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Say NO to internet regulation in Singapore.
Daily SG: 11 March 2009
Posted by singaporedaily on March 11th, 2009
Recession
- Support Site for the Unemployed: Helping private enterprises create jobs (APCA) [Thanks Aggrieved One]
- Blowin’ In The Wind: IMF forecast Great Recession at Singapore summit
- Still Baking After All These Years: Rules of Thumb …. And How To Have Better Thumbs
Town Councils and Sinking Funds
- WayangParty: Teo Ho Pin replies to reader’s email on CDC’s bonus: this is CONFIDENTIAL
The Gospel of Harry | GIC, Temasek State Fund Investments
- Today In Singapore: Clearing The Air
IPS Forum: Getting Their Hands Dirty: Recent Developments in Singapore’s Political Blogosphere
- SilentAssassin’s Archive: Old vs New: Providing alternatives or power-grab?
SG Press rank 141 and falling
- Balderdash: “S’pore tops in innovation”
Fixin’ the Opposition
- Sgpolitics.net: I was no “protege”: Chee Soon Juan
- Singabloodypore: The media’s agenda against the Singapore Democrats
- eternalhap: We need some intellectual power
Healthcare | Is Cancer Contagious
- Vexillum II: Catch up with the Facts, Andy
- Angry Doctor: Can you catch cancer?
Daily Discourse
- Everyday’s Life in a Snapshot: The Myth of the PAP Singapore’s Miracle part II
- Sgpolitics.net: Singapore is a first world country that can’t produce and nurture talents
- TOC: Singapore’s edge as a manufacturing hub
- Yawning Bread: Why arrested persons shouldn’t have lawyers
- Just Our Views: Cook PS gone for another course? [Thanks Our Views]
Life, the universe and everything
- eastcoastlife: Horse Watching at Riders Cafe - WW
Books and Papercuts
- Bernard Aw’s Blog: City of Small Blessings
Watched He’s Just Not That Into You recently. Somehow the old songs in the movie didn’t seem out of place (unlike say the TV series Cold Case which feels like its trying too hard to be retro). Maybe its the aging stars (is Jennifer Connelly looking more and more like Demi Moore, or maybe its the other way around), or maybe its that the songs aren’t retro, but timeless. Tell me you didn’t get a nice warm feeling when the credits rolled and The Cure came on :)
The homage to girl-meets-boy classic Some Kind of Wonderful was also a nice touch. Friday I’m In Love vid after the break.
“Friday I’m in Love” is the second single taken from the album Wish (1992) from The Cure. It is among the band’s most well-known songs. The song was nominated for a Grammy Award and won the best Music Video from MTV.
The song was written to be a slower number than its upbeat final rendition. Interestingly, while the track was recorded in D major, the tape speed in the mastering process was slightly askew, resulting in the commercially released version sounding halfway between D major and E-flat major, a semitone higher.
I don’t care if Monday’s blue
Tuesday’s grey and Wednesday too
Thursday I don’t care about you
It’s Friday, I’m in love
Monday you can fall apart
Tuesday, Wednesday break my heart
Oh, Thursday doesn’t even start
It’s Friday I’m in love
Saturday, wait
And Sunday always comes too late
But Friday, never hesitate…
I don’t care if Mondays black
Tuesday, Wednesday - heart attack
Thursday, never looking back
It’s Friday, I’m in love
Monday, you can hold your head
Tuesday, Wednesday stay in bed
Or Thursday - watch the walls instead
It’s Friday, I’m in love
Saturday, wait
And Sunday always comes too late
But Friday, never hesitate…
Dressed up to the eyes
It’s a wonderful surprise
To see your shoes and your spirits rise
Throwing out your frown
And just smiling at the sound
And as sleek as a sheik
Spinning round and round
Always take a big bite
It’s such a gorgeous sight
To see you eat in the middle of the night
You can never get enough
Enough of this stuff
It’s Friday, I’m in love
I don’t care if Monday’s blue
Tuesday’s grey and Wednesday too
Thursday I don’t care about you
It’s Friday, I’m in love
Monday you can fall apart
Tuesday, Wednesday break my heart
Thursday doesn’t even start
It’s Friday I’m in love
Some Kind Of Wonderful (Eric Stoltz & Mary Stuart Masterson)
March 11th, 2009 at 2:03 pm
SilentAssassin’s Archive: Old vs New: Providing alternatives or power-grab?
It appears that you have a fan who believes that the Singaporedaily should have been invited to this forum? I ave enjoyed reading, actually, work made easier by your website to summarize the list of intersting blogs by topics.. However, my comment to Silent Assasin which was also on his blog is:
“I cannot speculate the rationale behind Mr Tan’s choices of these 3 sites as representative of the blogosphere, but it would have been empowering indeed for these three sites to be chosen to represent the blogosphere in this forum.”
