Month: August 2010

Random Discourse – Facebook Arrest & Blogger Clampdown

3 comments

If the government gahmen wants us to know that they monitor the social networking platforms and blog closely, and that it takes some of the things written seriously, it has certainly caught the attention of netizens. First, the arrest of Facebook user 27-year-old Abdul Malik Mohammed Ghazali (aka Malik Syasha Sotongz). He was charged for incitement of violence due to comments he made on Facebook where he had urged other users to ‘burn’ the MCYS mini$ter.

I will not comment on whether this overly outspoken sod meant it figuratively or literally. Neither will I speculate the outcome of the trial which he will go through since he is now officially charged. However, it is almost certain that local cyberspace (which I have come to view as overwhelmingly hostile to the powers-that-be) felt that the gahmen had over-reacted. To some, even the outcome of Abdul Malik’s trial is a already foregone conclusion.

Those who felt that Abdul Malik has meant his comment figuratively, would point to some comments made by the Prime Minister several years ago in an election rally about ‘fixing’ the opposition and cry foul over the alleged ‘double standards’ applied here. It really doesn’t matter to them that the authorities took Abdul Malik’s comments literally and seriously because a back-bencher MP from the ruling party was torched by an angry old ex-cabbie just a few years ago. As far as I am concerned, we can just expect criticisms to fly hot and furious in blogs, forums and the social networking platforms over the next few days regarding this matter. I personally wouldn’t be surprised if another few hotheads end up on the wrong side of the law for their comments over the matter.

As if this matter isn’t enough to fuel the fire… a blogger and NSman with the Singapore Police Force, Abdillah Zamzuri, was hauled in by his reservist unit for questioning. This is due to his blog post on the cuffing of Lianhe Wanbao photographer Shafie Goh. According to this article on xinmsn which reference exclusively to the rabidly anti-gahmen website Temasek Review, Zamzuri was charged for ‘Prejudice to the Conduct of Good Order/Discipline’. I find this article on xinmsn rather appalling, since it has no further updates on the matter, nor did it verify the source of the information other than referencing it to the Temasek Review, which in my opinion is extremely biased and rarely do a good job in ensuring that their articles are as factual as possible.

A fellow blogger pointed out that had Zamzuri not pointed out in his blog post that he is a reservist police officer, he might probably not be hauled in for questioning nor will he be charged. After all, what Zamzuri has done is the equivalent of commenting / criticising the employer (albeit in this case a part time one). In the private sector, a company may also press charges against employees when they openly criticised the company or another employee resulting in reputation loss.

I have a different and more simplistic view on both matters. Simply, the gahmen wants every netizen to be aware that it does monitor the Internet and it will not hesitate to act against netizens especially during the impending General Elections (GE). In my opinion, the ruling party has taken the lessons of the recent Malaysian GE seriously and is taking the steps to ensure one of the avenues (i.e. outspoken bloggers hostile to the gahmen) that brought about the disastrous showing of the Barisan Nasional (BN) will not happen here.

In a discussion with fellow blogger ErniesUrn on Facebook, he point out that this is ‘scare mongering’ and it cannot prevent a political tsunami (i.e. voters voting the other way) from happening, if it is to happen at all. To use high handed tactics (ranging from red tape, censorship etc.) to get the results desired would defeat the purpose of becoming democratic society and is counter productive to whatever targets that have been set – such as promoting Singapore to be a regional hub for Information, Arts and Culture, and even Sports.

I would not disagree that what he has mentioned would be detrimental to whatever targets (or objectives) we have set for our tiny little nation. In fact, while ErniesUrn pointed out that red tape would hurt our drive to be an Information Hub, I would consider the lack of transparency and accountability (over such matters as the losses suffered by Temasek Holding, the GIC and certain town councils) to be more damaging. When even the matter of whether someone in a town council got a hefty bonus isn’t even clarified, just what kind of Information Hub are we talking about when the people seems to be deliberately kept in the dark over some politically thorny issues?

