Wildfilms

From their own description of the blog:

WildFilms is an initiative set up to produce a documentary series based on the Shores of Singapore. Our focus in the production of this documentary is to produce a record of the shores, and compile that record into a form that the general public can absorb. As it is said, you won't miss a thing until you lose it. The Shores of Singapore are being lost now. What are we losing without even knowing it was there? Please note that all members of the team suffer from stupoks. You have been warned.

Check out the photos, especially this worm-creature-thingy. These people are obviously hardcore--one of them, Ria Tan--just allowed herself to be [apologies; I was under the wrong impression] was stung by a sting ray. For the sake of science, she said! I hope she'll be ok.

[Technorati: singapore, conservation, nature]

Factchecking ST

Andy Ho has a piece today in ST Review (Apr 30, 2005) in which the the carnard about CZ's site being hacked into is once again repeated:

That blog required a password and was meant only for his friends. Apparently, one of them - or some outsider who perhaps cracked the password - put his errant posts together and e-mailed them to the PSC and the media.

I've discussed this before, so I'm just going to say this really quick here: no hacking, cracking or what have you was needed for someone to get to the offending posts. How else did I get to see them before they were taken down? And you don't have to believe me either, see what CZ's own friends have to say.

Once again: CZ's privacy was--in my opinion--infringed upon. But it wasn't because someone maliciously hacked into anything. In fact, the discovery was most likely purely accidental.

A small detail, no doubt, but I expect ST to be better than this, seeing that it is the premier newspaper in the land it has had two weeks to get this right, and considering that unlike us Joe Bloggers, it actually can afford to pay for factchecking (hat tip the "friend" for pointing out that ST never claimed to be the premier newspaper in the land).

UPDATE: Ivan pointed me to an article by a friend of CZ published in Today. Reasonably written and engages my sympathies (though in my case, he's preaching to the choir, in a sense). What's more interesting is that a better paragraphed version of what he says can be found on his own blog. Incidentally, he does not believe that CZ's blog was hacked. ADD: The article is now also available on his blog.

UPDATE 2: Aiyahwhatever has a critique of the Ho piece. cH as well. And Singapore Ink.

[Technorati: singapore, blogosphere, media]

The AcidFlask Affair in ether and beyond

Last updated 0635 hrs May 6 -0400
The AcidFlask Affair covered on From a Singapore Angle: Part 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5

update: Plea addressed to my fellow bloggers (1310 hrs May 6 -0400)

* * * * *

IMPORTANT REMINDER: The author of this blog neither endorses nor takes responsibility for any information or opinion expressed by any third party in any comments, trackbacks or links external to this website.

CAUTION: I want to highlight something that Ivan posted as a caution for anyone perusing this list of links:

I’d like to point out that with the exception of Acidflask and Mr Philip Yeo, nobody knows that exact nature of the proceedings much less conclude that it’s the "Gahmen agencies against ex-scholars". It might even be possible that Acidflask himself does not know of the exact nature of the offending post or if it was in-fact due to a comment placed on his blog. All we can do is speculate, and i must stress that speculation is at best guess-timation – inaccurate.

That's right: please take what you read on the internet with a good dose of salt. Sit back and think before jumping to conclusions or judgments--especially about people or character.

FURTHER WARNING: The author of this blog cannot vouch for the...decency...of the language used in the sites linked below. Click on them at your own risk.

OTHER BLOGS: Nilsinelabore becomes friends only (hat tip: Wows) | Gilbert of SLMJD takes his bow but promises to be back in a different incarnation | another one goes private in light of recent events. I have no inside information, however, about the motivations of this one who calmly announces that he is folding (hat tip: Knightofpentacles) | Events motivated the starting of a new blog | update: Another one goes private

LEGAL MUMBO JUMBO DEMYSTIFIED: must reads by Gilbert of SLMJD, The Law of Defamation, Acidflask's Case, See What I Mean, and some strategies for minimising blogger defamation lawsuit risks.

ON THE WIDER REPERCUSSIONS: Singapore Ink calls for calm and works over the problem concerning comments. | Another one on Ink. | Elsewhere, Convex Set explains some. | Cowboy Caleb goes biblical musing upon the power of the blogs. | Justina is apparently dishing out some advice on blogging: vagueness--it seems--the solution is. | Ivan pens some much needed words of moderation. | Rebrab Moor reflects on self-censorship and notices the poliferation of disclaimers, likewise Trompe L'oeil. | A new blogger weighs in with rather cryptic remarks, and later talks about a major disturbance in the force | Felumpfus first declaims before he disclaims | Kailin finds the turn of events tragic | Off-Kilter ponders "to d or not to d?" | HZH, well he vents | The enterprising Bean Blog steps in to fill a need for e-talisman

TROLL HUNTING, AND THEN SOME: Mr Miyagi minces not his words replying to a troll | My own comment | Mr. Brown provides some much needed merchandizing | Singapore Ink has a temperate response, mentioning an even more temperate one by Wannabe Lawyer | Cowboy Caleb says something that I shan't repeat here | No need to fight, there's more than enough--everyone gets one

FORUMS AND GROUPS: A thread discussing this issue found on Rice Bowl Journals. | Another one on Delphiforums. | Singapore Review notices with two notices.

PRINT AND OTHER MEDIA: Reporters Sans Frontières shows support--and I want to comment on that. I'm sure they meant well; but that does not override my ambivalence about such things. RSF is free to do what it wants to do. But please understand that the Singapore Blog Politic is not some banana republic that can or ought to be used for the purposes of outsiders, sentiments with which I am sure Acid Flask agrees. At least, I think Acid Flask would understand where I am coming from. | Wannabe Lawyer picks up the story while Singapore Ink questions the accuracy of the statement and concludes that it is more harmful than helpful--a thought with which I concur. I've reiterated this point in the comments to Ink's post. | The RSF statement has been picked up by various sites, and referenced in an nzherald.co.nz article. | The story made the pages of the British based Index on Censorship. | The mysterious Wowbagger prognosticates on the effects of the newfound publicity and claims to know what started it all | RSF makes adjustments to their statement:

Old version (from Singapore Ink):
Writing under the pseudonym of Acid Flask, he criticised Yeo and the A*STAR scholarship system. He also agreed to his remarks being reproduced in the online Electric New Paper.

New version (RSF):
Writing under the pseudonym of Acid Flask, he criticised several government policies, including the A*STAR scholarship system and Yeo's justifications of them. He also agreed to his remarks being reproduced in the Electric New Paper.

The Blog Herald joins in by quoting the RSF statement. | The RSF statement--together with a by now familiar disclaimer--is picked up by The Internet in Asia published by the Singapore Internet Research Centre at Nanyang Technological University; the said publication also references some blogs (including this one) and spells it mueve instead of the usual muove.

update: Convex Set is not happy with RSF's reporting sans clue

[Technorati: singapore, blogosphere]

Bunnybear soon bachelor no more

At least some of you, gentle readers, know of Bunnybear, author of the Bear's Haven blog (used to be based in Sendai, Japan). Of those who know that, some further know that he's my younger brother. Well, he's now back in Singapore and getting married 1 May 2005. So here's to him and my new sister-in-law: Congratulations!

