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20 Pac. Rim L. & Pol'y J. 319 (2011)
The Singapore Chill: Political Defamation and the Normalization of a Statist Rule of Law

handle is hein.journals/pacrimlp20 and id is 323 raw text is: Compilation @ 2011 Pacific Rim Law & Policy Joumal Association THE SINGAPORE CHILL: POLITICAL DEFAMATION AND THE NORMALIZATION OF A STATIST RULE OF LAW Cameron Simt Abstract: Recent cases involving opposition politicians and foreign publications, in which allegations of corruption leveled against both the executive and the judiciary were found to be defamatory and in contempt of court, struck at the heart of Singapore's ideological platform as a corruption-free meritocracy with an independent judiciary. This article examines the implications of these cases for the relationship between the courts, the government, and the rule of law in Singapore. It is argued that judicial normalization of the government's politics of communitarian legalism has created a statist and procedural rule of law that encourages defamation laws to chill political opposition. The dual state construct in Singapore, under which commercial law remains depoliticized and readily enforceable, has been distorted, which creates uncertainty across all areas of Singapore's common law and thereby undermines the government's economic agenda. 1. INTRODUCTION A key concept in the ideological framework of Singapore's governing People's Action Party (PAP) is providing certainty and security for Singapore's economy through the centrality of a platform of anti- corruption.' Part of the emphasis on international investment and economic development in Singapore is premised on the basis that Singapore is corruption-free.2 Preventative legislation, departments such as the Corrupt Practices Investigation Bureau, and high salaries paid to public servants,4 all serve to strengthen this anti-corruption platform. Singapore consistently ranks highly in international corruption standings. When the integrity of the government is brought into question, it is not uncommon for Singapore's t BA, LLB (Hons) (Melb); Solicitor of the Supreme Court of Victoria; Solicitor and Barrister of the High Court of Australia. I would like to thank the anonymous referees for their helpful suggestions. I would also like to thank the members of the journal, in particular Wyatt Golding and Amber Penn-Roco, for their efforts in the editorial process. LEE KUAN YEW, FROM THIRD WORLD TO FIRST, THE SINGAPORE STORY: 1965-2000 157 (2000). 2 See Li-Ann Thio, Rule of Law within a Non-Liberal Communitarian Democracy: The Singapore Experience, in ASIAN DISCOURSES OF RULE OF LAW: THEORIES AND IMPLEMENTATION OF RULE OF LAW IN TWELVE ASIAN COUNTRIES, FRANCE AND THE U.S. 183, 192-3 (Randall Peerenboom ed., 2004). See, e.g., Prevention of Corruption Act, ch. 241 (1960) (Sing.). 4 High salaries paid to public servants are allegedly seen by the government as affirming an ancient Confucian precept to pay good people to encourage them to work for the government. See Goh Chok Tong, Senior Minister of the Republic of Singapore, Speech at the 2000 National Day Rally (Aug. 9, 2000), in STRAITS TIMES (Sing.), Aug. 21, 2000, at 35. 5 In 2010, Singapore was ranked first in the World Competitive Yearbook. See INTERNATIONAL INSTITUTE FOR MANAGEMENT DEVELOPMENT, WORLD COMPETITIVE YEARBOOK 1 (2010), http://www.imd.ch/research/publications/wcy/upload/scoreboard.pdf.

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