SE Asian writers say they censor themselves<\/p>\n
SINGAPORE (UPI): A panel of acclaimed Southeast Asian writers
\nmeeting in Singapore Friday said they struggle more with self-
\ncensorship than with direct government stifling of their work.<\/p>\n
\"We do it to ourselves before it can be done to us,\" Malaysian
\nnovelist Shirley Lim said, referring to Southeast Asian writers
\nwho use excessive caution for fear of government persecution.<\/p>\n
The mostly Malaysian and Singaporean writers participating in
\nthe forum sponsored by the Singapore Foreign Correspondents
\nAssociation hail from two countries that have worldwide
\nreputations for curtailing freedom of expression.<\/p>\n
Malaysian columnist Karim Raslan said the wide \"inventory\" of
\nreligions and cultures in Malaysia and Singapore -- from Syrian
\nChristians to Indian Jews -- pressure some writers to avoid
\nsubjects that could spark ethnic strife.<\/p>\n
\"As you run through that inventory, you're constantly faced
\nwith the idea of self-censorship,\" he said.<\/p>\n
Singapore novelist Philip Jeyaretnam said publishers also
\ncensor themselves, fearing financial losses if they publish
\ncontroversial books that later might be banned by authorities.<\/p>\n
\"In Singapore there is a lot of self-censorship even before
\nyou get censorship,\" he said. \"This self-censorship is often that
\nof people with commercial interests, editors and publishers.\"<\/p>\n
Jeyaretnam said a Singapore publisher that had agreed to
\npublish his novel Abraham's Promise, which featured characters
\nusing racial epithets, had changed its mind just before printing
\nand offered him financial compensation.<\/p>\n
\"I am one of the few writers who has been paid not to
\npublish,\" he joked.<\/p>\n
The novel was later published by another Singapore company and
\nbecame one of the island republic's best-selling books.<\/p>\n
Lim, a Malaysian-born U.S. citizen, won the Commonwealth
\nPoetry Prize in 1980. Raslan, a popular columnist for Malaysia's
\nSun newspaper, recently published a collection of essays and
\nshort stories titled Cerita Malaysia in Translation.<\/p>",
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"sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com"
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