Bloggers go offline to speak up

[NgEjay]

<table width="100%" border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0"><tbody><tr><td colspan="2" bgcolor="#000000"> <table width="100%" bgcolor="#000000" border="0" cellpadding="3" cellspacing="0"><tbody><tr><td class="font12w">Bloggers go offline to speak up </td> </tr> <tr> <td class="font12w"> <table width="100%" align="left" border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0"><tbody><tr> <td class="font12w">By Ng Tze Yong and Benson Ang</td> </tr></tbody></table> </td> </tr> <tr> <td class="font12w"> <table width="100%" border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0"> <tbody><tr> <td class="font12w" width="">September 05, 2008</td> <td width="30"> </td> <td width="10"> </td> <td width="30"> </td><td width="40"> </td> </tr> </tbody></table> </td> </tr> <tr> <td class="font12w">
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</td> </tr> <tr> <td class="rightline" valign="top"> <table width="100%" border="0" cellpadding="3" cellspacing="0"> <tbody><tr><td class="font12" valign="top" align="left"> <table width="150" align="right" border="0" cellpadding="4" cellspacing="0"> <tbody><tr> <td> </td> </tr> <tr><td>[FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif][SIZE=-2]ALEX AU, 55.[/SIZE][/FONT]</td></tr> </tbody></table>
You are a blogger, not a politician.
You are not burdened with the responsibility of governance and are not held accountable the same way a politician is. How can we trust that you know what you're talking about?
Alex: 'Everyone is held accountable for their words. There is such a thing as reputation.'
Zheng Xi: 'I do not need to be a politician to talk about politics. It is my civic duty. We are held accountable by the quality of what we say.'
Benjamin: 'As bloggers, we must have evidence, do our research, and be responsible for what we say and do. From there, we have moral authority to address our readers.'
Singaporean bloggers have always seemed to distrust the traditional media. Why are you holding a press conference?
<table width="150" align="right" border="0" cellpadding="4" cellspacing="0"> <tbody><tr> <td> </td> </tr> <tr><td>[FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif][SIZE=-2]CHOO ZHENG XI, 22.[/SIZE][/FONT]</td></tr> </tbody></table>
Alex: 'I have my criticism about the traditional media but I do not dismiss it.
'I have enough respect for the traditional media to believe it will grow with the times. And my purpose is to prod it in that direction.'
Zheng Xi: 'The traditional media is here to stay.
'It is still the best way to engage the public and the government. Ultimately, it has the highest readership.'
Benjamin: 'It's a public perception, a stereotype, which is not entirely true. Most bloggers base their work on the mainstream media.'
<table width="150" align="right" border="0" cellpadding="4" cellspacing="0"> <tbody><tr> <td> </td> </tr> <tr><td>[FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif][SIZE=-2]NG E-JAY, 31.[/SIZE][/FONT]</td></tr> </tbody></table> Many bloggers choose to remain anonymous or criticise from a safe distance. Has stepping forward disempowered you asablogger?

Alex: 'Not at all. Making myself identifiable has made me reachable by the mass media. It amplifies my opinions.'
E-Jay: 'Putting my real name on the Net has compelled me to be responsible.
'But I respect anyone's decision to stay anonymous. Anonymity is what gives them confidence, and confidence is very lacking right now in society.'
Benjamin: 'If a blogger's ideas are credible, then it shouldn't matter if he is anonymous or not, because the ideas are larger than the person.'
<table width="150" align="right" border="0" cellpadding="4" cellspacing="0"> <tbody><tr> <td> </td> </tr> <tr><td>[FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif][SIZE=-2]BENJAMIN LEONG, 19. <copyright> PICTURES: ST FILE, NG E-JAY, BENJAMIN CHEAH </copyright>[/SIZE][/FONT]</td></tr> </tbody></table> Yes, we know the big deal about free speech. But let's get real here. Did you take any precautions before speaking up?

Alex: 'I do not believe that censorship is as terrible as some anonymous bloggers imagine it to be. I've run my Yawning Bread blog for 12 years and I haven't run into any trouble.'
Zheng Xi: 'The only precaution I take is checking and double-checking my facts.'
Benjamin: 'No. According to the Constitution, I'm entitled to free speech, since my criticism is properly researched and documented.'
Free speech is also about knowing how to give and take criticism. What was the worst thing anyone has said about you online and how did you react?

Zheng Xi: 'There was a website dedicated to calling me a PAP dog. I was depressed for, like, 15 minutes but then I told myself to get over it.
'You have to put your principles above your ego.'
E-Jay: 'I prefer not to go into that. Online remarks can be very nasty and vulgar. I believe that insults are OK, but we must understand that with free speech comes responsibility.'
Benjamin: 'Someone pretended to be me and went around flaming other people.
'He made horrible comments under my name and people actually believed him.
'Eventually, I filtered through every comment and e-mailed every person who received a fake message from him.
'I believe he is one of my schoolmates. But why should I care who he is? There's no point wasting time on him.
'Some people say I'm idealistic and irrational. But it comes with the territory so I have to live with it.'
<hr size="1" width="90%"> ALEX AU, 55 Occupation: Businessman
Cyber cred: Operates the Yawning Bread website
CHOO ZHENG XI, 22 Occupation: Law undergraduate
Cyber cred: Co-editor of The Online Citizen
NG E-JAY, 31 Occupation: Graduate student
Cyber cred: Blogs on sgpolitics.net
BENJAMIN LEONG, 19 Occupation: Full-time national serviceman
Cyber cred: Blogs on The Lionheart
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[kakowi]

E-jay,

What advice would you give to newbie bloggers? Specifically:

(1) should they stay anonymous?

(2) will they face discrimination from the Government?​

Thank you

 

[NgEjay]

What advice would you give to newbie bloggers?

Dear kakowi,

I would suggest that new bloggers remain anonymous until they gain sufficient confidence to put their real name in writing.

Don't forget, a lot of Singaporeans are not pro-Opposition yet. There are also a lot of bosses, employers, who don't share our ideals of free speech. Many bloggers, including myself, who put our real names have at some point gotten a backlash as a result. I think it is prudent not to expose yourself to that risk until you are confident you can accept the consequences.

Besides, privacy is a fundamental right. It is only in PAP-controlled Singapore that the govt makes people think that privacy is not a right.

Most likely there will be no discrimination from the govt. Even if say, the blogger is working in the civil service and his promotion depends on his boss who is very pro-PAP.

But if you're putting your real name down, make sure you don't cross the line into defamation and you can substantiate what you are saying at all times. The govt won't sue everyone, but you never know when they will just decide to make an example of you just to scare off the others. That's what happened to Gopalan Nair.

E-Jay

 

[Alu862]

Gopalan Nair did cross the line with blatant inaccurate facts, the more significant being that of calling PRCs overseas and in Singapore spies and agents of communism. As an immigration lawyer, that is really uncalled for.

 

[kakowi]

Thank you very much E-jay. Appreciate your advice.

I guess I will wait until I know the parameters that the government allows for discussion, although I do feel a bit ashamed that I need to look at the government for approval before writing on fundamental thoughts.

Thanks again!