URL: http://singaporegovt.blogspot.com/2005/07/grassroots-organization-101-invisible.html
Blogger’s Name: Thrasymachus (Greek philosopher 459-400BC)
DOB: 19th June 2005
Technorati Rank: 148,621
“Note: By the way, I "googled" my own blog name and surprisingly found quite a few people convinced that this blog is setup by the PAP government. Rest assured that I'm not in the government, sent by the government, paid by the government, moderately look like anyone from the government, or intent to be part of the government. In summary, this blog has nothing to do with the government. Maybe I should just change the blog address to prevent any misconceptions. I'm just another ordinary blogger with too much political rumour to spread.”
No matter what he might say, this blog is too good to be true. Everyone knows what happens to anyone who defames the government and yet Thraymachus lives!
I might become a fan of this blog!
Here, Thraymachus (or T for short) writes; criticizes, condemns and attacks the Singapore government. He questions whatever the government does and is critical about everything. What’s the word for this……SARCASAM! Utter and total sarcasm!
The post that I thought was interesting was “Short Story of Three Emperors”. In which, he narrates a story of a kingdom where there were and still are 3 emperors. Anyone would know that T is drawing parallels of that kingdom to Singapore. He talked about how the 1st emperor got into power and how he is still in power today even though ‘Prince Loong’ took over. I am saying no more, so please read to know the full story!
“Emperor K wrote his own thoughts and words in his biography as records and advice to his future generations. In his biography, he portrait himself as a decisive leader never as an authoritarian, and justified his actions by the delicate and sometimes unenviable situation he was in.”
As you can see, T used the words in bold to make the readers question and ponder on what has (will/might) happened so far (in this kingdom we have not heard of, of course!)
Posted by | January 13, 2007 10:12 AM
Lovely story. Hope someone can do it into a movie. Sure can sell well particularly if some historic re-enactions of local incidents are shown.
You are great as always T!
well, i am rather disappointed with Thrasymachus with this "emperor" story.
the whole article was just a mishmash of half pseudo local politics meets half true ancient china history,
of which, most parts of the article was only intended to be for decorative purposes, except for the warning at the end.
Koo Tsai Kee made some china-emperor speech sometime ago in parliament too, it amused me more than this one,
oh, com'on Thrasymachus, u can do better than this.
These are some of the comments left by his readers. From what I have seen so far, the comments left by many are anonymous and varies from good to unhappy comments. The blog seems to be open and very defiant.
All i hope for the future is that this blog does not get closed down for no apparent reason. but then again it might not!!!
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Do blogs allow for greater democracy in Singapore?
WHAT IS DEMOCRACY?
The all famous – or infamous word DEMOCRACY! So what is democracy? It is simply, the rule of the people. However, ‘great complexity and diversity has arisen from the varied concepts used at different periods of history and in different situations. A great variety of ideas have been proposed from early history on, though some of them have yet to be implemented’ (Wiki, Democracy).
History of Democracy
The word democracy was coined in ancient Greece. Although Athenian democracy is today considered by many to have been a form of direct democracy, originally it had two distinguishing features: firstly the allotment (selection by lot) of ordinary citizens to government offices and courts, and secondarily the assembly of all the citizens. Democracy has been seen in many parts of the world used by different dynasties and cultures and eras. Aristotle constructed the ‘rule by many’, ‘rule by few’ and ‘rule by one’ with each segment having its good and bad variations.
There are different forms of democracy today. Representative democracy involves the selection of government officials by the people. Liberal democracy is a representative democracy along with the protection of minorities, the rule of law, a separation of powers, and protection of liberties of speech, assembly, religion, and property. Direct democracy is largely referred to as a political system where the citizens vote on all major policy decisions. Socialism refers to a broad array of doctrines or political movements that envisage a socio-economic system in which property and the distribution of wealth are subject to social control.
Singapore and democracy?
Many overseas might scoff at the sight of Singapore and democracy in the same line. Singapore is not described as a "democracy", or a "flawed democracy" (like Malaysia), but a a third division "hybrid" of authoritarianism and democracy, according to a survey http://www.economist.com/media/pdf/DEMOCRACY_INDEX_2007_v3.pdf done by Laza Kekic in 2006.
Politics and Blogs?
As you would have seen above, there are blogs out there that shows a citizen’s point of view of the local politics scene. According to ‘Review – The politics of Singapore’s new media in 2006’, 33 per cent of Singaporeans — mostly young adults — said that the Internet was important t
o shaping their voting decisions (Lam, 06).
The question of do blogs allow for greater democracy in Singapore is a tough question as I have mentioned before, Singapore is only but a hybrid of democracy. According to Thornton (2006), ‘communication in modern democracies can be broadly divided into two main notions - a democratised media or social movements and groups using these media actively for social change’. Blogs allow for social movements and groups to be made online and can attract people to participate. Blogs, being a public sphere allows people to discuss political issues.
“it is not the role of journalists or newspapers in Singapore to champion issues, or campaign for or against the Government“. The government’s sore point appeared to be that his opinions were circulated in a mainstream newspaper rather than on his blog, which has a much narrower and more limited audience.”
-MICA 2006
I believe that blogs will help Singapore to attain democracy. This can be done with more and more Singaporeans using their real name, instead of pseudonyms, discussing and giving ideas for the improvement of the local political scene. With more citizens raising their views and points, the government will be bound to listen. That is if this doesn’t happen –
‘..he [PM Lee] signalled that the government would be prepared to change laws like the ones governing podcasts during elections and political videos to keep pace with developments in this digital age.’
Lam, G, Review – The politics of Singapore’s new media in 2006 (31st Dec 06) Retrieved from: http://theonlinecitizen.com/2006/12/31/review-the-politics-of-singapores-new-media-in-2006/ Retrieved Date: 21st March 2007
Wikipedia, Democracy (2006) Retrieved from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Democracy Retrieved Date: 21st March 2007
Thornton, A (2002), Does Internet Create Democracy, Print Version
3 comments:
Amazing... your writeup was not only fast, but thorough. Your post also appeared on technorati's "Singapore" tag (since you labelled it as such). Well done! :)
YAY!! thanks!
Hi ponga
Thanks for reading singaporegovt@blogspot. I'm most undeserving of your compliments. Anyway, keep up the good work at your blog as well. And ultimately, democracy is just a means to an end. Humans have yet to figure out what ends they are looking for. So, keep searching.
Cheers!
T
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