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)