Blogs to Criticise the Government?

There was a rather interesting story in The Star today that quoted former Minister of Energy, Water and Communication Datuk Seri Lim Keng Yaik as saying Gerakan would start blog-monitoring and even perhaps employ "blogging" as a counter-measure.

He (Datuk Seri Lim Keng Yaik) added that Gerakan would set up a team to monitor opinions voiced in blogs and websites on the Internet and maybe even come out with their own blogs to criticise the governments in the five states which fell to the Opposition.

Here's a two-point opinion.

No.1: Blog monitoring does work. Many corporations have blog-monitoring programmes in place. So use it. Know what people are saying and use that information constructively. If you're going to do this, BEST!

No. 2: Forget about setting up your own blogs if the explicit agenda is to criticise the government (By which we assume the "Opposition" governments in Selangor and Penang).

The number one thing a blog has to be -especially a blog coming from a political party - is authentic, real and about issues, not being critical for the sake of criticism. The thing is: you can blog all you want, but who's going to read? The people who read blogs aren't reading it because they support the Opposition (contrary to common perception), they are reading it because they find the person posting makes a fair argument, is worth listening to, and is well-versed in issues surrounding Malaysians.

Oh, and please stay away from setting up a phony-blog by an "independent" blogger. The backlash will be far worse than what these guys got.

How about you kiss and make up for the Rakyat?

Datuk Wong Chun Wai pointed out a possibility in his Editorial comment yesterday:

(But) federal-state relations will never be the same again.

With the Barisan still in control of the Federal Government, it may even review its numerous projects in states lost to the Opposition.

As the most industrialised state in Malaysia, Selangor will be affected in many ways.

I don't think the Datuk's observation are far from wrong given the fact that politics is factious and petty, but I'm hoping this doesn't happen. In fact, it would be much better for the BN-led Federal Government to keep up the projects, ensure they are completed on time and show the rakyat that its intentions and actions are always their best interests regardless of who controls the state government.

Why? Because (and I'm offering an alternative viewpoint, with no expertise or research other than Mamak stall polls here) the elections showed the issues weren't about race or religion or loyalties to political parties. We've gone past that despite what you may read.

Personally, I'm not a party-voter. Neither are most of my friends. They may support either BN or Opposition, but their reasons for supporting is either because "Chew Mei Fun has really done a lot for our community" or because "Tan Kok Wai was the one who fought to abolish the unnecessary Cheras Toll."

The issue for us was whether the existing governors, councillors and people in power have done their job and if they were honest, forthright and transaparent people with no shady dealings. What we want is a government (whether it's a BN or Opposition government) that's going to be responsible with taxpayer's money, transparent in its administration, and concerned for the Rakyat's needs.

Thus, watch this: it's extremely important how BN treats the four new 'Opposition' states and the rakyat there this next four to five years. It's going to be an interesting dynamic and I'm curious to see if there will be more cooperation between BN and Opposition (wishful thinking?) or outright rejection and skirmishing.

BN, the ball is in your court (given you're forming the Federal Government).

Be nice, gentlemanly and genuinely concerned, then maybe you'll win back some votes and gain some love and respect. Be snarky, mean and petty (withdraw funding) and it'll only harden the rakyat's hearts for the Opposition.

Because at the end of the day, it isn't about whether you're Opposition or BN. It's about getting the job done right for the Rakyat.

Back to reality: Want to blog, but got to work.

Yups, elections are done. Yup, from reading the reports yesterday and today, I've got comments, opinions and points to make. But, it's back to work as usual and though I'd love to blog, work beckons.

Hmmm... same with you?

'Alternative media' shakes up elections

This year's elections have proved to be a real eye-opener. Not just from a political viewpoint (of which I am less than qualified to comment) but from a pure technology-communication point-of-view.

As I type, I'm watching TV3 and watching the two hosts (whose names I can't get) discuss how 'teknologi moden' (modern technology) has played such an important role in this year's electoral race. The MalaysianInsider named 'Alternative Media' one of the big winners in this year's elections. Right now, I'm refreshing at least four newssites and blogs, monitoring RSS feeds for another dozen or so, and chatting with friends as real-time results are coming in.

Redundant to say, I know, but news travels so much faster these days.

The guy on TV is now commenting that it's been the government's goal and desire to push the proliferation of Information and Communication Technology (ICT), with a tongue-in-cheek remark that parties should plan their communications strategies taking into consideration blogs, SMSes and the Internet in the next elections. Well, some have already and reaped the results with glee.

Yes, people, this election isn't just about an alternative front. It's also about alternative media. If there's one event in any given country that highlights the coming of age of the internet (and not just the internet, but also other forms of techno-communication) it's got to be the elections.

I've written in admiration of the clever Obama campaign. Also, about the giant strides forward some traditional media institutions have taken to putting the elections online. The blogosphere is abuzz with sites and every other personal blog shares a personal opinion about the elections.

