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Thursday, 13 August 2009

As the dust settles after the National Day hoopla, the media have had a field day pushing forward whatever message it wants to push through. High on the agenda was of course their continuing glorification of the party that feeds them. Singapore Democrats

As the dust settles after the National Day hoopla, the media have had a field day pushing forward whatever message it wants to push through. High on the agenda was of course their continuing glorification of the party that feeds them.

Also high on the agenda is its continuing effort to blackout news on the Singapore Democrats. While the media published the Workers' Party's National Day message made by its youth wing, it completely ignored the SDP's.

Our Women Democrats had delivered a video message whose number of viewers shot up to more than four thousand in just a few days since it was posted on YouTube. (Watch video here) Yet, there was absolutely no mention of this in the newspapers.

The reporting continues to be selective to ensure that the SDP is not mentioned at all in an attempt to keep us out of the minds of Singaporeans.

The Channel News Asia recently ran a story on how Singapore's political parties were using the Internet to reach out to Singaporeans. Again the report mentioned only the PAP and WP, completely ignoring the Singapore Democrats and our activities online. (See here)

Political parties depend on the media to get their messages across. Without access to the mass media, we are greatly disadvantaged.

This is why we are appealling to our supporters and friends in cyberspace to double up your efforts to help us disseminate our news and views. We have been active and our numbers are increasing. But the man-in-the-street has little idea about what we do because of press censorship.

Please help us draw the attention of your family and friends to this website and tell them of the exciting developments here. More is in store over the next few months as we take our Internet campaign to a new level.

We have dedicated members and friends who are ready and willing to fight for the cause. So calling all Singaporeans who believe in what we are doing, help us to make history and break the PAP's stranglehold on information flow.

The Internet is a powerful source for political change. This has been demonstrated in America, South Korea, Malaysia and many other countries. We can do it here in Singapore too.

Don't wait till tomorrow, do it now. Stand up for democracy and tell everyone you know about this website!

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Comments (24)

Fri 14 Aug 2009 1:44 AM | Seelan Palay

I sometimes print out online articles on CPF, Housing and other similar issues and pass them to my relatives who don't use the internet.

Readers, please do your part and help spread the information that the local "media" will never publish.

Fri 14 Aug 2009 5:15 AM | | vipersonic

That's great! I paste them on walls near the lifts instead, but I guess that's vandalism, so I'll follow what Seelan does, that is to give them out to people. Perhaps I could negotiate with the shopkeeper downstairs to help to give out too? :P

Fri 14 Aug 2009 8:15 AM | firepower - SDP Hit Rates

Hey this is good news about the media blackout. I'm sure if there is a hit-counter it will be clicking like mad!

It is obvious the SDP is getting high hit rates and the government controlled media is simply jealous and envious of the popularity thus trying to stifle the publications.

It is futile to silence the Democrats! The silence only gets louder. Obviously they hove not heard of the silence protest yet. It is deafening! Oh! When will the ignorant ever learn? Besides they’re all scholars! What they don’t teach you at Harvard?

Fri 14 Aug 2009 9:27 AM | Stanley

If anyone who is below 30 is reading this and owns a blog, perhaps you could just spare a moment to blog about your thoughts on media freedom (or lack of).

Thanks!

Fri 14 Aug 2009 3:11 PM | zah - Firepower

I agree with Firepower.It is futile to silence the Democrats! Its deafening. Sure what!

Fri 14 Aug 2009 4:24 PM | Robox

I think the PAP is definitely feeling the heat from the SDP. That's very flattering, really.

But we cannot survive on flattery alone. I'm spreading the word by posting the articles from here on other forums. The good news is that TOC and Temasek Review (formerly Wayangparty) seem to have increased coverage of SDP.

Sat 15 Aug 2009 1:07 AM | whjho

One of the way to tap the power of Internet is to provide a link in the blogs and FB.

If you are not diehard supporter of SDP but still care about Spore political and economic arena, you can provide links to other political parties like SDP, WP, PAP. This would provide fair, unbias and un-censored information so that your readers can make good judgement.

