But its plans for the local media industry appear less of a bang and more of a whimper. Despite mounting public clamour for greater freedom of expression and real policy debate, events this week have shown there are limits to how far the more liberal Goh Chok Tong administration will go.

"Regular reporting on Singaporean affairs for the Singapore audience has to be done by Singaporean media," said Information and Arts Minister Lee Yock Suan on June 5, announcing the results of a wide-ranging review.

The government has partially bowed to public pressure by heralding an end to Singapore Press Holdings' (SPH) and state-owned Media Corporation of Singapore's (MCS) respective domestic newspaper and television monopolies. But it has only gone as far as to exchange their monopolies with carefully controlled duopolies. The two existing media groups, both fiercely loyal to promoting the government's cause, will be given limited freedom to compete against one another.

Foreign operators and local outsiders will continue to be shut out for fear of polluting Singaporeans' minds and ruffling the status quo. MCS, which broadcasts all local television and radio programmes, will be allowed to apply for one newspaper licence, while SPH, which has held a stranglehold on the local newspaper business for the past 15 years, will be allowed to operate up to two free television channels and two radio stations.

This is unlikely to spark a media war. MCS has already signalled its readiness not to compete directly with any of SPH's existing flagship English-language newspapers, such as the Straits Times, the Business Times or the New Paper. Its proposed publication, Today, to be launched later this year, will carve out a new niche as a free tabloid for commuters, according to MCS chief executive Lim Hup Seng.

Kevin Tan, president of The Roundtable, a group of independent intellectuals, said: "The Straits Times could do with more competition. If [Today] does not compete head on with the Straits Times and Business Times, then competition will be illusionary. What we need for a more open society is more expression of differing points of view and perspectives."

Singaporeans are said to be hungry for new products to add spice to their humdrum diet of staid and serious fare from the existing SPH stable of 10 newspapers and six periodicals in four languages.

Ooi Giok Ling, political analyst at Singapore's Institute of South East Asian Studies, said: "Poll after poll that we have done shows that people want to be consulted, speak their minds and have some discussion on policy. We have to have news that is of interest to people. The local media have to better respond to what people want to read."

The People's Action Party (PAP) government, which has run Singapore since independence in 1965, has always been wary of the media. In 1950, newspaper reports over the adoption of a child were blamed for sparking communal riots. The PAP has remained sensitive over the potential impact of the media ever since.

Prime Minister Mr Goh may be more liberal than his authoritarian predecessor Lee Kuan Yew, but even he understands the lasting value of propaganda in platforming government policy and maintaining social cohesion in this multi-racial and multi-religious society.

Mr Goh was recently quoted saying that the media "should not set the national agenda" and should not shoot at the government from outside the political arena. The Goh administration is happy to tolerate public discussion over various ways to achieve its goals, but it appears to detest local media championing alternative agendas and insists on having the last word.

The government hopes having two players competing against each other will encourage better and more varied content, but without going overboard. Mr Lee said: "Our objective . . . is to strengthen the local media so that it can hold the attention of the local audience. At the same time, we are mindful of the need to retain our identity and cohesiveness as a nation. In this regard, our local media have a unique role to play to contribute to nation-building."

Singapore media is governed by various laws under which journalists and editors can be imprisoned and their publication's licences revoked. However, SPH and MCS have shown little desire to test the limits. In fact, SPH has gone so far out of its way to toe the line that it is repeatedly mistaken for a government-owned firm.

SPH has not always enjoyed a newspaper monopoly. Numerous other publications have come and gone over the years, having either been shut down or systematically eaten up.

In the 1960s and 70s, two independent newspapers, the Eastern Sun and the Singapore Herald, were accused by the PAP government of attempting to mount covert operations against the republic. The Herald, which took an anti-PAP editorial line, lost money heavily, but continued operations. A government investigation in 1971 discovered it was surviving off foreign funds. When this lifeline was cut off, the paper soon folded.

In the early 1980s, the government experimented with two rival newspaper groups when it formed Singapore News and Publication to compete with the Straits Times Group. The former ran the Chinese-language Sin Chew Jit Poh and Nanyang Siang Pau, as well as the English-language Singapore Monitor.

But the experiment was short-lived. Just two years later, the government combined the two entities to become SPH. The Monitor was shut down by SPH in 1985, leaving the Straits Times with a free reign in English-language market.

To prevent foreign influence, Singapore law states that foreign individuals cannot own more than three per cent of any core local newspaper. However, foreign newspapers, such as the Asian Wall Street Journal and the South China Morning Post, are available in Singapore, though their circulation is limited.

MCS plans to launch Today in conjunction with state-owned Singapore Mass Rapid Transit railway, local bus and taxi operator DelGro Corp and Singapore Telecom. It will target working adults aged 20 to 40, offering a mixture of hard news and lifestyle stories in short, bite-sized packages.

SPH has not yet outlined its broadcast plans. However, it is planning to launch two new newspapers of its own, one technology-oriented and the other lifestyle.

Some digital TV licences have been granted, but other players will not be allowed to enter the core newspaper and television markets.

Mr Lee said: "Unlike the telecommunications industry that services the world market, too much competition in the local media industry may lead to a lowering of standards and appeal to the lowest common denominator. Singapore also does not have enough local talent to sustain a large number of high quality media companies."