As for being a Arts and Cultural Hub… first of all I don’t really give rat’s ass about the arts or whether the objective of being an Arts Hub falls on its face. I have heard the gripe about censorship often and how that is bad for the Arts and Entertainment. Yet I am still convinced that censorship is a necessary in certain aspects after considering the effect of the media on public opinion during the Vietnam War and the recent incident involving Israeli commandos on a Turkish ship, and how it partly caused the tragic end in the recent bus-standoff in Manila. Where to draw the line on how much censorship is necessary will be delicate. As for being a Cultural Hub, it is an utter farce trying to promote that when the authorities slap down Singlish – the very thing which we can consider as part of Singapore’s indigenous culture. Of course, there is no doubt the self-proclaimed ‘elites’ will want to wipe Singlish off the face of our country. I deeply suspect they couldn’t grasp the nuances of Singlish just like how angmohs (local slang for white foreigners) couldn’t catch when and where the lahs are placed. In fact, these ‘elites’ probably couldn’t understand the meaning of even the most simple of Singlish sentence and that alone would have shown them to be just how seriously out of touch with the common man.

As for the promotion of the Sports and Singapore to be a Sports Hub, I am never comfortable with the promotion of Sports as a career. It’s not because of the traditional Singaporean view that you must study hard or else you won’t earn enough money. It also doesn’t matter sportsman in Singapore are not really paid as well as those overseas. The core reason of my discomfort with it is that Sports is largely dependent on a person’s youthfulness and yet at the meantime we are talking about raising (or even abolishing) the retirement age. Consider this, just how long can you play table tennis or soccer, or remain the Taekwondo champion? Ultimately as a person ages his reflexes will start to deteriorate, and just how many will excel and gain sufficient fame to becomes coaches at the later stage of their lives? Even if a sportsman can rise to fame and gain wealth quickly at a young age, whether they knows how to handle their fame and maintain that wealth later in their life remains to be seen. Don’t forget, Singapore is a rather unforgiving place when a person mess up his life and it would be a long and hard struggle for a person with no other skills.

Either way, in our discussion we also talked about the matter of GDP growth and the immigration policies. As far as I am concerned, the GDP growth figures are nothing more but a bunch of numbers and some statistical mumbo jumbo if it does not translate into more money in the pocket of fellow Singaporeans and in the long run, greater social mobility.

The immigration policy however, would be one of the most thorny issues in the upcoming GE. As most Singaporeans are rather moderate, few of us are really opposed to the immigration policy. Yet, I have no doubt that it is our sincere wish that the gahmen look into tightening the criteria, and ensure that the issuing of citizenship and PR will be more stringent. Frankly, what is the point of allowing people from China and India into our country, when they form communities of their own, speaks an alien tongue (their own dialects) in our midst and refused to assimilate with us? And that would bring me back to the point of why we should not eliminate Singlish, because that is would form part of a cultural identity we can call our very own.

To summarise the point I am making here: Demagogic blog posts or comments are obviously undesirable, but they can only have an effect when people also feel very strongly about the issues raised in those blog posts. Such blog posts and comments will only spark off a fire when there is chaff for it to ignite. If the day comes when people take to the streets in response to someone’s rally on the Internet, it will be on issues or matters which they feel strong about – such as on 11th May 2010 when over 2000 people of local Chinese community rally at the Speakers’ Corner at Hong Lim Park to express their outrage at a suspected move by the Ministry of Education (MOE) to reduce the weightage of the mother tongue in the Primary School Leaving Exam (PSLE).

Any attempt to silence netizens will generally achieve the ‘Streisand Effect’, in which the information is publicized more widely and to a greater extent than it would have originally if no such attempt is made in the first place. Instead of wasting time and effort to ‘muffle’ netizens, the gahmen / ruling party will do better by improving on transparency and accountability, refining the immigration and public housing policy and even review some of the directions they have set for the nation and what they are going to promote as a result of them.

I ain’t gonna to rally to some extremist or radical inciting violence, but I seriously find the gahmen / ruling party wanting in particular on transparency and accountability. Not to mention the response from some of our political leaders lea-duhs on the matter of the recent floods clearly shows they care more about money than the general welfare of Singaporeans. How I feel about such issues will determine how I will vote in the next GE. I can no longer convincingly say I won’t vote for them if an opposition team decide to run in West Coast GRC, as compared to half a year ago when I will be hesitant to vote for the opposition.