Recent events

The past two weeks have been a watershed in the Singapore Blogosphere, but also for this blog, brief as its career may be. The full implications for the former is yet to be fully seen or charted; I will here content myself with some reflections on the latter.

When I first started, my aims were very limited: to track the progress of the continuing tsunami relief efforts by Singaporeans. On hindsight, the seed of later developments have always been there from the beginning: The blog is a journal of my observation and participation in the ongoing transformations of our little country, and an important aspect of my interest in the tsunami relief efforts is precisely it's long term implications for Singapore and the region at large.

The events of the past two weeks have brought unanticipated growth to the readership of this blog, which, coupled with the nature of those events themselves, cannot but induce in me a keenly felt need to blog responsibly. But it has also brought me into contact with a multitude of intelligent and sensitive readers and fellow bloggers, too many to name, and some do not even have real names--but all the more real for that. This is my salute to you: I do not know how many will continue to frequent this blog in the future, but your conduct and speech have certainly reminded me again and again why I love my country. Thank you all.

As some of you may already know, a major change to my life is fast approaching. I do not know exactly how it will affect my blogging habits, but I know that it will. Till then, I take my leave.

ADDENDUM: Some apparently thought that I'm signing off for good--I'll still be around. Can't vouch for the same frequency of postings, but Singapore Angle is here for the long haul.

Church and State

I am very happy to read this--from ST (Apr 28), "Govt does not favour enforcing rules for religious groups" (subscription required):

RELIGIOUS groups cannot expect the Government to enforce rules on their behalf on their community members. Going down that route would mean treading on 'very complicated ground', Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong made clear on Tuesday.

'My basic approach is that when a religious group has got rules which apply to its members, the Government should not get involved enforcing those rules on behalf of the religious group,' he said.

I'll say amen to that.

If a religious group G adheres to a doctrine that, say, prohibits the doing of X, then someone A who wants to be a member of G would presumably have to forgo doing X. And if he is not happy (for whatever reason), he should be free to appeal to procedures internal to G itself to have the rule changed. And if that can't be done, he might--if he insists on doing X--leave G, in fact, he might want to leave G.

Obviously, this is simplifying: how things turn out will depend on how important the prohibition to X is to G, whether it is one of the core doctrines, whether there are groups equally recognized to be orthodox G that nevertheless disagree on this prohibition, etc., etc. But let's say that the prohibition to X is crucial enough. So if A insists on doing X, G might, using procedures internal to the group and doctrine, discipline him (e.g., withhold from him religious previledges and benefits up to and including excommunication).

So far so good and consistent with a background commitment to the separation between church and state. What would not be acceptable given the separation between church and state is that G should make use of the coercive powers of the state to enforce the said discipline, OR that A should appeal to the state to intervene on his behalf so that the rules internal to G change.

But there are limits. The rule internal to G--e.g., some prohibition to do X, or requirement to do Y--may turn out to be prejudicial to public order, or worse still, presents a clear and present danger to the safety of the commonweal, or subjects some its members to coercive treatment at the hands of others--in those cases, the state may legitimately step in. Actually, this is not necessarily an exception to the separation of the church and state. Religious groups that subscribe to such rules and doctrines would have been considered illicit from the get go. And so would groups whose doctrine or practice are inconsistent with the principle of separation of church and state--e.g., one whose doctrine precisely requires that the state disciplines the heretic on its behalf (which is tantamount to having the state as an arm of the church).

ADDITIONAL THOUGHT (on the last paragraph above): One might reply--given your formulation, doesn't it follow that the doctrine of the separation between church and state presuppose the falsity of every doctrine that teaches otherwise? Isn't it like assuming from the beginning that either God doesn't exist or that God doesn't want the coercive powers of the political community applied to the heretic? The answer is: yes, but this is not in itself an objection against the doctrine. Note that the doctrine is at least consistent with every religious view that either directly teaches that God does not want the coercive powers of the state applied to the heretic, or that any such application would serve no religious purpose in any case (e.g., because it will not lead to genuine conversion), or indirectly by not teaching that God wants the political community to exert its coercive powers against the heretic. What this means is that, obviously, it is a contingent matter whether a particular person who happens to subscribe to a particular set of religious beliefs will agree to the truth of the separation doctrine--it all depends on what religious beliefs he holds. In other words, the charge that the separation doctrine presupposes the falsity of a range of religious doctrines is an objection against it only if either the separation doctrine is meant to be built upon a doctrine of complete neutrality to religious truth of all stripes (which it is not, or not necessarily), or when the objection is mounted from the presupposition that God does require the heretic to be dealt with by the state (i.e., by begging the question). This raises the further issue: what is the true foundation--if there is on--of the separation doctrine? Can it merely be the outcome of a contingent agreement or overlap between various religious and non-religious doctrines that either teaches or are consistent with either the claim that God does not exist or the claim that God doesn't want the coercive powers of the political community applied to the heretic? Or can it be something deeper?

ADD: An earlier post on a related matter.

[Technorati: singapore]

PM: Not fruitful to keep arguing about casino

From ST (Apr 27), "Casino: Not fruitful to keep arguing, says PM--It's time to move on and make resorts a success, instead of risking rift in society", by Azhar Ghani (subscription required):

PRIME Minister Lee Hsien Loong wants Singaporeans to move on and quit arguing over the casino decision, lest they risk causing friction in society.

'It's not fruitful to continue going over grounds we have gone over already, and continue arguing... and repeating the same arguments,' he said last night.

'Beyond a point, this can be counter-productive because the risk is we may harden views for and against, and polarise our multiracial, multi-religious society. And that is something which I think we should avoid at all costs.'

Instead, Singaporeans, despite differing views, should get together and work on making the intergrated resort projects a success.

Yes, that includes those of you who opposed and still oppose the casino/integrated resort. ADD: Surely a fitting way to conclude the symposium.

[Technorati: singapore, blogosphere, casino, integratedresort]

Chicken Bao!

My wife made chicken bao last night:




And since I'm on the subject of food, check out the Sans Nom ("No Name") brand of (generic) instant noodles, widely available here in Toronto. Look, in particular at the country of origin (second photo).



Also left a variety of ways to eat instant noodles here.

A Sad Day for the Singapore Blogosphere

Last updated 0620 hrs May 6 -0400
The AcidFlask Affair covered on From a Singapore Angle: Part 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5

update: Plea addressed to my fellow bloggers (1310 hrs May 6 -0400)

* * * * *

IMPORTANT REMINDER: The author of this blog neither endorses nor takes responsibility for any information or opinion expressed by any third party in any comments, trackbacks or links external to this website.

CAUTION: I want to highlight something that Ivan posted as a caution for anyone perusing this list of links:

I’d like to point out that with the exception of Acidflask and Mr Philip Yeo, nobody knows that exact nature of the proceedings much less conclude that it’s the "Gahmen agencies against ex-scholars". It might even be possible that Acidflask himself does not know of the exact nature of the offending post or if it was in-fact due to a comment placed on his blog. All we can do is speculate, and i must stress that speculation is at best guess-timation – inaccurate.

