tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30303862024-03-07T10:29:36.222-08:00AIR-CONDITIONED NATIONEssays on Singapore by CHERIAN GEORGECherianhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17643148647244239556noreply@blogger.comBlogger17125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3030386.post-65375571299983319712009-07-21T09:07:00.000-07:002009-07-21T09:20:34.356-07:00ACCIDENTAL HISTORIES, PURPOSEFUL FUTURESThis article was contributed to the NDP09 website.I am an accidental Singaporean, born here through a quirk of fate. My father loved his hometown in Kerala, South India, and had had no intention of packing off to that British outpost in the east. In 1948, it was instead an older brother who had a ticket for Singapore. With just days to go before the voyage,Cherianhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17643148647244239556noreply@blogger.com13tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3030386.post-21174483758334083382009-05-03T22:47:00.000-07:002009-05-03T22:48:51.715-07:00AWARE: LESSONS FROM A FIASCOThe battle for control of Aware can be a learning experience for civil society activists and the wider public. There are at least three lessons to reflect on: the brand of secularism that works for Singapore; the type of representation that civil society organisations should offer; and the level of transparency and accountability that the public deserve from such Cherianhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17643148647244239556noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3030386.post-91961570518404735352008-08-19T19:00:00.000-07:002008-08-19T19:07:50.155-07:00TIME TO TOLERATE POLITICAL DIVERSITY, TOOThis commentary was published in The Sunday Times on 10 August 2008. The People's Action Party replied to it a week later (see below).A running theme in the story of Singapore has been the progressive embrace of diversity. Singapore in the 19th century was a city of tribes. Today, multi-racialism is treated as a national value. Even if racial prejudices Cherianhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17643148647244239556noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3030386.post-15137666609787340652008-02-23T07:18:00.000-08:002008-02-23T07:31:50.114-08:00STRAITS TIMES WARNS: MY VIEWS NOT SUITABLE FOR THE OLDThe Straits Times, the nation's arbiter of freshness and originality, has issued this declaration about Cherian George and other "politically passionate people": "For older Singaporeans, much of what these political observers say may be old hat." (ST, Friday 22 February, p35) Readers of this and my other blogs, consider yourselves warned.Cherianhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17643148647244239556noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3030386.post-11811736560164020562007-07-05T21:01:00.000-07:002007-07-05T21:22:19.095-07:00NEW WEBSITE ON JOURNALISM ISSUESDo visit my new website, journalism.sg, dedicated to journalism issues in Singapore.Cherianhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17643148647244239556noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3030386.post-1147406354468015762006-05-11T20:38:00.000-07:002006-05-15T21:26:56.903-07:00SINGAPORE ELECTIONS AND THE MAINSTREAM PRESSOf all my musings about the Singapore elections and media old and new, the one that’s been most robustly resisted by the blogsphere is my observation that mainstream media coverage of the GE has improved. Bloggers accuse me of having an “agenda” (how easily we imbibe the discourse of the ruling party!) and wonder ruefully if I’ve toned down my views. Cherianhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17643148647244239556noreply@blogger.com18tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3030386.post-1146991482730919552006-05-07T01:43:00.000-07:002006-05-07T08:13:30.923-07:00SINGAPORE ELECTIONS: TWO POSITIVE SIGNSAfter an acrimonious campaign fought in above-average rain and thunder, I’m inclined to look for rays of sunshine peeking through the parting clouds. I found at least a couple.The first was the sheer class with which the Workers’ Party wrapped up its campaign. Reciting the national Pledge in closing its final rally. Sticking calmly and resolutely to its Cherianhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17643148647244239556noreply@blogger.com11tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3030386.post-1146991414767566732006-05-07T01:41:00.000-07:002006-05-07T01:43:34.776-07:00SINGAPORE ELECTIONS: SDP’S FUTUREHere’s what the SDP contributed to GE2006: 2.2 points to the PAP’s vote share. If it had not contested at all, the PAP’s share would have been 64.4 percent, not 66.6. Voters have rejected the Singapore Democratic Party once again, but this is unlikely to be the end of the story. It is inevitable that the party will split, if not entirely disintegrate. Really, the Cherianhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17643148647244239556noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3030386.post-1146933022220360822006-05-06T09:29:00.000-07:002006-05-06T09:30:22.220-07:00SINGAPORE