Column from a Malaysian Newspaper

The Star

Saturday September 27, 2008

Lost flock seeking to have a proper say

Insight Down South
By SEAH CHIANG NEE

Restive, sophisticated and cynical, the post-65 tech-savvy generation are a sub-culture unto themselves, preferring to engage each other than the government of the day.

YEARS of top-down government has produced a sub-culture among people who interact mostly with each other and pay little interest to what the government says.

It is part of Singapore’s new diverse world, but to the ruling party, which is used to getting things its way, they are like the proverbial lost flock that has wandered afield.

The sub-community, however, doesn’t see itself as society’s outsider, but as part of a new force working with the Internet for social and political change.

It is relatively small, but its influence extends far beyond its numbers, and it is expanding.

Concerned political leaders have been striving “ without much success “ to bring them back to the mainstream by gradually relaxing controls on social life and public expression.

These young Singaporeans “ restive, sophisticated and cynical “ feel disenchanted about the current political system and of being left out of nation-building decisions.

“They feel they don’t have a say; the press has no space for them, and the government often talks down to them, so they work with the only channel available to them “ the Internet “ and among each other,” explained a media consultant.

This sub-community meets on the Net, paying little attention to the government’s exhortations.

And as more unpopular policies come into force, their postings attract more people into their fold.

However, it lacks the power to change the system since it doesn’t reach the non-English speaking heartland masses.

The success of the digital activists lies in their ability to draw in “ albeit slowly “ apathetic professionals and students, who now begin to talk the same language.

Over time, they have switched off on government statements, and don’t care much about Cabinet changes and Parliament proceedings “ unless these impact on their personal lives.

Many don’t know the names of their constituency Members of Parliament or even Cabinet ministers. Instead, they hanker after the unreported news about opposition figures and activities.

Singapore is beginning to look like two distinct communities.

One is the large mainstream, which relies on the government and the traditional media to provide them the news and direction, and a small virtual sub-group of unhappy Singaporeans who get their information through interaction with each other.

The perception that Singapore’s newspapers are too controlled to be credible may have driven more young Singaporeans towards the Web.

Other democratic countries, too, are experiencing this division but less severely than here because of the perception that there is too much “government propaganda” in the Singapore media.

Unlike governments that crack down on Internet dissidents or close down websites, the PAP government is “as it usually does” adopting a middle line.

It’s a policy of joining what one cannot beat.

Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong recently took steps to “give Singa-poreans space to let off steam”, in-cluding lifting a ban on public demonstrations.

“Our old rules are way, way out of date. It means we have to change to new rules, liberalise to allow people to participate more actively and flexibly,” Lee said.

Speakers Corner at Hong Lim Park, an ineffective critics’ area for speech-making (loudspeakers not allowed), could now be used to hold protests. Only race and religion are forbidden.

Since Sept 1, it has been the scene of half a dozen small and well managed protests, including one organised by Singapore’s known bloggers.

Participants need not apply for a permit from the police, only from the National Parks Board, to indicate its non-controlled nature.

The Prime Minister also lifted some restrictions on political dissent in cyberspace.

Several banned political films have been released; in future such films will not be automatically banned but subject to general censorship, where the criteria are easier.

In addition, a ban on political blogging during the nine-day election campaign period has been lifted.

These signal the ruling People’s Action Party’s intention to move into multimedia “ including use of weblogs, podcasts and vodcasts “ to fight its battles and, if possible, to win back some of the disenchanted Netizens.

The survival of the PAP, which has ruled Singapore since independence 49 years ago, depends on its winning the hearts and minds of the post-65 tech-savvy generation, which can’t be done with arrests and censorship.

Singapore’s renowned author Catherine Lim appears doubtful it will truly open up the country.

“Such a unique development, as close to a political renaissance as is possible in Singapore, should have elicited no less a response than jubilation from the people,” she commented.

“But so far, oddly, there is none. So far, there is no enthusiastic welcoming of the winds of change, no eager looking forward to a new political future.”

Penang-born Lim sees it as a shrewd balancing act, both to reassure the people and to warn off the critics who stray beyond the boundaries set.

Her views find ready support in blogosphere. The SS wrote: “This ‘lightening up’ is nothing more than throwing scraps to the citizenry to nibble upon.

