Is openness really what Singaporeans can handle?
Written by ED on May 22, 2008 – 1:12 pm - Posted in Current Affairs, Singapore, Society |It is not surprising why I am caught fluctuating between both ends, because I don’t believe the response from either side yields long term changes that will be beneficial to our society - particularly lesser control over internet. On one hand where we are pushing for lesser control over internet, yet we are also the ones to cry foul over the kind of spillage we have seen. Most of which, were anticipated many years ago.
Just yesterday, Paddy and I had a short conversation and I briefly sent him a remark that our blogosphere is not mature enough. I have long suspected the hypocrisy of Singapore’s blogosphere, but Fragrance Prince’s episode seemed to confirm my sentiments. Of course, a lot of comparisons were made between Fragrance Prince and our infamous Xiaxue - who was also known to have made slightly seditious remarks in her blog years back. The outcome is significantly different as we know.
For a start, if openness is what we want, then we must be prepared to deal with such situations. Freedom of speech, is what we seek. That means it can go in any direction, for the good or bad. Now that it has come, are we able to handle it? Obviously not. While I do not condone any form of racism, such societal conflicts bound to surface from time to time when the tapes are cut loose.
Being fully aware of the possible repercussions of lesser control in internet, are we not digging our own graves?
I don’t believe that having been charged in court, it would change the opinion of FP. This was something Ian mentioned, and I had to agree with it. He can be silenced with such an arrest, but what is there to prevent him from harboring racism in his heart? The truth is, there is nothing we can do. The law just doesn’t applies to our thoughts in our heads. At least to what I know, nobody has ever been charged in court just for the sheer sake of a thought. Between a thought and a written piece of blog post, is racism any different?
The incident also highlighted the vulnerability and insecurity in our citizens, double-folds. We want to go open, but we do not wish to see anything bad spoken about us. Is that still “openness”? If that’s the case, I guess at least 30% of bloggers in Singapore will end up having meals in Whitley Detention Centre. Why? Most of us have also written about our displeasure towards the Government strongly. Yet, we cannot subject ourselves to the same criticism (in any form) we have been giving out to others.
Wilfrid wrote recently of the Art of Miscommunication. Racist remarks, are not exactly miscommunication but rather… misinformation of another group of people we are sharing this country with. So how does miscommunication come into the picture here? What I am trying to point to is, most of us spend so much time online that some have probably forgotten about human-to-human interaction and etiquettes. Once this criteria of interaction goes missing, that’s when trouble brews.
I felt compelled to echo one of Aaron’s statements; this just proves that we cannot ignore the fact that we DO need laws and policing on the internet. I see a lot of importance in this one single statement, because the same bunch of us lamenting over strict regulations over the internet, we are also the very same people who will eventually exercise these laws and policing. What exactly do we want?
Last year, I have written about Internet Censorship with reference to Odex’s case. There are simply far too many examples of Singaporeans misbehaving on the internet. It is of little wonder that even journalists are afraid of voicing their honest thoughts. Can we blame them though?
Again, we can’t seemed to handle any negativity that comes our way. I reckon, that we will only see a truly open internet platform when we are able to embrace the differences in opinions. By embracing differences (even to the extend of racism), it does not necessarily mean to accept. It can simply means the providence of a platform for both parties to iron it out and clarify any misconceptions one may have. Having said that, both sides will have to participate and not suppress one another.
What’s my conclusion? I have none. The only thing through all my references above is directed towards another solution instead of brutal suppression. Before we even continue to talk about pushing the boundaries of internet control in Singapore, try asking ourselves - can we live in a world without internet control?
May 22nd, 2008 at 1:35 pm
Hey Mr-Endoh,
This is a good post. When I saw your headlines, in my mind, I thought of the line “Can You Handle The Truth?!”.
Reading through your blog, I find compelling evidence that you may be a part of a growing generation of bloggers who holds true to the ethos “I may not agree with you, but I will defend your right for your freedom of speech!”
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May 22nd, 2008 at 3:40 pm
Between a thought and a written piece of blog post, is racism any different?
The latter is worse because racism–as a written piece of blog post–can and will influence others.
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May 22nd, 2008 at 11:07 pm
We need freedom abound like in the Internet. Its the only place (other than coffeeshops) where we can voice our opinions openly without being overly afraid.
The traditional media needs to have their rules relaxed a bit, while i’m fine with the Internet being what it is now, with the state stepping in only when we’re crossing the line (and this time we also agree the line has been crossed).
