join me to give MSM a run for their money

Cyberspace is more than just a venue for venting frustrations. It has a very vital role to provide an alternative view, a citizen's view of what is important to the people. The things that netizens discussed are matters that they choose to discuss, spontaneous and unfettered, not imposed by anyone or subject to anyone's approval. It is the people's platform. We have seen how MSM present their news, very selective and with a high dosage of self censorship. The way MSM are going about their roles, they are, yes, many of you have said it, losing their credibility and influence on their readers. In redbeanforum and mysingaporenews, there are hundreds of you fellas out there, all very well educated, concerned, opinionated, articulate and well read. All of you have your own interests and your own views of things. If we can share all these in Cyberspace, we will be a very important platform for people, Singaporeans and international readers, to come here to hear us out. Our strength is our free spirit and freedom of expression. We decide what we want to say or discuss. This will put us well ahead of all MSMs. And we are the pioneers in Cyberspace. We should not miss this opportunity to craft out a niche of what Cyberspace and citizen reporting are all about. Our time is precious. Our effort is precious. We should use these constructively and meaningfully. We can be as creative as we want. Say whatever we want. But we need to develop our own netiquette and professional conduct to be respectable and taken seriously. All of us have different views and opposing views. But as long as we respect each other and discuss on issues, we cannot get too far wrong. Just stay away from attacking people personally or libels and scandals. This is our country, our space. Make it counts. Make our views heard and be taken seriously. For those who are posting in mysingaporenews blog, there is a limitation in that you cannot initiate new topics. Use the forum to tell your story. Talk about things that are close to your heart. We can talk about them passionately, sensibly and sincerely. If we can do that, our effort will not be in vain. The fact that all of you are here is that we share some common values and approaches to what posting and discussion in cyberspace should be like. Let us be the beacon for others who will come after us. Let us show our way. As a first world nation, we must be confident of ourselves and our voice, and be prepared to take a stand on domestic or international issues. Redbean

child prank or cold sore?

Wee Shu Min's case is but a child prank. In many cases of such nature this will be treated like a child prank and be ignored completely by the general public. It may at most deserves a little comment and will be forgotten. But this issue now has generated so much heat in cyberspace that it appears to become a political crisis of sort. Many of the bloggers and forumers are seeing things that are more than meet the eyes. Just like the Durai case, it is not an issue of a young girl making an off the cuff statement in the heat of the moment. Many are questioning the thinking, values and philosophy of the elite which is symbolised by the ruling party. Anyway, such perceptions only appear in cyberspace and appear serious for those who are reading the fierce comments posted. But is it really deserving of such attention in MSM? Obviously not. The general public will probably see this as a little disturbance, a little annoyance. And rightly the professional journalists in the MSM will not be bothered to spend time reporting on such a small issue. If it is that important and affecting the ruling elite or the party, you can expect some comments coming out from the highest places. The silence tells us that it is not important and no need to sweat over it. It is more like a cold sore. It will appear for a short while and will disappear by itself and the skin will be as smooth as before. Not a little blemish will be left behind. Whether it will disrupt again in the future will depend on the nature of the cold sore. If it is syphillis, it will surely rear its ugly self once again at the most uncomfortable moment. But it could be just a normal cold sore that will just come and go and will not affect the person having it. The elite have made their assessments like the MSM journalists and they are right. The forumers and bloggers are making a mountain out of a mole hill. Whichever party is right in their assessment, only time will tell.

what would i do?

What would I do if I were to give some fatherly advice. Option 1. Make an earnest apology that she had spoken wrong. Even if she is young, at 18, she must show more care and compassion for the less fortunate and less able in society. She has been counselled and hope she will be wiser and be more caring and more thoughtful in the future. Option 2. She is a 18 year old young adult. She must be responsible for what she said. If she has done or said things that are wrong, she must stand up to face the music. She should not close down her blog but to reply and explain her position and apologise for her erroneous views. She has her right to have a view which I don't agree in this case. It is good that other forumers correct her wrongful thoughts and lack of compassion and humility. Hopefully she will learn a good lesson from this episode. As a father I can support her and correct her to become a better person. She has erred like many other young persons. The important thing is to pick herself up, admit her erroneous views, apologise to Derek Wee and whoever she has offended and move on.

the hsienloong dilemma

The HsienLoong Dilemma Now what shall Hsienloong do? To side with his soldier/MP or to side with the people?

duck can sing and cock can swim

Wee Siew Kim has formally apologised today after his earlier reply was deemed unacceptable in cyberspace. Not sure how MSM would interpret his reply, but if we take the lack of reports or forum letters as an indicator, maybe we can assume that MSM has let the matter rest. Only in Cyberspace, the modern day Liangshan that the mood is different, and the protest vehement. Talking about two different worlds, indeed there are two worlds apart. And one is speaking like chicken and another like ducks. Some would want to let the matter rest but some will still be angry. What I think needs to be reviewed is the policy of inducting or co copting successful supertalents into politics. These are able men and women for sure. They have done well in their chosen fields. Politics is a different ball game. There are many reasons why these able people should not be in politics. One of which is interest. Are they really interested and have the people's interest at heart? Or are they coerced to join, or just jump into the bandwagon for a little ride and fame, and fortune? Or they are in for a totally different agenda? Whatever, these people have very little time given their tight schedules in their professions and family. People may want to believe that they are superhumans and can work 25 hours. But remove the facade of their achievements, they are basically another human being who needs to eat, sleep and rest and a little time for themselves. It would be more merciful to let them enjoy their success in what they are doing than to bring them into politics to suffer, and if not being careful, be disgraced in front of everyone. By so doing, we are doing injustice to them and to the people. Wee Siew Kim will now be very bitter for having accepted the call to be in politics. Why did he mess up his life, his family's life, to go into politics when he could be very happy as a CEO in the corporate world. We must be fair to our people, especially the highly valued few supertalents that we have. Do not abuse them by forcing them to be supermen and superwomen. A duck can swim but not run. A cock can crow but not sing. Lets not assume that a duck can sing and a cock can also swim.