Senior Minister Goh, who experimented with media competition in 2000 and now serves as top adviser to his successor Lee Hsien Loong, said Singapore's government and economic performance prove that the city-state's system works.

"Western liberals often argue that press freedom is a necessary ingredient of democracy and that it is the fourth estate to check elected governments, especially against corruption," he said in a speech late Monday, Oct 31.

"But a free press by Western standards does not always lead to a clean and efficient government or contribute to economic freedom and prosperity."

Paris-based media watchdog Reporters Without Borders ranked Singapore, Southeast Asia's wealthiest society, 140th out of 167 countries in its 2005 Press Freedom Index, behind much poorer countries in Asia and Africa.

Stalinist state North Korea was again at the bottom of the list, while Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Ireland, the Netherlands, Norway and Switzerland had the most favourable ratings.

"I have taken the Reporters Without Borders Press Freedom Index at face value. It is a subjective measure computed through the prism of Western liberals," Goh said at a dinner marking the fifth anniversary of local newspaper Today.

Today is a subscription-free tabloid published by broadcast giant MediaCorp. Despite its compact size, it positions itself against the top newspaper, the Straits Times, and has sometimes taken a more liberal stance than its established rival.

In 2000, when Goh was prime minister, the Straits Times' publisher Singapore Press Holdings (SPH) was allowed to open a television division and launch new tabloids to fight MediaCorp.

But after both firms suffered financially from competition in a small market, SPH shut down the new tabloids and television stations and took a minority stake in MediaCorp, with Today still competing editorially against The Straits Times.

"I am happy that a competitive balance has now been established between Today and The Straits Times. Today is now in the black while the SPH Group has also become more profitable," Goh said.

He reminded newspaper editors of their social responsibilities in a multi-racial society like Singapore and said they should not be embarrassed by the Reporters Without Borders survey.

"Singapore has one of the cleanest and most efficient governments in the world," Goh said, citing other surveys consistently ranking the city-state as one of the most corruption-free places for international business.

"As for economic prosperity, Singapore is way ahead of many countries with better press freedom ranking. My simple point is this: it has not been proven that having more press freedom would result in a clean and efficient government or economic freedom and prosperity," he added.

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