Kwon Ping : New media erodes Govt’s ability to shape public thinking
“Anything censored is still widely available in alternative media, and therein lies the rub: At what point will control and censorship of the mainstream news, cultural and entertainment media become counter-productive by not really achieving the purpose of blocking access to information, but, instead, end up alienating the social activists who, despite their small size, are influencers beyond their numbers?”
Mr Ho also noted that it will be increasingly difficult to hold the political centre together in the midst of polarising extremes – liberals versus conservatives; local versus foreign; pro-life versus pro-abortion; gay versus straight, and so forth.
“While fault lines along race and religion have been contained and have still not cracked, the so-called culture wars are intensifying,” he said.
Another trend is the diminution in the stature of political leadership which will encourage the rise of so-called “non-constructive” politics.
“Future leaders simply cannot command the sufficient respect and moral authority to decree what is acceptable and unacceptable criticisms. To have the authority to simply deride wide swathes of criticisms as simply non-constructive is wishful thinking,” he said.
The fourth trend is the gulf between rich and poor Singaporeans.
“In recent years, the ostentatious pursuit of wealth rivalling Hong Kong standards has become fashionable. Extolling our casinos, Formula 1 Grand Prix and highest per capita number of billionaires and Lamborghinis in the world, as evidence that Singapore has now become a world-class city, could perhaps be dismissed as the crassness of the rich, except that this ethos of the elite is occurring just when income inequality has become the worst since independence,” Mr Ho said.
“The gulf between rich and poor Singaporeans, not only in terms of wealth but also in terms of.....
http://www.tremeritus.com/2014/10/2...ining-govts-ability-to-shape-public-thinking/
