The Middle Ground R.I.P

[gatehousethetinkertailor]

 

[zhihau]

Aww...

 

[Leongsam]

Aww...

http://themiddleground.sg/2015/07/09/should-sammyboy-be-shut-down/

Most of the sites that tried to take down my forum have succumbed before I have. I give the middleground my middle finger. Don't expect any sympathy from me.

The problem with these middleground fuckwits is that they started paying themselves big fat salaries before they made their first dime.

I lost $250,000 of my own money long before sammyboy earned me a single cent.

Did I receive help from anyone in the mainstream press to build traffic for a pioneering site that took Singapore in the the 21st century? Hell no! They were all to happy to tow the official line that Singaporeans are all angels, that they fuck only for the purpose of procreation and that sex is not something to be discussed in our "CONSERVATIVE" Asian Values society.

Good riddance I say.

************************

Should Sammyboy be shut down?
Jul 09, 2015 12.00PM | Yen Feng


by Yen Feng

THIS is a website the writer deemed so foul he refused to name it in his story: “We are not naming the forum to avoid giving it more publicity.”

No naming, but there’s plenty of shaming in today’s TNP cover story, in which columnist David Sun shines a light on some of the shenanigans that goes on in Singapore’s best-known sex site, Sammyboy.

From trading smut to sharing sex videos for “reputation points”, it’s the kind of erotic filth bound to make any moralist erect with disgust. Said Sun: “The forum is a hotbed of sleaze where users discuss the commercial sex scene in Singapore and Malaysia, and trade sex videos and pictures online like trading cards.

“Anyone visiting the site can see the smut it peddles.”

Last week, two men were sentenced to 12 weeks’ jail for uploading their upskirt videos to the site. The judge called the forum “a thriving community of like-minded and depraved individuals… commenting on each other’s perverse handiwork.”

More from a psychiatrist quoted in the report: “… people are only as sick as their secrets… It’s usually the younger adults and lonely people who don’t get natural or real sex who develop such fetishes.”

The report has stirred up a question that has existed for as long as the site’s 15-year history: If it’s so bad, why haven’t the authorities shut it down?

The responses have been somewhat limp, at best: MDA said it “may take action” if it finds content that breach Singapore’s laws; police said they would act only if a police report is made.

The time it would take to investigate these reports might not seem worth it. Said a criminal lawyer: “It might take nothing short of getting Interpol involved and even then, it might take years.”

Professor Tan Cheng Han, chairman of the Media Literacy Council, said Internet users, as a community, should not put up with such dubious content, and should object by reporting such sites to the relevant authorities.

Netizens have taken the discussion online – though, quite a number seem more interested in viewing and downloading said filth than debating the merits of free speech and morality.

Should Sammyboy be shut down? What do you think?

 

[halsey02]

TNP..."The Numbskull Paper"...how many got the sack?...did the writer of that article got his or her "just desserts" getting sacked by SPH in their "cleaning out the attic exercise" & replenishing it with fresh "foreign goods"..??!!!!

 

[scroobal]

No loss to anyone. I thought Daniel and Suhaile Md were good and objective. Big Bertha did attempt in the early years to change her spots but failed miserably. Look at her coverage of Halimah and the govt on EP. It was a disgrace.

 

[scroobal]

Sam, you do have supporters within the establishment. When I saw the first proposed Ban List put forward by short lived SBA under its newly appointed CEO Goh Liang Kwang, I was quite surprised that it did not include SBF. I reasoned that it was a classified as an online version of what the authorities allowed locally on the ground. It was the case for years.

As for its sister site, the tipping would be any disclosure under OSA. None fell under OSA over the years. Sex scandals do not fall under OSA.

http://themiddleground.sg/2015/07/09/should-sammyboy-be-shut-down/

Most of the sites that tried to take down my forum have succumbed before I have. I give the middleground my middle finger. Don't expect any sympathy from me.

The problem with these middleground fuckwits is that they started paying themselves big fat salaries before they made their first dime.

I lost $250,000 of my own money long before sammyboy earned me a single cent.

Did I receive help from anyone in the mainstream press to build traffic for a pioneering site that took Singapore in the the 21st century? Hell no! They were all to happy to tow the official line that Singaporeans are all angels, that they fuck only for the purpose of procreation and that sex is not something to be discussed in our "CONSERVATIVE" Asian Values society.

Good riddance I say.

************************

Should Sammyboy be shut down?
Jul 09, 2015 12.00PM | Yen Feng


by Yen Feng

THIS is a website the writer deemed so foul he refused to name it in his story: “We are not naming the forum to avoid giving it more publicity.”

No naming, but there’s plenty of shaming in today’s TNP cover story, in which columnist David Sun shines a light on some of the shenanigans that goes on in Singapore’s best-known sex site, Sammyboy.

From trading smut to sharing sex videos for “reputation points”, it’s the kind of erotic filth bound to make any moralist erect with disgust. Said Sun: “The forum is a hotbed of sleaze where users discuss the commercial sex scene in Singapore and Malaysia, and trade sex videos and pictures online like trading cards.