That's right: please take what you read on the internet with a good dose of salt. Sit back and think before jumping to conclusions or judgments--especially about people or character.

SINGULARITY:

FURTHER WARNING: The author of this blog cannot vouch for the...decency...of the language used in the sites linked below. Click on them at your own risk.

NOTICES AND COMMENTS (this list is being added to):
Key: N--On Nilsinelabore; AN--On both AcidFlask and Nilsinelabore

- AcidFlask is Down by Wows at Singapore Ink
- Acid Flask Implodes Under External Pressure by Ketsugi at Mindless Ramblings of an Ineffectual Preacher
- A Lament by lzyData at Singapore Ink
- Caustic soda neutralised by The Singapore Commentator
- KO by Adrian at A Life Uncommon
- Acidflask by Steve Mc Dermott
- Bites the Dust by YJ at Stupidchicken
- Acidflask - cauterized by Gecko at A Gecko's Tale
- Caustic.soda by acidflask is now down by duh41 at can music save your mortal soul?
- Blog Obituary: caustic.soda by AcidFlask by cH at TSI: Unlimited
- Acid Flask No More by Otterman at Otterman Speaks
- Falling like dominoes by J at Idle Thoughts (AN)
- さらば友よ... それでもオレは信じてる！ by Bean at Monkey See Monkey Do
- How safe are you? and Pop goes the weas... toad at Aemii.com
- By The Physical Poet at The Many-Body Problem
- Disenfranchised and E Pur Si Muove by KnightofPentacles at Singapore Serf
- Blogosphere - The Mindfield by Marilyn at A Crunchy Green Apple
- Litigious Republic at Zuco's Blog
- The Internet is Evil by J Schnorng
- At Evolution 8.0
- It's a small small world by Unknown at Think About This (N)
- By Loupgarou
- Blogicide at Rottentomatoes.com
- This is just an announcement and More news on previous announcement by MrsBudak
- We Were Soldiers Elephants at Jeff Yen's Blog (AN)
- Chill the F--- out at serialdeviant.org(y) (AN)
- Ode to Acidflask by Kelvin Tan
- Incidental by Agent Jaren by Random Coherence
- Bad or sad? Really... and My final say on blog privacy, defamation and bond-breaking by Qizhong at . (AN)
- Defamation by YL at Cookie Monster Lite
- Stepford Blogs by Peiyis at Fantasie impromptu
- Legal action threat hanging over local blogger? at Trompe L'oeil
- PSA by Felumpfus at The F Spot
- Philip Yeo POSSIBLY Threatened to Sue Blogger at Oikono.blogspot.com
- Of phillip yeo, acidflask and bondbreaking by chuan
- Conscience by Girl, Emancipated (AN, and SLMJD)
- At Singapore Official Porn Site
- Is it worthwhile? by Peiyis at Fantasie Impromptu
- Wowbagger at The Tosser citing Bertrand Russell's words on the advantage of cowardice in organisations
- Daily Linkets 3rd May at Simon World

Coverage continues in: "The AcidFlask Affair in ether and beyond"

[Technorati: singapore, blogosphere]

PSC reprimands scholar

Hopefully, this is the end of the affair. From ST Forum Page (subscription required), "Scholar in blog scandal gets letter of reprimand" (Apr 26):

I REFER to the article, 'Scholar under fire for racist blog entries' (The Sunday Times, April 17). The Public Service Commission (PSC) has investigated the issue and Mr Chua Cheng Zhan has given us his explanation.

PSC does not condone the making of racist comments by its scholars. It views this matter seriously and has issued a letter of reprimand to Mr Chua. We note that Mr Chua has taken full responsibility for the comments made on his personal blog and has apologised publicly for his insensitive remarks.

UPDATE: Someone is still unhappy.

Earlier posts on the matter: Forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors (Apr 14), The storm over CZ breaks on print media (Apr 16), Anatomy of a blogospheric event (Apr 17).

[Technorati: singapore, blogosphere]

Food blogs international

From Lansing State Journal (Apr 25), "A worldwide recipe swap--For foodies, the blogosphere has no limits" by Lisa Benavides, Gannett News Service:

Like the recipe exchanges that used to take place over backyard fences, food blogs are ways for cooks to brag about their culinary triumphs or ask for advice when a cake falls. Mostly by amateur cooks - some are by professional chefs - food blogs are ways for ordinary people to write about what they cook, what they eat and what they are passionate about.

The major difference is, with the Internet, that backyard fence opens to the entire world.

Take Renee Kho, for instance. She recently raved in a blog about a restaurant she tried, detailing dishes that made mouths water. But it may be awhile before most readers of her blog get there because the restaurant is in Singapore, where Kho lives.

There are hundreds of food blogs on the Internet, some focused on a particular topic (beer or French cooking) others more general ("what I made for dinner tonight").

No matter your level of culinary expertise, you're bound to find a blog that draws you in and keeps you checking back. Many are updated daily, if not weekly, and readers can strike up relationships with other cooks by leaving comments on a particular entry or e-mailing the blogger directly. It's this type of virtual conversation that elevates food blogs beyond cookbooks.

There's more to the article which you can read on your own. Here, I'll just list the blogs she mentioned:

- "Shioka Delicious" (www.shiokadelicious.com)

- "The Daily Bread" (www.gastroblog.com)

- "Cooking for Engineers" (www.cookingforengineers.com)

- "Cooking With Amy" (cookingwithamy.blogspot.com).

- "Too Many Chefs" (www.toomanychefs.com).

Note: Quite a few of the above are inaccessible at the time of posting, but the URLs seem to be correct as they can be found on google search (overwhelmed by traffic?).

While we are at it, I'll also mention a couple of favorites with my wife and I:

- "Makansutra" (www.makansutra.com.sg)

- The Star Online's "Kuali" (kuali.com)

And the more successful outcomes of our own attempts are duely recorded on "Home Recipes" (loykee.blogspot.com).

[Technorati: food blog]

Singapore Sinhala Association to build Singapore Village in Sri Lanka to house tsunami victims

Posted earlier that the Singapore Sinhala Association was looking to launch a Singapore Village project in the south of Sri Lanka to help tsunami victims. They need some S$1 million for the project and at that time has collected $55,000. ST reports today that the project is on, with the bulk of the needed funds coming from the Singapore Red Cross's Tidal Waves Fund. From ST (Apr 24), "S'pore group to rebuild Sri Lanka village" (subscription required):

OVER 500 villagers in Sri Lanka will soon have a place to call home again, after their village was destroyed by the Dec 26 tsunami last year. That's because the Singapore Sinhala Association, with help from the Singapore Red Cross, will rebuild the tsunami-hit village of Sinha in the Hambantota district of Sri Lanka.

The project is called Merlion Gammane, or Merlion Village and will contain some 75 houses, an educational centre, trade vocational centre and a library--for 500-600. The call for help:

If you would like to donate to the Merlion Gammane project, e-mail relief@singaporesinhala.com for more information, make an Internet bank transfer to UOB account 114-311056-2 or send a cheque made out to SSA-Tsunami Relief Fund, Towner Post Office, PO Box 349, Singapore 913232.

