miyagi.sg

Curb, what curb?

Greetings, new readers who are here via my favouritest newspaper in the whole wide world, The Sydney Morning Herald, which said this morning:

Singapore has barred servicemen from posting unauthorised accounts and pictures of military life on the internet in a further tightening of restrictions on the growing blogging community here.

The new rules, made public by the Sunday Times, followed the conviction of two ethnic Chinese bloggers for posting anti-Muslim tirades deemed as threats to social harmony and political stability in the multi-racial city state.

The newspaper said at least three national servicemen including one of Singapore’s most popular bloggers were told by the Ministry of Defence and military officers to take down personal postings about army life overseas…

Please read my previous post again. There was no barring. There is no tightening. Everything’s still loose (and maybe that’s the problem).

Last week, a Crystal (is your middle name Jade?) Chan from the New Paper emailed and then called me to ask me some questions, mostly about whether there were differences between Singaporean and American bloggers, and whether there the clampdown had affected us Singaporean bloggers.

So, I tells her, “3 sedition convictions and 1 attempted defamation action does not equate to a clampdown, and in fact you’re more likely to be sued in the States for defamation than you are here”.

I’ll now add to that and say, “3 sedition convictions, 1 attempted defamation action and 3 warnings from MINDEF and a partridge in a pear tree does not equate to a clampdown…”

I’ll even post an Army-related video just to prove a point!

Callup
Press 1 to pay $5000 fine and escape National Service altogether

Video: Mr Miyagi gets a National Service call up while recording the mrbrown show (.mov file, 1Mb, 30sec – recorded by Kenny Sia) Subscribe to Multimedia Miyagi

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11 responses to “Curb, what curb?”

  1. From a Singapore Angle

    – What’s the difference between this and this? update:Mr. Miyagi responds to his “favouritest newspaper in the whole wide world”. – Abu Musab al-Zarqawi…possibly dead? US authorities: possibly not. Meanwhile, his family “sever links with him until doomsday”. – Two

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  2. yellowhandman Avatar
    yellowhandman

    It seems eminently sensible to me that any army wouldn’t want its soldiers – reservist or otherwise – blogging about military exercises or operations. Your posts were innocuous, but the army simply isn’t in a position to be scouring the ‘net, checking which posts about exercises are innocuous and which aren’t.

    I’d be curious what policies other countries have on similar matters. For example, US servicemen are – as far as I know – not allowed to mention their location (apart from a very general statement) in their correspondence home.

    Reply
  3. yellowhandman Avatar
    yellowhandman

    It seems eminently sensible to me that any army wouldn’t want its soldiers – reservist or otherwise – blogging about military exercises or operations. Your posts were innocuous, but the army simply isn’t in a position to be scouring the ‘net, checking which posts about exercises are innocuous and which aren’t.

    I’d be curious what policies other countries have on similar matters. For example, US servicemen are – as far as I know – not allowed to mention their location (apart from a very general statement) in their correspondence home.

    Reply
  4. pointblog.com

    Singapour et les blogs militaires

    Sur son My Very Own Glob Mr Miagi, célèbre blogeur singapourien contredit les affirmations dÂ’une interdiction des blogs de militaires par les autorités de Singapour évoquée par certains journaux et par The Blog Herald (Singapore bans military blo…

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  5. O2 Avatar
    O2

    “… and in fact you’re more likely to be sued in the States for defamation than you are here.”

    Can I know what is your basis for this claim?

    Reply
  6. O2 Avatar
    O2

    “… and in fact you’re more likely to be sued in the States for defamation than you are here.”

    Can I know what is your basis for this claim?

    Reply
  7. Sheila Avatar
    Sheila

    Hey, I came to your website via an article published in the Star (local english daily) about the NS post.

    I don’t really frequent your website but I gotta say your blog is highly entertaining and funny. I’ve never had anyone explain how NS life/training perspective is like to me and being able to read few accounts of it at your site and others keeps me very entertained!! Come to think of it, I wouldn’t ‘mind’ trading a week of my boring and hectic corporate life to a week at Boot camp. Heh, maybe I can shed a few pounds too!

    Loved the post (think it was on singaporearmystory@blogspot) about how a troop of you guys scrambled at the mere mention of the word “Signal!”

    Keep it up! 🙂

    Reply
  8. Sheila Avatar
    Sheila

    Hey, I came to your website via an article published in the Star (local english daily) about the NS post.

