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Educate the Internet generation
Nominated MP Calvin Cheng says regulating the Net is pointless. -- ST
Nominated MP Calvin Cheng argued in Parliament yesterday that the best way for the Government to deal with the threat posed by the Internet is to educate young people. This is an extract from his speech:
'THIS is the generation that puts their lives up for public display on blogs, writes about their innermost thoughts and shares them with thousands of strangers. This is the generation that makes friends and keeps friends not through going down to a tea-dance but through social networks. This is the generation who would tweet about the most private moments of their lives...
This is the generation that does not pull out a copy of Encyclopaedia Britannica to research, but expects to find the gospel truth on Wikipedia. They think they are entitled to say whatever they want, however they want, whenever they want. They think that the Internet has finally given ordinary people the power to seek the truth from people who they think are hiding the truth, and they get angry when they think they are being lied to...
The impact of the Internet and the Internet generation will be difficult to predict in the next election. Already at the last election in 2006, we have seen an inkling of what may happen. There was already use of some message boards and socio-political blogs to spread information. No doubt, this election will see even more of this, and the pervasive use of Facebook and Twitter to gather support. The young may not bother turning up at rallies, but you can be sure that they will turn to the Internet to gather every bit of information they can find.
Governments around the world have reacted to this change often with regulation. This is pointless... No country can function without an Internet connection to the outside world nowadays, especially one as open as Singapore... Instead, I would rather that the Government uses education as its reaction to the Internet, to make sure that the Internet generation has a beneficial rather than pernicious effect on the political landscape.
Firstly, netizens have to know that the social rules that apply to the real world should apply to the Internet as well. If one is a polite person in the real world, why would one want to turn into a rude, ranting obnoxious maniac on the Internet? If one wouldn't be racist or insult other people's religions, or slander another human being normally, why would one think it is okay to do so just because it is a blog or a Facebook account? If anonymity means that you are free to become a beast, then a beast you are, Internet or not. Be the person you would be on the Internet, as you are in the real world.
Secondly, whereas education in the past focused on rote-learning information, memorising historical facts, and swotting up knowledge, education now has to focus on information processing, analytical skills and the ability to differentiate fact from fiction.
In the past, if I read something in Encyclopaedia Britannica, I know it to be a fact, and I can safely commit it to memory. Now if I read something on Wikipedia or on the Internet, I have to first ask myself whether it is really a fact. This is crucial. Our Internet generation has to be equipped with the critical thinking skills to sift through the tons of misinformation and disinformation to be found on the Internet, to be able to tell truths from lies, and to carry a healthy dose of scepticism into cyberspace. This is crucial to the political process, as a democracy functions well only if the electorate is able to make reasoned, rational choices made on correct information. The next election will no doubt see some anonymous irresponsible people spreading lies, mistruths and unfounded rumours in cyberspace. Trying to clamp down on these troublemakers may be difficult; much better to equip our people in the long run with the critical thinking skills to ascertain fact from fiction.
Finally, in the Internet age, it will get harder and harder to have a monopoly of information not only because the Internet makes it easier to verify facts, but also because the Internet generation cannot be fobbed off with morsels of information. People in power have to be more forthcoming with information and be fully aware that anything they say, once it's on the Internet, will be there forever and will spread like wildfire. They have to know that once on the Internet, statements will be scrutinised and analysed and have to be doubly careful that high standards of integrity, consistency and veracity are upheld. Some things will still have to be kept secret, as no state can allow total freedom of information. The electorate needs to accept this and not make irresponsible and unreasonable demands. Openness does not mean anarchy.
The Internet generation may prove a wild card in the next election, but it is, at the end of the day, only a wild card. A good government who delivers a royal flush would still sweep the table, and I trust, in these upcoming elections, as always, bread and butter issues would still inevitably win the day.'
Nominated MP Calvin Cheng says regulating the Net is pointless. -- ST
Nominated MP Calvin Cheng argued in Parliament yesterday that the best way for the Government to deal with the threat posed by the Internet is to educate young people. This is an extract from his speech:
'THIS is the generation that puts their lives up for public display on blogs, writes about their innermost thoughts and shares them with thousands of strangers. This is the generation that makes friends and keeps friends not through going down to a tea-dance but through social networks. This is the generation who would tweet about the most private moments of their lives...
This is the generation that does not pull out a copy of Encyclopaedia Britannica to research, but expects to find the gospel truth on Wikipedia. They think they are entitled to say whatever they want, however they want, whenever they want. They think that the Internet has finally given ordinary people the power to seek the truth from people who they think are hiding the truth, and they get angry when they think they are being lied to...
The impact of the Internet and the Internet generation will be difficult to predict in the next election. Already at the last election in 2006, we have seen an inkling of what may happen. There was already use of some message boards and socio-political blogs to spread information. No doubt, this election will see even more of this, and the pervasive use of Facebook and Twitter to gather support. The young may not bother turning up at rallies, but you can be sure that they will turn to the Internet to gather every bit of information they can find.
Governments around the world have reacted to this change often with regulation. This is pointless... No country can function without an Internet connection to the outside world nowadays, especially one as open as Singapore... Instead, I would rather that the Government uses education as its reaction to the Internet, to make sure that the Internet generation has a beneficial rather than pernicious effect on the political landscape.
Firstly, netizens have to know that the social rules that apply to the real world should apply to the Internet as well. If one is a polite person in the real world, why would one want to turn into a rude, ranting obnoxious maniac on the Internet? If one wouldn't be racist or insult other people's religions, or slander another human being normally, why would one think it is okay to do so just because it is a blog or a Facebook account? If anonymity means that you are free to become a beast, then a beast you are, Internet or not. Be the person you would be on the Internet, as you are in the real world.
Secondly, whereas education in the past focused on rote-learning information, memorising historical facts, and swotting up knowledge, education now has to focus on information processing, analytical skills and the ability to differentiate fact from fiction.
In the past, if I read something in Encyclopaedia Britannica, I know it to be a fact, and I can safely commit it to memory. Now if I read something on Wikipedia or on the Internet, I have to first ask myself whether it is really a fact. This is crucial. Our Internet generation has to be equipped with the critical thinking skills to sift through the tons of misinformation and disinformation to be found on the Internet, to be able to tell truths from lies, and to carry a healthy dose of scepticism into cyberspace. This is crucial to the political process, as a democracy functions well only if the electorate is able to make reasoned, rational choices made on correct information. The next election will no doubt see some anonymous irresponsible people spreading lies, mistruths and unfounded rumours in cyberspace. Trying to clamp down on these troublemakers may be difficult; much better to equip our people in the long run with the critical thinking skills to ascertain fact from fiction.
Finally, in the Internet age, it will get harder and harder to have a monopoly of information not only because the Internet makes it easier to verify facts, but also because the Internet generation cannot be fobbed off with morsels of information. People in power have to be more forthcoming with information and be fully aware that anything they say, once it's on the Internet, will be there forever and will spread like wildfire. They have to know that once on the Internet, statements will be scrutinised and analysed and have to be doubly careful that high standards of integrity, consistency and veracity are upheld. Some things will still have to be kept secret, as no state can allow total freedom of information. The electorate needs to accept this and not make irresponsible and unreasonable demands. Openness does not mean anarchy.
The Internet generation may prove a wild card in the next election, but it is, at the end of the day, only a wild card. A good government who delivers a royal flush would still sweep the table, and I trust, in these upcoming elections, as always, bread and butter issues would still inevitably win the day.'
