8/19/2008

The Hsien Loong shocker

Did anyone of you hear what Hsien Loong said in his National Day Rally last night? It was a shocker alright. More space for political participation. Outdoor demonstration allowed at Hong Lim. Liberalisation of the internet for political campaigns and factual movie scripts. This is a big move definitely. The devil is in the implementation of this change. Would it be just a motherhood statement or is it real? It must be as this is broadcast over the TV and in the papers as well. I was getting worried a few weeks back when Chua Lee Hoong was trumpeting that our authoritarian system is the alternative model to the liberal western model. I thought we are heading that way. And when Ho Peng Kee still insisted that anyone who wanted to participate in political discourse must get into the political arena, things looked grim. Would Ho Peng Kee and his men go around cyberspace asking bloggers if they are poets, philosophers or public intellectuals, or else join a political party? Did Ho Peng Kee got Hsien Loong's message? Or would people and kids be rounded up for putting up white elephants or selling white elephant T shirts? The reality and perception must be in sync, and the reality speaks louder if it is different from the perception or publicly announced govt policies. If things are what Hsien Loong had said, we are marching into a new revolution, a New Age of Internet. And every blogger is a pioneer and active participant in this revolution. And we should be proud of ourselves to be in this movement. Over the last couple of years the govt must be monitoring very closely the happenings in cyberspace. And they must find some comfort that cyberspace could self regulate, and there are decent and passionate bloggers who are airing their views, disagreeing with policies, but all for the betterment of the country and people. Cyberspace is not just rubbish and rogues and scoundrels who abuse their freedom of expression to attack people recklessly. Mysingaporenews and redbeanforum have played a small and significant part in proving that discussion of political and national issues can be conducted rationally and sensibly. We have been in existence for quite sometime and no one has come knocking at our doors in the middle of the night. We should continue to say our piece in the way we are doing, kpkb if necessary, to get our views heard. 90,000 hits a month, that can translate into a substantial number of people reading our news. And they will pass it to their friends and their friends to their friends. It is a communicating process that cannot be under estimated. Keep posting fellow bloggers. Hsien Loong has given the green light. And if Ho Peng Kee ask if you are a poet, philosopher or public intellectual, tell him to see Hsien Loong for the answer.

14 comments:

Anonymous said...

Mysingaporenews and redbeanforum have played a small and significant part in proving that discussion of political and national issues can be conducted rationally and sensibly.



is that right?

Chua Chin Leng aka redbean said...

you don't agree?

the bloggers here have been great.

Anonymous said...

to be completely honest with you i am just not sure about the second part. discussions we did. whether we did it rationally or sensibly, i wont bet on that. all these rantings for one's self interests, expressions of self centred opinions from a confined perspective, even outright bias at times as opposed to looking at things from the larger picture must bring new meanings to the phrase congenital myopia. i wont go into the details, that is for you to figure out. sorry it dun sound good but this is coming from another person's viewpoint. it is as honest as it gets, have a good day redbean.

Chua Chin Leng aka redbean said...

everyone is entitled to see things his own way, even congenital myopic way. and this is a sickness that affects everyone, young and old, wise and unwise. and the politicians too.

no need to sweat over it. what is impt is for people to feel free to talk about what they feel. there are many aspects to look at things. and many things are a matter of values and perceptions.

when we share different viewpoints, we will see more things. the worst sufferers of congenital myopia are those who think they are gods.

just look at the gods in their admiration of talents, and lost sight of rights and wrongs. black cats and white cats are different from honest talents and cheats. both can make a lot of money. but a cheat is a cheat. if we forget this and keep praising the cheats, then we have lost our moral bearings.

this is one small example of congenital myopia. people are blind to their own doings.

Anonymous said...

If everyone looks at and agree on only one person's viewpoint, what is the use of having for example, feedback. Just make it a dictatorship and nobody can disagree.

Is that right?

Chua Chin Leng aka redbean said...

exactly.

in this blog i encourage everyone to share their views, even congenital myopic views. at most people can only disagree with you. no one needs to agree with anyone all the time.

the sign of maturity is to be able to accept that others also have a view. and many a time a view is just a view, not necessarily a right or wrong view.

fear not with your view.

