As a Singaporean now in UK, I guess the POFMA jurisdiction no longer applies to your pieces of writing, or anything that originates from outside the country ?
POFMA jurisdiction never applied to any media outlet outside of SG to begin with. It is a law that no other country in the world recognises. If it is applied to a foreign media publication such as Asia Sentinel and receives full compliance, it is only because that foreign media publication has actual physical presence in SG (offices, personnel) that SG can seize and use as leverage to compel compliance.
Either that, or in the case of TheOnlineCitizen for example they still comply with SG's POFMA orders despite having moved their operations to Taiwan because they still want to have unrestricted internet access to SG for SG local society to read their content without needing to use DNS/VPNs on the reader end of things. They want to make it easy for SG society to read their stuff without having to climb the SG Firewall; AS is different in that it directly sends articles to your email if you're subscribed to them, and it puts on interested readers the onus to be proactive and get DNS/VPNs to circumvent ISP blocks in SG to access their site if they've not yet subscribed. AS readers/subscribers are treated by AS as active participants, not just passive message/information recipients.
The SG government under the PAP will always reserve and act on their unilateral right to use POFMA on any media publication be it local or foreign to Singapore. But when used against foreign media publications that do not necessarily need a physical presence in SG to reach a local SG audience, it is largely powerless and performative in nature. The SG government know people can circumvent ISP blocks ordered by them on sites like AS, but more importantly their collective institutional ego practically DEMANDS that they do something so as to look strong and assertive against criticism and embarrassing revelations about its behaviour and ethics.
To borrow a quote from The Joker in the movie "The Dark Knight": "It's not about the money... it's about sending a message". There have been more than several comments on the various AS pieces central to this ongoing spat with the SG government remarking about how this showcases insecurity and paranoia more than self confidence and assuredness on the part of SG. But it's nobody's business but the SG government's to fix its own paranoia, insecurity towards criticism (especially if it comes from foreigners), and its propensity to reach for the law as a stick to beat down critics with just to look tough and make a point.
What’s most telling is not what the POFMA correction says, it’s what it doesn’t say: the Government doesn’t deny the persecution of the journalist from beginning to end, the court cases, the blatant corruption of its judiciary by its executive… the Government of Singapore in essence admits that all these human rights violations are correct.
Unlike the liberal west, one need to have his/her facts substantiated else the laws of Singapore will come down hard regardless of whether you are Singaporean or foreigner.
Really don't know what they are afraid of. This is one of the most stable, most successful governments in the world. It has won a great deal of legitimacy all over, especially where it counts most, with its citizens. But it acts like it is one step ahead of widespread revolt.
It's because they are guilty. They knew that they had committed unscrupulous atrocities (and still have) that hurt their own people in the name of profit and this guilt is starting to grow on them. People are not dumb enough to believe in the rosy pictures they are painting of themselves anymore. When you drive a cat to the corner, it will scratch.
Unfortunately the local citizenry isn't "wising up" anytime soon. SG society is notorious for having a goldfish collective memory whenever it comes to voting time thanks to annual pork-barrel politics (financial handouts in the name of subsidising GST), not to mention the PAP government is tripling down on its voting bastion centred around the elderly vote in a rapidly ageing SG society. The younger ones who might want change lack demographic weight to flip the needle, and the government is gambling (somewhat rightly) that when these younger voters grow older they will turn more conservative and pro-establishment themselves to replace any dead older diehard PAP voters.
We must have a name and an index of this form of “shadow” organised crime -- a very gross form of shadow banning.
It will play a not insignificant role in Generative AI/ChatGPT. In fact the the regularly renewed index can be updated by sentiment via Generative AI itself.
A precious measure of why or why not weaponization and how much of so should be norm. For what were once #zerocrime villages/communities capable of evolutionary emergence in Nusantara.
As a Singaporean now in UK, I guess the POFMA jurisdiction no longer applies to your pieces of writing, or anything that originates from outside the country ?
POFMA jurisdiction never applied to any media outlet outside of SG to begin with. It is a law that no other country in the world recognises. If it is applied to a foreign media publication such as Asia Sentinel and receives full compliance, it is only because that foreign media publication has actual physical presence in SG (offices, personnel) that SG can seize and use as leverage to compel compliance.