- I do not think that the 3 sites being presented and their members chosen to attend the forum by Tan Tarn How is any indication that they are representative of the blogosphere unless you put very high credence to Tan Tarn How? Tan TH who is afterall only a researcher and an academic whose research is done within the acceptable socio-political rules of the government. There were other members of the internet community who appear to also be invited like E-Jay of Sgpolitics.net, blogger Gabriel Seah. Even James Gomez was invited. This is just a forum, and as Alex Au from Yawning Bread indicated, was an interesting platform to collect data, information. So what’s the big deal to get invited to this forum? There will always be people, groups who will be left out. If you have doubts, perhaps you should ask Tan TH why he chose the 3 sites to put on his presentation, and not vice versa.
Wayang Party has in generally been in the internet for quite a while and provides relatively critical articles of the establishment. This however is irrelevant. As I indicated earlier, if you are curious as to how they were chosed, ask Tan TH. You asked “Why not Singapore Daily? Or The Void Deck? Or New Sintercom (tho admittedly the Old Sintercom was mentioned)?”. So why have you yourself listed these companies instead of the many others. Ask the writer, don’t insinuate and make presumptions.
A website is only as credible as it is, in the articles that it writes with the accuracy and consistency, not if they can attend forums set up by academics and researchers. You should give readers more credence than that - ” I feel one must always question the motives of alternative mediums seeking statuses of more than just that. Otherwise readers will again fall into the trap of nation-building.”. This seems to one of a popular type of line from the incumbent party.
Why do you think that the alternative mediums are seeking statuses? Weren’t they invited? Again, you should question why Tan TH is singling out these websites and not the others you singled out, and not to try to discredit these websites who are appearing to gain more popularity, readership, and hopefully credibility by the articles they put forward and not because they have attend a forum by Tan TH.
March 11th, 2009 at 3:47 pm
Soojen,
It matters very little to all of us why Tan Tarn How decided to invite only a select number of bloggers. Yesterday at 11-03-09 at 4.00 GMT. A group of bloggers starting with the alphabet B decided to boycot IPS for a period of 5 years.
The internet is free economy. No need to ask so many questions. When I was growing up. I once asked my father why the chinese family in our void deck never ever invite us to as they do other neighbors to makan in their house during cny. My father said in deevapali once, we never invited them, so from that day onwards this was how it has always been.
You reap what you sow. If they dont know, they will soon know. And once this people make a decision. right or wrong, they will stand by it. Its finished.
March 11th, 2009 at 3:51 pm
Just make sure in the published report by IPS, it is clearly stated in bold letters. The bloggers who attended was by invitation only. If you didnt invite me, why should you be allowed to speak on my behalf. You cannot. It should have been an all inclusive forum where anyone can come and sit down and say their piece. Instead all I see is something very close to grandstanding so that the authors of this report can say. We ran this through the blogging community.
The fact of the matter is tan tarn how deliberately and intentionally excluded all of us. And that is the truth and nothing but the truth. He is irrelevant.
March 11th, 2009 at 5:14 pm
This site never got invited cos it would mean that Tan Tarn How has been looking at girly pics during office hours haha. But you can be sure he’s secretly clicking through the chiobu archives patiently everyday. This is an adult site, you can’t have that in a government gathering right. doh!
March 11th, 2009 at 5:23 pm
why was rockson not invited?
March 11th, 2009 at 6:15 pm
I didnt know it was an invite only event. Why didnt they invite all the bloggers 13? Is it a case of only recognising only those you know you can control?
March 11th, 2009 at 6:40 pm
It would be interesting to know what was the criteria for being invited. Personally, I think even characters such as cowboy caleb should have been invited. He may have alot to share as his readership is even bigger than TOC.
Maybe Tan Tarn How can shed more light into this area.
But I dont believe he can. As this is really quite an impossible question to answer satisfactorily.
Nonetheless, for the record, we asked the question - and the internet has a memory as long as an elephant. It cannot be rubbed off. That’s all that matters to us - the record, that is.
SD (Internet Liaison officer of the Brotherhood)
March 11th, 2009 at 8:15 pm
I have never heard of this silent assasin bfr maybe we too should write volumes about this whole subject.
Yes, I think that would be a capital idea, if we did so.
We didnt want to blow it up, but it seems some ppl r bent on blowing it up, so we now we have to blow it up.
SD
March 11th, 2009 at 10:54 pm
Think there could be more seminars or gatherings to be organised. By then more bloggers will be invited. That first seminar could be conducted just as a trial, bloggers who got invited for the first round could be just a batch of the the initial sample size.
