LESSONS LEARNED OVERSEAS: The secret police and a state run media…
Top photo: My daughter Mariel traveled with us overseas for the first part of her remarkable tiny little life…
While living and working in Southeast Asia, we took time off to visit Singapore, a wonderful city, free from virtually all sidewalk crimes, yet perhaps overly sterile…
Compared to the dirty run-down, yet carefree, neighborhoods of downtown Bangkok, where I took residence, orderly Singapore was the complete opposite. Outside our Bangkok home were multiple lanes of never ending congested traffic (people think Cape Cod has traffic problems, they have no idea…), mother and baby elephants, street venders, prostitutes, monks in saffron robes seeking alms, police, refugees from Laos and Cambodia, Chinese expats, Japanese businessmen, Sikh Indian textile merchants, diplomats and criminals from every nation near and far…
“You must have felt much safer while in Singapore,” a buddy next to me on a sidewalk bar stool in Bangkok asserted one afternoon, staring at his sweating bottle of formaldehyde laced beer. It was over 100 degrees outside that particular day. (In tropical Asian cities, formaldehyde was used as a clarifying agent and preservative in certain brands of beer back then… not so much these days…) Despite the unbearable heat and humidity, we drank outside on the busy sidewalks on our way home from work. It would be our only chance to be outside all day. Soon we would be at home inside our air conditioned luxury apartments for a quick dip in the pool, or time in the gymnasium or on the squash court before dressing for dinner. The rest of the evening was spent inside the climate controlled interiors of dining rooms or vehicles stuck in traffic. Maids would see to shopping, laundry, cooking, child care, etc… For Americans, it was a charmed life… but it had its dangers and inconveniences for some of us (On one occasion, a friend from Cape Cod stopped by and stayed over for a bit of rest on his way home after his building was blown up by terrorists in a nearby city in the general region, not far from Thailand. He was lucky to have survived, others were not as fortunate).
I remember briefly pondering my sidewalk drinking buddy’s assertion, did I feel safer while visiting Singapore? The answer was no. No, I did not feel safer there — even though it was considered one of the safest cities in the region at that time — and I did not attempt to explain to him why I thought the way I did… He was not an ‘American’ and in those days I needed to be careful of what I said in public. Patriotic Americans were despised in many circles. Even back then, representatives from other less fortunate nations or unfriendly organizations were always quick to jump on anything contradictory coming out of an American’s mouth… yes, even while relaxing and drinking at some sweltering sidewalk bar – especially while “relaxing and drinking” at some sidewalk bar!
In the early to mid-1990s, there was no question, the streets of Singapore were nearly free from all types of sidewalk borne crimes. You could walk down the street waiving hundred dollar bills and singing “I’m a Yankee Doodle Dandy” and your chances of being mugged or robbed of your money were practically zero… In fact, the words you were singing were more likely to cause you problems than anything else…
Visiting Singapore I only remember seeing uniformed police on one occasion. There were about 8 or 9, and they quickly descended on several young men on the sidewalk outside a music store. The police then disappeared as quickly and neatly as they had arrived. It was strange not to see uniformed patrol officers in such a large city, yet you knew the police were all around you.
So why did I not feel completely safe in Singapore? Because in Singapore we were always being watched. The secret police didn’t think of themselves as menacing and professed to have good intentions. We had no choice but to take them at their word. And I would have loved to believe in them, but I simply couldn’t bring myself to fully trusting their legal system… In fact, I could not bring myself to have trust in most foreign legal systems while working outside of the United States.
…and here’s why:
In Singapore, and other Asian countries, there were/are restrictions on the freedom of speech. Singapore allows “reporting,” as long as it’s in line with a set agenda and ideas regarding what the government considers to be in the best interests of national security. An American who’s sensitive to the true practice of civil liberties and the freedom of speech can sense even the slightest form of repression when walking about in a place like Singapore.
To be fair, the streets in Singapore were “safe,” clean, and strikingly well organized, right down to the timely efficiency of the double-decker buses… but at what price?
I unfortunately did not have much time to spend there and find out, but would never forget how uncomfortable I felt being watched and scrutinized all the time, much more so than in other foreign cities. (Let me clarify that, you’re watched in other foreign cities, but usually by the criminals, not the government so much… on the other hand, in at least one place I’ve lived, ‘government’ and ‘criminals’ are synonymous terms.)
Thailand was more tolerant of the freedom of expression, but even in Bangkok there were strict limits.
Without going into details here, terrible things have happened to people all over certain parts of Asia just for speaking or thinking contrary to others. My experiences living overseas, from Mexico to Thailand, was that people would sometimes disappear and never be seen or heard from again, just for saying or standing for something they believed in.
In short, it’s hard to completely trust and feel secure under any government which practices censorship and places restrictions on the freedom of speech.
Which is why I returned after five years overseas with a renewed appreciation for our ways back home.
In 1789, the First Amendment to the United States Constitution was adopted under what is known as the Bill of Rights. It reads:
“Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.”
In other words, government entities cannot censor, edit, nor choose who takes on the role of being a member of the press. For example, government issued press passes are by their very nature contrary to the spirit of the First Amendment.
If, lets say, a police department could choose who had the right to publish information relating to what they do, there would be the danger of censorship through favoritism. In some cases, news agencies like Hyannis News, which tends to be partial and sympathetic to the cause of law enforcement, could have an unfair advantage in gathering information.
And there is also the question of the free flow of information kept and maintained by government agencies…
Our founding fathers believed an informed citizen was better prepared to participate in our democracy. Both federal and state laws provide for the free exchange of information between the government and the public. The “press” are members of the public… If information is released to one press agency, it is fair to expect it will be released to other press agencies requesting it.
Problems come when personalities and prejudices are allowed to hamper the reasonable and timely flow of press information. When one agency is denied access to information through coy methods of interference and exclusion, the freedom of the press becomes corrupted by favoritism. Favoritism is a form of censorship.
Another way to look at it… is that each press agency has its own unique readership; when a government agency chooses one press agency over another, it is essentially choosing one readership over another.
We must always value and be reminded of how fortunate we are to have our Constitution with its Bill of Rights.
Our Constitutional Rights are not optional and should never be taken for granted.
Having lived all over this planet, I’ve come to realize, painfully, why our forefathers put their lives on the line to establish and maintain certain rights.
I too would put my life on the line in a heartbeat to protect our freedoms. Count on it.
12/21/2014
Robert Bastille,
P.S. – Today's HyTown Vignette is brought to you by Led Zeppelin... [Blast it!]
