An OB marker, short for "out of bounds marker", is a term used in Singapore to denote what topics are permissible for public discussion. The full form of the word is rarely used.

The term is adopted from golf, where an out of bounds marker denotes the area beyond which playing is not allowed. However, unlike golf, the OB markers of Singaporean political discourse are not visible, and they thus become apparent only when trespassed, resulting in a strong rebuke from the government, typically labeling the trespasser "a partisan player in politics". An additional complication is introduced by the fact that OB markers may shift depending on the political climate, so a topic that was previously permissible may be banned in the future, and vica versa. This article is about the sport. ...

Two topics known to be permanently out of bounds are race and religion. For example, the rules for Singapore's Speakers Corner state that: To meet Wikipedias quality standards, this article or section may require cleanup. ... For the Canadian television series, see Speakers Corner. ...

The speech should not be religious in nature, and should not have the potential to cause feelings of enmity, hatred, ill-will or hostility between different racial or religious groups. ^[1]

This OB marker also includes the Internet, where 3 people were arrested and charged under the Sedition Act for posting racist comments on the Internet, and two subsequently sentenced to imprisonment in September 2005.^[2] The Sedition Act is in Chapter 290 of the Statues of Singapore. ... A prison is a place in which people are confined and deprived of a range of liberties. ... 2005 : January - February - March - April - May - June - July - August - September - October - November - December- → Deaths in September September 28 : Constance Baker Motley September 25 : M. Scott Peck September 25 : Don Adams September 20 : Simon Wiesenthal September 14 : Robert Wise September 10 : Hermann Bondi September 8 : Donald Horne September 7 : Moussa Arafat...

Other past and present topics widely considered out of bounds include:

• Corruption or other alleged failings in government^[3]
• Homosexuality^[4]

Political science researcher James Gomez has described OB markers as "unconstitutional: by subscribing to the idea of OB markers, people abandon their constitutional rights or risk having such rights abused."^[5] Adherence to OB markers is thus a form of self-censorship. James Gomez (born 1965, Singapore) is the Second Assistant Secretary-General and Chairman of the Policies and Communications Committee in the Workers Party of Singapore (WP). ... Self-censorship is the act of censoring and/or classifying ones own book(s), film(s), or other kind of art to avoid offending others without an authority pressuring them to do so. ...

Notable cases

Notable cases where the Singaporean government has flagged OB markers include:

• 1994: Catherine Lim's essay "The PAP and the people - A Great Affective Divide", alleging that the People's Action Party is not representative of the people. Prime Minister Goh Chok Tong warned her to join a political party if she wanted to air political views in public.

• 2006: Blogger mrbrown wrote the article "S'poreans are fed, up with progress!", for his weekly opinion column in Today concerning the rising costs of living in Singapore. The Ministry of Information, Communication and the Arts labeled him a "partisan player" whose views "distort the truth"^[6], and his column was suspended by the paper.

Catherine Lim (Chinese: 林宝音) is a Malaysian-born Singaporean, a Straits-born Chinese author, born in 1942, in Penang, Malaysia. ... Party logo with a symbol of red lightning that signifies action. ... Goh Chok Tong (Chinese: 吴作栋; (Simp. ... Lee Kin Mun, aka mrbrown, is a Singaporean blogger well known for his social and political commentary. ... Today is a free English-language newspaper in Singapore published by government-owned Mediacorp Press. ...

See also

• Censorship in Singapore
• Politics of Singapore

Censorship in Singapore mainly targets pornography, political, racial and religious issues. ... The politics of Singapore is based on a unitary state with some aspects modelled on the Westminster system of parliamentary government. ...

References

1. ^ "Reply to Questions in Parliament on Speakers' Corner,25 April 2000". Ministry of Home Affairs (press release), 25 April 2000.
2. ^ "Country Reports on Human Rights Practices 2005", The United States Department of State, retrieved 20 March 2006.
3. ^ Refer to Lee v. FEER
4. ^ "MDA bans gay website and fines another one", The Straits Times, 28 October 2005. By Chua Hian Hou (Posted on yawningbread.org)
5. ^ Gomez, Jamez (2000). Self-Censorship: Singapore's Shame. Singapore: Think Centre. ISBN 981-04-1739-X.
6. ^ "Letter from MICA: Distorting the truth, mr brown?", Ministry of Information, Communication and the Arts, Singapore, July 3, 2006.