Freedom of Speech

I spent an entire bus journey reading that book on political science. Taken up quite an interest in PS recently, and its amazing to discover how much I don't know about the workings of the world.

One part of the book really caught my attention. It was on "freedom of speech" and "freedom of press." In that part, it quoted Justice Hugo Black on the Pentagon Papers case in 1971.

"Only a free and unrestrained press can effectively expose deception in government. And paramount among the responsibilities of a free press is the duty to prevent any part of the Government from deceiving the people and sending them off to distant lands to die of foreign fevers and foreign shot and shell... [T]he newspapers nobly did precisely that which the founders hoped and trusted they would do."

The Pentagon Papers case was an example of how the Supreme court rejected the Government's effort to block publication of one of their Vietnam war studies based on security grounds. I compared the American press to our local press and quickly realized the difference. We've never seen a single publication of a scandal in our government. Or at least, I haven't seen one in my life time. PS: NKF not considered government.

Then there was the part on Freedom of Speech and Sedition. The book, a rather introductory book to political science, raised a few basic questions. Freedom of speech is a hallmark to any democratic nation, and no government has can pass laws to abridge it. The people are allowed to publicly and peacefully assemble and petition the government, to redress grievances.

But of course, this is not without limits. And I fully agree that Sedition laws should apply to those who abuse freedom of speech (even in Singapore, though somewhat limited) to spread hatred, incite violence, and malicious falsehoods. In recognizing clear and present danger, the government may and should impose restrictions to freedom of speech and expression.

Sadly, Singaporeans do not practice their freedom of speech in fear of questionable freedom after speech. And after a while, Singaporeans will become apathetic towards the government's policies even when it affects them negatively. We are already seeing signs of this today, where Singaporeans hardly speak out against the CPF scheme that would greatly reduce their access to their money. In the long run, we would find ourselves in shortage of leaders who can make good and sustainable policies from a pool of citizens who can't be bothered.

I think there are a few good reasons why we are in such a sad state where few people speak up.

1. While the government does not oppress the people from exercising their freedom of speech in criticism to the government, there have been several cases of civil lawsuits filed against some of the more vocal opposition politicians who have spoken up. Of course, these are NEGATIVE examples of how to voice out, and perhaps deserved the trouble they got into. Still, I suspect most Singaporeans have become intimidated by the examples, and prefer to remain silent instead of being bankrupted.

2. Perhaps causal to the above mentioned negative examples, would be the education system of the past, failing to educate proper exercise of freedom of speech. Failing to teach people how to make claims, to make criticism in a civil manners and be prepared to back claims up with evidence. Coming from a slightly better off government/neighborhood school, we were hardly taught on how to think, analyze and structure arguments. Exceptions were some of us who liked to participate in school debates. The rest were just taught to study, and to do well academically.

In any case, these are just some thoughts I had after I did some reading into something new and exciting. Just meant to record it down somewhere so I can refer to it again in the future. listening to the rain... 7:31 PM 0 comments

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Short Story 1.

A quick duck and a sidestep was all it took for Lucien to dodge under its swiping right claw. It almost seemed as though the Ice troll froze for a moment, surprised by the human's dexterity and his exceptionally cold and hard steel blade carve against its outreached arm. The magical blade began to frost against the open wound as its enchantment worked to freeze the troll's icy skin sending deathly chills right into the very core of the troll. However the blade's powerful freezing enchantment also served to close the gaping wound it left behind. A grin seemed to appear on the troll's face, as if realizing that the human's sword was of little harm to it. What it did not realize was the sword's other ability. Lucien laughed at the ugly creature's feebly attempted to counter with a stab while he was still under its right arm. The longsword known as the "Squall of the North" had a secondary enchantment that took effect as the Ice troll's movements began to look sluggish and weighty. Lucien drew his concealed dagger while he spun around on his left foot, putting him back to back against the frosted skin of the troll's back. Slowed but determined, the troll strained to its right to see where its opponent had gone. Unfortunately for this Ice troll, it would not have a chance to realize the deadly mistake it had made. Lucien spun around again, but this time leaped onto the icy back of the creature, plunging the dagger deep into its twisted larynx. This weapon was not enchanted of cold and instead burned deep into the flesh of the vile creature, magically oozing viscous acid as Lucien completed the slit. Never had Lucien heard such unrecognizable death throes as the creature collapsed on its back with its sharp claws around its own neck.

"Do you always have to make it look so ugly?" Arianna winced as she growled weakly. Her wounds were deep, and blood covered her elaborately ornamented gown.

"I'm sorry, I'll try to keep it clean the next time..." Lucien paused to sheathe his blades before completing his sentence out under his breath, "your Highness." He reached into his pouch for a potion of healing and tossed it over to the beautiful, but ever annoying mage. "Drink it before you die."

