6/17/2006
stomp, stomp, stomp
The Straits Times is stomping all over the cyberspace for the last few days. With the muscle of the the main paper, its advertising resources and the money it has, it is using all its marketing power to stage a claim to be the number one player. And it has been very successful in promoting itself, with free gifts being thrown at their visitors. I think the budget must be pretty substantial.
The conquest and claim for a presence in cyberspace is on. The Straits Times means business, to gain its market share and readership in no man's land, in a new frontier. In the fun, pop culture and entertainment fields, there is no doubt that the Straits Times will have an upperhand over the other blogs and forums. These are fadish and politically neutral areas and are easily embraced by anyone who are in it.
The true test of influence is in the social and political fields, providing views in these areas are politically sensitive. And as long as the Straits Times is seen as an official mouthpiece, its penetration in these areas are bound to be inhibited by its own history and background. The cynical, questioning, non conformist and rebellious readers will still seek the unregulated and freer blogs and forums for more refreshing views.
What ever the Straits Times objectives, it is a welcome player in cyberspace and will make the scene more colourful, vibrant and interesting. Huh, more choices.
Interest in cyberspace has blossomed and is now an area to be reckoned with. It now has a noticeable presence.
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7 comments:
Hmm...
If we think along the lines of negative-minded people and cynics, they would say that this is another plan to impose a controlled environment for the people to interact in so that any negative remarks can be controlled easily.
I think they should put in some bloggers who talk about more serious stuff also, not just putting in celebrity bloggers to attract attention.
they have something like 10 full time staff to support stomp, plus all the money and the straits times to boot. it is a very powerful machine not to be trifled with.
and if you look at the parade of star bloggers they have roped in you will understand which segment of society they are targetting, mainly the youth and the pop culture brand.
they are not in the serious news and commentary section, yet.
nothing serious from stomp. take a look at those court cases, instead of highlighting the differences in verdicts from the 2 murder and hacked cases, it is simply regurgitated reporting.
why not highlight the differences in verdicts between similar cases. why not highlight the briton who murdered 2 without receiving the death sentence and got away with 10 yrs. a sentence that is lighter than his s'porean girlfriend who received 12 yrs for disposing of the bodies.
it is this unequal treatment that must be reported but sadly, you can't even comment on court cases in stomp.
the law states "death for murder" no ifs, ands or buts. apparently, it is possible to "bargain" your way out of a death sentence if you are rich, foreign or well connected.
the law in s'pore is applied unequally. it depends on who you are: your social status, your wealth, your nationality, your gender and whether you are well connected.
no angmo was hanged since 1994 even though a briton murdered 2 escape hanging recently. there was also a female german drug trafficker who escape the death sentence. it seems acceptable to hang asian and not angmo as the nyguen case shown. it is also acceptable to hang male but not female as flor was the last female hanged in 1995. no female was hanged since even though a foreign maid murdered her friend and chopped up the body recently also escaped the death sentence. a male s'porean who committed a similar crime was handed the death sentence.
in conclusion, the law is most lenient to female angmos and most harsh to male asian s'poreans.
some double standard cases:
1)a son of a certain former judge comes to mind. (drug case)
2)a certain well connected entrepreneur drunk driving case.
3)a hit and run female uni student who urged her teacher mother to take the rap.
.....too many double standard cases to list.... maybe there is no justice in s'pore. where is our
justice BAO CHING TIAN?....sigh.....
can't even find WANG CHAO and
MA HAN....
Mr Bean,
You should start another myth-
The law is "FAIR" and applied equally.
How on earth were those whistle blowers on Durai found guilty? We can surmised that court verdicts are not the TRUTH...and that means a few might be hanged even though they are innocent. Talk about justice being blind....and double edges sword too... ha ha, the irony of it....
LOL
hahaha anonymous,
indeed i will have a myth, the law is unfair. it all depends on which angle one is looking.
so i try to think like the establishment and everything is fine.
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