[Technorati: tsunami reconstruction, sri lanka]

The Mainstream Media does not get blogs

Reading the ST and wondering if, after all that hullabaloo, they still don't get the present shape of the online community.

About you-know-who--from ST (Apr 24), "Headliners" (subscription required):

The 21-year-old made racist remarks about Indians and Filipinos in his weblog, and got Internet users hot and bothered...

(Filipinos? Huh? [UPDATE: Ok, I recall it now...see the comments]) Anyway, word is that PSC is still investigating. This bit is the clincher:

But bloodthirsty Net users are asking for his scholarship to be taken away. Others want to know if it's safe to speak their minds on the Internet.

I see, so the web reaction is either "we have found a witch, may we burn [him]?" or "I wonder if it's safe to speak my mind on the Internet?" [ADD: Singapore Ink has more to say about the precise reading of the second disjunct.]

There's more--also ST (Apr 24), "Webthreads--A weekly roundup of the most interesting Web discussions by Singaporeans" (subscription required)--on the reactions to the CZ-affair on www.spug.net:

Netizens are now engaged in fierce debate about racism and what should happen to the scholar...'Removing his scholarship is the very least they can do,' wrote escro. ren78 took a softer line: 'Can we not be a little understanding of the fact that even scholars make mistakes?' Lucien, in turn, worried about the underlying racism: 'Will anything change? What does it say about us?'

As for the casino/integrated resort debate at www.sgforums.com:

dragg said it is 'evident we are losing our edge and there are just not enough jobs to go around'. bumbleb said critics 'should at least go through the Government's stand properly and rationally'. ShutterBug said: 'Long after the high-rolling visitors have left our shores, the locals will be mopping up the bill for the broader fallout.'

I see, so the threads at SPUG and sgforums represents the sum of "web discussions" on the fallout of the CZ-affair and the casino debate/decision, eh? Why didn't they say so earlier, so that I didn't have to go through all that trouble for nothing.

UPDATE: JeffYen, the chief moderator of the SPUG forum has a theory that hits the nail on its head:

I think the problem is due to the possibility that the person/s who does the web column in ST has his/her pulse on the forums, only, and is not aware of blogs like this one. [On the other hand, the SPUG] forum is a regular stop for them...

Also, I don't believe that the 'reporters' are interested in getting the real story when they quote the forums. They just take a soundbite and fly with it, to make it as sensational as possible. But, that's nothing new.

I think they would be absolutely astonished by the 2 symposiums, if they have actually seen it...

MSM: they don't get blogs because they don't care, and they don't need to care. shrugs.

Elsewhere, Singapore Commentator links (thanks) and asks some soul searching questions in light of recent pertubations (the infant* affair) in the Singapore Blogosphere:

Personally, though, I am more interested in looking at the issue from another angle: Why is there a lack of serious blogs in Singapore? No, this is not exactly the same question as: Why are Singapore blogs so "infantile"? While the prevalence of so-called "infantile" blogs may crowd out serious blogs, I think the lack of the latter is an issue in its own right.

And I suspect that this may be a more accurate statement of the sentiments underlying the take from Singapore Ink and A Life Uncommon as well. But I'll let the Commentator continue first:

In particular, I think that blogs written by experts on their areas of expertise are especially valuable, because they form the anchors around which other serious blogs can congregate, just as blogs also tend to congregate around mainstream media. However, Gilbert Koh has given one reason why we can’t expect much from one potentially important source: government officers; they can only blog about "infantile" concerns, and maybe poetry (I presume Koh did not officially write poetry for the government).

In the meantime, the lack of such expertise among blogs means that the mainstream media can usually ignore the Singapore blogosphere with little consequence, as they routinely do — see "Blogs as intellectual platforms" and "The Mainstream Media does not get blogs".

That's got to be right; but I'll add these qualifications--the blogs have not actually made such a wave as to become impossible to ignore (a la Rathergate), nor are there rival MSMs that are ready to pounce on a mistake by one of their own when it is exposed by the blogosphere (again, a la Rathergate). This means that in all likelihood, blogs will enter into the mainstream of national discouse through a slow developmental (e.g., as the present generation of mostly younger regular blog writers and readers enters the work force) rather than catastrophic process.

Earlier posts on this subject:

Straits Times and the Blogs (Feb 25)
Straits Times and the Blogs II (Mar 1)
The Blogs and Straits Times (Mar 2)
The Blogs and Straits Times II (Draft) (Mar 3)

[Technorati: singapore, mainstream media, blogosphere, blogging, blogs, blog]

Myanmar may decline chairmanship of ASEAN after all

From ST (Apr 24), "Myanmar may not chair Asean--Yangon indicates it does not want to be an obstacle; is likely to announce by July whether it will forgo its turn", by Salim Osman (subscription required):

JAKARTA - MILITARY-RULED Myanmar has given the clear- est indication yet that it may forgo its turn to be the next chairman of Asean in the interest of solidarity with fellow member countries in the region...

The indication was conveyed during the second round of talks between Myanmar's Foreign Minister U Nyan Win and his Indonesian counterpart, Mr Hassan Wirajuda, on the sidelines of the Asian-African Summit that ended here yesterday.

If Myanmar steps aside of its own accord, it will be the face-saving solution that Asean would like to have as it also spares Yangon the embarrassment of being the source of an international boycott of Asean...

I'm not sanguine, however, that ASEAN "won", especially not given this other report--from the Telegraph (Apr 22), "Burmese regime 'used chemical shell on rebels'", by Sebastien Berger:

The Burmese military dictatorship used chemical weapons against ethnic minority guerrillas this year, an international human rights group said last night.

For earlier posts on Myanmar, see this. A new blog to watch: The Aseanist.

CNN: Email more dangerous to IQ than pot

From CNN (Apr 22):

LONDON, England -- Workers distracted by phone calls, e-mails and text messages suffer a greater loss of IQ than a person smoking marijuana, a British study shows.

Apparently, by a factor of 10 points:

In 80 clinical trials, Dr. Glenn Wilson, a psychiatrist at King's College London University, monitored the IQ of workers throughout the day.

He found the IQ of those who tried to juggle messages and work fell by 10 points -- the equivalent to missing a whole night's sleep and more than double the 4-point fall seen after smoking marijuana.

Kevin Drum asks the right questions (emphasis mine):

OK, I'll buy that. But what I want to know is this: how did they manage to monitor IQ "throughout the day"? Electrodes? Quickie IQ tests every hour? Remote gigawatt powered MRI machines? And if email reduces your IQ by ten points, I wonder what blogging does?

Indeed.

UPDATE: YC has the lowdown, graphs included.

Whimsy

Steve Mc Dermott, the enfant terrible of the Singapore Blogosphere, has managed to incur the wrath and amusement of bloggers and blog readers alike with his latest, collecting a nice spike in readership in the process to boot. The causa belli: the most popular Singaporean blogs with the highest readerships are "full of infantile sub intelligentia nonesense". [Ed: The writer surely meant "sub-intelligential nonsense", perhaps suggesting that even nonsense comes in both intelligent (or, intelligential, if you will) and unintelligent forms]. Detractors might note that at least he didn't say "unintelligible nonsense", which seems a further few notches down. The responses are many--too many for one weary from recent labors for another effort. But least he be tarred with the same feathers (or worse), the gentle reader is directed to such meagre discourse intelligential as is available here.

