Behold! Merlion is everywhere!!

剛剛看到昨天FT的一篇報導開始：Singapore threatens to sue internet dissenter。我看了一下新聞內容，發現原來是上星期在Singapore.Ink看到過的一篇報導-一個新加坡的blogger被新加坡政府的A*Star(科學技術局)威脅為他在blog上的不正確發言道歉，不然就要告他。

A*Star, the city-state's science and technology agency, has set a deadline of Monday for a student who criticised its scholarship system and policies on his web log to make an "unreserved and sincere apology" or else be sued in what would be one of the first such cases in Asia against a blogger.

FT的新聞是這麼寫的，不過，那個學生到底是寫了什麼呢？

我在網路上循線查了一下，發現他原來的blog-AcidFlask-已經被迫關閉，並且換上一封長長的道歉信，所以我也無從知道他原來是寫些什麼東西。不過從Tomorrow這邊看到一個他寫「新加坡國大美女短缺」的部分節錄，我想，也不過是個學生發發牢騷的地方(而且還沒寫成歌呢...)，而且NUS漂亮的女生不少阿，他應該常到社會系這邊走走的。而在Singabloodypore這邊則有一篇比較完整的「事件回顧」，而且是作者Brose自己寫的。下面這段話應該可以比較知道他原先到底是寫些什麼：

Out of over 400 posts on my blog, perhaps ten or so mentioned Mr. Yeo or A*STAR by name. All of these posts were opinionated commentary (based on fact!) on policies made by A*STAR. One of my comments was on A*STAR's scholarship system. A*STAR gives out scholarships to prospective undergraduates to study technical majors both in Singapore and in reputable institutions abroad. Last year A*STAR instituted a new policy requiring their scholars to maintain a 3.8 grade point average (between A- and A average). Having been a scholar at one point in time, I felt that this was unnecessarily draconian and even counterproductive, as this would unduly influence students to pick easy classes over more challenging (and hence more enriching) classes, and said so on my blog.

我沒看到原文，所以不知道他是用何種口氣陳述事實的，不過，像這樣批評公費獎學金的文章，hello uk上頭應該不少吧，也沒看到教育部出來威脅人過。想來，還是台灣的言論尺度比較..咳..

本來，A*STAR還拒絕這學生那「不俱悔意」的道歉(這年頭道歉真難)，後來大概是礙於國際新聞媒體注目的壓力吧，還是勉強地接受了。只是，這個「律師國家」這幾天才說要「匯集民意、查納雅言」呢，這樣一搞，又要讓大家對李顯龍的態度打些折扣了。不過，「民意」這東西本來就是國家論述計畫中的一個重要「宣洩管道」，就像長水痘一樣，出過一次就沒事了。

啥？你不同意喔。小心我sue你喔！