Singapore Rebel Urges Free-Speech Podcasting

RADIOSDP

Democrats launch historic RadioSDP
4 Aug 05

The Singapore Democrats have launched RadioSDP, the first political podcast in Singapore (see announcement on the Home page). SDP secretary-general Chee Soon Juan has given the inaugural address, in which he highlighted the Party's manifesto as well as raise issues regarding transparency and accountability (or the lack of it), NKF, ministers' pay, minimum wage, foreign talent, etc.

The podcast is a way for the Party to by-pass the state-controlled media in Singapore. Airwaves in the country are monopolised, cable television is owned by a government-linked company, satellite dishes are banned, and the press is controlled by the ruling party. The Internet remains a medium that the Government finds it hard to censor, although it has enacted many laws aimed at curtailing the use of the Internet for political purposes.

RadioSDP will webcast speeches of its leaders, analysis of political developments, interviews of dissidents living in exile, and at a later time, feature call-in programmes for citizens.

The new feature will help in the Democrat's communication of its messages to Singaporeans. Where necessary or feasible, the messages will be podcast in the four main languages of English, Chinese, Malay, and Tamil. We encourage Internet users to play the podcasts to the older generation of Singaporeans such as your parents and grandparents who may not have the necessary computer and literacy skills to read our website. Dr Chee's address will be translated in the four languages in due course.

While this will change the way political messages are communicated to the people it remains, however, a tool with limitations when compared to mass media. Nevertheless, the SDP would like to encourage Singaporeans to use Internet podcasting to breach the control of the media by the PAP Government.

Related Link:
Forbes.com


Human Rights

Tomorrow.sg and Racist Blog

Steven,

Since you asked on your blog what the 'spat' was - I thought I would send you the comments in that post which may give you a hint of what happened. The fun bit to Bloglines is that anything that gets fed via RSS is kept in the buffer until it is pushed out by new entries. Deleting the source does not remove entries remaining in the buffer. Hence I was able to go back and retrieve the actual comments instead of trying to reconstruct things and getting it wrong.

There was a lot said, not all relevant, but I'm passing you every comment made in that post so to retain the spirit of the discussion. I've highlighted the two pertinent comments from jseng and fembot which would give us a hint as to the spat. I admit I'm only guessing that it is jseng that La Idler is talking about, but having been part of the grapevine for some time (though no longer), and knowing some of the editors personally, I think my guess is not too far off the mark. Plus certain behaviours displayed in public had already made a number of us wary of the direction of Tomorrow, though I was thinking perhaps cooler more sensible heads can prevail. Obviously not. Below is a link to an entry in Nicholas Liu's blog where you can witness the exchanges in full 'glory'.

http://buttermilk.blogspot.com/2005/06/thank-you-sir-may-i-have-another.html

Anyway, do what you wish with this information - it doesn't matter to me. I would like to request anonymity - mainly because I do know some of the editors as friends and do not wish to have this be taken as some personal attack.

rgds-

Racist blog on Malays

*sigh* this is getting tiring so this will be my last post on this "why it this on tomorrow" red-herring.

Tomorrow dont work by consensus. Tomorrow dont work by popular opinion. That job is a for mainstream media, not us. Most important for all, Tomorrow works by POSITIVE not negative enforcement.

What this means is we value people who contributes positively more then those who is all-talk-no-action. We value those who recommends article constantly (which is why we feature them on our sidebar) over those ask us to take things down.

This also apply to the editorial process. Even if 12 out of the 13 editors say no, the odd one out say yes, then it is a yes. The plus is more important then the all the minuses. That's why we pick our editors carefully to ensure we come from very diverse background and because of that, we disagree a lot. If we find ourselves agreeing all the time, then we are not diverse enough.

Now, there are many reasons why the editor click publish. Sometimes we think it is a good article, sometimes we think it is worthwhile to highlight it and sometimes we put it up to be burn alive.

ps: you either believe in freedom of speech or you don't. there is no such thing as a line.

Posted by jseng on 3 August, 2005 - 3:34pm

Comment on "Racist blog on Malays" by fembot

Racist blog on Malays

so if I as an editor deems it unappropriate, can I unpublish it? After all it takes just one doesn't it?

Posted by fembot on 3 August, 2005 - 4:33pm

For the entire email, plus the comments that appeared with it click here.