The oft-overlooked attribute about this 'new media' or 'alternative media' is the feedback mechanisms that are so richly embedded into the system. Yes, these are great ways of disseminating information and pushing your political agenda. But it's also probably one of the best ways to just listen.

MalaysianInsider applauded DAP for having its pulse on what the Malaysian Voter was concerned with and it's probably no surprise that this same party that has achieved (as of now) a record performance of its own also boasts perhaps the strongest links with the blogosphere and 'Alternative Media'. Jeff Ooi's blog is probably one of the most well-known political blogs, but you also have Lim Kit Siang, Teresa Kok and even my favourite, Jenice Lee, blogging.

And probably not just blogging, but reading other people's blogs. Because if you stopped to read, you'd see that just by reading a couple of personal blogs, you could get a sense of what the public sentiment is and what the key issues are. When your candidate responds to a comment you posted on his / her blog, I'd bet you'd feel that at the very least, you've been listened to.

So, in the next five years will we perhaps see every politician with their own blog? Well, if the answer is yes, then I'd be estatic. Because blogs are as close as you can get to hearing the truth of what a politician says short of attending a ceramah and hearing it yourself. Better still, blogs don't just disappear (unless you want to immediately discredit yourself).

If you want to know what Kit Siang is about, take some time, read through his blog. The moment he doesn't live up to what he talks about, vote him out. Either way, the blog makes him more and more accountable. Accountable because he himself has put what he wants to say in print (digitally, at least) for all to see. So he'd better make sure he does all he can to deliver on those promises.

Right now, my feeds are slowing down to a trickle and I can no longer get onto MalaysiaKini or MalaysianInsider. So maybe, for next elections, not just more blogs but more bandwidth?

When virtual and real collide...

There was a story recently on the BBC news about scientists who predict that computers the size of blood-cells will be here by 2033 leading to "fully immersive virtual realities." Lead inventor Ray Kurzweil predicted "Virtual will compete with reality."

That, Mr. Kurzweil, is already happening in Malaysia. Check out Jeff Ooi's post:

On Page A14 of Guang Ming Daily (Feb 27, evening edition), my opponent whipped all bloggers in a broad sweep by stating that "bloggers hide behind computers and live in a virtual world".

I laughed out loud at this comment.

There are more people than just bloggers who "live in a virtual world." Today, virtual is real.

Many, many, many, people live in the immersive virtual world of emails, websites, blogs and forum. You talk to people you don't know IRL (in real life) who have funny names like "CyborgBoy" or "Haxxergurl." You chat with colleagues from halfway across the world whom you've never met except on Instant Messaging and email.

You make use of this virtual world to share, communicate, transmit, discuss and interact. But you know that this virtual world is just a conduit, because unless you fancy talking to a bot, these are still real people you are interacting with.

The reason why social networks like Facebook and MySpace are so popular is in fact, because you are really connecting and making friends with real, breathing, living people.

Sure, there are bloggers or virtual personalities who prefer to remain anonymous, but there are just as many who prefer to merge their real-world identity with their online presence. Jeff Ooi is a prime example - his mobile number is listed on his blog for goodness sake. I wouldn't call that hiding.

The truth of the matter is, especially for the industry I work in, the virtual and the real are colliding. We don't need to wait for another 25 years and for micro-computers to be injected into our blood. Identities are unifying.

Remember the first time you signed up for a Hotmail account? Then your first Geocities account? If you're like me, you used different sign-in names. In stark contrast, people are now using the same identity again and again online - I'm davidlian on most sites and forums I participate in - and with more and more relevance to their original identities.

Movements like the OpenID initiative are going to unify our identities even more creating a stronger association with our "real-world" alter egoes. You going to need to be authentic online as much as you're authentic offline.

That's what I'd want my MP to be.

EDIT* Nigelsia had a great pic to illustrate this post, stolen shamelessly off someone's Flickr:

Elections Brand Plagiarism

There's a sub-culture in urban states (like the US and even here in Kuala Lumpur) called "Brand Plagiarism or Logo Culture" where you take the logo of a known brand and turn it into your own message.

Some brand-guardians think this is flattery, others are mortified by such butchery of their brands.

I'm just wondering how Celcom is feeling right now:



Was driving past this yesterday night. They even used the bird symbol! LoL!

Worth Surfing: malaysiavotes.com

For all of you interested in following the Malaysian Elections through an independent news site that's not biased to either side, you really should check out www.malaysiavotes.com.



The people running this site were journalists from The Edge and an ex-colleague of mine (who happened to be their colleagues in The Edge) has vouched for them. Personally, I've worked with at least one of them in the past (part of my job) and they are credible, intelligent and decent people so I'd vouch for them too.

Hooray for Online Journalism!

Malaysia's very own Internet Elections portal

So, what sort of change does the Internet bring to elections? Would it affect Malaysia? We'll know in a couple of weeks, I guess.

