OB marker

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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.

Two topics known to be permanently out of bounds are race and religion. For example, the rules for Singapore's Speakers Corner state that:

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]

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

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

Singaporean 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.

[edit] 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.