Related Links:
Tomorrow.sg
Stupid White Men
http://juzbren.blogspot.com/
Born on Nineth of August

Human Rights

Hung at Dawn: Police Ban Sam's Face

I am very concerned about the development of the suppression of an image. Under what law is the image banned?

From The ThinkCentre

Think Centre's Working Group Against Death Penalty is disappointed that Shanmugam's face has been banned from posters and information material at the concert. HUNG AT DAWN concert by local bands to remember Sam, Shanmugam Murugesu, who was executed at 6 am, Friday, 13th May 2005

Iconoclasm in Singapore:
The police have slapped a ban on the use of Shanmugam's face in all publicity and information material pertaining to Friday's concert against the death penalty in Singapore.

The reason given that they were concerned that the organisers would be "glorifying" an "ex-convict" and "executed person".

This marks a new development in Singapore history of censorship--that someone's image is censored because the person looks too nice--too decent a human being.

It is also gravely worrying that because a person has been executed the authorities then believe they have ownership--copyright over his image.

Above the original flyer before the censorship ban came into effect.

HUNG AT DAWN

Local Bands Remember Sam
Shanmugam s/o Murugesu was executed
at 6am, Friday, May the 13th 2005.


CONCERT INFO:
FRIDAY 5th, & THURSDAY 18th August 2005
THE SUBSTATION GUINNESS THEATRE
6pm to 11pm
Entry $7


FRIDAY 5TH AUGUST LINE UP
Harakiri
One Man Nation
The Leaven Trait
Carburetor Dung
Blankshot
Slowjaxx
Ila Mitra
Molotove



THURSDAY 18TH AUGUST LINE UP INCLUDES
Cyril Wong & Ang Song Ming
sixTnine
George Chua
Chong Li Chuan
Yuen Chee Wai
One Man Nation
Zai Kuning


HUNG AT DAWN is organised by an independent group of sound artists and individuals called Songs for Sam. It marks the start of an ongoing series of regional concerts Against the Death Penalty in Southeast Asia. A CD with music Against the Death Penalty is being compiled with input from regional bands.

Human Rights

Open Letter to the Editors of Tomorrow.sg

Stumbled upon this while NOT looking at Expat@Large's pictures of pole dancers. Appears that La Idler has had enough. Enough of what is not clear but it appears that one person in particular has been the straw that broke the camels back. Does anyone know what the actual spat was about and does anyone care enough to let others know?

Dear Editors:

While it was fun working with you guys, I really think it is now no longer a possibility for me to work with you guys anymore. considering how certain things were run and how things have been handled, it has left me thinking how some of you are really impossible to work with (or rather, one of you).

Yes, I am raising the white flag, but I have seen the likes of you in life in times past and cannot be arsed to spend my precious time arguing with you over issues, trying to change you or work around you. I believe I am a person with a high tolerance level and only speak up when an issue needs to be highlighted. But I am sorry to say I cannot tolerate such persistent methods/behaviour/attitudes/whatever, because I have better things to do with my time.

All I can say is that I thought Tomorrow.sg was to be run democratically, but apparently for someone, democracy was just a load of bull for your dictatorship.

I wish you guys all the best and also wish Tomorrow.sg success. It was a pleasure to work with you (or at least, some of you).

Yours,

La Idler a.k.a. fembot

Human Rights

Singapore leaders ease up on social engineering without ceding political control

First seen on tomorrow.sg and printed here in full for my own records.
Turning 40, Singapore leaders ease up on social engineering without ceding political control

By: EN-LAI YEOH - Associated Press

SINGAPORE -- Singaporeans are seeing HBO's "Sex and the City" on TV. Actors may utter four-letter words on stage. Opposition parties can gather without police permission -- as long as they do it indoors.

Tiny and famously disciplined Singapore is turning 40 on Tuesday, and continuing to lighten up. Gone are the days when chewing gum and long hair were banned. Singaporeans are even being allowed to bungee-jump and dance on bar tables.

Apart from letting censorship ease up a bit, Singapore's leaders are lifting a longstanding ban on casinos and allowing not one but two to open.

In April, Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong explained: "We risk being relegated to the second league if we rely only on past achievements. We must continue to reinvent ourselves."