Sat 15 Aug 2009 10:52 AM | Robox - TOC Poll

There is poll on the TOC homepage (www.theonlinecitizen.com) with the question, "Which political party's National Day message were you most impressed with?"

The SDP and RP leading neck and neck.

Sat 15 Aug 2009 5:32 PM | BryanT - Robox - Woman Power in a Kingdom of Blind

I used to tell my son that "[b]in the kingdom of blind, the one-eye jack is king[/b]". I hope you guys know what that means.

It is not to discourage him when he does well, but to remind him that his benchmark should not be the small pool of people immediately around him (eg. class, friends, etc) but the greater world outside.

I am happy for SDP (and RP) that they are in the lead in the poll. But that's more because the other opposition parties did NOT do much. Actually, probably not even a whimper (equates with "kingdom of blind").

But at last, credit should be given where credit is due, and the gang-of-four from SDP's [b]women power[/b] clinched a winner with that good ND message video. Kudos!

That is also what I would call [b]soft-power[/b]. I hope to see more of this form of persuasion and opinion winning, rather than those of the [b]TBT-form and placard-around-the-neck type[/b].

Sat 15 Aug 2009 5:25 PM | quantum

[quote]in the kingdom of blind, the one-eye jack is king"...the gang-of-four from SDP's women power clinched a winner with that good ND message video. [/quote]
You are contradicting yourself again. So are these 4 women blind? Yes or no?

Sat 15 Aug 2009 6:08 PM | BryanT - quantum - don't like that leh!

[color=red]So are these 4 women blind? Yes or no?[/color]

quantum, don't so cruel (and playful) lah, I obviously did not say that. Maybe you misunderstood the analogy?

Sat 15 Aug 2009 6:12 PM | Robox - BryanT

Re: "I am happy for SDP (and RP) that they are in the lead in the poll. But that's more because the other opposition parties did NOT do much. Actually, probably not even a whimper (equates with "kingdom of blind")."

I know your comment only refers to the opposition parties but, the PAP was one of the parties named in the poll. They have a much wider reach. But they are trailing at fourth. Which doesn't really say much because the Singapore cyberspace is dominated by anti-PAP individuals. But they have a huge advantage over evryone else.

And the other two parties - NSP and WP - did do stuff for ND.

In my opinion, the reasons why the two parties are in the lead:

1. The SDP for the "wow" factor; and,

2. RP for the continued reverence for JB Jeyaratnam that rubs off on his son.

My attitude to all this is actually quite simple: don't continue to kick a man when he's already down on his knees.

Sat 15 Aug 2009 6:27 PM | BryanT - Robox - Can clarify?

[color=red]"don't continue to kick a man when he's already down on his knees."[/color]

Robox, I am attempting to understand what you are trying to say with the above. I don't want to reply it based on a possible misunderstanding. Can you clarify for my benefit?

Sat 15 Aug 2009 9:52 PM | quantum

[quote]to remind him that his benchmark should not be the small pool of people immediately around him (eg. class, friends, etc) but the greater world outside.[/quote]
Has he not tried to travel around the world to exchange ideas on democracy?

Sun 16 Aug 2009 12:31 AM | BryanT - quantum - internet knowledge trip

[color=red]"Has he not tried to travel around the world to exchange ideas on democracy?"[/color]

quantum, unfortunately, he's a bit to young to travel around the world. But fortunately, with the internet, one does not need to physical travel around the world to learn about democracy.

Sun 16 Aug 2009 4:03 AM | quantum

[quote]But fortunately, with the internet, one does not need to physical travel around the world to learn about democracy.[/quote]
I see , that is how political prisoners all around the world travel. Thanks for the info.

Sun 16 Aug 2009 7:00 AM | BryanT - Houston....come in.Houston

[color=red]"I see , that is how political prisoners all around the world travel. Thanks for the info."[/color]

[b]"Hello Houston, we have a problem"[/b]

Sun 16 Aug 2009 8:01 AM | Robox - To BryanT

Explanation of [color=red]"...don't continue to kick a man when he's already down on his knees."[/color]

1. I think many of Dr Chee's/SDP's detractors are guilty of committing one very fundamental error, chiefly, to make the assumption that not just the SDP, but all opposition parties are as fully resourced and as fully-functioning in every single capacity as a political party as the PAP are.

