Comments on: It’s not just about Chee, but media lunacy

By: gemami

gemami — Thu, 16 Oct 2008 03:53:08 +0000

I agree with ‘good exposure’.

the older generation has been so incacerated that their will to opposed has been replaced by the fear to act against unreasonable impositions.

it is time for our younger generation especially our university students to do some ‘introspection’ as suggested by ‘good exposure’.

lky and his henchmen know and understand the power that this group of young people has in their hands. he was one of them in his younger days.

oftentimes, all over the world, when issues are real and when help is not forthcoming from the rulers of the land, these young voices are always at the forefront of things.

of course I am not suggesting that we adopt the same form of protests or street battles we have come to see so often. we could have our own peaceful form of presenting our dissatisfaction and engaging the rulers in constructive discussions.

the most important thing is that the collective voice must be loud and clear. in order to do so, these students have to get a clear and balancced picture of the issues so as to engaged the govt without having them dictate the agenda of the day.

the future of Singapore lies in their hands.

By: Donaldson Tan

Donaldson Tan — Mon, 29 Sep 2008 21:05:42 +0000

Universities should be cradles for thoughts, with academics as thought leaders. NTU’s choice to censor CSJ only highlighted its role to mass produce skilled workers for Singapore than rather produce leaders. It is no wonder why most of the PSC/ASTAR scholars go abroad than study locally. Intellectual and political freedom are required to create a vibrant intellectual environment at our home universities. China may be almost an authoratorian state, but the central government still tolerates student movements at Peking University as they see it as cradles for future political leaders.

By: Donaldson Tan

Donaldson Tan — Mon, 29 Sep 2008 19:41:53 +0000

I find it strange that local institutions of higher learning are not contributing to civil society as independent think tanks. This is the norm for universities in Western Europe and the United States. In some cases, the university even compete with strategy consulting firms to provide advice to the government.

By: Leakin

Leakin — Mon, 29 Sep 2008 19:03:05 +0000

Its just a little funny that NTU has like a school of Journalism(Wee Kim Wee…) who i think the acting head is Dr. Cherian George and they arent saying anyhting about it. As seasoned journalist or as leaders of an entire student body i find it rather sad that he and the other profs. are not saying anything about this. I dont understand why they allowed it to happen on Campus grounds, a place where ideas and such are free to flow. how will they explain it to their budding journalist students studying freedom of the press?University or kindergarten- good question indeed.

By: red_dot

red_dot — Mon, 29 Sep 2008 15:19:58 +0000

It doesn’t matter. I don’t know of anything about CSJ visiting NTU until
now. So censor for what I still got the news. It was not important yet
it became a juicy news item to read. “Much about nothing”!

By: llst

llst — Mon, 29 Sep 2008 06:45:55 +0000

Elaine Lee, the humanities student whom I interviewed, said it well: “If we aren’t exposed to anything, how can we be expected to gauge one political view from another?”

Thats the nub. The powers-to-be do not want you to be exposed to any other political views other than the PAP one.

By: Terence Lee

Terence Lee — Mon, 29 Sep 2008 06:19:38 +0000

Just a note: While this is the first time such an incident has happened at the Chronicle (as far as I know), it has happened before at Spectrum TV.

A formal CS student said on the Facebook Group “Stand Up for Media Freedom”:

“Well there was a school fee hike for ntu and nus (not sure about smu), but no one knew about it, until we woke up in the morning and flip the papers before we found out about it. So we were very displeased at the absolute lack of communication, the information dissemination, and also the lack of consultation with the students.

so we wanted to do a formal petition protest to NTU and shunyi’s group wanted to cover this news piece for spectrum as part of broadcast journ………… but guess what, after doing everything, it got CANNED AT THE LAST MINUTE.”

Join the group at : http://www.new.facebook.com/group.php?gid=31594527756

Perhaps it is true that higher ups gave orders to the NTU administration to censor CSJ, but there’s no way to verify this at the moment.

By: George says:

George says: — Mon, 29 Sep 2008 05:40:30 +0000

The NTU action can be simply explained: They have been given a blanket warning by the govt that CSJ is to be regarded as persona non grata. Perhaps, the govt has even insinuated/made veiled treats of unpleasant retribution against office holders/employees of institutions should they in whatever way or form has ‘helped’ the opposition or publicize its course in whatever manner.

One can believe that this is what the govt is prepared to stooped to to silence its opponents.

By: good exposure

good exposure — Mon, 29 Sep 2008 05:07:55 +0000

It is heartening to read an honest piece. Well said !

While young men and women go to such institutions for higher learning, the same young people on the other hand can impart something to their teachers and administrators. It is always a good time for students to show them the importance of introspection. There is nothing to fear when giving students the exposure to hear alternative political views. Let basic instincts of probing, questioning and learning prevail.

May I suggest NTU’s management and the students organize a joint forum for CSJ, JBJ, SL, LTK, CST and the PAP. Bearing in mind that PM Lee would be the ideal person from the PAP to grace such an event, because he represents leadership, governance and policies.