QotW8: Not so much of a democracy

Blog title and URL: Mr Wang Says So at www.mrwangsaysso.blogspot.com.

Blogger’s Name or Pseudonym: Mr Wang

Blogger’s Occupation: Citizen Blogger

Blogger’s Date of Birth: 24 May 2005 at http://commentorysingapore.blogspot.com.

Technorati Rank: 26, 774 (332 links from 143 blogs).

Mr Wang is one of the more popular bloggers in Singapore, aside from Xiaxue, Mr Brown or Mr Miyagi. In terms of current affairs, he could be said to be the one that more Singaporeans turn to. In his blog, he generally gives a commentary about the current affairs that are happening in Singapore, The reason which makes Mr Wang’s blog so interesting and have a pulling factor is that he is very insightful, smart and witty. He gives good opinions on the current and social affairs of Singapore and he does not tend to sway to the pro-government side like most media in Singapore. Actually, it could be said to be all media.

Below are a few extracts of his blog posts and comments from readers.

Mutual respect and tolerance is the basic principle on which an inter-religious society like Singapore can hold itself together, in relative harmony.Recently I learned from Yawning Bread’s blog that the National Council of Churches of Singapore is seeking to criminalise lesbianism. I find this disturbing. I sense a potential threat to the freedom of religion in Singapore.

Leela said…
The government is to blame for this nonsense as well. By perpetuating institutionalised discrimination of male homosexuals in the penal code, the government is emboldening the Christian fundamentalists and telling them that it is willing to impose Christian moral views onto society. Most of the developed world as already opened up. Even South Africa has legalised gay marriage. Yet our first-world government is still criminalising private, consensual sex acts. As long as it continues to pander to the ultraconservative minority, Singapore will continue being stuck with first-world economy but a third-world society.

Everybody is a genius. But, if you judge a fish by its ability to climb a tree, it will spend its whole life believing that it is stupid.”So remember folks, you’re not stupid just because you weren’t good at what Singapore judges you by. That applies to your Chinese Language grade too.

What has the Singapore government EVER done to “foster strong family ties” between you and your mother? You and your father? How about your spouse, your children, your siblings …? The Straits Times publishes very strange letters. But then, we have a Prime Minister who claims that if he gave money to your family, it would break down. Suddenly, you would divorce your wife, disown your parents or something like that. Ah, the mysteries of life in Singapore.

According to Wikipedia, democracy literally means rule by the people (Democracy, 2007). In the terms of government however, there are different types of democracy that could be used to describe the type of government that the country has, if it falls in the category of democracy that is.

Media democracy on the other hand, is the production and distribution model which promotes a mass media system that informs and empowers all members of society, and enhances democratic values. The term also refers to a modern social movement evident in countries all over the world which attempts to make mainstream media more accountable to the publics they serve and to create more democratic alternatives (Media Democracy, 2007).

One could comment that in Singapore, although we claim to be a democratic country, there is very little democracy in our media. Other than the fact that the media is owned by one company only, Mediacorp, which provides lack of coverage and lack of different voices and opinions to certain issues, the media in Singapore tend to be very pro-government.

I do agree completely that with the advent and rise of weblogs in today’s people, it also gives rise to the differing opinions about the local political landscape. There are numerous examples of blogs which focuses on the political arena and not all of them are as pro-government as the mainstream media. Day by day, more and more people are turning towards these blogs instead of believing completely what the mainstream media has to say. People nowadays have this perception that blogs could be said to be more credible and it reflects better on the sentiments of the general public since it is much more intimate and real. Even the government has caught on to this and it is apparent with the rising number of politicians who have their own blogs to reach out to the people.

The only reason why these blogs are allowed to flourish is because these blogs have a limited audience. The government would not tolerate any stand against the government if it was published in the mainstream newspaper. Take for example Mr Brown, who was sacked from Today newspaper due to certain comments that he made in his article. Furthermore, according to Thornton, democracy of media on the Internet would be allowed to occur if current power structures such as governments and large corporations are willing to incorporate this process into their standard practices. Given the history of such things, this seems fairly unlikely, however exciting the possibility might seem (Thornton, 2002).

In my opinion, these blogs are present because the government allows them to be that way for now. If, that particular blog has gained too much popularity and received too much attention from the masses, it is no doubt that the government would do something about it to dispel these “radical” opinions. Even if right now there is no proof that the government has done so, the fear is still very much alive that somehow we would be punished for even publishing it in the first place. The fact that the fear is there says a lot about Singapore. Increase in democracy of media in Singapore? Like what some Singaporeans love to say, “wait long long”.

References:

Democracy (2007). Retrieved March 24, 2007 from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Democracy.

Media Democracy (2007). Retrieved March 24, 2007 from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Media_democracy.

Wang (2007). Retrieved March 24, 2007 from http://mrwangsaysso.blogspot.com/.

Thornton, Alinta (2002). Does Internet Create Democracy? Retrieved March 24, 2007 from http://www.zip.com.au./~athornto/thesis_2002_alinta_thornton.doc