Political analyst Ho Khai Leong of the Institute of Southeast Asian Studies says the ruling People's Action Party is being pragmatic without relaxing its grip on power over the island and its 4.2 million citizens.

"It can't remain authoritarian when globalization is on your doorstep," he said. "There is a dynamic to the desire to be more open."

In 40 years, Singapore has gone from malarial backwater of the British empire to gleaming financial center with one of Asia's most modern economies. It is also a model of social engineering, where homosexuality remains punishable by jail, and the citizenry, mostly ethnic Chinese, is regularly targeted in civic improvement campaigns -- speak proper English! Get to weddings on time! Have more babies! Wave to your fellow motorists!

The unusual meld of capitalism, authoritarianism and state-encouraged behavior modification was perfected by Lee Kuan Yew, the British-educated father of the present prime minister, who led Singapore to independence in 1965 and ruled it for 25 years. At 81, he is regarded as an elder statesman of Asia, and remains a powerful influence on the Cabinet where he holds the title of "minister mentor."

But while the economy has leaped forward, political reform has been glacial.

The People's Action Party has never lost an election, holds 82 of the 85 seats in parliament and is likely to trounce the ragtag opposition again in the next election. Its two most prominent opposition figures have been bankrupted by defamation suits won by ruling party members, and Singapore law disqualifies bankrupts from running for office.

While government leaders say such lawsuits are intended to protect their reputations, the U.S. State Department and the human rights group Amnesty International say they are designed to cripple the opposition.

Leading foreign newspapers also have been frequently sued by ruling party stalwarts, and the international media rights group Reporters Without Borders ranks Singapore 147th in its press freedom index. North Korea and Cuba rank 156 and 157.

Analyst Ho said the government's call for "responsible media ... is a code word for media to support government policy."

State-linked broadcaster MediaCorp controls all free TV channels here, and Singapore Press Holdings Ltd. -- which rarely deviates from the administration line -- runs most newspapers.

The new challenge is the Internet, and it puts the government in a quandary. It knows the future depends on an Internet-savvy public, but also recognizes the Web's power to bypass state-controlled media and foment its own kind of people power.

The Internet effect was evident in June, when an online petition became a driving force behind the ouster of the head of the largest government-backed charity, the National Kidney Foundation, for allegedly misusing funds.

"Rarely have Singaporeans showed such unanimous purpose in demanding change, and it worked -- an undeniable plus for democracy," said political commentator Seah Chiang Nee.

Officials say they have eased up on social policies to satisfy a generation more exposed to overseas influences. But they also insist Singapore's generally conservative citizenry cherishes order and wants censorship and government involvement in social affairs to preserve it.[Preserve what? Order! Censorship and a Nanny State creates Order? What does ORDER mean, regularity, sameness, predictability?]

Prime Minister Lee spelled it out in clear language recently: "Social mores must not be corrupted and Singapore must remain a safe and wholesome society."

Human Rights

Matchmaking or human trafficking?

If anyone has any other related stories, please feel free to post them here in the comments section, anonymously if you like, or email them to me. If you wish to report directly to an international organisation then email:

Report'AT'PolarisProject.org

From Yawning Bread and first spotted on Tomorrow.sg.

I have written two previous articles about the quickie-bride business in Vietnamese brides and Vietnam's house of virgins. In both, I expressed my strong opinion about how unsavoury this kind of quickie match-making is.

Now, a reader of Yawning Bread -- let's call him Terence -- has provided me with information about an even seamier underside of this business, which may qualify as human trafficking. Terence seems convinced that Singapore is looking the other way while other countries have been doing something about it.

Naturally, it is very difficult to get hard proof about the most disturbing aspects of his story, for the more sensitive the matter, the more closely the businessmen involved will guard those secrets. This is something that only determined investigators, able to set up undercover operations, can penetrate.

But Terence's inside information has an internally consistent logic and is very plausible as a business method. Perhaps not all matchmaking agencies operate like this, but among the lot, some will be using the business model described below, not least because Singapore and some other countries aren't doing anything to stop it.

to continue reading click here.

Yawning Bread finishes the article with a request for others to forward this information on to either local or international authorities who might be able to do something. I have forwarded the information regarding contacting Polaris to Yawning Bread as they currently have the first hand email they received from 'Terrence'.

