Where were Minister Yaacob and his colleagues when abhorrent postings were made by his party’s supporters? Where is minister Yaacob now when a vile posting about opposition politician Vincent Wijeysingha is being posted online? Where was Minister Yaacob when the newspapers splashed the pictures of the women from the Workers’ Party whom the newspaper insinuated were involved in having affairs with Yaw Shin Leong? Where was Minister Yaacob when the racist postings by China student Sun Xu, PAP member Jason Neo, and NTUC employee Amy Cheong were made? Did we hear a squeak from him?
It was the online community which spoke up and condemned all these.
So, let’s get one thing straight. Netizens are tired of this one-sided, biased, ignorant accusations and allegations repeatedly and regularly made against them by ministers who should know better.
If the minister want to make accusations, perhaps he should give it some thought first, and get himself better informed.
It is important that they do, for if they are not well-informed of what goes on online, they will then use these misguided and distorted views of theirs to introduce regulations and legislations to curb what should not be curbed in the first place.
As for “prominent bloggers” not speaking up, well, they in fact have. But the truth is that they are bloggers, they are not the Internet police those like Yaacob Ibrahim hope they are.
And as for Yaacob Ibrahim’s remarks in Parliament today, they are filled with so many contradictions that one can confidently say that the minister has become muddle-headed.
I kept shaking my head in Parliament today as I listened to the minister. His performance has not convinced me that the regulations had been thought-through.
When he was asked if he would still consult with stakeholders even though the regulations are already in place, he answered, no. He said it is subsidiary legislations and there is no need to consult.
But at the same time, he also said the MDA/MCI had consulted and indeed is still consulting with the 10 affected websites and even with the AIC (Asia Internet Coalition), made up of the so-called big four international Internet companies. It says something when your government would rather engage with foreign companies than with its own people.
It is thus not hard to see that the government is not interested in consulting or even engaging the ordinary, average online user, or blogger. It is only interested apparently in consulting and engaging businesses which are big enough.
And it thinks this is the best way to build trust between the government and the Singaporean public.
And oh, the minister also said he is not “shoving” the regulations down the throats of Singaporeans – but that is in fact exactly what he did.
As I said, the minister is muddle-headed, and we should all worry.
- http://www.tremeritus.com/2013/07/09/muddle-headed-minister/
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It was the online community which spoke up and condemned all these.
So, let’s get one thing straight. Netizens are tired of this one-sided, biased, ignorant accusations and allegations repeatedly and regularly made against them by ministers who should know better.
If the minister want to make accusations, perhaps he should give it some thought first, and get himself better informed.
It is important that they do, for if they are not well-informed of what goes on online, they will then use these misguided and distorted views of theirs to introduce regulations and legislations to curb what should not be curbed in the first place.
As for “prominent bloggers” not speaking up, well, they in fact have. But the truth is that they are bloggers, they are not the Internet police those like Yaacob Ibrahim hope they are.
And as for Yaacob Ibrahim’s remarks in Parliament today, they are filled with so many contradictions that one can confidently say that the minister has become muddle-headed.
I kept shaking my head in Parliament today as I listened to the minister. His performance has not convinced me that the regulations had been thought-through.
When he was asked if he would still consult with stakeholders even though the regulations are already in place, he answered, no. He said it is subsidiary legislations and there is no need to consult.
But at the same time, he also said the MDA/MCI had consulted and indeed is still consulting with the 10 affected websites and even with the AIC (Asia Internet Coalition), made up of the so-called big four international Internet companies. It says something when your government would rather engage with foreign companies than with its own people.
It is thus not hard to see that the government is not interested in consulting or even engaging the ordinary, average online user, or blogger. It is only interested apparently in consulting and engaging businesses which are big enough.
And it thinks this is the best way to build trust between the government and the Singaporean public.
And oh, the minister also said he is not “shoving” the regulations down the throats of Singaporeans – but that is in fact exactly what he did.
As I said, the minister is muddle-headed, and we should all worry.
- http://www.tremeritus.com/2013/07/09/muddle-headed-minister/
.
