MDA’s licensing of social media, a pawn’s gambit

In a sudden move, MDA stunned the world of social media and the whole wide world with a pawn’s gambit, by requiring social media website reporting on Singapore to be licensed, to put up a $50k bond and risk a $200k penalty if the news site violated its regulations. A few of the official media websites were put up as bait to this new move, and the proverbial inconsequential sacrificial pawns. Some may think that this is a foolish move as the social media exists in cyberspace with no space or territory to talk about, and can’t be under any country’s jurisdiction in the normal sense. A news site in cyberspace appearing here also appears across the whole wide world. How can the govt of a country claims jurisdiction over the site and requiring the site to apply for a national license?

I was thinking of suggesting to Yaacob Ibrahim to retract this new regulation as it does not appear to be very sound, unreal. The Govt may be able to deal with Singaporeans owning the sites, but as for foreigners or sites located overseas, there is really nothing much that the Govt can do except to declare ‘war’ against the site and its owners. Many would not even have a presence here in terms of staff and offices and nothing can be held in ransom. They can show the MDA their middle finger. It would be interesting for Yahoo, Singapore to do just that.

Then again, I think this meticulous and highly talented Govt would not have done something that looked silly to the common folks, but the imposition of this regulation must have been carefully thought through, with the inputs of all the great talents available. It must be something workable, reasonable, logical, and ingenious, and for a very important objective.

As the case turns out, the reception was anything but hostility and many people, not only the website owners, but anyone familiar with cyberspace, are not taking this move kindly. It will definitely increase the anti PAP votes in the next election.

Why would the Govt want to tempt this fate, the same question that the people are asking about the Population White Paper? A simple guess is that by not doing so, the power of social media is going to increase and affect the votes for the PAP negatively. And applying Machiavelli’s Theory, if nasty and unpopular decisions need to be taken, let’s do it swiftly and hopefully by the next GE the pain will be forgotten or softened.

The PAP must have many cards up its sleeves and many things must be carefully planned ahead to take away this sting. How about a big big angpow then, one that will floor every anti PAP voters and put a smile in their faces? The Govt’s policy and trump card has always been the pocket. Hit the pocket hard or fill it fully to win the votes. If the angpow is coming, and a real big one, it will be another ‘pau chiat’ GE in 2016. What is there to fight if the people can see the goodies coming?

The PAP must have known that this is going to be a very unpopular policy domestically and even internationally. This must be another first chalked up by the PAP, regulating and licensing websites, not only applicable to Singaporeans but also to foreigners. They must know that the foreigners will also comply and put up the bond, and prepare to be fined $200k if charged by the Singapore courts. If the foreigners were to stand up in defiance, there is really nothing the Govt can do and can be quite embarrassing, to be seen as bullying the Singaporeans and a toothless tiger to the foreigners.

The owners of all the major local websites are up in arms in protest. Unlike the Hong Lim Park protest against the Population White Paper that died down immediately after the event, these major websites are going to blow their trumpets, bugles, horns and beat their drums daily to make sure not only the Govt will hear the noise, but the whole wide world will get the din as well. It is going to be very noisy without a sound. The only thing is how long will the website owners be able to keep their fighting spirit up and high and to see if they wear out first, or the Govt wears out first? What would be the deciding factor to tip the balance and for a winner to appear? Can it be public opinion of the citizens or the opinion of the whole wide world, or a combination of both? Would the citizens chip in, or would the main media chip in, to give more weight to the combatants?

The time line is likely to be 2016. If this protracted war is dragged on, it will only increase in temperature and intensity as it approaches the 2016 GE. Round One the MDA has clearly lost with social media and bloggers and netizens throwing all the punches. Ouch! Next to throw punches are likely to be the citizens who voted for a Govt and finding it unacceptable for the same Govt to want to gag their mouth, stuff their ears and put blinkers on their eyes. Why would they want to vote for such a Govt? Would this be the big question in the next GE?

The show has just begun.

50,000 IPs, what is this?

My concern with IPs stemmed from my experience in redbeanforum.com. When the brigades were attacking my site, dunno who they are or where they are from, every morning my site will be hit by a few hundred spam postings of all kinds of stuff, from porno sites to fictitious retail sites. And it was quite a task trying to delete them. Eventually I gave up and locked the site from comments. It is now a read only forum : )

The IPs can become more mischievous if the new MDA regulations come into force. Any site can be hit by a few hundred or thousand spams daily and getting 50,000 IPs showing in the counter is a piece of cake. Can these sites then tell MDA, sorry, the IPs are spammers. And would MDA accept that reasoning? What do you think?

Would someone say, put in firewalls or blocks, or allow a special counter to be inserted into the blog or site for counting minus spams? And you can have cheeky buggers creating little programmes to ramp up the IP hits of any site they want to hit and sorry folks, your 50,000 IPs are up. Please apply for a licence, and put up a bond. No worry, a banker’s guarantee will do. How much is a banker’s guarantee? Freely issued by the bankers?

