Singabloodypore

Smugglers of duty-unpaid cigarettes into Singapore, are nothing if not creative. From employing methods such as concealing the contraband smokes within laminated floorboards, to covering the load with live prawns, and even earlier this month hiding the illegal load in the spare tyre compartment of a car boot and then filling the boot with live frogs (apparently due for consumption). Needless to say, the frogs were no longer alive by the time the vehicle was inspected at the Woodlands immigration checkpoint.

The amount of money that these 'couriers' receive for a load of contraband cigarettes is a pittance in comparison to the potential life-changing fine/s now being imposed. For the consumption-frog offender, the total payment he would have received upon delivery was just RM600 (S$251).

Under new regulations announced this week by Singapore customs, even first-time offenders caught with duty-unpaid cigarettes anywhere on the island will now be fined $500 per packet.

A per packet fine is described by customs as a 'composition sum', and was initially implemented in hotspots such as Geylang and Yew Tee in Oct 2007. The 'composition sum' will now be extended throughout the island, as announced in the Singapore Customs press release on Monday of this week.

Aussie Pete for more - inlcuding the 'Crazy Consumption Frog' smuggling method.

The chilling effect of such moves is intensified when governments back them up with imprisonment. From Egypt to Malaysia to Saudi Arabia to Singapore, bloggers have in recent months found themselves behind bars for posting materials that those in power dislike. The most recent Worldwide Press Freedom Index, published by Reporters Without Borders, a lobby group, estimates their number at a minimum of 64. The Economist

SIR – Contrary to your article about politics on the web, no bloggers have been jailed in Singapore for “posting materials that those in power dislike” (”Blog standard“, June 28th). There is no such offence under Singaporean law and many websites post highly critical views of the government. However, two bloggers have been jailed and another put on probation for posting virulently racist remarks that could damage racial harmony. Singapore is a multiracial, multireligious society, yet its threshold as to what is objectionable in such matters is higher than in some European countries, which make it an offence to deny the Holocaust.

Another blogger currently faces charges for writing that a female High Court judge had “prostituted” herself in a case that she was trying. Unless we uphold the standing and reputation of the judiciary, there is no basis for the freedoms that citizens expect, either on the internet or in the real world.

K. Bhavani
Press secretary to the minister for information, communications and the arts
Singapore

FROM TODAY'S WALL STREET JOURNAL ASIA
July 15, 2008

Lee Kuan Yew recently noted the International Bar Association's decision to "honor" Singapore by holding its annual conference there last year. We hope the former Prime Minister, now Minister Mentor, takes equal note of the IBA's latest assessment of the judiciary in Singapore.

The IBA's human-rights institute issued a report last week on "human rights, democracy and the rule of law" in the city-state. Like numerous past observers, the IBA finds that Singapore limits political speech and assembly and exercises strict controls on the media.

The 72-page report also describes "concerns about the objective and subjective independence and impartiality" of the judiciary. In cases involving litigants from the ruling People's Action Party or PAP interests, the IBA finds "concerns about an actual or apparent lack of impartiality and/or independence, which casts doubt on the decisions made in such cases."

The IBA report is a good primer on Singapore's use of defamation cases against opposition politicians and the foreign press. It summarizes high-profile cases over the past 25 years against J. B. Jeyaretnam, Tang Liang Hong and Chee Soon Juan. And it reviews defamation cases against foreign publications, including this newspaper and our sister publication, the Far Eastern Economic Review, which currently is fighting defamation charges brought by Mr. Lee and his son, Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong.

In a statement last week in response to the IBA report, the Law Ministry defended Singapore's legal system. "The cases brought by PAP members usually relate to scurrilous and completely untrue allegations of corruption made against them," it said. And, "It is also absurd to suggest that honorable and upright judges in commercial cases become compliant and dishonorable when dealing with defamation cases involving government ministers."

The IBA report concludes with 18 recommendations, including abolishing defamation as a criminal offense and urging government officials to "stop initiating defamation claims for criticisms made in the course of political debate." It also calls for "security of tenure" for all judges and an end to the transfer of judges between executive and judicial roles.

Singapore is unlikely to reform its political or judicial system anytime soon. But when the country is ready to join the ranks of modern democracies, the IBA's recommendations provide a good checklist of how to do so.