Seminars is a tool to reach “behind the scene” bloggers. What one fear most is the unknown, what that threatens most is the also the unknown. In order to know the unknown, seminars, talks, causal or formal gathering will be organized…..get the picture? When you can’t remove any forces that you deemed as dangerous, you may try to reduce the threat. First step is to reach it, know it, understand it, then you can manage it.
March 12th, 2009 at 12:30 am
all this cosying up with bloggers is bullshit. what will come out of this for singaporeans? nothing! but they will use this to trick people into believing that they have “worked” with young dissenting voices and have come up with whatever policy they have already drawn up. seriously, how long do we want to pretend they are the slightest bit interested in giving singaporeans more voice/freedom etc.?
March 12th, 2009 at 9:58 am
the movie is pretty good and everyone can probably relate to one or more of the characters.
the soundtrack is cool too for using the cure. robert smith has the strange ability to write the most depressing songs & most hopeful songs.
March 12th, 2009 at 12:37 pm
somehow 13 always seems to be the magic number for the proposal (remember bloggers 13?) and forum.
i agree, the 13 could be a sampling. firstly, the Straits Times picks up on the reporting and people who read the mainstream media get a whiff of the IPS. secondly, the forum is probably meant more for the benefit of the powers up the ivory tower to get a feel of what they are ‘dealing’ with in the new media arena.
if i’m a blogger who blogs one off about the political happenings in place of my usual ramblings. what does that make me?
March 12th, 2009 at 12:40 pm
@anonymous
yeah when the song came on, it was almost like an all’s well that end’s well feel. that said, i would never ever keep a hottie like that in a cloakroom :P
March 13th, 2009 at 2:01 am
Interesting.. how blogs use moderation to post comments especially if they are not supportive of what has been written, meaning these comments don’t get posted. At least Singaporedaily appears not to be doing this.
The same comment on Silent Assasin’s write up on - “SilentAssassin’s Archive: Old vs New: Providing alternatives or power-grab?” which I posted also on your site above, is STILL waiting for MODERATION?
March 16th, 2009 at 10:47 am
I’m the author of the IPS entry on my blog. I do NOT moderate, however the default configuration is to moderate comments so I left it as such. However I’m not a rabid blogger or Internet surfer so if there is a perception of censorship due to tardiness, well tough.
My intention of the article was not to discredit the IPS forum nor Mr TTH per se, but rather the onus behind anyone (SGDaily included) who claims to represent anything as collective and numerous as the blogosphere. While SGDaily serves only to report, others choose to present themselves as not only A voice, but THE voice. It is irrelevant why TTH chose the specific people to invite. Another seminar or forum could be organised and more others excluded; are we then to take up arms too?
It is when alternative voices like TOC, WayangParty, Bloggers 13, Brotherhood, etc begin to position themselves as representative of the blogosphere, that I begin to question their motives. It appears that they not only want to write news, they want to make the news too.
March 16th, 2009 at 12:44 pm
Good Afternoon Silent Assassin
“It is irrelevant why TTH chose the specific people to invite. Another seminar or forum could be organised and more others excluded; are we then to take up arms too?”
We do not agree with this statement silent assasin; we believe it is NOT only “relevant” but jugular even as what IPS should NOT have done was to even structure it as an invite ONLY session - I have raised this matter several times and till today, we are yet to receive a reply from IPS why they made such a decision. Maybe we will use wayangparty to write an open letter to them?
What they (IPS) should have done instead was to open the forum for ALL of us to participate in. As blogosphere belongs to all. Not just the big, but small as well - everyone has a right to equal representation.
No one is taking up arms; but i think you cannot blame many for ignoring them (IPS) in the future.
That is what happens when one decides to play divide and rule; some will just decide to opt out of the game and that will be that.
SD (internet liaison officer of the brotherhood)
March 20th, 2009 at 9:19 am
Sour grapes much? When movies don’t get nominated, film-makers and actors don’t boycott award shows.
Whether TTH is playing divide and conquer, well even if it were true, I doubt the blogosphere would have been dealt a heavy blow.
March 20th, 2009 at 11:10 am
Good Morning Silent assassin,
“Sour grapes much? When movies don’t get nominated, film-makers and actors don’t boycott award shows.”
Yes, you could be right, but we will have to cont the discussion with IPS and MR TAN TARN HOW some time ONLY in 2014.
Meanwhile we can speculate as much as we like. Really we are quiet insignificant; we r, believe it or not; so neither he or IPS should be too bothered about infantile boycotts.
SD (Internet Liaison officer of the Brotherhood)
March 20th, 2010 at 12:23 am
Thanks these is a wonderful article… the singapore daily is a successful one .. wish them all the very best.