1. Mass Media In Asia COMM2379
Group Presentation – SINGAPORE
Lecturer: Christian Berg
Group Members:
Tran Nguyen Ly (s3309992)
Ha Thi Ngoc Ning (s3311637)
Lam Ngoc Hai Son (s3312617)
Le Minh Nhut (s3245998)

2. Table Of Content
• Historical Background
• Media Industry Insight
• The Role of Media
• Implications
• Conclusion

3. Historical Background
• Population: 4.4 million
people.
• Ethnicity: 75% Chinese, 14%
Malay, 9% Indian, 2% others.
• Language: English
(main), Malay, Chinese and
Tamil.
• Very small area (648 km2)
• Literacy rate: 95.9% in 2010.
(Dayley & Neher 2010)

4. Historical Background
• Colonized by British in 19th century.
• Declare independence in 1963 and joined the Federation
of Malaysia.
• Political differences => separated from Malaysia 2 years
later.
Faced the challenge of surviving without Malaysia
Principle resource: human resource
Nation-building is extremely crucial
• Political culture: authoritarian democracy (Kluver &
Banerjee 2005) with the People’s Action Party (PAP) is the
leading political party.

5. Media Industry: Traditional Media
 Print media:
Local Press:
• Singapore Press Holdings (SPH) and MediaCorp
dominate all local print and broadcast media, which
has close government ties.
• As of 2008, there are 16 newspapers in active
circulation published in all 4 languages.
*** Press Model ***
Developmental outside, authoritarian inside
(Bokhorst-Heng 2008)

6. Magazines & Books:
• A variety of magazines are available.
• Most deal with general topics and issues related to the
ruling party and its government policies.
Foreign Publications:
• Regulations on importing foreign
newspapers.
• there is still a ban on the sale and
distribution of Malaysian newspapers
(e.g. The New Strait Times).

7. Broadcast Media: Radio
• Started in 1936
• Expanded to 18 locally operated
radio stations
• Owned by MediaCorp,
UnionWorks, and Safra Radio
• Foreign broadcasters: BBC
World Service
• Modes of Delivery: Analogue,
Digital and Satellite and Internet
Reproduced from:
Keshishoglou & Aquilia 2005

8. Broadcast Media: Television
• Started in 1963
• Owned by MediaCorp and
MediaWorks.
• All 7 free-to-air local TV is by
MediaCorp – gov owned
Channel NewsAsia – also owned by
MediaCorp
• No private ownership of satellite disks
The Media Development Authority (MDA)
regulates broadcast media.

9. Media Industry: New Media
• As of June 2010, there are 6,791,000 broadband Internet
subscribers with 82% household broadband penetration
(IDA Singapore 2011).
• Most newspaper publications have their own online
editions.
• NGO and alternative news are being expressed (e.g. New
Sintercom, Think Centre, Singapore Window, etc.)
The MDA also regulates the
Internet through the Media
Development Authority of
Singapore Act.

10. Media-Government Relationship
• Media is considered to be an aid to government in the
process of nation-building (Kenyon & Majoribanks 2007).
• Media is expected to conform to an agenda determined by
government. (Lee 2005)
Rather than freedom of the
press from government, the
approach in Singapore is
‘freedom of government from
the press’.
(Lee Hsien Loong 1987).

11. => Freedom With Responsibility
• This approach has resulted in creating a culture of self-
censorship among media practitioners and codes of
practice.
• The industry is encouraged to be socially responsible and to
take adequate steps to ensure that content meets with
community standards.
7th in the world’s least corrupted
country but ranked 136th and
150th in press freedom.
(RSF 2010, Freedom House 2011)

12. The Role of Media
• Economic: To become a global media hub and a
total business center.
• Social: To spread public consciousness as an
educational and entertainment tool for people.
• Political: To play as an assistant in governmental
activities and elections.
(Ang & Nadarajan 1996)

13. Implications
• New media = More democratic practice?
The Internet holds the potential to give opposition parties
equal footing to the ruling parties as well as the press
(Gomez & Muhamad 2010).
‘For the first time since independence, a majority of
Singaporeans got to vote’ (Juan 2011) – Leader of
Singapore’s Democratic Party.

15. Implications
• Mass media in danger of decline
The Straits Times daily sales, which stood 391,612 in
1998, had fallen to 365,800 in 2010 despite the addition of
half a million new residents (Nee 2011).
Lianhe Zaobao's dropped by 4.6 percent between 2006 and
2009 (Nee 2011).
• Singapore Media in Globalization:
The Media 21 (2003) & The Media Fusion Plan (2009)
by the MDA.

16. Conclusion

17. Reference
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Technological University, Singapore, Vol. 39, No.6, pp. 72- 78.
Article 19 2005, Freedom of Expression and The Media In Singapore, Article 19 Publications, London, UK.
Bokhorst-Heng, W 2002, ‘Newspapers In Singapore: A Mass Ceremony In The Imagining Of The Nation’, Media Culture Society, Sage
Publications, Vol. 24, No. 4, pp. 559-569.
Dayley, R & Neher, C 2010, ‘Singapore’, Southeast Asia in The New International Era, Westview Press, US, pp. 159-178.
Gomez, J & Muhamad R 2010, ‘New Media and Electoral Democracy: Online Opposition in Malaysia and Singapore’, Academia, US.
Juan, C 2011, ‘Singapore is taking the first steps to true democracy’, The Guardian UK, 10 May, viewed 22 December
2011, <http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2011/may/10/singapore-election-democracy-new-media>.
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Lee, HL 1987, When the Press Misinforms, Singapore: Information Division, Ministry of Communications and Information, Singapore.
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Nee 2011, ‘Singapore print media stands at a crossroads’, The China Post, 6 June, viewed 22 December
2011, <http://www.chinapost.com.tw/commentary/the-china-post/special-to-the-china-post/2011/06/06/305142/p2/Singapore-
print.htm>.
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2, pp. 217-242.