As Hang Jebat has said, ‘raja adil raja disembah, raja zalim raja disanggah’ (a fair king is a king to obey, a cruel king is a king to fight against). I will ‘fight against’ the rulers who no longer feel for us with my vote when I get the opportunity to do so. Even if it might be insignificant to the final outcome, that is the least I can do for the democratic society I believed in.

Random Discourse – Bloggers, Blogging and Integrity

4 comments

There was a recent brouhaha regarding a ‘food blogger’ and a restaurant in Joo Chiat on Yahoo Singapore’s ‘Fit to Post’ section. As usual, in matters such as this everyone has a side to take, even though they don’t usually realised or admit they are taking sides.

I usually take sides as well… my own side that is.

As fellow blogger chillycraps said in a separate discussion, no one can actually say they know the truth other than those in the matter itself. From what I have gathered online, it is clear to me that both the restaurant and the blogger failed miserably in conflict resolution. It’s the word of the restaurant against that of the blogger and vice versa.

Since I mentioned the matter of conflict resolution, it means there is also a ‘public relations’ (PR) aspect in this matter. The fact that this conflict didn’t get resolved amicably do reflect badly on the PR person (or people) of the restaurant. The restaurant’s PR also seems to be out of touch with blogging scene when in their press statement it actually mentioned something about a blogger’s society / association, oblivious to the fact that the last time an association came around it went down with a bang. That said, I am in no position to determine whether the statement is sincere or otherwise, and I personally believe that there is no way to measure that so it’s high time for those who makes a fuss over that to get off their high horse and let the matter rest.

nadnut brought up the point of the PR’s failure. Knowing her to be a straight-talking person I know she has no other sinister objective or personal agenda in bringing this matter up. However, I am not quite sure about some of the people who readily agree and jump on the bandwagon. As I have mentioned, everybody takes sides in a matter – and it is usually their own. When someone appears to be on the same side, it simply means that part of the stand one has taken is in alignment with their agenda or personal objectives.

The reason I have such a Machiavellian view is that I have heard quite a bit of bad mouthing about the PR sector in general. While all of this is hearsay and I personally have not worked with any PR person (not to mention it will never happen since nothing on this blog will interest them), all that bad mouthing has caused me to be alarmed. It almost appear to me that beneath all that niceties, every PR person is manipulative and they all have a dark and sinister facet hidden from the public eye.

Anyway, it wouldn’t be objective if I only talk about the PR. So I’ll also talk about bloggers in general. While I am not accusing the blogger in this particular incident of anything, I have the general impression that some bloggers and in specific some of those so-called social media proponents have always act like they have a chip on their shoulders. It is my considered opinion that having bossed their way around in cyberspace long enough, they are so caught up by their own fame and false sense of invincibility to the point they take that into their real life. Thus, I really do not mind seeing some bloggers eat the humble pie just so they get a dose of reality.

On a side note, while I was browsing through some of the comments made by other bloggers on this matter, I read something a blog post making a point that ‘Blogging integrity’ is a false image that self-righteous (low traffic blogs) people is selling. It’s only saving grace was that it was not writtern by any of the ‘top bloggers’ in Singapore because if it was I wouldn’t have hesitated to start a whole new front in this to bring some traffic to these dead parts.

The premise that any person promoting blogging integrity is either jealous of the success of other bloggers or are just using that to promote themselves above the rest is utterly pathetic. It not only failed to address the matter of blogging integrity but it launches into an attack on not just the bloggers who promote it, but also their popularity! WHAT. THE. F@#$?!

It is crystal clear that this blogger is trying very hard to justify receiving the freebies and all the reviews on her blog. When she lashed out at those blogging about scandals as lacking in integrity, I was disappointed to see that she failed to touch on the fact that a blogger’s integrity is actually determined by the readers. After all, those who thinks I lacked integrity have already stopped reading my blog a long time ago and they would be completely indifferent to what I write!

Meanwhile, I have heard whispers of conspiracy claiming this to be an attempt by the traditional media to discredit the ‘new’ aka ‘social media’. It would be plausible if it was reported by one of the papers under the Singapore Press Holdings, but it is difficult to classify Yahoo as a form of traditional media completely since it has always been published electronically. That’s not mentioning that Yahoo Singapore seems to be embracing blogs and taking the ‘social media’ phenomenon in the local scene quite seriously. I sincerely do not know where this is coming from!

