"A threatened libel suit against a blogger by a Singapore government agency has raised concerns among international press freedom groups that the city-state might be cracking down against dissent on the internet.

A*Star, the city-state's science and technology agency, has set a deadline of Monday for a student who criticised its scholarship system and policies on his web log to make an "unreserved and sincere apology" or else be sued in what would be one of the first such cases in Asia against a blogger.

Blogging and libel laws are also emerging as a key legal issue in the US and Europe.

"Such intimidation could make the country's blogs as timid and obedient as the traditional media," said Paris-based Reporters without Borders, which last year placed Singapore at the bottom of developed countries on press freedom.

Chen Jiahao, a former government scholarship student studying chemical physics at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, has already shut down his blog and apologised to A*Star and its head, Philip Yeo, for "having hosted or made remarks that Mr Yeo felt were defamatory to him and the agency that he leads".

But A*Star said the apology was unsatisfactory since Mr Chen's blog contained "untrue and serious accusations against A*Star, its officers and other parties, which went way beyond fair comment".

International press freedom groups are watching the case since blogs could challenge the Singapore government's tight media controls.

"We are troubled that the government has raised the spectre of costly legal action to chill commentary on the internet," said the New York-based Committee to Protect Journalists.

Government officials have had a successful record of winning libel suits against foreign and domestic media critics in local courts. Singapore's "defamation laws make it relatively easy for some plaintiffs to win", said the US State Department in its latest human rights report on Singapore.

"Threats of defamation actions often persuaded newspapers and others to apologise and pay damages for perceived slights, a situation that prompted general caution in expressing dissent," the report said.

But A*Star defended its libel threat, saying it had "the responsibility to protect its reputation and also that of Singapore".

The government is investigating another blog by a top government scholarship student in the US after he allegedly made racial slurs against Singapore's Indian and Malay minorities. No action has yet been announced in that case.

Blogging has taken on more importance in Singapore as the government recently said it wants to encourage debate. "We want the people to be involved, to discuss, to understand and to have a view," said Lee Hsien Loong, the prime minister, last week."

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Somehow the whole thing just makes me sad, and worried and horribly eager to get out of here. What exactly is wrong with having an opinion??

That said, I haven't actually read what exactly the guy said regarding A*Star. But I think it's valid to have an opinion about the actions and choices of others - whereas I believe the other guy making racial slurs deserves worse because race and religion isn't something people can change about themselves and doesn't deserve to be denigrated.

And even if he wrote whatever he wrote, without any basis for his statements, A*Star reacting so violently is so petty and silly. It's just a blog, for god's sakes. If he'd actually been working for them or on a scholarship from them then he'd have been legally bound not to say anything, and then this blog could have become a dooce case. (to be dooced is to lose one's job because of one's website. dooce.com is a lovely website, btw, and heather's daughter is the most adorable kid ever.) But they could've just ignored it and said that he has no grounds for complaint and just moved on. But being so incredibly pompous is really a pain in the ass.

And it scares me that blogs might start to come under legal purview. Because blogs are usually very candid, atleast mine is, and if we're going to be aware that there's this government staring into our blogs it just makes things so Big Brother-like. Which is just fucked up.

So much for freedom of speech, being involved, discussing, debating, having a view.

Now I will try and find out what exactly the guy said on his blog.

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In other news, last night I finished my econs essay, finally. So there's Lit S, Frost (very overdue), European History term paper and Kwok position paper left to go. Lit S and EuroHist due tomorrow.

Discuss the probability of me finishing either one by tomorrow.

Today, I slept. A Lot. Through math lec, utterly dead to the world on my table in the classroom while (most of) the rest of the class attended the lecture. Then sleepwalked to j8 for lunch, which woke me up. After school, panicked for a while about essays due and then went home, where I fell asleep for more than two hours.

After which I -didn't- go for my run because my mom made me sit on her bed instead and advise her on wardrobe for her trip to Chiangmai. Anyway am very tired, still. One week, almost, of 1am nights. I need to reform.

Ok you know what. Probability of finishing essays tonight is nil, despite all my grand plans. Because I am going to go through the EuroHist tutorial reading thing, and then I am going to sleep.