“Anyone visiting the site can see the smut it peddles.”

Last week, two men were sentenced to 12 weeks’ jail for uploading their upskirt videos to the site. The judge called the forum “a thriving community of like-minded and depraved individuals… commenting on each other’s perverse handiwork.”

More from a psychiatrist quoted in the report: “… people are only as sick as their secrets… It’s usually the younger adults and lonely people who don’t get natural or real sex who develop such fetishes.”

The report has stirred up a question that has existed for as long as the site’s 15-year history: If it’s so bad, why haven’t the authorities shut it down?

The responses have been somewhat limp, at best: MDA said it “may take action” if it finds content that breach Singapore’s laws; police said they would act only if a police report is made.

The time it would take to investigate these reports might not seem worth it. Said a criminal lawyer: “It might take nothing short of getting Interpol involved and even then, it might take years.”

Professor Tan Cheng Han, chairman of the Media Literacy Council, said Internet users, as a community, should not put up with such dubious content, and should object by reporting such sites to the relevant authorities.

Netizens have taken the discussion online – though, quite a number seem more interested in viewing and downloading said filth than debating the merits of free speech and morality.

Should Sammyboy be shut down? What do you think?

 

[halsey02]

No loss to anyone. I thought Daniel and Suhaile Md were good and objective. Big Bertha did attempt in the early years to change her spots but failed miserably. Look at her coverage of Halimah and the govt on EP. It was a disgrace.

The "Leopard' dye the spots a little lighter....but the spots are the same pattern & at the same place. Once they tasted the good life & good money, one can sell your ancestors too...what is not new?

 

[theblackhole]

nothing like the sammyboys times
resilient forum beats them all hands down

 

[Leongsam]

Sam, you do have supporters within the establishment. When I saw the first proposed Ban List put forward by short lived SBA under its newly appointed CEO Goh Liang Kwang, I was quite surprised that it did not include SBF. I reasoned that it was a classified as an online version of what the authorities allowed locally on the ground. It was the case for years.

As for its sister site, the tipping would be any disclosure under OSA. None fell under OSA over the years. Sex scandals do not fall under OSA.

It's pretty obvious that things have changed recently so I guess I'll just live with the consequences and hopefully I'll be nimble enough to stay ahead of the game.

You can tell whoever that I'm in the process of moving much of the info sharing to my Telegram groups which are a lot harder to block. They'll have to ban the whole Telegram app in order to block just one channel.

 

[scroobal]

The attention span of the civil service is 2 years max, primary driven by 2 year posting cycle which trickles down to lower ranks. As of late there has been a plethora of people appointed in the cyber field in nearly every Ministry and every man and his dog wants a share of the sunshine. One of them must have hooked on SBF as a an objective for his appraisal.

They would be crucified internally if they even suggested to block of Telegram. We are supposed to look western libertarian to the West so Telegram is a no go zone especially when it is non-profit.

It's pretty obvious that things have changed recently so I guess I'll just live with the consequences and hopefully I'll be nimble enough to stay ahead of the game.

You can tell whoever that I'm in the process of moving much of the info sharing to my Telegram groups which are a lot harder to block. They'll have to ban the whole Telegram app in order to block just one channel.

 

[theblackhole]

many forums have fallen
sammyboys still survive
hope it continues to thrive
with increase drive

 

[maxsanic]

Actually I'm puzzled with their claim of needing "tens of thousands" dollars every month to run TMG operations.

My overall impression is they do not really break any original news thus needing no army of journalist and support crew on the ground. It seems to be a largely opinion piece publication averaging 1 - 2 articles a day and sometimes without activity for days during a news lull period. I don't see how it's different from a group of people getting together to run a blog with each contributor posting once every few days.

By their own admission traffic is very low and the commentaries consist mostly of words and the occasional photo - which means hosting and bandwidth capacity charges should be minimal as well. The nature of the business also does not require any heavy capital equipment investment or office/retail/warehouse space either. I'm really struggling to see how their costs can run into "tens of thousands" monthly.

Can anyone well-versed in e-commerce or online media industry enlighten me?

 

[scroobal]

Here is the background from what I gleaned over time.

Bertha after her retrenchment from SPH started a blog called Breakfast Network which began to carry articles critical of government actions - not actually politically but govt lapses in the main. They were good articles. Then Yaacob cracked the whip by changing the law and demanded she get a publishing licence. The blog had to shut down.

Middle Ground was formed as a commercial entity as no sane person wants to get bankrupted at personal level. They rented an office in a flatted factory in Commonwealth vicinity. They had to pay staff etc. Unfortunately hard to draw ad revenue to the bills.

When you carry commercial risk and have people in your payroll, its not smart to be critical of this government.

When old man told the IRAS to raid Tang's law firm, no one dared to say no. The same when GCT asked for this wife to be arrested.

Thats how you cripple dissent.

Actually I'm puzzled with their claim of needing "tens of thousands" dollars every month to run TMG operations.