ELECTIONS: MIXED MESSAGESThe PAP is back in power and Mr Lee Hsien Loong has won his mandate, but victory has come at a cost to his political capital. Unfortunately, the PAP seems to know only one way to fight elections. That unchanged style is at odds with its approach outside of elections, which is increasingly about inclusiveness and respect for diversity. In fact, it may be Cherianhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17643148647244239556noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3030386.post-1146932322284285892006-05-06T09:13:00.000-07:002006-05-06T09:26:53.673-07:0016-YEAR-OLDS RIP INTO MEAnyone who stereotypes Singapore students as apathetic, uninteresting and generally "blurr" would be heartened to read this blog, in which integrated programme students of Victoria Junior College mercilessly post-mortem my recent talk to them. It's especially heartwarming to read them working through the question of whether people need to be labeled as pro-this or pro-thatCherianhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17643148647244239556noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3030386.post-1141376862470283132006-03-03T01:05:00.000-08:002006-03-03T01:07:42.486-08:00THE CARTOON CONTROVERSY AND THE LIBERAL PRESS[This is the text of a talk given at a forum organised by the Singapore Institute of International Affairs, 27 February 2005.]Ever since the controversy over the Prophet Mohammed cartoons broke out, allusions have been made to a so-called Clash of Civilisations between the West and Islam.More sober minds have rightly resisted framing the issue in such Cherianhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17643148647244239556noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3030386.post-1130573413968028972005-10-29T00:50:00.000-07:002006-07-13T06:14:02.623-07:00CALIBRATED COERCIONManaging civil disobedienceNote: My academic paper on this subject has been published in the Working Paper series of the Asia Research Institute, NUS. You may download the PDF file by clicking here. I've tried to apply these ideas in analysing Chee Soon Juan's strategy of civil disobedience. Below is an op-ed piece published in The Straits Times on this topic, and the ensuing Cherianhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17643148647244239556noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3030386.post-1126755253627512882005-09-14T20:30:00.000-07:002005-09-14T20:34:13.633-07:00SINGAPORE: NEW MEDIA, POLITICS & THE LAWSince the mid-1990s, technology (mainly but not only the internet) has allowed individuals and groups to have their say in ways hitherto impossible. The government has been playing legislative catch-up, but loopholes remain for small independent producers. Many of the rules are new and untested. I've started a separate blog to help clarify the terrain (Cherianhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17643148647244239556noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3030386.post-1125584571606117522005-09-01T07:18:00.000-07:002005-11-16T17:09:11.386-08:00CIVIL DISOBEDIENCE vs CALIBRATED COERCION This piece was eventually published in the Straits Times (see above).Cherianhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17643148647244239556noreply@blogger.com16tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3030386.post-1122989530953019582005-08-02T06:30:00.000-07:002005-09-01T07:35:33.576-07:00NKF vs THE STRAITS TIMES(July 2005)One could not have planned a better birthday present for The Straits Times as it celebrated its 160th anniversary last week. Mr T. T. Durai’s libel suit against the national newspaper not only gave it reams of readable copy, but also provided the opportunity to demonstrate its commitment to the public.This was the principle that was at stake last week – the Cherianhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17643148647244239556noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3030386.post-1122989288128915342005-08-02T06:24:00.000-07:002005-09-01T07:34:32.976-07:00REVIVING THE OLD PARLIAMENT’S SPIRIT(April 2004)A woman walked into the room ahead of us, looked for the place marked “Lee Kuan Yew” and sat herself down in his seat.We sat down across from her and waited expectantly. The last time we’d visited, the walls had echoed with the authoritative voices of government ministers and parliamentarians.This time, we heard a 45-minute monologue penned by a Cherianhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17643148647244239556noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3030386.post-66088652001-10-25T08:22:00.000-07:002001-10-25T08:48:02.000-07:00FREEDOM FROM THE PRESS. WHY THE MEDIA ARE THE WAY THEY ARE.
(From "Singapore: The Air-conditioned Nation")
In some countries, when newspapers cannot say what needs to be said, they publish blank editorials in silent protest. Editors lobby for greater freedom of information. Press organisations rally behind journalists who are obstructed or harrassed.
In Singapore, the most distinctive feature Cherianhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17643148647244239556noreply@blogger.com1