At the end of his eight-day visit to Singapore, United Nations official Githu Muigai criticised the Republic's limits on free speech. "It is absolutely necessary in a free society that restrictions on public debate or discourse and the protection of racial harmony are not implemented at the detriment of fundamental human rights, such as the freedom of expression and the freedom of assembly," said the UN's Special Rapporteur on Contemporary Forms of Racism, Racial Discrimination, Xenophobia and Related Intolerance. Full Story

Nominated MP Viswa Sadasivan, who used to cover elections for Singapore's national broadcaster in his first career as a current affairs television producer, said in Parliament that the "cooling off" period should apply to his old employers and other mainstream media, and not just to the political parties. Their news coverage was inherently "subjective in nature", he said. Law Minister K Shanmugam defended the credibility of Singapore's national media before the House passed the Bill that would ban campaigning – but not news reports – on the eve of Polling Day. Full Story

Singaporeans For Democracy has told the visiting UN Special Rapporteur on Racism that the situation here is less harmonious than the government makes it out to be. The group, spearheaded by activist James Gomez, said that the lack of freedom of expression was denying citizens the chance to discuss problems openly. Full Story