My overall impression is they do not really break any original news thus needing an army of journalist and support crew on the ground. It seems to be a largely opinion piece publication averaging 1 - 2 articles a day and sometimes without activity for days during a news lull period. I don't see how it's different from a group of people getting together to run a blog with each contributor posting once every few days.

By their own admission traffic is very low and the articles consist mostly of words and the occasional photo - which means hosting and bandwidth capacity charges should be minimal as well. The nature of the business also does not require any heavy capital equipment investment or office/retail/warehouse space either. I'm really struggling to see how their costs can run into "tens of thousands" monthly.

Can anyone well-versed in e-commerce or online media industry enlighten me?

 

[zhihau]

The Sammyboy Spirit shall Prevail!

 

[JohnTan]

The sex forum is still around because too many sinkies are perverts. Pastor Rony and the other evangelicals need to seriously step up their proselytizing efforts. We should organize more crusades at the national stadium to win zikapore for Jesus.

 

[eatshitndie]

must occasionally post a couple of big boobies to keep forum traffic moving and “legitimized”. the middle ground didn’t have that luxury and daring.

 

[spotter542]

I'm proud to say I joined the sex forum 12 years ago and got recommended here by bro Big Sexy about 8 years ago.
Used to cheong the commercial sex scene in Geylang and Petain
Posted a handful of FRs
Attended at few TCSS gatherings with fellow samsters :p

 

[maxsanic]

Here is the background from what I gleaned over time.

Bertha after her retrenchment from SPH started a blog called Breakfast Network which began to carry articles critical of government actions - not actually politically but govt lapses in the main. They were good articles. Then Yaacob cracked the whip by changing the law and demanded she get a publishing licence. The blog had to shut down.

Middle Ground was formed as a commercial entity as no sane person wants to get bankrupted at personal level. They rented an office in a flatted factory in Commonwealth vicinity. They had to pay staff etc. Unfortunately hard to draw ad revenue to the bills.

When you carry commercial risk and have people in your payroll, its not smart to be critical of this government.

When old man told the IRAS to raid Tang's law firm, no one dared to say no. The same when GCT asked for this wife to be arrested.

Thats how you cripple dissent.

Thanks for the history. So if I understand you correctly they basically had to incur unnecessary expenses like renting an office, hiring staff, admin etc. in order to give some semblance of a commercial setup as part of the requirements of getting a publishing license? That would explain why they are bleeding so much money every month.

Having said that, I don't think TMG's demise is solely due to a lack of ad traffic arising from their anti-government stance. It might have contributed to some extent, but my personal senses is that TMG never had a chance even on normal commercial terms - it is precisely too "middleground". It appeals neither to the the pro-establishment SPH readers nor the hardcore opposition supporters. That leaves them with only the politically apathetic crowd. Problem is they are, well, apathetic. They are not going to bother with either subscribing the news or visiting the pages frequently to read a bunch of bland mildly critical, mildly laudatory commentaries.

 

[scroobal]

Alex Au situation might help state the case. Alex stopped writing his political commentary on his blog after the new laws kicked in. He too would have to get a license and meet conditions.

TMG was hoping to create “middle ground content” to weave with their political comments to be viable. 2 other attempts by Kannan Chandran and Viswa Sadasivan also failed due commercial reasons.

Only TOC, Independent and Mothership remain.

Thanks for the history. So if I understand you correctly they basically had to incur unnecessary expenses like renting an office, hiring staff, admin etc. in order to give some semblance of a commercial setup as part of the requirements of getting a publishing license? That would explain why they are bleeding so much money every month.

Having said that, I don't think TMG's demise is solely due to a lack of ad traffic arising from their anti-government stance. It might have contributed to some extent, but my personal senses is that TMG never had a chance even on normal commercial terms - it is precisely too "middleground". It appeals neither to the the pro-establishment SPH readers nor the hardcore opposition supporters. That leaves them with only the politically apathetic crowd. Problem is they are, well, apathetic. They are not going to bother with either subscribing the news or visiting the pages frequently to read a bunch of bland mildly critical, mildly laudatory commentaries.

 

[Leongsam]

Thanks for the history. So if I understand you correctly they basically had to incur unnecessary expenses like renting an office, hiring staff, admin etc. in order to give some semblance of a commercial setup as part of the requirements of getting a publishing license? That would explain why they are bleeding so much money every month.

Having said that, I don't think TMG's demise is solely due to a lack of ad traffic arising from their anti-government stance. It might have contributed to some extent, but my personal senses is that TMG never had a chance even on normal commercial terms - it is precisely too "middleground". It appeals neither to the the pro-establishment SPH readers nor the hardcore opposition supporters. That leaves them with only the politically apathetic crowd. Problem is they are, well, apathetic. They are not going to bother with either subscribing the news or visiting the pages frequently to read a bunch of bland mildly critical, mildly laudatory commentaries.

They should have just moved out of town like I did and they could then do or write whatever they liked.