We refer to the article “Singapore ranked 8th in creative productivity in Asia” (Channel NewsAsia, Sep 12).
“Democracy and free debate are critical”?
It states that “The EIU said: “The reasons behind Singapore’s lagging score on outputs are complex, but the EIU believes that democracy and free debate are critical for innovation and in the 2013 edition of our democracy index, we ranked Singapore lower than Japan, Hong Kong, China, Taipei, China, Korea, Australia and New Zealand on this measure. “”
Flim banned?
- We would like to echo Anthony Chen’s (Ilo Ilo director – won 27 international awards) words on his facebook - ”I was one of the few who had the privilege of watching Tan Pin Pin’s To Singapore, with Love 星国恋 at its world premiere at the Busan International Film Festival in Korea last year.
I was moved to tears. And the first thing that came to mind was that every young Singaporean of my generation should see this, in fact all Singaporeans should see this.
It’s a slice of our history that shouldn’t be forgotten, and hopefully properly acknowledged in the near future.
It’s a sad day for Singapore, and reminds me again how love almost always leads to heartbreak.#saynotocensorship #bigheartsopenminds — feeling heartbroken.”
The case of Roy Ngerng?
As to “free debate” – We hope that the Roy Ngerng case will be the last of its kind.
We agree that without “democracy and free debate”, there will not be creativity, despite the amount of money, resources and rhetoric that we have been throwing at it for so many years.
PA should focus on … ?
In this connection, perhaps the People’s Association (PA) should focus on depolitising itself, because no matter how well it communicates its policies – a large segment of the people may not believe them in the first place (“People’s Association to focus on better communication of policies to the public”, Straits Times, Sep 13).
S Y Lee and Leong Sze Hian
P.S. Come with your family and friends to the 4th Return Our CPF protest on 27 September 4 pm at Speakers’ Corner https://www.facebook.com/events/516436478486589/