UPDATE: Elsewhere, Mr. Brown goes French (hat tip YC and apologies to Blackadder)

[Technorati: singapore, blogosphere]

Web Symposium: Blogosphere reactions to the Casino/Integrated Resort decision 2005

ATTENTION: The symposium is closed. A big thank you to everyone who helped in one way or other to make it a success.

NOTICE (Apr 25): support@google.com still has not gotten back to me concerning the problem with the permalink URL, so, most of the manual trackbacks left on the various blogs would not work. But all the links here should work.

Scroll down to see the entries.

To find out more about what's going on here, and--to participate--see this previous post. This space will be updated as entries are submitted. The hope is that in time, a comprehensive range of views will be represented. Help spread the word!

CONTRIBUTORS (latest additions marked): Han, lzyData, Wows, Molly Meek, Shadow, Merv, Ivan, Redrown, Wandie, Juznuts, Jimmy, Reika, Mr Brown, Jeff Yen, Gilbert Koh, Miyagi, Tripleperiod, Caleb, Moron, Andrea, La Idler, duh41, Willywei, Slippery Lips, Michael Tay, Acid Flask and Ball of Yarn.

Thank you all, and keep them coming! If you have a piece with a point of view contrary to the ones already listed, I am all the more interested. Please help report any bad links.

Keynotes
The Pre-Decision Debate
D-Day and Beyond
Publicity

* * * * *

KEYNOTE

- "TODAY: To IR is human" by Mr Brown at Brown Town, "I also notice that many officials have started referring to the casinos as Integrated Resorts, or IRs. That certainly sounds more moral, I think. It is hard to think of an Integrated Resort as something evil. Integrated, leh." (Apr 22, 2005)

(Note: The categorizing of the entries is still ongoing)

THE PRE-DECISION DEBATE (38 Entries)

- "Molly’s Casino Proposals" by Molly Meek, "Molly just received news that Singapore is seeking proposals for a casino complex despite opposition, since opposition is never good or credible in Singapore, it must be good to ignore opposition." (Nov 28, 2004)
- "Petition politics and the casino gamble" by lzyData at Singapore Ink, "The nature of petition politics and how it might play into the decision" (Dec 15, 2004)
- "Casino safeguards announced" by lzyData at Singapore Ink, "Some uneasiness about the newly-announced casino safeguards" (Dec 30, 2004)
- "An integrated last resort, mayhap" by AcidFlask at Caustic.Soda (Dec 30, 2004)
- "Open Letter to FACTS: The difference between the stockmarket and a casino" by Han at Wannabe Lawyer (Jan 2, 2005)
- "Daily entry fees for the casino" by lzyData at Singapore Ink, "A ST Forum letter, and how daily entry fees may defeat a purpose of the casino" (Jan 8, 2005)
- "Casino: From Britain to Singapore" by Wows at Singapore Ink, "The casino decision may be contradictory and divisive - the key test is how to deal with the losers of the argument" (Jan 28, 2005)
- "Molly’s friend vs. Xeno Boy" by Molly Meek, "In which Molly’s friend, though claiming to be an ardent fan of Xeno Boy, raises some disagreements with his latest entry...or so it seems" (Jan 30, 2005)
- "Casi-Yes or Casi-No" by Redrown at Rebrab Moor "The mootness of motives, reasons and rationale behind opposing a Casino in Singapore" (Jan 19, 2005)
- "Casino Debate: Freedom, Values or a Secret Sin?" by Han at Wannabe Lawyer (Jan 20, 2005)
- "Nature vs. Mature" by Molly Meek, "Just when Molly was about to pop her champagne, she heard news that DPM Tony Tan has commented that it is too early to decide if Singapore should have a casino..." (Feb 3, 2005)
- "Factcheck on Casinos in the US: Tony Tan is wrong" by Han at Wannabe Lawyer (Feb 4, 2005)
- "Decision soon?" by lzyData at Singapore Ink, "A decision soon? And whether MUIS is a "special interest group"" (Feb 21, 2005)
- "The casino: Social vs. religious views" by lzyData at Singapore Ink, "Delving deep into the socio-religious dimension of the casino debate and policy-making in general" (Feb 22, 2005)
- "Gambling on Gambling" by Ivan at Ivan's Chimera, "A response to Dr Balakrishnan's view that the debate was one of maturity not economics v. morals" (Mar 2, 2005)
- "Referendum for the casino issue?" by lzyData at Singapore Ink, "The WP forum, Tan Sai Siong's comments, and the issue of a referendum" (Mar 6, 2005)
- "The contradictions of Tan Sai Siong" by Wows at Singapore Ink, "How a pro-casino voice in the press winds up tying herself in knots and contradictions advocating her case" (Mar 7, 2005)
- "The casino decision: Building up" by lzyData at Singapore Ink, "An overview of the anticipation of the mainstream media as D-day approaches" (Mar 13, 2005)
- "The Oxford Singapore Forum 1: Vivian runs from identity to casino" by Wows at Singapore Ink, "Vivian Balakrishnan stresses accountability, fights his corner on the casino in Oxford", (Mar 14, 2005)
- "The old media's take" by lzyData at Singapore Ink, "The old media's take on Vivian's comments in Oxford" (Mar 16, 2005)
- "Economic Spin-offs of the Casino" by Molly Meek, "People around Molly are have been making noise about the casino issue saying it’s confirmed, and Molly was like: 'What? What’s confirmed?'" (Mar 21, 2005)
- "A Tentative Decision" by Molly Meek, "It is strange that, in the report, it is said that Mr. Lim emphasized that the government has yet to make a final decision--why didn’t the reporter tell us what the tentative decision is then?" (Mar 28 2005)
- "Intelligence and Integrity" by Wows at Singapore Ink, "A criticism of the PAP's and ST's handling of the casino issue" (Apr 4, 2005)
- "It's out!", "It's out! 2 - WP Casino Statement", "It's out! 3", by lzyData and Wows at Singapore Ink, "Examines the WP Casino Statement, with responses from WP members" (Apr 7-8, 2005)
- "Worker’s Party: An opportunistic bunch of losers" by Han at Wannabe Lawyer (Apr 7, 2005)
- "Why I am not impressed with the Worker’s Party" by Han at Wannabe Lawyer (Apr 12, 2005)
- "Ca-SIN-No Controversy" by Moron at My Daily Bread, "Why.. do people ponder and worry so much over this rather inconsequential matter?" (Apr 14, 2005)
- "The SDA's stand, "The SDA's stand 2", "The SDA's stand: full statement", by lzyData and Wows at Singapore Ink,
"The SDA Casino Statement and responses" (Apr 15-16, 2005)
Is it really evenly split? by lzyData at Singapore Ink, "A critical look at Today's reading of its own casino opinion poll" (Apr 16, 2005)
- "Jumping on bandwagons is hard to do" by Han at Wannabe Lawyer (Apr 16, 2005)
- "Too many reports, too many questions" by lzyData at Singapore Ink, "2 days before the announcement, too many reports, ministers' unsubtle hints and general doubt"(Apr 16, 2005)
- "Touble" by Molly Meek, "Now, although it is surprising for Molly to find out that MM reads the Asian Wall Street Journal, she totally agrees with MM Lee's words--If even the paper that once ended up in court with the government could write something so sensible, why can’t Singaporeans be wise and embrace the casino? " (Apr 16 2005)
- "Not Exactly The Best Bet" by La Idler at Idle Days, "Not trying to copy every damn thing that everyone else is doing." (Apr 16, 2005)
- "Fresh, New Twists" by Molly Meek, "The debate certainly takes so many interesting turns with each passing day that, as a blogger, Molly finds it a breeze maintaining readers’ interest in the issue; anyway, the new twist is that Singapore need not simply have one casino. We could have two casinos!" (Apr 17 2005)

