This is the Channel NewsAsia (CNA) report: Two bloggers charged under Sedition Act over racist remarks.

“This charge came as a shock to many in the blogging community.

Said Singaporean blogger Benjamin Lee (Mr Miyagi): ‘A lot of them will be looking at their blogs and wondering if they made any legally seditious remarks. I think because of the way this will be played up, it's negative publicity for the Singapore blogging community.'

“‘Currently if you surf the net you will come across a lot of bloggers making such comments. You will probably see a drop in such cases henceforth. At the moment I am not aware of any cases except of a case in Iran where bloggers are charged. But Iran has a different legal system from Singapore,' said Leonard Loo, managing partner of Leonard Loo & Co Advocates & Solicitors.”

The issue also made it onto the U.S. techno-news blog Slashdot, with popular Singaporean blogger Mr Miyagi mentioned in one of the comments. The comments on Slashdot have been fast and furious and, to quote Singapore Angle, “most of it very…American.”

And it seems that some Americans have not forgotten the caning of Michael Fay's backside, or our infamous chewing gum laws.

Here are some of the reactions from the online communities:

Moderator of popular Singapore Delphi Forum Sammyboy's Alfresco Coffee Shop says: “Based on the the list, just about every mother's son and daughter who has ever posted any messages here will soon be in jail.”

Singapore blogger based in Hongkong, Little Cart Noodles, says:

“I long for the day when Singaporeans can engage in active debate over social and national issues, and question the Government, without fear of persecution, direct or indirect.

But for now, the idiots who insult my Malay friends can fry.”

Singapore Angle, says:

“My gut feeling is that the unhappiness that is bound to be generated will be driven by the lack of transparency. People are going to ask: “Just what did the two post that make them deserving of such a serious charge?” And if the details are not forthcoming–as they usually are not–non-netizens will simply do the easy thing and draw the worse conclusions–about the morals of “bloggers” and netizens in general, or about the “climate of fear” in Singapore.”

Tym, says “The personal is political”:

“Be personal, be political, certainly be responsible, and pray very hard that no one finds you seditious. Be aware that you can't just say anything, but don't let it stop you from saying the things that need to be said. Be a good citizen. Be engaged. Love your country.

Don't scared.”

Singapore metablog Tomorrow.sg has a growing list of blogs and sites covering the case.

And e pur si muove has a wiki for this case on his blog too.

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Some of the debates go right to the heart of issues like whether it is an accepted practice to link to blogs without the need for asking for permission, whether is is morally acceptable, and privacy issues.

The post has attracted high readership and a great deal of participation in the comments section. There are also many spillover posts in other Singapore blogs on this matter. Try Geekazoid who is very upset at having been linked without permission (very strong language).

Idle Days, one of Tomorrow's editors, posts some reaction to the controversy. An excerpt:

All I can say that this ‘debate’ has been of much interesting and in some ways slightly baffling one to me (for all the reasons I have stated here) and of course when you look at metablogs like boing boing, Slashdot, Metafilter, etc, you hardly see cries of foul play in their comments. If readers and those bloggers whose posts have appeared in these metablogs demanded permission, they would have gone the way of the dinosaur by now. Perhaps as Singaporean bloggers, we simply don’t get blogging after all.

Adrian Loo at A Life Uncommon finds such reactions arrogant:

Tomorrow, in propounding its linking policy appears to have been caught up in its own expectations of its own rights, without due regard to the rights of others, many of whom provide the substance from which Tomorrow draws its breath.

An anonymous commenter at Adrian Loo's blog disagrees:

Pray tell, how could it be that they are advocating an absolute rights model which theirs triumph over all others when the very tag (”tomorrow I’m not free”) that they respect is created by a blogger, not themselves? If that’s not acceptance and respect of bloggers who do not want to be linked, I don’t know what is.

“tomorrow I’m not free” is a logo some bloggers use to indicate that they do not wish to be linked to by Tomorrow.sg.

The trackbacks beneath Tomorrow.sg's linking policy post show just some of the Singapore blogs and forums discussing this topic (with passionate comments and debates igniting at these places as well). There are other Singapore blogs that discuss this issue, but because those blog owners have indicated that they do not wish to be linked by Tomorrow.sg, they are not linked to.

What do bloggers around the world think of this debate? Are similar problems cropping up in other countries? Please hit the “comments” button and let us know!!

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