Saturday, March 11, 2006
Firmly Shut... or not?
Teng Qian Xi surprised me by commenting on the Detention-Writing-Healing forum in the Thu 9 Mar issue of Today. 'More room under the banyan tree?' pointed out as evidence of an opening climate of discussion about the past, biographies being published by major opposition figures including avowed Communist leaders like Chin Peng. Seminars critically examining the past now occur on a regular basis and I was surprised to see the former political commissionar of a Communist Regiment speaking at one of them! Teng pointed out that the official letter from the Ministry of Home Affairs was to be expected.
Her second last paragraph probably sums up her point: "But the fact remains that Tan and Fernandez were allowed to speak and were rebutted publicly. This is a first step that deserves no small credit, especially since it has been 15 years since Mr George Yeo, then the Minister for Information and the Arts, first proposed "pruning the banyan tree judiciously" to allow civil society to thrive."
However, it seems that little discussion has arisen online about this whole affair. Are people afraid or do they even care?
Her second last paragraph probably sums up her point: "But the fact remains that Tan and Fernandez were allowed to speak and were rebutted publicly. This is a first step that deserves no small credit, especially since it has been 15 years since Mr George Yeo, then the Minister for Information and the Arts, first proposed "pruning the banyan tree judiciously" to allow civil society to thrive."
However, it seems that little discussion has arisen online about this whole affair. Are people afraid or do they even care?
