Own up! Who belongs to the Cult of Alex Tan Zhi Xiang? Without STR now, what would the cult members do? I wonder what would Alex Tan think if he were to come across the article below (only pasted the brief intro below). Would his cult members wage a "fanwar" against ricemedia?
http://ricemedia.co/current-affairs-opinion-states-times-review-readers-cult/
"Once upon a time, the States Times Review (STR) reader was a normal person.
They sat next to us in school. During recess, they played hopscotch, and ate from the same 50-cent fishball noodle stall as the rest of us. Every semester, they competed with their 39 other classmates for first place in class.
In essence, the STR reader was once an ordinary child with the potential to grow into a right-minded member of society.
So what happened?
Specifically, what did it take to turn regular citizens into radical crazies parroting baseless, emotional, and uncreative anti-establishment messages on the STR’s Facebook page? When did these people decide to throw more than a decade’s worth of education and all caution to the wind, and surrender to the Cult of Alex Tan?
More importantly, how will they survive amidst the government’s impending fake news laws?
The STR was recently flagged by Law and Home Affairs Minister K Shanmugam after they published a “baseless and defamatory” article linking Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong with 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB) investigations. Shortly after, the site ceased operations.
Yet as the STR’s Facebook comments show, their readers are so far down the rabbit hole that they exist in a different reality altogether. Moreover, the issue of “fake news” has hardly been addressed. The government has simply done what they always have: treated the symptom.
If they truly wish to stem the spread of “fake news”, they must acknowledge that the real cause of the problem is the STR reader."
http://ricemedia.co/current-affairs-opinion-states-times-review-readers-cult/
"Once upon a time, the States Times Review (STR) reader was a normal person.
They sat next to us in school. During recess, they played hopscotch, and ate from the same 50-cent fishball noodle stall as the rest of us. Every semester, they competed with their 39 other classmates for first place in class.
In essence, the STR reader was once an ordinary child with the potential to grow into a right-minded member of society.
So what happened?
Specifically, what did it take to turn regular citizens into radical crazies parroting baseless, emotional, and uncreative anti-establishment messages on the STR’s Facebook page? When did these people decide to throw more than a decade’s worth of education and all caution to the wind, and surrender to the Cult of Alex Tan?
More importantly, how will they survive amidst the government’s impending fake news laws?
The STR was recently flagged by Law and Home Affairs Minister K Shanmugam after they published a “baseless and defamatory” article linking Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong with 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB) investigations. Shortly after, the site ceased operations.
Yet as the STR’s Facebook comments show, their readers are so far down the rabbit hole that they exist in a different reality altogether. Moreover, the issue of “fake news” has hardly been addressed. The government has simply done what they always have: treated the symptom.
If they truly wish to stem the spread of “fake news”, they must acknowledge that the real cause of the problem is the STR reader."