2. Lee Kuam Yew has always needed one political scapegoat to be that "chicken that he can kill to frighten the monkeys, and that includes the monkeys from a certain right-of-centre conservative opposition party that is a mere whisker away from the PAP ideologically.

2. Two scapechickens that need killing that come immediately to mind are JB Jeyaratnam and, now Dr Chee; the tactic used is to pommel them and their parties into the ground with the maximum amount of political violence, and to the point that they are brought down to their knees.

3. Other Singaporeans help the PAP to perpetuate the process that they started.

4. Hence my quote: ""don't continue to kick a man when he's already down on his knees."

"

Sun 16 Aug 2009 6:28 PM | BryanT - Robox - What I think about SDP

[color=red]"I think many of Dr Chee's/SDP's detractors are guilty of committing one very fundamental error, chiefly, to make the assumption that not just the SDP, but all opposition parties are as fully resourced and as fully-functioning in every single capacity as a political party as the PAP are."[/color]

Robox, thanks for the clarification.

Frankly, I am aware that SDP and the other opposition parties are very thinly resourced, both financially and manpower-wise. There are many reasons for this situation and it can be surmised that the ruling party had a big hand in it. Another principle reason is the apathy of the population, but I know it could be argued that some people can even trace that to the ruling party.

But I think the opposition parties has to get their own house in order and strategise better. No political party was born well organised and strong, even the PAP had to start small, build it's pool of supporters against the set of challenges it faced during that era. The SDP and the opposition parties' have their work cut out for them too, but I would not help blaming the environment and external factors for it's lack of progress.

That is partly why I lay out some of my opinion in this website - not to downplay SDP's effort as many of its supporters here assume, but trying to wear the layman's hat and point out what appeals or grates against the general mentality.

Because it contested in my constituency in the 2001 election, I have been trying to understand its internal dynamics and strategy for quite a while. It's interesting to understand why still not achieved much mass appeal, despite a high level of dissatisfaction over some of the government policies.

I have tried to surface my views as part of my comments in this website. For example, I mentioned that SDP should resort less to tactics of the TBT-type or placard-around-the-neck form, because these are just seen as reinforcing the perception of SDP as a group of disgruntled and revengeful hectoring lot. Also, we can observe that it's members have sometimes been harshly treated, but people assume that they are mounting activities out of vengeance, NOT because they are trying to fight for the people. So their activities are easily written off, or even ridiculed.

I have a more to say, including adding to what you have just written, but let me take a break here.

Mon 17 Aug 2009 7:26 AM | BryanT - Robox - SDP gave birth to the POA

[color=red]"Lee Kuam Yew has always needed one political scapegoat to be that "chicken that he can kill to frighten the monkeys, and that includes the monkeys from a certain right-of-centre conservative opposition party that is a mere whisker away from the PAP ideologically."[/color]

Robox, I'm not so sure whether LKY had plotted to designate a political scapegoat. My belief is that it is SDP's own perception that is has become the "chicken to be killed to frighten the monkeys".

Of course, one could also venture to suggest that SDP wants to be seen as that proverbial victimised "chicken" as a strategy to win sympathy from the population at large. The type of actions it has chosen have been seen to be intended to provoke the authority to complete the spectacle for the audience. To many, they were part of the act. And as I said, people will tend to ignore such acts, or even ridicule them.

As to the POA, we know that it was specifically targeted against the kind of protests SDP carried out. Let me offer a bit of perverse reasoning : if SDP had not done what it did on the streets of Singapore, we would not have had the POA imposed. In other word, one can stretch our logic and say that this restriction on the people of Singapore was caused by the SDP.

I know, the reasoning is very perverse, but then the sword has two edges. Be the one to hold the handle and swing it carefully.

Sun 16 Aug 2009 11:49 PM | quantum

[quote]In other word, this restriction on the people of Singapore was caused by the SDP. [/quote]
Oh you mean before that the people are allowed to protest? Think before speaking.