Anonymous said...

Hello Red Bean

"the sign of maturity is to be able to accept that others also have a view. and many a time a view is just a view, not necessarily a right or wrong view."

Well said. I agree with this completely. Infact, I feel there is no enough conversations amongst fellow bloggers.


This was recently noted by me and my team when we worked on a BP article.

I have included it here for your reading pleasure.

I believe it echoes many of the same sentiments you wrote here.


http://dotseng.wordpress.com/2008/08/16/education-education-education-all-around-but-not-a-brain-around/

Best Regs

Y2K

(Director General of the Free Internet Library Board Based in Primus Aldentes Prime)

Chua Chin Leng aka redbean said...

hi y2k,

welcome to the blog. you got a very interesting site there. and what happened to sbf? couldn't find it except one of the same name but more like a porn site. your link did not get me anywhere.

below is an extract from your site which i find meaningful for all to read here. cheers.

'In truth, intellectuals represent a formidable force. For one they are born into every milieu of society. They offer tremendous opportunities for value creation and tempering much of what we may eventually weave into the fabric of society in the form of laws, policies and civic initiatives.

Neither do they belong to any particular class least of all the elite.

But all this can only take root in earnest in an environment that gives citizens the tools, curiosity and taste to engage in the societal debate without any inhibitions. In that world, all citizens and friends are potential intellectuals, only of different caliber.

May I be the first to embrace you all into our fold. I offer you all my hand of friendship…here take this sword, it has been with me since I entered the service of the Emperor as a loyal servant, here it shall remain, here it shall never leave, here it will serve the new Republic.

Meanwhile I remain your loyal servant.

Darkness 2006'

Anonymous said...

Hi Darkness,

Many of the old ex-SBF kakis have regrouped at my forum in Delphi Forums.

http://forums.delphiforums.com/otak69/start

You can still use the same username and password to login.

Visit us to find out why we have refused to migrate over.

Anonymous said...

Redbean,
notice the fuc@$@king "but" words used in speech of the pinkish clown since the day of nepotic handover of his senile old fart's corrupted title to his pinkish.

If this PM is sincere, there is no BUT, only results. Give BUT is a excuse for alternative and status quo, and lack of responsibility and accountability. It doesn't need a Million dollars asshole to say BUT, anyone can do it for free too.

Therefore, people do not be deceived. It is not as though it is the first time he delivered his speech. Count how many times he deliver on his promises ? None but nothing happen to him because he give so many BUT for escape.


"I will give a million dollars to everyone but if the economics are doing well"
So when is the economics is doing well ? How to define that ? In PAP's words, economics is never well because we have to save it for the future ! As good as not saying. Whose future you can pretty guess.

Fuc@#$@king pinkish clown ! Eat more shits !

Chua Chin Leng aka redbean said...

hi otak69,

welcome to the blog. and i will pay a visit to your blog. the last sbf was wild but very active and had some good stuff as well.

cheers.

Chua Chin Leng aka redbean said...

hi anonymous,

there were a lot of giveaways and many are quite happy with them. we bloggers will be more interested in the liberalisation of cyberspace. let's see how it goes.

i think honglim park will not be the same again. but it could be a flash in the pan.

for the moment, lets give him the benfit of the doubt.

Anonymous said...

Otak69

I believe the Brotherhood Press has closed down for good sometime last month. Their writers just stopped writing. Something to do with a disagreement with Alex and Cherian George. I dont know the details specifically, but it has something to do with their proposal against deregulating the net. Hope that gives you a heads up. Will gladly visit the new site.

Red Bean

Have to wait for the AIMS proposal, as it is, I dont think any of us can say for certain it has changed for the better.

I suspect the devil is in the details

Y2K,

Hello,

Nice to touch base with you. Care to share with us what are the plans of the Brotherhood Press?

Things are topsy turvy. Whatever, it is I hope you boys start you engines again and get back to speed.

Darkness was a man of wisdom.

Chua Chin Leng aka redbean said...

yes, we may have our doubts. but wait and see and not to jump to conclusion first.

the brotherhood writes very well. it will appeal to a very different group of audience. but those who are interested will find them interesting read.