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JOHN
HIGHFIELD: Well, earlier in the week we heard
how the Government of Singapore is to allow a
little more freedom through a speakers corner,
but people who want to speak there will have to
get a permit, not like the London model. But now
Singaporean academic and activist, James Gomez
has taken a rare and brave step, writing and publishing
a book which is highly critical of the island's
political system.
So
far defamation, the usual cause, has not been
used to silence him, but James Gomez says it can
only be a matter of time. He's been speaking to
Lisa McGregor about his book which looks at the
Singaporean syndrome of self-censorship.
JAMES
GOMEZ: The book was actually a product of
my own attempt to explore political space in Singapore.
I found that I couldn't get individuals to come
together to organise for politics, less to organise
a seminar. I found that the biggest problem sometimes
was not the State but the people around me, and
that, I thought, needs to be accounted for and
explained.
LISA
McGREGOR: What do you mean by the people around
you?
JAMES
GOMEZ: Well, it could be friends, families,
editors of publications, people who issue you
permits for talks and so on. They decide at their
level that something is political and is not condoned,
and then they decide to censor you, so that is
the challenge. In fact, if one speaks about human
rights abuse in Singapore, there is rights abuse,
the rights abuse is the abuse of civil and political
rights at the hands of your fellow countrymen
rather than the State directly.
LISA
McGREGOR: What happens when you raise subjects
which are controversial with friends and family
and acquaintances?
JAMES
GOMEZ: Well, on a private level, let's say
if it's over a cup of tea or among friends and
family, you will always get advice. You'll be
warned that, "No, you'd better not do this
and you'd better not say this in public."
You know, that's at the first level. Now, if you
decide you want to go public, when you try to
organise a seminar, or something public, it needs
many hands.
That's
where it becomes difficult, because people may
share some of the issues that you want to raise,
but they will not come together with you to do
the actual organising. Therefore, an attempt to
express yourself in a public way falls flat. They
censor you by not, you know, allowing you to expand
above your individual self. There's no ability
for you to manifest, you know, political expression
in sort of an organised group way.
LISA
McGREGOR: Is that form of censorship more
powerful, in fact, than censorship from the State?
JAMES
GOMEZ: I think it is one of the informal ways
the State has relied on for many years to maintain
the status quo in its advantage, because if you
can understand the psyche of the people, well
all I have to do is occasionally scare them and
I'll keep that kind of political culture in place,
and that in itself will prevent alternative ideas
and individuals from coming up.
LISA
McGREGOR: Your book is very critical about
the political system. How far do you think you
can push the debate without getting into trouble
yourself?
JAMES
GOMEZ: I think I'm already in trouble. They
don't know what to do with me, but they will do
something, it's coming soon. You know, watch out,
you know, you've done so much so far. I would
say given the way I've operated, the most likely
way is to cast some kind aspersion, you know,
on your moral standing, your character or your
motivation.
LISA
McGREGOR: Knowing that there's going to be
some sort of personal attack made on you, does
that make you very wary about how you live your
life?
JAMES
GOMEZ: You know, a life that is not lived
on the wild side is not worth living, and even
though I come from a system that tries to place
limits and rationalises the limits, I think no
one has the right to place limits on a human spirit,
you know. Shame on him who does that.
JOHN
HIGHFIELD: Singaporean writer and political
scientist, James Gomez, with Lisa McGregor.
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