Title of article: Are we afraid of political diversity?
Author: Wayne
Publisher/Date of magazine: Singapore angle - Perspectives
Date the article was written: 4th February 2007

In this blog entry, I refer to the article posted here. This article was published in February 2007, in response to an announcement made by the PAP government that they have assembled a "new media capabilities group" to "counter" its critics online.

Singapore’s form of political system has always been a heated source of debate over the years. Even though Singapore claims that it is practicing democracy, many people may consider Singapore as only a partial democracy. This is mostly attributable to the fact that there are hardly any opposing political parties in Singapore and therefore the elections are always extremely one-sided, with the PAP taking majority of the seats in parliament. Moreover, freedom of speech in Singapore is acceptable only if they are deemed inoffensive. All of this has led to much criticism by internet users on blogs and forums.

Then again, there has never been a comprehensive definition for any form of government. An example is the communist government in China which has changed so much over the past few decades that it one might argue that it is not communist anymore. Therefore, Singapore being a democratic country is also a relative point of view from the Singapore government.

Getting to the main point of the article, the PAP government assembled a “media capabilities group” to post anonymously on online media so as to “counter” PAP’s critics in cyberspace. This move had been strongly criticized by many well-known bloggers as hypocritical and part of the government’s propaganda efforts. The article, however, presents a different kind of view. The government introducing such groups might be beneficial to the development of our online society.

Firstly, members of this “media capabilities group” can accurately represent the government’s point of view. Hence, when they comment on blogs and forums, we will be able to better understand what the government is thinking. This will also provoke thoughts and provide a mean of constructive debate between the government and the people.

Secondly, as internet users can now interact directly with members of the PAP, getting across our thoughts to the government is made easier. Many of the criticisms made by internet users are not without valid reasons and hopefully this will be able to induce changes in the government’s political system.

As long as the comments made by this group of people are constructive, it might actually be a good thing that it was created. It shows that the government is willing to engage the internet users rather than to control and silence them. If our government is willing to listen to its citizens and change its political viewpoints when faced with the people’s discontent, it will then be a truly democratic society as we recite in our pledge. All in all, the effects of this “media capabilities group” will be evident in time to come, and hopefully it will be for the better.