Singapore

Year in Review: 1995

Singapore, the prime exponent of the belief that a free press is
incompatible with "Asian values," remained dangerous ground for
Western publications. During 1995, the International Herald Tribune
was fined twice for publishing articles that criticized the
Singaporean government, however obliquely.

In January, Christopher Lingle, a former professor at the National
University of Singapore, was found guilty of contempt of court for a
Tribune opinion piece in which he ambiguously referred to "intolerant
regimes" in Asia and their "compliant" judiciaries. He was fined
US$7,100--a sum collected from his local assets left behind after he
fled to the United States in October 1994. Other defendants in the
case included the Tribune's publisher and the Singapore-based editor
of its Asia edition, who were fined US$1,725 and US$3,400,
respectively.

Six months later, the Tribune was ordered to pay libel damages of
US$678,000 to Senior Minister Lee Kwan Yew, his son Deputy Prime
Minister Lee Hsien Loong and Prime Minister Goh Chok Tong for
publishing an opinion piece by former Far Eastern Economic Review
editor Philip Bowring that said dynastic politics were evident in
Singapore, despite official claims of bureacratic meritocracy. The
ministers' suit charged Bowring with undermining their authority by
implying that Lee's son owed his position to nepotism and that Goh
was a puppet in the senior minister's hands.

Other foreign publications, including the Far Eastern Economic
Review, the Asian Wall Street Journal and Asiaweek, have periodically
seen their circulation curbed by Singaporean authorities in
retaliation for publishing unflattering reports about the country's
leadership. The government has also strictly limited the amount of
time foreign correspondents are allowed to stay in the country. And
in 1995, authorities began inundating the Internet with pro-
government material in an attempt to counter critical commentary
about Singapore in Internet news groups.

Goh, when questioned by CPJ during a September appearance at Williams
College in Massachusetts, said he supported the right of Singaporeans
to the free flow of information. In a move that generated
considerable controversy on campus, the college awarded Goh an
honorary degree for his role in promoting Singapore's economic growth.

Send inquiries to CPJ's Asia Program.


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Singapore

January 17, 1995

Christopher Lingle LEGAL, ACTION
Richard McClean, International Herald Tribune (Paris) LEGAL, ACTION
Michael Richardson, International Herald Tribune (Singapore) LEGAL,
ACTION
International Herald Tribune (Singapore) LEGAL, ACTION
Singapore Press Holdings LEGAL, ACTION

Lingle, a former senior fellow in European studies at the National
University of Singapore, was found guilty of contempt of court for an
Oct. 7, 1994, opinion piece in the International Herald Tribune
criticizing unnamed "intolerant regimes" in Asia and
their "compliant" judiciaries. Lingle, who fled to the United States
on Oct. 20, 1994, after being interrogated by Singaporean police, was
tried and convicted in absentia. Also found guilty were co-defendants
McClean, publisher and chief executive of the Tribune in Paris;
Richardson, Asia editor for the Tribune; International Herald Tribune
Pte Ltd., the paper's Singapore distributor; and Singapore Press
Holdings Ltd., which prints the paper's local edition. Richardson and
McLean were fined US$3,400 and US$1,725, respectively. The
distributor and printer were ordered to pay US$1,035 each. Lingle
himself was fined US$7,100, an amount that a Singapore court ordered
deducted from his local assets, which were frozen on Feb. 4.

Send inquiries to CPJ's Asia Program.


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Singapore

July 26, 1995

International Herald Tribune LEGAL, ACTION

The Singapore Supreme Court ordered the International Herald Tribune
to pay libel damages of US$678,000 to the country's top three
leaders. The award stemmed from an Aug. 2, 1994, opinion piece by
Philip Bowring, a former editor of the Far Eastern Economic Review,
which said dynastic politics were evident in Singapore "despite
official commitments to bureaucratic meritocracy." Senior Minister
Lee Kwan Yew, his son Deputy Prime Minster Lee Hsien Loong and Prime
Minister Goh Chok Tong sued the paper, charging that it had
undermined their authority by impying that Lee's son owed his post to
nepotism and that Goh was merely a puppet of the senior minister. The
Tribune, which apologized in print for the article, did not contest
liability. CPJ expressed its dismay over the verdict in a letter to
Goh.

Send inquiries to CPJ's Asia Program.