Special Panel: Referendum for a Casino (5 entries)

- "Casino Referendum" by Wows at Singapore Ink, "Arguments against a casino referendum" (Mar 16, 2005)
- Referenda in our constitution by lzyData at Singapore Ink, "Examining the constitutional provisions for a referendum on the casino" (Mar 17, 2005)
- "Re Referendum", by Ivan at Ivan's Chimera, "In justification of referendums--a response to Singapore Ink" (Mar 23, 2005)
- "Still Casino Referendum" by lzyData of Singapore Ink, "Replying to Ivan's lighting" (Mar 25, 2005)
- "Re Referendum 2" by Ivan at Ivan's Chimera, "Reply to the response from Singapore Ink" (Mar 26, 2005)


D-DAY, AND BEYOND (30 Entries)

- "Casino Decision", by lzyData at Singapore Ink, "A report of the day's Parliament session and 5 ministers' speeches" by lzyData at Singapore Ink (Apr 18, 2005)
- "Casino Decision: Day 2" by lzyData at Singapore Ink, "The second session as reported by the media" (Apr 19, 2005)

- "The Christian, Casinos and Gambling" by Shadow at The Book of Shadow, "Casinos make good economic sense, but of course we've got to deal with those Christians" (Apr 18, 2005)
- "A Casino In Your Future" by Caleb at A Gonzo Journal, "Let me dispel some myths here. Despite popular belief, there is no harm a casino can do to Singapore that Singapore has already done to itself." (Apr 18, 2005)
- "Kaching-apore" by La Idler at Idle Days, "Firstly, saying "I do not think" indicates doubt. Secondly, "I do not think that this would change Singapore" indicates that there is a possibility that Singapore may change and why would it change unless the decision to build a casino goes ahead?" (Apr 18, 2005)
- "High Stakes" by La Idler at Idle Days, "I am peeved that despite a quite clear indication from the masses (as judging from the local rags, blogs and kopitiam talk) that we are not ready for Las Vegas, they have gone ahead, rejecting a public referendum on this because perhaps they know that the public would have been divided, but slightly more opposed to the idea." (Apr 19, 2005)
- "No more bets, no more bets" by Andrea at Serialdeviant.org(y), "... all that was left was to work out how to make it acceptable to the average Singaporean without seeming to have rammed it through insensitively" (Apr 19, 2005)
- "Today’s political analysis" by lzyData at Singapore Ink, "Extracts from a Today article featuring political analysts' reaction to the announcement" (Apr 19, 2005)
- "I blame you, you and you for the $100 entrance fee" by Jimmy at Cynics.info (Apr 19, 2005)
- "Hello, it's Integrated Resort, not Casino, ok?" by Mr Brown at Brown Town (Apr 19, 2005)
- "WTF is an IR?" by Mr Miyagi at My Very Own Glob {Curiosa Felicitas} (Apr 19)
- "Haven't Enter Casino, Lose $100 Liao?!..." by Tripleperiod at Chronicles of ..., "Ramblings with regard to the necessary of the $100 entrance fee" (April 19, 2005)
- "Of Singaporeans and Mongrels" by Ahmad at Ahmad In Taiwan, "I don't know about other "quitters", but this is perhaps the biggest reason why I choose not to return in the near future...It's because I don't feel respected as a citizen of this country, by my own government.'" (Apr 19, 2005)
new: - "oh no!" and "ca-SIN-o" by Willywei, " Don't gamble on the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow"(Apr 19, 2005)
- "IR - Do we know/have what it takes?" by Wows at Singapore Ink, "The casino debate and decision gives doubts about whether Singapore can successfully pull off an IR" (Apr 20, 2005)
- "Time to cash in?" By Wandie at Educatewandie, "Now that plans have been greenlighted. It's time to ask yourself, 'is it time to puat giao tan jiat?'" (Apr 20 2005)
- "Singpapore Implements a Tax on Stupidity" by Merv at AtypicalSingaporean, "After the casino decision - What we'll expect to see in the coming days" (Apr 20, 2005)
- "Casino CASIYES" by Molly Meek, "It is a perfect situation: the people makes opinions; the government makes decisions. Together we make publicity." (Apr 20, 2005)
- "Integrated Resorts" by Michael Tay at 'You are the Potter, I am the clay', "With the recent approval of the TWO casinos Intergrated Resorts blueprint, the casinos Intergrated Resorts have been the topic many of us talk about over a meal." (Apr 20, 2005)
- "Bloggers Against Reverse Discrimination" by Redrown at Rebrab Moor, "The ill conceived tarriff for Singaporeans to enter the IRs: A clear example of reverse discrimination" (Apr 21, 2005)
- "Spill the Milk and Start Crying Over it" by Molly Meek, "To Molly’s poor Hong Kong friends: Molly is very sad for you. The world is going to pass you by and you are going to be an obscure little island (or group of islands?) with a bad economy in years to come." (Apr 21, 2005)
- "Casino and Gorilla" by Reika at Educatewandie, (Apr 21, 2005)
- Why Stop at Gambling? Let's Legalize Drugs while we're at it" by Justina at About a Nut, "Thoughts on the Casino Debate, plus some suggestions that would have helped the Shanmugam case." (Apr 21, 2005)
- "The casino issue is really just a big poker game between the government and the gaming companies" by Jeff Yen (Apr 21, 2005)
- "I am being discriminated in my own country" by Jeff Yen (Apr 21, 2005)
- "Integrated Resorts" by Gilbert Koh at Singapore Legal Mumbo Jumbo Demystified (Apr 21, 2005)
- "Beyond money vs morals" by duh41 at can music save your mortal soul?, "Simple points that the redundant and protracted casino debate illustrates" (Apr 21, 2005)
- "Solving the Entrance Fee Issue" by Molly Meek, "Make the IRs tourist-only, thus solving the $100 entrance fee problem; set up a Casino-on-the-Net website, but ban it in Singapore, and if Singaporeans still want to gamble, they have to travel to other countries the site is not banned, thus stimulating the local travel industry...many birds with one stone" (Apr 22, 2005)
- "Casino in Singapore" by Slippery Lips, "When I first heard news that Singapore was contemplating opening a casino in Singapore, I anticipated that there would be objection due to the problems caused, problems that disrupted families, drive crime, depression." (Apr 22, 2005)
- "Some reflections on last week’s casino 'debate'", by lzyData at Singapore Ink, "The real casino debate has been going on among the public--the religious groups and secular groups versus the silent "why not?" people and the odd ST columnist--and internally in the Cabinet; 'real' in the sense of having almost everyone involved, even if not 'real' in the sense of actually getting to make the decision"
(Apr 23, 2005).
new: - "The casino decision aftermath: a side of Singapore still missing" by Ball of Yarn at Trompe L'oeil, " At least 35,000 jobs from two giant integrated resorts--I really hope this also means at least 70%-80% of the promised jobs going to Singaporeans and not so-called foreign talent" (Apr 23, 2005)


PUBLICITY (Thank you!)