Would MDA provide free software to make the counter numbers genuine and not flooded by spammers? Would a blog or site allow MDA to insert programmes into it? Or in case of blogs, would Google allow such interference to their system?

How to create a nation of stupid people?

Is it possible to create a nation of stupid people? I don’t think this is an easy task. You can train people to do things but training people to be stupid is quite a remarkable call. The more formidable task is to educate them, give them the best tertiary education, let them think they are smart, but actually stupid without knowing it? Now that is really something isn’t it?

In communist, totalitarian or authoritarian countries, I think the task is so much easier. Just clamp down on the news and information and feed them with all the information that the state would want them to see and hear. Keep repeating that their lives are the best in the world, everything is fine, and the rest of the world are suffering, in poverty, with bad govt, and no dear leaders to help them. After a few generations of not knowing what is happening to the outside world and only seeing a world within, the people will be convinced that they are living in paradise.

Now, how can this situation be recreated in a cosmopolitan and open democratic country? Can it happen, that people living in a democracy, cosmopolitan, well travelled and well informed, and stupid at the same time? Really, it is impossible to do so. Such well educated and informed people will not be gagged, will not be fooled, will not allow to be blinkered. Any attempt to do so will be met with violent protest, unless they are really stupid.

A stupid people will elect a govt to be their masters, to control them, manage their lives, squeeze every cent from them, and tell them it is for their own good. And only a stupid people will believe such things without questioning and live happily ever after, and keep going to the poll to elect the same people to be their masters, to control them, to threaten them, to sue them, to keep them in fear, to keep their money from them, year after year.

It will be one of the major wonders of civilization, an achievement no one has ever done in human history. I am still wondering if it is possible, to train or create a nation of stupid people.

Mysingaporenews will be closed for the month

Apologies, mysingaporenews will be out for the rest of the month. I just make a check on the counter and the visitor number is nearly 50,000. Cannot exceed this magic number.

Also, my quota for writing on Singapore News has exceeded for the whole year. From now onwards I will be writing about dog rearing, how to groom puppies, how to walk the dogs with muzzles on....and on my photography as a hobby. I will not post any photos that have street scenes of Singapore in case they are mistaken as photojournalism or news on Singapore.

When 6.9m White Paper is not enough

The anger of the 6.9m White Paper has not subsided and now comes the clamping down on social media. Though this is a gingerly step taken, no one is blind to see what will come next. And the uproar in social media is predictable. Everyone is anticipating what will come next and when the blogging community will be hit.

Looking from another angle, these two moves just go to show that the Govt is still very confident that it can do whatever it wants without fear or any repercussion from the people. The lost of two by elections too did not register that things are not going its way and pushing too hard will only elicit stronger resentment and resistance.

The ruling party must have made all the necessary calculations and played out the different scenarios on how the people will react to this latest curb. The negative reaction is expected and is a case of how bad. Not doing it now to rein in the social media must be seen as unacceptable. So, is it a case of paying the price now while there is still time for the anger to fade in three years prior to the GE?

This cannot be a case that the ruling party believes it can get away with it. So what is the story? Is the situation that dire that not doing anything will only see things getting worst and doing it can only be better and not worst? It is likely that the fight is on, starting from now, to win the ground or hold the ground in cyberspace. Or is it a case of cutting losses, blow up the bridge and hold the ground, give up some ground but still have enough to make a stand and win the GE?

The problem is that if the reading is wrong, the backlash in 2016 could be devastating. The incremental moves in the implementation of unpopular policies that may not be necessary, like the Population White Paper, can be counter productive and ended with digging its own grave.

A blogger by the name of Roy in TRE wrote an appeal letter to Tharman to reconsider this new media regulation. Among the ministers, Tharman seems to be the only one left that is more people oriented and willing to listen to the people. This is what Roy said among many things in his long letter,

‘On behalf of a segment of Singaporeans, I would like to seek your understanding in this matter. For many of us Singaporeans, we are only beginning to realise the stake that we have in Singapore and how we need to take ownership and be empowered over our own lives. My own journey began only last year. We genuinely want to also shape a Singapore which belongs to us all. Many Singaporeans might sound “angry” online but I hope that you can understand that this is because we feel that we have finally regained our ability to speak up, after years of seeming inability to do so, and it would take some time for us to learn to use it more constructively, just as it would also take some time for a government which had not been used to feedback to also learn to adjust to receiving them. It is a two-way process.’

The awakening of the Singaporeans is a good thing (or a bad thing) after falling asleep or kept under blinkers for so long. The social media and its role to facilitate the Singaporeans to discuss national affairs must be positive, right? Wrong? Stifling the growth of social media is a regressive step towards choking the voice of the people and killing the seed of an aware and politically involved citizenry. Or is this not to be nurtured, not to be encouraged? The citizens are best to shut up, to be led, and to do as was told? How far are we from the ignorant third world unenlightened citizens if we try to gag the citizens from discussing national issues, from empowering them to help to shape the future of their country? Oh no, I am mistaken. The new regulations are only to provide clarity of ground rules of what can or cannot be written in space. Nothing to do about controlling what the people can say, read or hear.