Singapore Rebel

So there's this short doc, about 25 minutes long, banned in Singapore, called Singapore Rebel. It's about opposition politician Chee Soon Juan and his challenges trying to organize through a political party here. You can view the whole video at:
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-8057768553173785296&q=singapore+rebel

Even if the voiceover talks way too quickly sometimes and the narrative is short and very focused on this individual, it's a very compelling film. Censorship laws in Singapore prevent the release of any local film that deals with party political politics or is deemed to be partisan or that deals with race and could ignite stronger racial tensions.

The filmmaker, Martyn See, has now made another political film called Zahari's 17 Years, about journalist Said Zahari, who participated in Singapore's struggle for independence and was arrested in 1963 for allegedly being a communist, then detained without trial for 17 years.

The more i am reminded of Singapore's colonial and initial postcolonial history, the more striking it is to me how, in just 2 generations or so, things have changed so much as to have been so successful in stifling dissent and militant radicalism.

Bummer.