Changes proposed to Films Act and enhanced police powers

January 29, 2009 by admin
Filed under: Current Affairs 

Changes were proposed to the Films Act through a bill introduced in Parliament last Thursday, 22 Jan 09.

Certain categories of films such as films produced by political parties or by election candidates of their manifesto and policies, live recordings of election rallies, public speeches and processions, as well as anniversary celebration videos by political parties will no longer be considered “party political films” and hence will not be banned under Section 33 of the Films Act.

However, the dubious condition imposed is that “events being filmed must first be held in accordance with the law“.

But who makes the law? Clearly, the PAP-controlled Parliament does, and for its own self-serving purposes. To say that “events being filmed must first be held in accordance with the law” is tantamount to saying that events being filmed must be condoned first and foremost by the ruling elite.

In particular, laws concerning public assembly have evolved over time to enable the Government to clamp down more effectively on political opposition.

Should the new legislation be enacted, films of public protests held outside Hong Lim Park and other street demonstrations or rallies held without a police permit can potentially be banned under the Films Act.

Clearly, this legislation is designed to clamp down on civil disobedience by denying citizen activists the right to produce and distribute films of protests and demonstrations.

If amendments to the Films Act are accepted by Parliament, the Board of Film Censors will be the authority that decides whether a film submitted to it is a party political film. This is the kind of administrative discretion that the Bloggers’ 13 Group has been consistently arguing against.

Even more insidiously, the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) has also floated the proposal that the police be granted “move-on” powers which will enable them to take action before protesters are able to gather at specific areas such as Parliament House, and to forbid citizen journalists from filming assemblies and processions held without a permit.

The ostensible reason given by the MHA for these enhanced police powers is that current public order laws were conceived in an era “when security threats were of an entirely different scale and impact”, and hence new laws are needed to address the evolving security threats we face.

In justifying the new amendments to the Films Act as well as the enhanced police powers, the MHA makes no qualms about grouping peaceful protesters together with terrorists, suicide bombers, and what the MHA calls “anarchistic fanatics”.

However, there are already ample laws in place to deal with terrorism, gang fights, and other similar forms of criminal activity. It is clear therefore that the new rules are made by the authorities to deal specifically with political opposition rather than violent crime. Skim milk masquerades as cream.

Token liberalization in the form of allowing Hong Lim Park to be used for demonstrations and the loosening of the definition of what constitutes a party political film is thus coupled with a tightening of the grip on those political activities that the Government deems threatening. Calibrated coercion in Singapore has just become a bit more precise.

The legitimate use of police powers (in dealing with genuine terrorists) is effectively hijacked for the purposes of political oppression (in using the same powers to deal with peaceful protesters).

The Government has thus made it clear that while some token liberalization is in place, the status quo remains very much the same. But, we will overcome someday.

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Comments

6 Comments on Changes proposed to Films Act and enhanced police powers

  1. Singa Crew on Thu, 29th Jan 2009 3:38 pm

    2. I think this is their attempt to contain the flow of information from Singapore. If this particular amendment is passed, it means legit news agencies like Reuters or BBC will not be able to film Singaporean activists in action.

    Local activists will also find it more difficult to film their peers in action and post the clips on Youtube afterwards. It isn’t impossible but once that act is passed, undercover cops stationed around the scene of protest will be able to confiscate filming equipment.

    I am also worried that without the restraining presence of filming devices, officers of the law will find it easier to employ force on activists. After all, they will not have to worry about their actions being put on public display on Youtube anymore.

    Crew

  2. admin on Thu, 29th Jan 2009 9:56 pm

    3. Hi Singa Crew,

    Yes, all your concerns are valid.

    Frankly I would not be giving two hoots about this if Singapore were a real democracy and the police have consistently applied to the law ONLY to deal with genuine security threats like gangs, terrorists, looters.

    But now, not only is legitimate police power hijacked to serve a political rather than security purpose, the law is crafted and recrafted over time to deal specifically with political opposition. For example, now “promoting a cause or campaign” or “commemorating an occasion” is now considered illegal if conducted in groups of 5 or more and held without a permit.

    E-Jay

  3. NewSintercom » The Attempt to End Citizen Journalism and Video Activism on Wed, 4th Feb 2009 9:24 am

    4. [...] bloggers before me have belaboured the point that between the lines is the message that if the event is [...]

  4. Iklan Mudah Blog » Blog Archive » The Attempt to End Citizen Journalism and Video Activism on Sun, 8th Feb 2009 2:34 am

    5. [...] bloggers before me have belaboured the point that between the lines is the message that if the event is [...]

  5. The new Public Order Act — more arbitrary powers, more tyranny : Sgpolitics.net on Tue, 24th Mar 2009 2:20 pm

    6. [...] SEE ALSO: Changes proposed to Films Act and enhanced police powers. [...]

  6. The new Public Order Act — more arbitrary powers, more tyranny : Ng E-Jay’s domain on Tue, 31st Mar 2009 12:38 pm

    7. [...] ALSO: Changes proposed to Films Act and enhanced police powers by Ng E-Jay and Shameful piece of legislation by the Singapore [...]

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