- "Reactions to the casino decision" at The Singapore Commentator (Apr 21, 2005)
- "Sites Worth Mentioning" by Justina at Singapore Watch (Apr 21, 2005)
- "Synopsium at From a Singapore Angle" by Redrown at Rebrab Moor (Apr 22, 2005)
- By duh41 at can music save your mortal soul? (Apr 23, 2005)
- "Web Symposium: Blogosphere Reactions to the Casino/Integrated Resort Decision 2005" at Tomorrow.sg (Apr 22, 2005)
- The Apr 25 issue of The Void Deck


[Technorati: singapore, blogosphere, casino, integratedresort]

Blogging and character

Alerted by LaughingCow to this: ST (Apr 21), "A blog on your character" by Tan Seow Hon (subscription required). Interesting read. Starts off with the CZ-affair, and using that to launch into a discussion of the practice of blogging and its ethical implications. This bit about the bloggers' screen personae caught my eye:

Blogging as a form of writing seems to be turning into a whole genre in itself. And since human beings are such copycats, one might allow the 'style' on many blogs to take over one's voice. How many of us have been surprised when we read the blog of a friend for the first time and see a completely different side of the person from the one we thought we knew?

In the case of the Northwestern University student, his apology after the incident is telling: 'I guess I was not myself when I wrote those things. I don't use my own persona when I write on my blog. I realise they were in very poor taste and I deeply regret my actions. I am not like that.'

I won't comment on the last bit, but the general point appears true enough. The phenomenon of multiple personae is not totally unique to blogging (or cyberspace in general). Most of us have take on multiple personae at various points of our lives in different social contexts. Think of the differences that are often exemplified in the way we react with our parents, as opposed to our friends, or how we speak in a classroom setting, as opposed to the food court.

The internet, however, does add to those work-a-day possibilities because our choices are apparently less constrained in cyberspace. There are, frankly, only so many ways in which a person may interact respectfully with one's parents or collegues before consequences (e.g., social pressure) set in. But online, one can in principle always choose to adopt one persona rather than another. Our work-a-day personae, on the other hand, are often not chosen per se but structured and partly given by the social roles, positions, and situations we find ourselves in. Those things are seldom simply chosen. We are already embedded in a thousand links not of our own making in the web of society from the day we are born.

[Incidentally and autobiographically, I think--but I am not the best judge of this--my blog persona pretty much overlaps with my work-a-day persona (though somewhat on the didactic and pedantic--i.e., classroom--range of the usual spectrum). Occupational hazard, I suppose.]

But back to the ST article. This other bit is germane given recent events (my emphasis):

What the incident also brings to the forefront is the reality of blogging - that it is not just the private business of the blogger and his fans. Blogging about real persons - individually or as a group - implicates others. Interesting issues are raised when the subject of the blog is someone the blogger is not actually acquainted with.

Who are these subjects? Public figures - and these days, the category has expanded to include teachers and professors - frequently become the subject of blog posts...

Blogging is revealing about the blogger in another way. As there is no personal contact, blogging can encourage uncivil and irresponsible statements - some of which can easily form the subject of defamation suits.

Hiding behind a blog seems to feed cowardice - some bloggers rant behind others' backs. Perhaps they even hope that those they blog about will chance upon these postings because they say things there which they would not dare to confront others with.

In the end, the question each blogger should ask himself is this: What does your blog say about your character?

Excellent question and not without some implications for the issue of another earlier post. What we need is not some brand new 'blogging ethics'; but more awareness that because behind each persona potentially stands a flesh and blood person, the decency that is expected of us in our interactions with people in the real world are and can never be completely set aside.

UPDATE: Somewhat dismayed to read this. [ADD:] It's not even clear if the perceived offending material is by AcidFlask himself, or left as comments by others. That is an important but sometimes overlooked distinction. The question: to what extent are authors of publically accessible blogs that in principle allow anyone to leave comments be held accountable for their readers' comments? goes far beyond "blog ethics" and deserves its own treatment.

UPDATE 2: Redrown considers a hypothetical scenario. His conclusion brings together two distinct strands in this post--the ethical responsibility of the blogger and the extent to which they can be held accountable:

Powerful People (PP) abusing the judiciary is a commonplace occurrence, but that doesn't make it right. But it also serves to warn normal layman bloggers like you and me about the perils of free speech. This may also serve to warn us that as mere mortal bloggers, we are pretty much susceptible once we accidentally step on PP's toes... Maybe we must band together to protect ourselves. Strength in numbers. Besides watching our words, we should stop our zealous infighting and band together against the real threat. For example, if some other bloggers choose to post, say, racist comments, then what we should do is to settle the issue between ourselves. Eg, post a comment or send an email and highlight one's grievances with him, and see the response. An apology and retraction would suffice. There is no need to take the matter to other authorities – and hence out of our hands – we are feeding one of our own to the crocodiles.

I am extremely sympathetic to the last bit (in fact, it is similar to something I said at the end of a previous post). But I am also not hopeful that it will be put into practice by all netizens: it appears to presuppose a class interest for bloggers and netizens in general. If anything, the CZ affair precisely revealed that there is no such class interest. As the question often comes down to: who exactly are the "we"? [ADD: The discussions continues in the comments.]

FURTHER THOUGHT:

He [the King of BROBDINGNAG] laughed at my odd Kind of Arithmetick (as he was pleased to call it) in reckoning the Numbers of our People by a Computation drawn from the several Sects among us in Religion and Politicks. He said, he knew no Reason, why those who entertain Opinions prejudicial to the Publick, should be obliged to change, or should not be obliged to conceal them. And as it was Tyranny in any Government to require the first, so it was Weakness not to enforce the second: For a Man may be allowed to keep poisons in his Closet, but not to vend them about for Cordials. (From Jonathan Swift, Gulliver's Travels, III, vi)

[Technorati: blog ethics]

Defending Singapore: Strategies for a Small State

From the concluding paragraphs of Minister Teo's speech to the Press Club:

Some countries are lucky enough to be located in a peaceful and benign environment, and have not faced any threat or conflict for decades, others live in constant fear of invasion; some have mountains or large tracts of land to buffer them, others have little or no strategic depth; some believe in being self-sufficient and providing their own defence, others have decided to place their defence and, hence, the fate of their countries in the hands of others.