Either that, or in the case of TheOnlineCitizen for example they still comply with SG's POFMA orders despite having moved their operations to Taiwan because they still want to have unrestricted internet access to SG for SG local society to read their content without needing to use DNS/VPNs on the reader end of things. They want to make it easy for SG society to read their stuff without having to climb the SG Firewall; AS is different in that it directly sends articles to your email if you're subscribed to them, and it puts on interested readers the onus to be proactive and get DNS/VPNs to circumvent ISP blocks in SG to access their site if they've not yet subscribed. AS readers/subscribers are treated by AS as active participants, not just passive message/information recipients.
The SG government under the PAP will always reserve and act on their unilateral right to use POFMA on any media publication be it local or foreign to Singapore. But when used against foreign media publications that do not necessarily need a physical presence in SG to reach a local SG audience, it is largely powerless and performative in nature. The SG government know people can circumvent ISP blocks ordered by them on sites like AS, but more importantly their collective institutional ego practically DEMANDS that they do something so as to look strong and assertive against criticism and embarrassing revelations about its behaviour and ethics.
To borrow a quote from The Joker in the movie "The Dark Knight": "It's not about the money... it's about sending a message". There have been more than several comments on the various AS pieces central to this ongoing spat with the SG government remarking about how this showcases insecurity and paranoia more than self confidence and assuredness on the part of SG. But it's nobody's business but the SG government's to fix its own paranoia, insecurity towards criticism (especially if it comes from foreigners), and its propensity to reach for the law as a stick to beat down critics with just to look tough and make a point.
What’s most telling is not what the POFMA correction says, it’s what it doesn’t say: the Government doesn’t deny the persecution of the journalist from beginning to end, the court cases, the blatant corruption of its judiciary by its executive… the Government of Singapore in essence admits that all these human rights violations are correct.
Smart. You knew how to read between the lines.
I said as much too in my LinkedIn posts about this.
https://www.linkedin.com/posts/activity-7068764199996248064-25hc?utm_source=share&utm_medium=member_desktop
https://www.linkedin.com/posts/activity-7070344808803774464-pVtd/
Unlike the liberal west, one need to have his/her facts substantiated else the laws of Singapore will come down hard regardless of whether you are Singaporean or foreigner.
Really don't know what they are afraid of. This is one of the most stable, most successful governments in the world. It has won a great deal of legitimacy all over, especially where it counts most, with its citizens. But it acts like it is one step ahead of widespread revolt.
It's because they are guilty. They knew that they had committed unscrupulous atrocities (and still have) that hurt their own people in the name of profit and this guilt is starting to grow on them. People are not dumb enough to believe in the rosy pictures they are painting of themselves anymore. When you drive a cat to the corner, it will scratch.
Thanks. That would be a big deal! Do you any sign the citizenry is finally wising up?
Unfortunately the local citizenry isn't "wising up" anytime soon. SG society is notorious for having a goldfish collective memory whenever it comes to voting time thanks to annual pork-barrel politics (financial handouts in the name of subsidising GST), not to mention the PAP government is tripling down on its voting bastion centred around the elderly vote in a rapidly ageing SG society. The younger ones who might want change lack demographic weight to flip the needle, and the government is gambling (somewhat rightly) that when these younger voters grow older they will turn more conservative and pro-establishment themselves to replace any dead older diehard PAP voters.
Strange that you didn't also receive a POFMA for the article below John. Keep up the courageous work, a great response to the POFMA team!
https://www.asiasentinel.com/p/australian-woman-fight-prove-singapore-fraud
We must have a name and an index of this form of “shadow” organised crime -- a very gross form of shadow banning.
It will play a not insignificant role in Generative AI/ChatGPT. In fact the the regularly renewed index can be updated by sentiment via Generative AI itself.
A precious measure of why or why not weaponization and how much of so should be norm. For what were once #zerocrime villages/communities capable of evolutionary emergence in Nusantara.
Reflect on https://youtu.be/NuZujx-LMfg especially the corollary of Min 20.
So that Indonesia and more are not misguided into such a response.