Related Articles and Links:
Sex trafficking growing in S.E.Asia
Trafficking in Persons Report
Conference on Tackling the Demand for Child Tourism and Sex Trafficking in East and Southeast Asia
UNIFEM Singapore
Polaris Project
Standing Against Global Exploitation
Protection Project
Coalition Against Trafficking in Women
Captive Daughters


Human Rights

Blogheads or What?

Why are all the other blogs mentioned while the blog that referred to the infantile nature of the Singaporean Blogosphere is ignored? First spotted the article and picture at A Moo Point, who writes a rejoinder of sorts.

While US blogs have made great strides in gaining credibility with analyses and exposes, S'pore bloggers seem stuck in a self-absorbed groove. Why?

By Skye Tan

August 01, 2005

ME. My body, my thoughts, my dog... et cetera.

If you are new to the local blogging phenomenon, you could be forgiven for thinking that our bloggers are, as one fellow blogger once observed, infantile.

Sure, blogs are by nature biased, containing opinions and reflections from their owners.

But a cursory browse of some of the more popular local blog sites seem to reveal them as vain, navel-gazing and, well, rather self-absorbed.

Not exactly similar to the blog power we have seen in the US. (See report below.)

There are exceptions, sure.

But they are rare, and not getting much attention.

Instead, the ones which make the most impact and score the most number of hits appear to be those that yak on and on about well, me, my body, my thoughts and my dog.

Not that anyone is apologetic about it.

As one of the latest additions to the ranks of local 'blogebrities', or celebrity bloggers, Ms Sandra Ng, 20, revealed: 'I blog to share with people my thoughts and feelings.'

True to form, the pretty freelance camp instructor, known to her fans as Sandralicious, writes about, well, her life.

That, and perhaps the sensual photographs she posted on her blogs, gets her about 3,000 unique hits on her site every day.

A unique hit is one recorded by a hit counter based on the user's computer. It would not be recorded if the same user visited the website again.

Not bad for someone who's only started blogging in 2003.

Our original blogebrity, Ms Wendy Cheng, 21, better known as Xiaxue, gets even more hits on her blogsite - up to 10,000 daily unique hits.

Well-known for her caustic wit and biting comments, Ms Cheng has blogged tirades against cab-snatchers and her chagrin and detailed opinions on why certain female celebrities who her male friends think are hot are not.

Flippant? Perhaps.

Sorry? No, she doesn't 'apologise for it', she says in her usual frank manner.

Popular blogger Mr Brown - who gets 5,000 to 7,000 unique hits on his site daily - was self-deprecating enough to rename his site Mr Brown: L'infantile terrible of Singapore.

MANY CHILDISH BLOGS

Sarong Party Girl (or 'Izzy'), the 19-year-old fine arts undergraduate who found herself the subject of much discussion after she posted nude photographs of herself, admitted: 'There are many childish (Singaporean) blogs out there that do not talk about anything worthwhile.

'Mostly because I think people want others to read their blogs, and they would rather talk about things other people like their friends or family can accept.'

Besides tales of her sexual exploits, SPG frequently expounds on religion and prejudice.

Izzy, who boasts 12,000 unique daily hits on her blogsite, is another 'I-blog-what-I-am'.

''My life is full of salacious details... and I like modelling and post those photographs up because at the end of the day, the blog is about me,' she said.

But navel-gazing does not always equal fluff, insist some local bloggers.

Wannabe Lawyer or 'Shianux', 25, belongs to the small breed of 'serious' bloggers.

The law student, who's doing his degree in Melbourne, regularly expounds on his opinions on media, economics, law and political policies, and his 'two pet topics - issues about race and rights for people with alternative sexual preferences'.

'I write the way I do because it's a personal blog and I write about things I care for. I'm aware that my blog is a publishing platform and I can reach people with it but I write for myself primarily,' said the articulate young man, who called Mr Brown's writing about his family and autistic daughter a 'very powerful way of sharing about family social issues'.

BREAD AND BUTTER POLITICS

Mr Miyagi - or businessman Benjamin Lee, 36, - insists he too is political.

'For me, politics is defined as whatever issues that concern ourselves and our lives. So you could say we are always political. Bus fares up? Complain. Political what,' he wrote in an e-mail reply.

A recent blog entry dwelled on his grocery shopping.

