Time for Southeast Asia to EMBRACE FREE SPEECH

The event was hosted by Myanmar Information Minister Ye Htut, who emphasised progress in the country’s transition to democracy, saying, “Five years ago, a conference like this could never have taken place here.”

During Htut’s opening remarks, a young local man suddenly stood up holding a sign that read, “Stop arrests, imprisonment and violence against journalists”. Near the venue’s entrance, other activists passed out stickers bearing the slogan “Stop attacks on journalists”.

Following Myanmar’s 1962 coup, the military junta severely restricted press freedom and free speech. In 1964, all daily newspapers not under state control disappeared from the country.

Since the beginning of the democratic transition in 2011, the government of Thein Sein has relaxed restrictions on the media, allowing citizens the chance to encounter a variety of different viewpoints. In 2013, privately run newspapers resumed publication. However, the path to true press freedom in Myanmar will not be an easy one.

Arrests and imprisonment of journalists have continued even in the wake of democratisation, Myanmar’s Eleven Media reports. In April of last year, two journalists were sentenced to a year in prison for trespassing and other crimes. They had been investigating the improper use of public funds.

“While the country may have transitioned to democracy, the attitudes of the government and military toward the press haven’t changed much,” according to one Myanmar journalist. “When they sense that an inconvenient truth could be exposed, they make threats and abuse their power.”

Next door in Thailand, pressure on free speech and the press has conspicuously increased since the military coup in May of last year. On March 25, Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha replied to journalists’ questions about poor relations between ministers and a Cabinet reshuffle with a menacing rant. “You’re the only ones saying such things,” he said. “We’re watching all of you journalists – and if we need to, we’ll use our power against you.”

Phuketwan journalists Alan Morison and Chutima Sidasathian are currently facing criminal defamation charges filed by the Royal Thai Navy over a post on people smuggling.

Singapore’s founder Lee Kuan Yew, who died in March, also believed that restrictions on free speech were necessary. He was unyielding in this conviction, even in response to criticism from the West. Lee felt that the press freedom granted in Western countries was not compatible with an “Asian sense of values” and could serve to destabilise the foundations of government in developing nations. Leaders of other nations in the region are widely seen as adhering to similar beliefs.

However, the time has come to reconsider such ways of thinking. With this year’s launch of the Asean Economic Community, more diversity in viewpoints would promote the growth and development of countries in the region. We must hope that a new commitment to principles of free speech and debate – as well as protection of the public’s right to know – will lead to the creation of a new Asian sense of values.