Daily Lessons from Life 24 April 2013 - Singapore cartoonist arrested for sedition: Lawyer

"Singapore cartoonist arrested for sedition: Lawyer - AFP Apr 24, 2013

SINGAPORE - A Singaporean cartoonist has been arrested for alleged sedition over a satirical comic strip on his Facebook page that appeared to accuse the government of racism, his lawyer said Wednesday.

Leslie Chew, 37, was released on bail following his arrest Friday, two days after a complaint was filed about his cartoon strip that lampooned the government for being "racist" toward minority Malays, his lawyer Choo Zheng Xi told AFP.

The strip was posted on Chew's "Demon-cratic Singapore" Facebook page on March 27.

The cartoon depicts a politician addressing a crowd and praising the talents of expatriate Indian, Chinese and Caucasian communities. A character in the audience asks "What, no mention of Malay talents?", to which another responds "Damn! Racist government".

Chew added that he intends to continue to publish cartoons while he is being investigated as police had not imposed any restrictions.

"I want to continue to amuse my audience. The comics are simply for laughs," said Chew, who is unemployed and makes a living from contributions from his online readers.

If convicted, Chew faces a jail term of up to three years or a fine of up to $5,000, or both."

As some quarters have noticed recently the government has been putting online commentators and critics on guard by challenging every bit of information that they perceived as challenging or inaccurate or unfair or libelous, and now seditious!

Lessons for me are:

1. it has always being a struggle for the Western liberal way of 'Free Speech' vs. the Singapore government way of 'Free Speech with Responsibility', a view that I subscribed. We cannot have free speeches that incite hatred of one race or one religion or one language over the other as Singapore is a multi-racial, multi-lingual and multi-religious society. Also, these 3 topics are emotive ones and once emotion runs high, rationality has no chance at all. A stance I consistently maintain;

2. has Mr Leslie Chew crossed the out-of-bound markers on this occasion since he had published hundreds of the satirical comic strips previously without being strongly challenged by the authorities? The one on 'contempt of court' on removal of a fictitious judge in a fictitious Demon-cracy Singapore (notes: this is a seriously weak point to put forward really!) was challenged by the Attorney-General Chambers (AGC) it seems. This 'racism' one by some complainants. Personally I like Mr Leslie Chew to just apologize and go on entertaining his followers and audience with his creative comic strips. Satire is good for the soul in healthy doses and leave the 3 big no no of 'race, religion and language' alone! As for 'contempt of court', I am not qualify to quantify!;

3. for serious writers and social critics, what next? The fundamental qualities expected of a professional journalist must be present. e.g. based on facts, be mindful of the 3 no no, if you must overstate your position strongly then you better be right with your facts and think about the possible responses from the public who read your views (that include the government authorities). It is about responsible free speech. I will continue to write and provide comments as honestly and responsibly as I would.