Both Mr Miyagi and Wannabe Lawyer's site are one-year-old. The former gets 3,000 unique hits daily while the latter, 400.

But do they go beyond merely complaining? Unlike some top US bloggers who indulge in their own brand of investigative journalism, Singapore bloggers are generally armchair critics.

Which begs the question: Do Singapore surfers want - or deserve - more? Judging by the popularity of the bloggers, no. A peek into someone's personal life seems enough of a thrill.

Said Wannabe Lawyer: 'It's like human interest stories in newspapers. Each blog is a walking, self-centred human interest story.'

In any case, politics isn't a big part of Singaporeans' lives, said Mr Randolph Kluver, director of the Singapore Internet Research Centre.

But Mr Brown - or Mr Lee Kin Mun, 36, an Internet consultant - also pointed out there are local blogs on topics 'which have nothing to do with what they took for breakfast or how they feel about love'.

He cited a few blogs dedicated to technology, culture and travel and language.

And he reckons that 'given time', the local blog scene will 'see more citizen journalists come out'.

US bloggers: The Fifth Estate?

DURING the Iraq War, the question on many lips was: Where is Raed?

That was the title of Salam Pax's site, a blogger posting under a pseudonym right from the heart of Bagdhad.

Every development of the ongoing war was chronicled - he got the news before the news hounds - and the rest of the world read, riveted.

His writings were duplicated in books and he was offered a regular column in The Guardian.

Someone even offered to fund him to shoot a movie titled Baghdad Bomber.

Forbes.com nominated him for their Best Blogs, in the category of Best War Blogs.

His site also won a Bloggie (the blogosphere equivalent of the Grammys) in 2004 in the category of Best African or Middle Eastern Weblog.

Talk about blog power.

GAINING RECOGNITION

Political blogs are fast gaining recognition too.

In the US, John Kerry's men issued press accreditation to political bloggers to cover the Democratic National Convention in June.

In March, the New York Times reported that US political blogger Garrett Graff, 23, whose blog www.mediabistro.com/fishbowldc analyses the Washington news media, was given a daily White House pass.

NYT reported that Mr Graff 'may be the first blogger in the short history of the medium to be granted a daily White House pass for the specific purpose of writing a blog'.

This was echoed by a White House spokesman.

Also in recent events, this time in Europe, a teacher's blog expressing why he disagreed with the proposed EU Constitution garnered up to 25,000 daily hits in the days leading up to the vote in July.

FOLK HERO

In reporting on this event, which caused the teacher to be lauded as 'a folk hero', the BBC noted the 'enormous force' of 'grassroots power' that blogs can be.

Bloggers Blog, which reports on blogging happenings, estimates that the current number of blogs worldwide exceeds 60 million.

Livejournal.com, a US-based website which hosts blogs, ranks Singapore among the top 10 countries with the largest number of registered blogs.

Our little red dot has 22,000 registered accounts.

The blogging phenomenon is truly international. Time Magazine estimated in their 9 May issue this year that even in conservative Iran, there are 100,000 bloggers

Human Rights

DFAT warns gay sex illegal in Singapore

The Age

August 1, 2005 - 5:54PM

Australians travelling to Singapore are being warned they could go to jail if they are caught having gay sex.

In an updated travel advisory, the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT) reminds Australians about the stringent laws in Singapore that can incur penalties that may sometimes appear harsh.

"Australians are reminded that when overseas, they are subject to local laws," the DFAT website says.

"Local laws and legal processes can be very different from those in Australia.

"A violation of local laws may result in a jail sentence, served in a local prison.

"Consular assistance cannot override local law, even where local laws may appear harsh or unjust by Australian standards."

In particular, the website warns that gay sexual acts are illegal in Singapore and can lead to jail.

"Homosexual acts are illegal in Singapore and penalties include imprisonment," the DFAT website says.

Human Rights

Who is Lee Kuan Yew?

Asked an online demo of the Quartz , Natural Language Question Answering system "Who is Lee Kuan Yew?", and I was impressed that it provided a list of possible answers, many out of date though as he is now the Minister Mentor or is it Mentor Minister. Some straight forward answers to a straight forward question, and I was rather surprised when I read the last suggested answer. Will the MM be starting another defamation case?

Google Earth

Go here download and have your mind blown away.