All said, I really hope that this matter will soon blow over. To many nondescript bloggers out there, blogging is nothing more than a hobby, if not an online / public diary to put down some of their thoughts. Many would talk about the blogger community but many nondescript bloggers really don’t give a flying hoot about what other bloggers are writing. In general, a large part of the social media scene has gone unnoticed while the PR sector creates a whole pantheon of celebrity bloggers. A lot of hype is then generated around them which in my opinion is nothing more but a traditional media strategy (which I believe some self proclaimed guru would disagree with me).

I’ll leave it for the readers to decide on which form of social media has more credibility or integrity. For e.g. between the spontaneous blog posts of a first time young mother about her baby and her opinion of different brand of diapers and blog posts coming from celebrity mother-bloggers invited by a PR-firm to the launch of a new diaper product, the choice is really yours on whose posts to take seriously.

Recommended Reads:
Blog@Ridz.sg – Thinking out loud: I am Singaporean. So what?
My Queenstown – Alexandra Hospital Part 3/3: Civilian Hospital
Times Of My Life – Holland Water – Hor Lan Shui

Random Discourse – Singapore Dreaming

6 comments

No, this is not a post about a movie of the same title by Colin Goh and Woo Yen Yen. Though personally, I would recommend the movie and suggest to anyone to pick up a copy and watch it if they can find it in a DVD store.

This is a post inspired by an article on Today by the same name – to imagine what our island nation could be like 20, 30 years from now. And I realised, I have much to dream about, and perhaps it is too much to ask. But we are all entitled to our dreams, aren’t we?

Firstly, I dream of a Singapore where the leaders are more down to earth and closer to the people. A nation where our leaders would no longer justify their high pay according to their alleged talents. Frankly, just what does a surgeon know about education and a former Brigadier General about diplomacy?

I dream of a Singapore where decisions are not always made based on monetary cost and benefits, but always for the betterment of our collective lives. If a decision has to be made that way, at least we will be shown the bill, and be allowed to decide whether we want to pay it. I dream of a Singapore where Singaporeans do not sell themselves short and are not treated as daft and incapable of making their decisions by an old man who refuses to step down and go when all his contemporaries had.

I dream of a Singapore, where her true history would be told. A history where everyone’s contribution in our struggle for Merdeka will be told in full. A history where the story of David Marshall, Lim Chin Siong and even the now defunct Barisan Sosialis can be told without bias.

I dream of a Singapore where there is greater accountability and people who has failed will take responsibility and go. From failed investments in town councils to Temasek Holdings and the GIC, and also the failure of the PUB into taking account of the effect of landscape change in Orchard Road on their two decade old drainage system – Singapore would like to see some integrity in owning up to failures when one has the cheek to demand a better and a higher pay compared to the private sector.

I dream of a Singapore where public housing is truly affordable and truly subsidised. The subsidies should not be based on how much ‘losses’ suffered by the goverment gahmen had that same plot of land be sold to a private developer. I dream of flats that will no longer diminish in floor area while prices continue to soar. I simply dream of a Singapore, where a new generation will not be a slave to own their homes.

I dream of a Singapore, where public projects are above politics, where no part of our city-nation will be turned into slums because their residents have a different opinion in how the country is run and the direction our nation is taking. Surely, even opposition voters pay their income taxes and they are also subjected to GST and property taxes?

I dream of a Singapore where we will not have to squeeze like sardines on trains, where the operators of our public transports will be less rigid in their schedule. Service improvement should be always ongoing and not an annual affair. After all, does the SMRT not know after all these years that there will be an increased load when SunTec holds conventions? Yet, it continually stick to a dead schedule and run trains at shit intervals simply because it is a weekend. (I certainly don’t have to be an Oracle to predict that the City Hall MRT Station will be jammed pack after the National Day Parade today either.)

All in all, I dream of a country that I can really call my own.

Happy Birthday, Singapore. Here’s a toast to your true father – Dr Goh Keng Swee.

May our country remain strong and free, resolute in doing what is right in the eyes of God, forever and ever until our Lord Jesus returns. Amen.

Recommended Reads:
My Queenstown: Alexandra Hospital Part 1/3: The Origins
My Queenstown: Alexandra Hospital Part 2/3: Pre-1971
The Itch To Write: Love your country, fly the flag!