Appendix 6 - International Music Council

MUSICAL DIVERSITY QUESTIONAIRE: SINGAPORE
20.
The complementarity or reciprocity between the protection of musical diversity and
that
of human rights
• Cite examples where music expression or music diversity have been repressed by
direct
action of government or action by others directed by government, or by others
acting
to pre-empt direction by government.
RESPONSE:
Singapore has the Internal Security Act which allows the authorities to arrest
and
hold a person without trial for a length of time, if that person is considered to be a
threat to national security.
While this Act has been enforced from time to time for various
reasons,
there has been, so far, no direct relationship to suppression of any musical activity.
Singapore also has the Religious Harmony Bill, where people are not allowed to conduct
religious
activity or evangelistic activity which may offend those from another religion.
This
law could have the impact of restricting those musical activities which have a religious
purpose
or content.
There
are also censorship laws which forbid the broadcast and performance of music which
has
lewd or abusive lyrics, lyrics which are defamatory and lyrics promoting socially
unacceptable
or illegal activity such as drug taking, etc. Some songs have been banned over
the
years because of this problem with content. Generally, music is the least censored of all
the
art forms in Singapore.
All
organisers of public music performances need to apply for a Public Entertainment
License before
being allowed to hold the performance. Normally, music performances have
no
problem obtaining such a license, although in the past year, there was a case of a concert
being organised by the Falungong movement
being rejected and another of the annual rave
party for gays called “The Nation Party”
being rejected as well.
• In the countries
where there is such repression of musical expression or diversity,
are
there other notable breaches of human rights?
RESPONSE:
Singapore’s Internal Security Act which allows for imprisonment without
trial
and the death penalty for drug trafficking is considered by some people as breach of
human rights. There were the well-known cases of the imprisonment without trial of a
political prisoner (Dr Chia Thye Poh) many years ago, followed by the controversial arrest
and detention of a group of suspected “Marxists” and most recently, of a group of 40 men
who were considered terrorist threats. These few cases were seen as breaches of human
rights by some people. However, as far as we know, there are no other publicised cases of
breaches of human rights in Singapore.
21. The links between musical diversity and economic development and the fight against
poverty
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