We have decided that we must ourselves provide for our own defence, for if we are not prepared to defend ourselves, we cannot expect anyone else to do so on our behalf. This is a bitter lesson that our fathers and grandfathers learned in the past. Providing for our own defence allows us to chart our own course as an independent sovereign nation, without having to buckle under pressure from larger states, or to become subservient to their strategic imperatives

On a different but all too related note, CyberPioneer reports on the latest gadgets for "Urban Operations" (UO), including a throwable "eyeball" that offers 360 degress rotation! Now if they would only they make them to look like real eyeballs...

[Technorati: singapore, military]

[Technorati: singapore]

Call for entries--Web Symposium: Blogosphere reactions to the Casino/Integrated Resort decision 2005

ATTENTION: The symposium is closed. A big thank you to everyone who helped in one way or other to make it a success.

The background is in the previous post (see also the comments).

Even if you don't have a suitable entry, you can still help by spreading the word, or advertising this on your own blog.

The symposium is in full swing (UPDATE: correct link)

Nowadays, it's hard to find someone in Singapore without an opinion about the proposed Casino/Integrated Resort. Even those who are really without an opinion find themselves oblidged to say that they don't have an opinion, as if the contrary is the default.

In the interest of furthering discussion on this issue of the day, From A Singapore Angle is organising a Web Symposium and inviting all interested bloggers to submit entries that will be collated together (roughly in a manner analogous to this, but voluntarily). By having many points of view gathered together under one list, the hope is that the netizens's search for information and informed opinions will be facilitated.

Entries published both during the pre-decision debate and after the decision was announced in parliament are welcomed.

INSTRUCTIONS

If you have blog posts germane to the topic and would like to enter it for the symposium, you can really help me by sending an email to me with "Web Symposium" in the subject, and the title of the post, the author, the name of the blog, a short one sentence abstract and the date the post was originally published in exactly the following format:

- <a href="URL">"TITLE"</a> by NAME at BLOG, "ABSTRACT" (DATE)

Replacing TITLE, NAME, BLOG, ABSTRACT, DATE with the appropriate infomation. For example (this one is for real, by the way):

- <a href="http://www.educatewandie.com/pivot/entry.php?id=210">"Time to cash in?"</a> by Wandie at educatewandie, "Now that plans have been greenlighted. It's time to ask yourself, '<i>is it time to puat giao tan jiat?</i>'" (Apr 20, 2005)

(A bit of html in the abstract is ok, as in the use of the italics above.) I will cut and paste that directly into blogger and it will eventually appear as:

- "Time to cash in?" by Wandie at educatewandie, "Now that plans have been greenlighted. It's time to ask yourself, 'is it time to puat giao tan jiat?'" (Apr 20, 2005)

Ideally, the abstract should be informative, giving the reader a sense of your position or point of view. And if the entry is a response to another blog entry, it would also be useful to indicate that. For example: "...in response to Jane NetCitizen's economic argument for NOT building IRs."

Once your entry is accepted, please include a hyperlink--something to the effect of:

For the Web Symposium: Blogosphere reactions to the Casino/Integrated Resort decision 2005

somewhere in the entry itself. [UPDATE: I've decided to (manually) trackback after all, so this is not necessary; though still welcomed.]

Looking forward to your participation!

ASIDE: Pretty low tech...yes. But let's see how this goes. Discussions are ongoing for more automated and high tech possibilities.

[Technorati: singapore]

Afterthoughts on a recent blogospheric event and a modest proposal

Note: This post is not about CZ at all, but offers some observations about the Singapore Blogosphere in light of recent events and makes a modest proposal toward the end.

Simon called it "a major dust up in Singapore's blogosphere". Others words used to describe it: "witchhunt", "scary", "over-reaction"...but what is implicit is made explicit in other phrases used: "the power of blogdom", "Never underestimate the power of the internet".

How powerful? I don't know. In fact, I'm inclined to say: not very at the moment. The whole affair "hit the fan" mostly because of an extra-blogospheric intervention: someone (a forummer as opposed to a blogger, to be precise) tipped off old media, which published it (obviously) for its own reasons.

But "not very powerful" is not to same as "powerless".

In fact, I think that the whole affair has revealed the power of the blogosphere in a more specific sense--not so much to influence events, but to make possible the voicing and hearing of a range of opinions among people who care about the outcome in a format that tends to conduce more toward argument and discussion (as opposed to mere expression). This format is comparatively friendly to expressions that are more thought out, less caught up in the heat of the moment or influenced by the need to respond immediately, exegencies as might be experienced in a more traditional online forum. And in some cases at least, the exposure to other points of view may have lead to reevaluation, rethinking, reconsideration, more nuance. I would like to think that my collation helped in that direction.

One inherent weakness of the blogosphere as an engine of civic discourse is its fragmentary nature--many voices, more by way of self-expression than the give and take of discussion (see this and this). (Nothing wrong with self-expression, but just that it should not be confused with discussion.) One way to overcome this structural obstacle is meta-blogging--a simple collation of as many of the relevant posts on the issue as possible will do, a collation that acts as a clearing house for those looking for information and possible positions--'out there'--on the subjects of the day. Already, a reader left a comment asking if I would "have time to compile an anatomy on the SG casino debate process"--the answer is "no", not if I have to do the work of seaching out the entries by myself. I won't have that kind of time.

This is where my modest proposal comes in: I am open to the idea of hosting, and would likely support other bloggers (given topics that interest me) who would like to host web symposiums. That is, put out a call for entries and have the bloggers submit the links (together with a one sentence abstract) to the host, who would then list them. That will still take some work on the part of the host, but not as much as would be needed the way I did the CZ affair. [FURTHER NOTE: This way, it also allows the bloggers to decide whether they want to be heard by a larger audience, an issue highlighted by a passerby who left a comment recently.]

So, Wandie (who left the abovementioned comment), you might have your wish after all, if the Singapore Blogosphere is game.

Are we?

News Flash: it's on.

[Technorati: singapore, blog, blogs, blogging, blogosphere]

Eurofighter out of the running for Singapore's NGF competition--French newspaper says

>From Reuters (Apr 18), "Singapore drops Eurofighter from jet bid" (hat tip Alert5):

Singapore has dropped the Eurofighter combat jet from consideration as it prepares to announce the winner of a 1 billion dollar order, an industry source told Reuters today.

The Rafale jet from France's Dassault and the F-15 from Boeing Co. remain in contention, but the source said his firm had been advised the Eurofighter was out...

French newspaper La Tribune had reported earlier in the day that Dassault and Boeing were the only remaining contenders for an order expected to include 20 jets...

La Tribune quoted several sources close to the issue saying that the island state would announce a preferred bidder at the end of June or beginning of July and would aim to conclude negotiations by the end of the year or early 2006.

UPDATE: It's been confirmed:

The Ministry of Defence (MINDEF) said the Typhoon is a "very capable aircraft ... (but) the committed schedule for the delivery of the Typhoon and its systems did not meet the requirements" of the Republic of Singapore Air Force.

(CNA Apr 21)

[Technorati: singapore]