A sub-committee under Minister of State (Trade and Industry and Foreign Affairs) Raymond Lim is recommending that this approach be reversed.

“I tell you what is not permitted. Everything else is permitted,” said Lim.

Many young Singaporeans are hoping this concept will be extended beyond the economy to cover their everyday lives.

Freeing up is not only happening in the business world alone but is also flowing through the nation’s social, cultural and political veins.

For 36 years, Singapore has gained a reputation for its draconian rules and harsh fines ranging from littering to not wearing a car safety belt.

In politics, the ruling party recently lifted the Whip and allowed backbenchers to speak freely in Parliament.

In the past week of budget debate, a clear sign of outspokenness was evident. This action also signals a widening of the boundaries of debate for the public.

For the past few months, the government’s Economic Review Committee has been conducting a sweeping review of regulations to put the city in a stronger position in the New World.

Led by Deputy Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong, the committee is split into several sub-committees that have been told to spare no sacred cows in their deliberations.

If necessary, change even the most fundamental of strategies. The economists, drawn from the ruling party, businessmen and community leaders, are doing just that.

It does not mean that every recommendation will be accepted. Some will not; others will be adopted only gradually.

The experts also want to drop another sacred cow -- a rule that forbids any single shareholder, local or foreign, from owning more than 3 percent of a newspaper company.

The sub-committee for service industries proposed that this rule be scrapped to ensure the survival and vitality of the industry. This will attract investors (including foreigners) with ideas and strategies.

Media control has always been a sacred cow to the government. It believes that in the wrong hands Singapore’s media could damage national interests.

Whoever controls the newspapers and TV stations control Singaporean minds, it was once thought, but with better education this is much less true today.

Besides, the Internet has made any media control questionable at best.

That a high-level People’s Action Party body is advocating dropping this control shows how far society has changed.

In a parallel move, the government is reviewing its censorship laws in the media and the arts in line with the Internet age and globalisation.

“We are a society that’s more aware. We are also a society that has become more diverse,” Minister for Information and the Arts David Lim told the Straits Times.

“That awakens in us a certain questioning about choice and the freedom to make those choices.”

Singapore frowns upon political dissent and sexual content but is now positioning itself as an Asian media and arts hub, prompting calls to relax controls especially with the population already widely using the Internet.

“We can’t deny this change” that has occurred in society, Lim said in acknowledging that Singapore would have to “open up space.”

A Censorship Review Committee (CRC) has been formed to undertake the once-a-decade study on censorship and make recommendations to the government. It includes journalists, professionals, academics and members of the artistic community.

The city is spending hundreds of millions of dollars to create new theatres, music halls and museums in a bid to become a cultural melting pot and regional venue for the arts in Asia.

Last week, there were indications of more barriers coming down for teenagers.

By next May, a law barring under-18s from spas will be lifted after the industry pledged to self-regulate against juvenile misbehaviour.

Singapore strives to become a business hub, a metropolis and a centre for high-tech investment.

To succeed, it needs to retain its own talent from migrating to the West as well as attract world-class talent to settle down in Singapore. (One out of three graduates in America do not return home.)

Standing in the way is Singapore’s image of an over-regulated society, which bans chewing gum and fines people for not flushing the toilet.

Two years ago when he stepped down as chairman of Young PAP, Brig-Gen George Yeo said rules and regulations that had served Singapore well should not hold it back from advancing into the new economy.

That Singapore has liberalised in all spheres is undeniable, some areas slower than others.

Critics, however, said one area little touched is the failure to provide a level field for opposition parties, especially during election.

Measures that draw votes away from the Opposition, such as end-of-the-queue refurbishing of opposition wards (none has been upgraded so far) and the re-juggling of boundaries, are under fire.

Films and the performing arts, however, are among the big beneficiaries.

The film I not stupid, an open criticism of the education system and an intrusive PAP style, was released uncut. This was followed by TalkingCock Movie with its dangerously blunt and satirical humour, also uncensored.

One reporter observed: “Within the first five minutes, the most obscene Hokkien swear words had been uttered, and the government is touted as the Ministry Of Nice Behaviour.”

But the biggest sign of change took place in the courts.

For several days last week, a Cabinet minister lined up to fight – legalistically speaking – against SingTel president Lee Hsien Yang over a tax sum of S$388mil.

The sight of former Telecommunications (now National Development) Minister Mah Bow Tan clashing in a case with the son of Senior Minister Lee Kuan Yew is – to put it lightly – unusual.

Seah Chiang Nee is a veteran journalist and editor of the information website littlespeck.com

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