Wed 19 Aug 2009 10:41 PM | BryanT - Robox - CSJ on knees or standing

[color=red]"Two scapechickens that need killing that come immediately to mind are JB Jeyaratnam and, now Dr Chee; the tactic used is to pommel them and their parties into the ground with the maximum amount of political violence, and to the point that they are brought down to their knees."[/color]

Robox, let me go on to the next point (above).

I agree that both JBJ and CSJ were treated badly but disagree that they were targeted as scapegoats (or chickens). It has more to do with the way they were unable to resist or steer clear of libel, or as in the case of CSJ, deliberate acts to push the boundaries of laws.

We may not agree with some of the laws of the land, but we do not deliberately cross it and then cry injustice when persecuted. It would then come across as play acting and that is why I have said that much of the population treats CSJ's antics with indifference, or at most, with irritation.

As to whether CSJ has been brought to his knees, I doubt so. I hope you'd agree that CSJ is not the type who is easily brought to his knees. At least for that, he has my respect.

But in my view, he does not stand tall when he resorts to taunts and slanted arguments to remain credible in the eyes of his immediate supporters and PAP haters. PAP haters do not support him because he makes sense, but because of a common "enemy". That is not genuine support for his philosophy and there are other opposition alternatives to him that appeal to the mainstream.

Although he is not on his knees, I believe CSJ needs to stand taller to see further - see beyond the perception that it's a brutal battle, see beyond his self-inflicted victimised mentality and beyond his ra-ra group and PAP haters, because these will not bring him far in a political career.

And no, I don't think anyone is out to kick him. But sometimes he does [b]stick his leg out[/b] once in a while.

Thu 20 Aug 2009 5:09 PM | g_e - Blame it on the bossa nova

[quote] [i]I used to tell my son that "in the kingdom of blind, the one-eye jack is king".[/i][/quote]

Ah clap-clap, highly commendable indeed, BryanT. I'm sure your boy is every bit as intelligent as his dad and must have said excitedly, "Dad, dad, I know, I know! Is the sightless kingdom Singapore? Is the king Lee Kuan Yew? How did he blind everybody, dad? How come you're not blinded too?"

To which of course you replied fondly, "Son, you're far too young to understand the finer points of the art of political cyber-warfare just yet but I'll let you into the secret. It has to do with the art of lying without appearing to lie, offering praise in one sentence while simultaneously putting-down with the next, and proffering humble concern with one hand while concealing the dagger in the other. All done in the best possible taste of course, my boy."

"See, your dad's a real adept at this agenda which is why he's been specially chosen to offer a little constructive criticism to those foolish SDP simpletons on their own website. They'll never suspect they're being led around by the nose because they're so blinded by their silly democratic rights ideology. Heh, in fact it's as easy as shooting fish in a barrel. That's why they're visually challenged and we're not, my boy. Remember this, lad - nice guys always finish last and history is what winners write."

"Now off to bed with you, my lovely lad. Let papa work out a way to insinuate, without it being too obvious of course, that it's entirely the opposition parties' own damn fault for being impoverished. It's their insolence and ingratitude which brought about the despicable POA and CCTV @ Hong Lim fascist moves. Nothing whatsoever to do with kangaroo justice in a police state."

"These ingrates really need to get their own house in order and strategise better or we might face the embarrassment of the TBT / placards / marsupial T-shirts / ta-ra-boom-de-ay film campaigns which made us look stupid - once again. We the garmen can't be setting rules only to have them disrespected by pipsqueaks like Dr. Chee and the SDP sticking their legs out, now can we?"

Thu 20 Aug 2009 11:23 PM | BryanT - g_e - Need to frame it up!

g_e, commendations to you on your well written and witty piece too, if you allow us to indulge in a bit of mutual backslapping (or is it backstabbing?). Also, thanks for helping to lift the pall and venom that seems to often settle over these websites.

You seem to allude to some devious scheme on my part to lead noses and shoot fishes. I think you have underestimated the gullibility and vulnerability of readers here to be led or shot, although once in a while I do reach the the point where I have to invoke Houston's assistance.

Anyway, your piece is a rare gem here. Need to frame it up. Hope you keep writing.

PS. you'd realised I didn't reply most of your points. But why spoil it, right?