Culture screens influx of foreign information
Culture screens influx of foreign information
JAKARTA (JP): Visiting Singaporean Minister of Information and
the Arts said yesterday that culture serves the important
function of neutralizing the influx of foreign information.
George Yeo said that advancement in technology and
globalization had led to the rapid flow of information coming to
both Indonesia and Singapore, transmitted through satellite,
undersea cable and televisions.
No country could stop this influx, he said.
Speaking to reporters after a meeting with President Soeharto,
Yeo said both countries are able to select the appropriate
information through referring to their own culture, which serves
as a means of resistance.
Indonesia and Singapore have the ability to select the best
information using their cultures, but they have to be more
selective, he said.
Yeo, who was accompanied by his Indonesian counterpart
Harmoko, said that both countries could forge a good cooperation
to improve the countries' respective national resilience.
When asked about the importance of the cooperation between the
two countries, the minister explained that Indonesia and
Singapore has several similarities such as in politics and
culture.
The two countries also enjoy strong economic relations, he
said.
Yeo said that political stability, economic development and
equal dissemination of development were not only the three
important aspects for Indonesia, but also for the other countries
in Southeast Asia.
He said without those aspects, ASEAN, the Association of
Southeast Asia Nations which groups Indonesia, Singapore,
Thailand the Philippines, Brunei and Malaysia would not exist.
Yeo, who is also chairman of the youth generation of the
People's Action Party (PAP), believes that youth leaders in the
two countries should improve relations with their groups.
Warnings
In a related development, the Indonesian government has issued
warnings to two magazines, Forum Keadilan and Sinar, for their
coverage on the ban of Tempo, Editor and DeTIK magazines.
The letters, signed by Subrata, the Director General for Press
and Graphics at the Ministry of Information, said the two
magazines's coverage about the banning of the gazettes could
mislead their readers.
In the letter to Sinar, Subrata said the coverage was against
the "spirit of a healthy, free, and responsible press which we
together develop."
Sjam Alamsjah, Sinar's acting editor-in-chief told The Jakarta
Post yesterday that it was the first written warning given to the
magazine.
He said that the warning was nothing new for the editorial
department because it had received several oral warnings before.
He said that the magazine planned to pay more attention to the
journalism code of ethics in presenting its coverage.
Media sources earlier said that several other publications
have been warned about their coverage of the ban and of recent
unrest in East Timor. (par)