We’re approaching exciting times Endoh, thanks to the Internet, and i’m glad to be living these times.
Though i will be happier when Singaporeans become happier with me too, without worrying about rice, $ and the like.
Aaron
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May 23rd, 2008 at 12:57 am
Hi, I was born in HK and freedom of speech has always been a given. Initially when I moved to Singapore, I found it strange that citizens and residents cannot even hold a protest and everything is censored.
However, the flip side of such freedom is that when all government decisions are being jammed by so many people from all walks of life, it is slow in passing laws and regulations or slow in just about anything people wish to do.
One American friend of mine who is now stationed in Singapore finds it interesting that roadwork can be carried out and completed with such efficiency. Back in US, at least from where he came from, lots of parties need to be consulted and it takes ages for decisions to be made.
So, what I am trying to say is that we sacrifice freedom and gain efficiency - which is essential to the success of Singapore so far. However, it should be the time Singapore opens up and be more tolerate towards alternative views.
On “Between a thought and a written piece of blog post, is racism any different?”, I personally think that there is a whole world of difference. Words are powerful. Some words in this world can be divine or can be the fuel for the terrorist cells. Hence, we shall be mindful on what we say, what we write. Thoughts to me are ethereal. There could be millions of bizarre thoughts in my mind right now that are not fit for public consumption.
Anyway, my humble thoughts.
PS. Not sure why Akimet thinks that your site is a “spam site” (I use Wordpress with Akimet add-on). I have de-spam it already. Hope it will help
You must be someone famous that spammers target you to confuse Akimet 
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May 23rd, 2008 at 11:29 am
[...] Blogger Arrested - Endoh’s Dungeon: Is openness really what Singaporeans can handle? - Almost Infamous: Fragrant Prince - Anonymous_X: Racism is only funny in…”Harold & [...]
May 23rd, 2008 at 11:32 am
Racism will always be there. Suppression in useless.
Addressing racism is done via openness, communication and understanding.
We should encourage people to openly communicate their thoughts even if it is racist.
Sure, when found, we should then notify community services (NOT police) to “rehabilitate” these people.
They should not have to close their blogs. They should continue to blog and see if community education has helped.
This is how society grows up.
Because everything is suppressed in Singapore, it creates these festering extreme thoughts.
Islamic terrorists fall under the same category. Its just than when we found out there festering thoughts, they had already done damage.
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May 23rd, 2008 at 12:32 pm
I believe Harphoon | 22-May-08 at 2:27 http://ian.onthereddot.com/2008/05/22/bloggers-should-be-allowed-to-be-as-racist-as-possible/#comment-2481pm hit a home run. When he mentioned, the real problem isn’t detecting and even bringing those offenders to account. That’s the simple part.
The real challenge is solving the matter at the level of the root.
I dont think policing and regulating by law or any other means is a very effective solution either.
All it does it drive the discussion to another place. It doesnt eradicate the problem as much as submarines it.
However, trying to solve it at the root level will also be quite challenging. Although I know your gahmen does pay lip service to the whole idea of integrating the races. Much of this is still not complemented by real content changes.
For example, when you Singaporeans visit us in Malaysia, very few of you even bother to speak Bahasa Melayu. You wouldnt for example do the same in say Beijing?
Pls try to take this constructively. I am just making a point of observation.
I am not saying you should all learn our language, only I find it very funny when you are a country sorrounded by large tracts of Malay speaking neighbors yet so little effort is done to promote the language.
When Darkness of the brotherhood visited some of us in Kuala Lumpur some time bfr the GE. I went to hear him talk. I expected to see a very arrogant, brash and probably another loud mouth know it all Singaporean. You all have this general attitude. I know, I studied in NUS. Besides I dont like the online persona of Darkness very much. I find he can be very obnoxious sometimes.
When I walked in I saw a very shy soft spoken chinese young man speaking in immaculate BM.
I could tell it was book learnt. As his construction sounded woody. He could not have been more than 30.
The only reason why he did so was because there was this one elderly haji who had problems understanding English. As most of the crowd there already understood BM. He switched to BM. He was obviously struggling, but what bowled me and the crowd completely over was the effort he made.
I dont remember much abt his talk, but I do recall one thing, he said.
“Govt’s are not really important if you really think abt. They just like to come across as important (laughter).
I usually leave them with my slippers and umbrella (laughter)outside the door way.