    I don’t really frequent your website but I gotta say your blog is highly entertaining and funny. I’ve never had anyone explain how NS life/training perspective is like to me and being able to read few accounts of it at your site and others keeps me very entertained!! Come to think of it, I wouldn’t ‘mind’ trading a week of my boring and hectic corporate life to a week at Boot camp. Heh, maybe I can shed a few pounds too!

    Loved the post (think it was on singaporearmystory@blogspot) about how a troop of you guys scrambled at the mere mention of the word “Signal!”

    Keep it up! 🙂

    Reply
  9. k i t s c h y p o t e m k i n: Sighting sighting!

    […] it’s almost 4 am, and I’ve to wake up really soon, but I just had to post this. Miyagi has been.. Crystalled!”Last week, a Crystal (is your middle name Jade?) Chan from the New Paper emailed and then called […]

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  10. Carl Parkes — FriskoDude: November 2005

    […] Mr. MiyagiSingapore once again proves its love of freedom of the press/internet/bloggers by banning all blogging by the Singapore military. Seems that Benjamin Lee, a.k.a. Mr. Miyagi, was drafted a few months ago (everyone in Singapore gotta go military) and sent down to sunny Australia for a few months of training and sheer boredom.He blogged about it. And now the government shuts down all military blogs from Singaporeans.Ridiculous. What are they afraid of?SINGAPORE: Censors gunning for blogging servicemenSunday Times reveal government now requires bloggers to gain clearance to post entries on military lifeSouth Morning China PostMonday, November 21, 2005Singapore has barred servicemen from posting unauthorised accounts and pictures of military life on the internet in a further tightening of restrictions on the growing blogging community.The new rules, made public by The Sunday Times, followed the conviction of two ethnic Chinese bloggers for posting anti-Muslim tirades deemed as threats to social harmony and political stability in the multiracial city state.The newspaper said at least three national servicemen, including one of Singapore’s most popular bloggers, were told by the Ministry of Defence and military officers to take down personal postings about army life overseas.Such blogs now require official clearance before being posted.Businessman Benjamin Lee — better known locally as blogger “Mr. Miyagi” — had posted 100 pictures featuring fellow soldiers queueing in a canteen, sleeping in a tent or resting in an armoured vehicle during a three-week exercise in the northern Australian state of Queensland.Another, who uses the nickname “askgerard,” posted about 25 pictures, while a third blogger sporting the nickname “stupidgenius” wrote about an incident in which a tank overturned, according to the newspaper.Because of its compact land area, Singapore holds military exercises in Australia, the US and other countries. Two years of military training is mandatory for all able-bodied Singaporean men from the age of 18, with refresher exercises continuing until they are in their 30s.Defence ministry spokesman Benedict Lim was quoted by the newspaper as saying that “we encourage our servicemen to share their experiences” in order to boost camaraderie, but “we have to be mindful of the need for information security.”Blogging, boosted by the popularity of digital cameras and camera-equipped phones, is one of the few avenues for free expression in Singapore, whose mainstream media usually stick to the government line.But the authorities have made it clear internet postings are being closely monitored and subject to traditional laws.In a landmark ruling last month, two men became the first bloggers in Singapore to be punished under the Sedition Act, which dates back to the British colonial era.Asia Media Link************************Mr. Miyagi Responds on his Blog:Please read my previous post again. There was no barring. There is no tightening. Everything’s still loose (and maybe that’s the problem).Last week, a Crystal (is your middle name Jade?) Chan from the New Paper emailed and then called me to ask me some questions, mostly about whether there were differences between Singaporean and American bloggers, and whether there the clampdown had affected us Singaporean bloggers.So, I tells her, “3 sedition convictions and 1 attempted defamation action does not equate to a clampdown, and in fact you’re more likely to be sued in the States for defamation than you are here”.I’ll now add to that and say, “3 sedition convictions, 1 attempted defamation action and 3 warnings from MINDEF and a partridge in a pear tree does not equate to a clampdown…”I’ll even post an Army-related video just to prove a point!Mr. Miyagi Link […]

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  11. novembre 2005 : Le monde du Blog : le magazine du blogging

    […] son My Very Own Glob Mr Miagi, célèbre blogueur singapourien contredit les affirmations d’une interdiction des blogs de […]

    Reply

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