“They will not change their model of governance, if at all, at least until after the grand old man (Minister Mentor Lee Kuan Yew) is gone.”

wayangparty said: “The PAP is definitely smarter. Instead of arresting bloggers under the Internal Security Act, it plants moles in cyberspace to have a voice there.”

The general consensus: It’s a positive move but it doesn’t signify any change in the PAP mindset, which can only come after Lee Senior has made his exit.

That could mean Singapore’s sub-community of young dissenters will remain - and grow.

http://thestar.com.my/columnists/story.asp?col=insightdownsouth&file=/2008/9/27/columnists/insightdownsouth/2123237&sec=Insight%20Down%20South

Interesting view from up north... I feel that it's not only restricted to the more cosmopolitan Singaporeans; many heartlanders, while not net-savvy, felt disenfranchised as well. Try chatting up with any taxi drivers or listening to coffee shop banters, especially since the electriciy bill is going to rise by a fifth soon...

The Greatest Race Ever?

According to the Straits Times, many people who attended the inaugural night race in Singapore praised that it was the best race which they had been to.

Well I take this report with a pinch of salt but I'm still glad that I'm part of this historic race as a flag marshall.

The Singapore skyline looks very impressive on the screen and no doubt more Europeans will know more about Singapore after the race.

My position at Turn 8 was quite good; there was a giant screen right in front of us (albeit a bit blocked by trees and fence) and we could follow the action easily.

The marshalls at my sector are quite nice as well; there were always food and wet tissues passing around. My sector marshall is Tony, a motorsports veteran from Australia. I found that Australians are really serious on their jobs as marshalls but they don't take themselves seriously off-work. Tony is really nice; he tried to lift up the sector's morale by giving encouragement and distributed gifts for our efforts.

Koo the deputy sector marshall is equally committed to the job and provided welfare for us out of his own pocket ie ice-box, oreo cookies (untainted I hope), canvas sheet for roof etc. Last but not least, he brought two champagnes so that we could mimic the podium after the race. Cool stuff.

Turn 8 was quite lucky as we had no accidents there; the closest was during qualifying when Fisichella ran off the racing line towards us but he managed to steer back in the end. Nelson Piquet Jr whacked his car during practice 2 but it was further up away from us.

Volunteer next year again? Perhaps...

Turn 8!

2 More Days...

...to Singapore GP, the first ever F1 night race!!

Democracy

Yesterday's class was pretty interesting as the exchange students were dominating the discussions as usual.

One of the Italian girls confessed that she speaks Singlish to the taxi drivers; I didn't really believe it until she let out a loud "HUH?" when she couldn't hear someone from the opposite side of the class. I turned around to look at her with a mix of amazement and amusement. The taxi drivers must be equally amazed with an ang moh girl using all the 'lahs' and 'lors' with them.

The European students later got into a discussion about the European Union. The Italian girl mentioned above tried to describe how the Italian parliament prefers not to solve the difficult issues and refers those difficult MPs to the European parliament with a commission with a nice-sounding name. Kasper, the Danish student, remarked that that's why the other Europeans 'love' the Italian politicians.

The Italian students were all tickled and rationalized why they are so loved: Because they sent the 'best' to the European parliament.

Absolutely hilarious.

Where did I go??

My laziness is the reason for such a long absence.

Although I'm doing only 5 modules (relative to the 5.5 which I did in each of the past two semesters), I have less free time. That is primarily down to the fact that I have been consistently doing most of my readings and I am involved in an YEP to India in December.

Only 10 weeks more till the India trip and now the team is still at the preparation stage. Being in the sponsorship team means that I have to do call up potential sponsors and send them the proposal. I will say that the team is quite lucky so far; there are high chances that we will be able to land some potentially awesome sponsorship deals. Not wanting to jinx the outcomes, I will only disclose when they are finalized.

In two weeks' time F1 will come to Singapore. I'm getting quite excited being the flag marshall for the event although it means that I have to miss the Merseyside derby. The three mid-terms (1 on the immediate monday after the race) also worry me. I don't know how will I prepare for them while spending the weekends on the track.

Last but not least, we finally beat the fucking scums! I'm absolutely delighted... maybe the only thing which can top this feeling is beating them at Old Trafford? LOL