Singapore Human Rights Report by US Dept. of State (more)

Freedom of Speech and Press

The government strongly influenced both the print and electronic media. Two companies, Singapore Press Holdings Ltd. (SPH) and MediaCorp, own all general circulation newspapers in the four official languages--English, Chinese, Malay, and Tamil. MediaCorp is wholly owned by the government investment company.

SPH is a private holding company with close ties to the government; the government must approve (and can remove) the holders of SPH management shares, who have the power to appoint or dismiss all directors or staff. As a result, while newspapers printed a large and diverse selection of articles from domestic and foreign sources, their editorials, coverage of domestic events, and reporting of sensitive foreign relations issues usually closely reflected government policies and the opinions of government leaders.

Government-linked companies and organizations operated all domestic broadcast television channels and almost all radio stations.

The government has extended the threat of defamation actions to comments made in cyberspace.

The unbroken success of government leaders' suits in the last decade has fostered public caution about political speech, prompted a culture of self-censorship within the news media, and inhibited opposition politics. During the last decade, ruling party leaders have sued opposition politicians for defamation of individual government leaders.

The Media Development Authority (MDA), a statutory board under the Ministry of Information, Communications and the Arts (MICA), continued to censor broadcast media and Internet sites and all other media, including movies, video materials, computer games, and music.

The Films Act bans political advertising using films or videos as well as films directed towards any political purpose. The act does not apply to any film sponsored by the government, and the act allows the MICA minister, subject to such conditions as he sees fit, to exempt any film from the act... The activist claimed that the Films Act is politically biased in favor of the ruling party. Other restrictions tightly control the types of campaign materials that can be distributed by or about candidates and parties during an election.

Freedom of Assembly

The law provides citizens the right to peaceful assembly but permits Parliament to impose restrictions "it considers necessary or expedient" in the interest of security, public order, or morality; in practice the government restricted this right. Public assemblies of five or more persons, including political meetings and rallies, require police permission...The government closely monitored political gatherings regardless of the number of persons present.

Freedom of Religion

Under the Societies Act, the government banned meetings of Jehovah's Witnesses and the Unification Church.

In 2004 the Ministry of Education indefinitely suspended four children for failing to sing the national anthem and participate in the flag ceremony, down from eight suspensions in 2003...There have been 34 such cases since 2000. All 34 students made alternate schooling arrangements; none has returned to public school.

Freedom of Movement Within the Country, Foreign Travel, Emigration, and Repatriation

Men are required to serve 24 months of national service upon turning 18 years of age. They also are required to undergo reserve training up to the age of 40 (for enlisted men) or 50 (for officers). Male citizens with national service reserve obligations are required to advise the Ministry of Defense if they plan to travel abroad. Boys age 11 to 16½ years are issued passports that are valid for 2 years and are no longer required to obtain exit permits. From the age of 16½ until the age of enlistment, male citizens are granted 1-year passports and are required to apply for exit permits for travel that exceeds 3 months.

Protection of Refugees

The law does not provide for the granting of refugee status or asylum to persons in accordance with the 1951 UN Convention relating to the Status of Refugees and its 1967 Protocol.

The Right of Citizens to Change Their Government

Opposition parties are free to contest elections, and the voting and vote-counting systems are fair and free from tampering; however, the PAP, which has held power continuously and overwhelmingly for more than four decades, has used the government's extensive powers to place formidable obstacles in the path of political opponents.

National/Racial/Ethnic Minorities

Ethnic Malays constituted approximately 14 percent of the population. The constitution acknowledges them as the indigenous people of the country and charges the government to support and to promote their political, educational, religious, economic, social, cultural, and language interests. The government took steps to encourage greater educational achievement among Malay students as a key to economic advancement. However, ethnic Malays have not yet reached the educational or socioeconomic levels achieved by the ethnic Chinese majority, the ethnic Indian minority, or the Eurasian community. Malays remained underrepresented at senior corporate levels, and, some assert, in certain sectors of the government and the military.

Worker Rights

The right of association was restricted by the Societies Act, and by labor and education laws and regulations. Under these laws any group of 10 or more persons is required to register with the government. The Trade Unions Act authorizes the formation of unions with broad rights, albeit with some narrow restrictions such as prohibitions on the unionization of uniformed personnel or government employees.

The National Trade Union Congress(NTUC) acknowledged that its interests were linked closely with those of the ruling PAP, a relationship often described by both as symbiotic.

Acceptable Conditions of Work

There are no laws or regulations on minimum wages or unemployment compensation.

Most maids worked six days per week from early morning until late in the evening. Many contracts allowed only one day off per month. Contracts often stipulated that, even when not working, a maid was required to remain on the premises unless on official duties or on her day off. Maids often had to set aside most or all of their wages for the first several months of employment to reimburse their placement agents.