Inside, I decide. I make the choices. To understand, to learn, to forget, to get closer, to stay engaged, to switch on or off, to pick up and go etc (forgot)..and no one can stop me.
When you know this. You will not feel the need to protest or to even make a point in public by showing anti establishment films or (forgot). As 90% of the problems with this world has alot to do with self effacement of hippocrisy, that means the root of the problem is usually the man in the mirror…I believe this is where real change really begins. Yourself. (forgot)”
Dr Ong Leih Kit
P.S: If any of you see those space boys pls tell them all. We have all got our barang and Ramly burgers all packed up. We are all ready for the journey to the stars. Since yesterday, we can no longer either log in. Their site just vanished for no reason (is this another uniquely singaporean magic marketing trick?) so most of us Malaysians are waiting for the giant space ship called Noah’s Ark to pull into the virtual Dataran Merdeka in Kuala Lumpur. Tell them we are all waiting OK.
Thank you Singapura.
Terima Kasih, semoga kita boleh berdikari.
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May 23rd, 2008 at 2:12 pm
I very much like to agree with you ED, that the issue at hand here is not discussing about bilateral ties between Malaysia and Singapore. Only can these monoliths of identity and culture really be divorced from the debate? Aren’t they really one of the same reality? Our govt here propogates no end the populist myth all Singaporeans are land grabbers, selfish cold, metallic and only motivated by the whole idea of the weighted win win mentality which props up the people action party.
Your government in the words of your great leader see us as a nation which is invested in crime, endemic corruption and lost opportunities. He doesnt say so directly, but they are enough hints. We get most of it. And so do you.
The wind blows both ways.
Who is right ED?
The nub is this ED. I believe what Dr Darkness mentioned was right and wrong is no sterile debate. I would go on to explain further. Maybe I will post the youtube version of the talk here or a verbatim transcript. His message was we can rise above all this petty politics which govt impose on our thinking. We dont need to learn as much as unlearn many of the things which has been scripted into our understanding. As people we can connect, we can bridge the divide. I think his point is, you cannot really respect someone or even his religion and puppy beliefs because of the law alone. If you didn’t even bother to invest in the knowledge first.
Many things can be said abt language. Its a social simile. A parlance and a bag of grunts. But even you cannot deny ED, language is the greatest manifestation of a people and their beliefs, as its a source of great pride.
You have to really see the young man when he broke out in his broken guitar Malay. The whole room was shocked into pin drop silence. The camera zoomed in. He bit his tongue. He looked embarassed. He flushed red. In one masterful stroke, he said it all. Not in words, but in deed. I have been working very hard to learn who you all are. I have. I really have. I respect all of you with all my heart.
Terima Kasih, for this thoroughly refreshing post.
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May 23rd, 2008 at 7:27 pm
I think the authorities are not really suppressive, but rather symbolic in their actions. They can’t exactly find the optimum way of dealing with racists in the Internet yet.
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May 24th, 2008 at 3:43 pm
Marina Mahathir put it well when she highlighted that Christians objected to the Da Vinci Code movie by organising seminars and talks instead of screaming for a fatwah or actually cutting off someone’s head. Surely it’s more to do than just the language. It comes to a point to ask, who is the racist here. DPM Wong refused to acknowledge illegal parking near certain religious buildings were ignored, is tolerance only a one-way traffic? Does anyone remember the Madam Zubaidah(?) who wrote about dogs being allowed to travel in taxis? “Fragrant Prince”’s writing just happens to be a bad mix of Wee Shu Min and Xiaxue (recall her blog about a trip to KL?), but to put him into a lock-up and potential face charges of sedition? No wonder Mas Selamat was treated with kid gloves.
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May 24th, 2008 at 8:08 pm
‘Govt is about stability, not morality.’ These words are from an episode of ‘Yes, Minister’, a well received British comedy series which made fun of the political estab.Spoken by the PS to his minister.
You can follow from there that the Singapore govt likewise is very concerned where racialist remarks made by anyone, bloggers included, will lead to. An insensitive remark can lead to a harsh rejoiner in tit for tat fashion. One thing can lead to another, angry words can lead to angry retaliation in action. You get a chain reaction, and it wouldn’t take much for irresponsible members from opposites to start a riot.
I am not pro govt. If anything, I am a critic. But when you have some ideas and experience in such issues, you know such scenarios are entirely possible.
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May 26th, 2008 at 4:46 am
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