Tuesday, July 20, 2010
freedom of expression
so british author alan shadrake got arrested for criminal defamation and contempt of court because of his book about the death penalty in singapore. to be sure, the book "alleges double standards in Singapore’s use of the death penalty", and is not against the death penalty per se. (i got the phrase in quotations off the net, of course, since i do not have access to the book.)
not one who blogs a lot on such serious stuff, and still unable to come up with an opinion on this issue after 4 years of law school, i shall only state the obvious: cries for freedom and liberty are nifty soundbites that resonate very well and have a certain attraction. however, freedom and liberty is never absolute. absolute freedom leads to absolute chaos and results in a complete loss of freedom. ironically, it is through limits to freedom where we can enjoy the most liberty.
so british author alan shadrake got arrested for criminal defamation and contempt of court because of his book about the death penalty in singapore. to be sure, the book "alleges double standards in Singapore’s use of the death penalty", and is not against the death penalty per se. (i got the phrase in quotations off the net, of course, since i do not have access to the book.)
not one who blogs a lot on such serious stuff, and still unable to come up with an opinion on this issue after 4 years of law school, i shall only state the obvious: cries for freedom and liberty are nifty soundbites that resonate very well and have a certain attraction. however, freedom and liberty is never absolute. absolute freedom leads to absolute chaos and results in a complete loss of freedom. ironically, it is through limits to freedom where we can enjoy the most liberty.