Singapore and TPP

Singapore is one of the countries involved in the whole TPP discussion. The other countries include Australia, Brunei, Canada, Chile, Japan, Malaysia, Mexico, New Zealand, Peru, the US and Vietnam. Prior to the class, I did not know of the TPP. However, when I searched about it online and on Singapore news websites, I could only read of the benefits it will bring. For example, that entering the agreement will "open up markets", "lower trade and investment barriers". Hence, I was at first rather confused as to why people in other country would be protesting TPP since it sounded like a good deal for countries. It was not until I research further (discussion forums, videos on youtube) that I realized that the TPP was not as simple as it presents itself to be. 

It was not just about trade and investments. It included many other aspects that could have a much farther reaching effect on commoners like us than we imagined. One such chapter mentioned and often protested was the chapter concerning intellectual property. As we all heard from Professor Piotr, this may pose a very serious problem to our everyday life, both online and offline. 

However, a great concern I have now is that Singaporeans are apparently not informed or even know of this threat. When I searched "TPP Singapore", there are almost no discussions of the possible harm and threats of entering TPP. There were only articles written by our press about the benefits of TPP.
Also, perhaps due to the fact that it is illegal to hold any form of protests in Singapore, there have been absolutely no protests to the TPP in Singapore, unlike countries like South Korea. 

This is an alarming find for me since my home country is similarly involved in the TPP but yet so many of us do not know of this secret deal that will affect us in time to come. It is scary to think that I  may not be able to download the music and videos that I like when I want to and this is an issue that I would have to bring up to the attention of my fellow Singaporeans!!!