S'pore seeks to curtail foreign TV reporting

SINGAPORE has asked foreign TV stations to restrict coverage of political parties that do not have a wide following, a newspaper said Saturday. Critics said the move was aimed at stifling opposition.

The restrictions on broadcasts were needed to prevent foreign broadcasters from undermining the Southeast Asian city-state's identity, Information and Arts Minister George Yeo told Parliament on Friday.

"If we are not careful, foreign broadcasters, like foreign newspapers, can undermine some of our important social and other policies," the Straits Times quoted Yeo as saying.

"A few may even be tempted to interfere in Singapore's domestic politics, especially before a general election," Yeo said.

Singapore has been under the tight rule of the People's Action Party for 40 years. Last year, the government banned movies and videos made or distributed by political parties, including campaign ads. It also controls the sole TV corporation and only newspaper publishing house.

Yeo said the new step would make foreign broadcasters follow the same rules as state-run Singapore TV, which gives political parties free broadcasting time during elections only in proportion to their number of candidates.

The restrictions give the ruling party a big advantage over the opposition parties, which hold only three parliament's 84 seats.

A ruling party member of parliament said that without the measure, foreign media would not abide by any constraints in covering the next parliamentary elections in Singapore, set for 2002.

"We have witnessed many interviews on CNBC and BBC with some populist politicians in Singapore of late for frivolous causes," Chew Heng Ching was quoted as saying.

Chris Blackman, vice president of CNBC Asia, said any suggestion that CNBC wants to interfere in Singapore's politics is "totally erroneous."

"The suggestion that opposition politicians can use CNBC as a mouthpiece is totally unfair and inaccurate," Blackman told The Associated Press on Saturday.

Opposition leader Chee Soon Juan said Saturday the move to restrict foreign TV broadcasts in Singapore is "another naked attempt by (the ruling People's Action Party) to curtail the rights of Singaporeans to a free flow of information and to perpetuate its authoritarian rule in the country."