Thio Li-ann on Free Speech, Social Values and Sustainable Democracy

• Main Author: Knowledge@SMU
• Format: text
• Language: English
• Published: Institutional Knowledge at Singapore Management University 2009
• Subjects: Law
• Online Access: https://ink.library.smu.edu.sg/ksmu/241; https://ink.library.smu.edu.sg/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1240&context=ksmu
• Institution: Singapore Management University

It has been two years since Thio Li-ann delivered the parliamentary speech that would thrust her into the epicentre of a nationwide debate. Her arguments for the continued criminalisation of homosexual acts in Singapore earned her both praises and death threats. And it was perhaps this incident that first led her to scrutinise, more deeply than before, the notion of free speech in society. "Equality is a fundamental tenet that we all have, as citizens of a democracy. But what happens if you have a bigger amplifier or a louder voice than I do? Can speech kill speech?" she asked the crowd of SMU students who had gathered to hear her speak about sustainable democracy, the right of free speech, and of course, the "destructive" side to secularism. --------------------------------------------------------------------------------