Asia Sentinel, 18 Mar 2009, John Berthelsen
Singapore again ousts the editor of the Asia Sentinel
You can say one thing for Singaporeans. They have long memories. And if you think the place is loosening up, think again.
In 1988 — 21 years ago — my projected three-year stint as the Asian Wall Street Journal's correspondent in Singapore ended two years early when the Singaporeans refused to grant me another work visa, and I was forced to leave the island republic to its own devices. Singapore does not now take kindly to the practice of independent journalism, and it didn't then. The media watchdog organization Reporters Without Borders ranks Singapore 140th out of 167 countries surveyed in terms of freedom of the press. The country has been kicking foreign journalists out for writing critical articles about the republic since the early 1970s.
Fast forward through three jobs and several countries to March 17, 2009 – Tuesday – when I flew to Singapore for a one-day stopover as a formality to getting a new visa for Indonesia. The bullfrog-faced woman at the country's immigration counter, an office that is among the world's fastest and most efficient – stiffened visibly when she entered my US passport into her computer, and immediately called for backup. Twenty-one years later, I was being bounced out of the country again. The Burmese general Thein Sein was luckier. The junta member got a warm welcome and an orchid named for him. Perhaps there was a mixup, or perhaps he banks there.
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