How do you define &quot;independent media&quot;? My impression is that the media industry in Singapore is near-centralized because of the size of the market. There&#x27;s really just not enough people to support multiple large news organizations.<p>I&#x27;m not sure if there&#x27;s anything that the media &quot;can&#x27;t report&quot;. When the government fucks up, the media reports it. When a terrorist escaped detention, it was reported. When soldiers die, it gets reported. When there&#x27;s corruption, it&#x27;s reported. [1] [2] [3].<p>What sort of event do you foresee happening that wouldn&#x27;t get  reported? The media even acknowledges the State&#x27;s past detentions-without-trial [4] [5]. There&#x27;s some visible bias, but it&#x27;s visible, and any intelligent person can infer that things are a little less tidy and clean.<p>I actually protested against some attempted media regulations a few years back. None of us were prosecuted, or worried about being prosecuted.<p>The people running our government are smart people. They know that they need to be respected and be seen as legitimate in the eyes of the people. You can&#x27;t really hide anything for long, and especially not somewhere as small as Singapore. The truth always comes out sooner or later. I dare say it&#x27;s far likelier that states like the USA hide things from their people– and that&#x27;s not a value judgement about the USA itself, but a statement about the difference in size of Govt. A tiny island-city-state can&#x27;t sustain the sort of epic state apparatus that would get up to crazy shit.<p>[1] <a href="http:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.straitstimes.com&#x2F;singapore&#x2F;ex-scdf-chief-peter-lim-found-guilty-of-corruption" rel="nofollow">http:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.straitstimes.com&#x2F;singapore&#x2F;ex-scdf-chief-peter-li...</a><p>[2] <a href="http:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.straitstimes.com&#x2F;singapore&#x2F;ex-mfa-protocol-chief-lim-cheng-hoe-sentenced-to-15-months-jail-for-cheating" rel="nofollow">http:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.straitstimes.com&#x2F;singapore&#x2F;ex-mfa-protocol-chief-...</a><p>[3] <a href="http:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.straitstimes.com&#x2F;singapore&#x2F;ex-cpib-assistant-director-edwin-yeo-jailed-10-years-for-criminal-breach-of-trust" rel="nofollow">http:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.straitstimes.com&#x2F;singapore&#x2F;ex-cpib-assistant-dire...</a><p>[4] <a href="http:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.straitstimes.com&#x2F;opinion&#x2F;revisiting-operation-coldstore" rel="nofollow">http:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.straitstimes.com&#x2F;opinion&#x2F;revisiting-operation-col...</a><p>[5] <a href="http:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.straitstimes.com&#x2F;singapore&#x2F;singapore-government-responds-to-allegations-by-ex-detainee-poh-soo-kai-on-operation" rel="nofollow">http:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.straitstimes.com&#x2F;singapore&#x2F;singapore-government-r...</a>