suffer will be us. Cos, 1 day, when there's really something wrong, nobody might be willing to stand out for us.
You can agree or disagree with what Roy said. You don't have to make him your hero. But don't silence people like him. And in order to agree or disagree, please read carefully what he write. Don't just take things at face value and say that he's bullshitting.
I like Roy to be proven wrong, but in a public debate, and not in a courthouse. If Roy is wrong, it means my money is safe, and it's only good for me. But if he should be right, I hope there will be actions to remedy the problems he has pointed out.Is
I am not very good with words, but I shall try and counter his points.
1) We should respect the PM yes. But if anyone should suspect him or any other minister, they should voice out, so that checks to be made to either clear their name or make them pay for their actions. We should never hit out at people who speak out, even if they are wrong. We should just prove them wrong and move on. We bully 1 person who speak up, even if he's wrong, next time nobody will speak up, even when they are right.
2) If a person is unhappy with the PM or the government, the MP should not be their only outlet. Why restrict the path to one? What's the point? We are not a nation of stupid people who can't tell right from wrong. When somebody make a harebrained accusation against the government, they will be rebutted and made to look like a fool by the majority of us Singaporeans and it has happened before.
3) Blogging 300-400 unsubstantiated accusations? Did you even read them? His articles are backed by numbers gotten reliable sources and the sources named. He made some judgement on it no doubt, and you can argue if it carry any weight. But it's not unsubstantiated surely? And the lawsuit that our PM threw at him is only at the article that suggest that our PM is corrupt, and not on the other 299-399 articles.
4) Maybe our PM is really patient. And I agree that he has to clear his name. But is the courts the only way? Especially Singapore courts where the culture of pro bono is weak. How many people can afford legal fees of 50k or more? If I have real proof of any misbehaving of any government officers, I won't be talking about them because I won't have the 50k to risk.
Look at this wikipedia article on political libel.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Political_libel
5) "If anyone can say anything he pleases, lies will be propagated and this will hurt the country’s image and hurt investors confidence."
This is a strawman arguement. Treating us all as idiots. On that level, lies can't be propagated enough to hurt the country's image. Every accusations are under the scrutiny of 2million eyes. Using Thailand as example is bad as their problems is much deeper than the lies that's being thrown about.
My conclusion:
People who say bad things about the government in Singapore, most of the times, they are not out to create trouble. They see something wrong and care enough to make a stand for it. It's that they care that they do what they did. Silence them, and the one to suffer will be us. Cos, 1 day, when there's really something wrong, nobody might be willing to stand out for us.
You can agree or disagree with what Roy said. You don't have to make him your hero. But don't silence people like him. And in order to agree or disagree, please read carefully what he write. Don't just take things at face value and say that he's bullshitting.
I like Roy to be proven wrong, but in a public debate, and not in a courthouse. If Roy is wrong, it means my money is safe, and it's only good for me. But if he should be right, I hope there will be actions to remedy the problems he has pointed out.Is
6/04/2014 09:54:00 AM
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"Cos, 1 day, when there's really something wrong, nobody might be willing to stand out for us."
We are walking around with one eye and it is not even our eyes
I like your points. Never threaten the whistleblower. Never. It just makes one look really bad and guilty.
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