"Aww... such concern? I'm touched" Arianna quipped sarcastically before gulping down healing potion. ".... I'm sorry. I guess I'm still just sore about getting this beautiful robe torn... again. Thanks" said Arianna as she tried to blink repeatedly to look sincere. It would have been convincing, if not for the blood-depleted paleness on her face. Her wounds began to heal, but slowly. She was no longer in danger of bleeding to death, but she had already lost much blood.

Sounds of fighting at the other end of the corridor ceased. Dalon, paladin of Lathander emerged from the shadows with his white armor splattered liberally with troll blood. "If you guys were done here, you could have come over to h..." He stopped as soon as he saw Arianna leaning bloodied against an icy rock. "Arie!!" he cried as he sprinted over.

"How did this happen!? You were supposed to protect her!" He glared angrily at the figure of Lucien. Quickly, he removed his gauntlet as placed his hand over her wound. A glow of mystic energy flowed from his hands onto her wounds and he made a earnest prayer to Lathander, the Morninglord. His healing hands had mended her wounds completely, and Arianna's face began to regain her rosy complexion as her blood was quickly regenerated by divine powers.

"Oh don't be angry at Lucien." Arianna said as she placed her loving gaze upon the knight in white armor. "We were taken by surprise, and I would have been dead if Lucien hadn't.... where's Lucien? He was just...-"

Before she could even turn to look around for their shadowy companion, Dalon held her up and embraced her. "Don't worry, He'll be fine. Besides, I'm here now..."

Lucien pulled his cowl over his head as he watched the pair tightly locked in each other's arms. In the silence and the shadows, only his inner thoughts were heard. One screaming for him to fight for the woman he loved. The other, reminding him of the friendship he would ruin as a consequence. The two thoughts fought each other bitterly every time he peered out of the shadows at them. He froze just as was about to step out of the shadows to interrupt them. "BE SILENT!" He commanded his thoughts.

Being a skilled Assassin also meant that he had to be practical. Lethality above beauty and swiftness above all else. No second thoughts for emotions. That was the way he survived the brutal and cruel streets of Athkala, and this is how he will continue to survive. There was no space for emotional entanglements and no time to hesitate. Besides, he thought, the knight would be able to offer her all the ornate gowns and beautiful robes she'd ever want. Riches a scum like him wouldn't be able to.

Lucien slipped back into the shadows, looked away, and silently treaded ahead of them. "To scout passage for more dangers," was the excuse that held the civil war of thoughts at a ceasefire.

He inched away further into the icy cavern's passage, letting the darkness enshroud him, and the scene of the pair's embrace behind him.




Hahaha! How's my piece of writing? Its been a long time since I wrote short stories like these.

Haven't really thought of a title.... hmmm. listening to the rain... 8:31 PM 0 comments

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I was bored.... so...

I did a personality test.

Anthony is motivated by his ability to lead groups and influence others around him. He is someone who takes the responsibility of leadership seriously when it is given to him, and is typically able to make important decisions without delay. He exudes confidence and others respond to Anthony's natural ability to be a front runner.

Anthony is an optimistic individual. He is the type of person who loves exploring new places or things and a wide variety of experiences. He tends to display a natural charisma that draws others to his charm. Anthony is a very encouraging person; others are drawn to him because they find him inspirational.

Anthony takes a flexible approach in his dealings with others and he is willing to pursue different avenues to maintain good relationships. While he is patient and will not usually rush, Anthony is not afraid to actively seek new solutions if previous methods do not fit the current situation.

Anthony will usually test ideas against proven standards in an effort to be inventive; and can be very creative as he identifies new solutions to problems. He is an original and creative thinker, but acts in a rational way to make sure desired results are achieved in an orderly manner; although he is not afraid to "break the mold" if that appears to be the key to a solution.

I didn't know I was that adventurous... HUr. listening to the rain... 1:11 AM 0 comments

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Cobwebs Part 2

I think my blog has become somewhat a spider cave.. hoho.

First and foremost, I would like to push the blame on BLOGGER. For being so slow whenever I wanna update. I'd wait for the create post page to load until the cows come home or until i get fed up, shut down and go to sleep. So its blogger's fault for being slow.

Anyways, its been one long week for archery and pain for me. I spent Monday-Thursday shooting in school. Hopefully, I'd be ready to shoot for the Poly-ITE competition in October. It would be a FITA 900 shoot, which means I need to endure 3 rounds of shooting. Which is more about 90 arrows! Tiring!

About the Pain part.. an old injury surfaced again. My left achilles tendon got hurt again, and began to hurt. Now, I totally remember my experience with it the last time in the US. It hurt, like HELL. So before that could happen, I rested on Friday and took some anti-inflammation medication. That plan worked well and im about 75% recovered already. I don't know how this happens, and I don't wanna know why. YET.

So by this morning, I had recovered enough to help out at SPDP, AND head over the Zhenghua to support the rest of the archers.

Alright, I guess I've dusted enough cobwebs for now. Time to let the spiders rebuild. listening to the rain... 12:03 AM 0 comments

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