Newspapers in Singapore: a mass ceremony in the imagining of the nation

Abstract

This discussion examines the ideology and practices of the mass daily press in Singapore within the socio-political context of ‘imagining’ the nation (Anderson, 1991). Most discussions see Singapore’s press as synonymous with the strict controls under which it operates; however, even this is rarely examined within the context of its interaction with the larger agenda of nation-building. Yet, when Brigadier General (BG) Lee Hsien Loong (then Trade and Industry Minister; Second Minister for Defence) outlined his mandate for the national press before members of the Singapore Press Club (Lee, 1988), he made it very clear that their primary purpose was to ‘contribute to nation building. Anyone endeavouring to do this and working towards these goals can hold his head high in the full confidence that his is an honourable profession’. There are three main parts to this discussion. In the first, I will establish the presence of the mass press in the daily lives of Singaporeans, and its position within the imagining of the nation. I will then unpack how specifically that position within the national agenda has been defined and practised. The last section focuses on the various forms of control on the press, and how the government’s intervention is conditioned by the socio-political and ideological climate of the nation.