There was a really good article from ReadWriteWeb I read that characterised how the Internet would change the nature of electoral campaigning and allow candidates to get closer, more directly engaged, with their audiences. Case in point:

• Barack Obama, Hillary Clinton, John McCain and the other US candidates all have Facebook profiles & groups.
• YouTube partnered CNN to host presidential debates on its Video Service.
• At least Barack Obama & Hillary Clinton have blogs. Many more campaign workers have blogs.

But that's not all. Just run a Yahoo! search and you'll find countless forums, blogs and sites that support discussion and debate on the US Elections.

Well, the good news is, us Malaysians aren't too far behind. Beyond the political bloggers / watchers in our country, I'd like to point out that leading Bahasa Melayu daily Harian Metro has launched its own elections site entitled, aptly, "PilihanRaya 2008."


Harian Metro's Pilihan Raya 2008 site.

What really surprises me with this site is the functionality built in. You can not only get the latest news and information for the General Elections, but also vote in the on-going poll, or add your own comment.


Comments are on the left side of the screen.

I cannot stress how important a factor it is to allow people to comment. What's an election if we don't allow people to debate? The simple ability to comment makes this platform more than just a web-site. It'd be interesting to see the discussions (and... uh... moderation?) that'll go on on the site.

This is pretty ground-breaking stuff, especially coming from an established newspaper. I'm personally wondering if we'll see a similar site from NST the next couple of days to cover off the English-speaking audience.

Meanwhile, kudos to Harian Metro and its online team. Exciting stuff.

Why deny Parliament dissolution?

Read this:

Prime Minister Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi has just announced the dissolution of Parliament at 12:34pm at the Prime Minister's Department in Putrajaya. The announcement paves the way for the 12th general elections.

I'm not much of a political watcher, but I've got a different sort of question here. What's the PR strategy behind denying that you're going to call for elections in the newspapers (read this)? I'm not understanding why people need to be sneaky about things like this for what - couple of hours headstart in preparing for campaigning? Won't being direct, forthcoming and truthful make a bigger impact?

Everyone's a wee bit political

Wow. Really wow.

I got into some conversations these past few days with random different people I know and it really dawned upon me that perhaps Malaysians do take politics seriously. You know, the general feel and consensus is that Malaysians -especially Malaysians my age - are apathetic about the politic of Malaysia.

Well, we're not. I was speaking to a mild-mannered chinese lady whom you thought was all urban and just enjoying life as it was, but the moment we swung the conversation about the petrol prices *potential* increase due to Najib's recent front-pager in The Star, she was all passionate about the issue.

Then there was Chua Soi Lek's announcement yesterday. It was amazing to suddenly have so many people looking me up on MSN and starting conversations on what his indiscretion meant for Chinese politics and MCA.

I'm not going to share the discussions here or viewpoints - those are our private conversations and thoughts, but what I'd like to observe here for a moment is that people are actually caring about our country. And as long as people care, then there's some hope.

Here's where I share a little silly anecdote:

Back when I was in secondary school, I spent a lot of time frequenting mamak stalls around Bangsar with my good pal Willie Wong. It got to a point when we went to different mamak stalls every night and got to know some of the mamak store owners very well.

One night, Willie and I were having a conversation (bear in mind these are two 15-year-old kids) about politics and how we should both run in the elections as independent candidates. The strategy was, since we both knew so many mamaks around, we would go from mamak stall to mamak stall to get stall owners to vote for us.

For the entrance fee - which was I think RM 2,000 to the election commission - we thought we could easily make that back if we secured the 5% vote necessary. The plan was, we would be 21 in the next elections and could actually stand for elections at that age. We would represent the voice of the youth. The most important bits of improvement to the Bangsar / Lembah Maju constituency, according to us, at that time were:

1. Re-laying the Copper Wiring - so we could get faster internet speeds (even if it was dial-up)
2. Developing a section of Bangsar for good food (because the both of us kept going out every night to look for the best food around Bangsar - like Tomyam :)
3. Upgrade Bangsar Sports Complex (we swam a lot at that pool and it was green in colour. Nuff said)
4. And some other stuff too controversial to list here. It's really funny stuff, but also a bit controversial.

On hindsight, it's probably best I never started my political career. Might have ended up not so nice after all.

So when can we finally march?

All this coverage of illegal marches and gatherings have made me remnisce on my good ol' days back in Perth where I was right in the centre of one such march.

It wasn't violent. It wasn't illegal. It wasn't pro-the-current-government. In fact, it was a protest against the government. But, it was ALLOWED.

See, I'm not a big supporter of either side when it comes to the two recent marches. I certainly won't vote for KEADILAN and PAS because my political views don't go with them. I'm sympathetic towards DAP. I think MCA is misunderstood.

But the question I'd really like to ask the authorities is "Why weren't these organisations, who applied for the right to march, given the right to march?"

From a public relations perspective, I think the whole sequence of events was so meta-PR. First, you deny the opposition / NGO the right to march. Then, knowing that they will defy the orders, you prepare a press blitz to call the march illegal. On Monday, capitalise on that blitz and you'll have turned around the media-play into a huge advantage for yourself.

I figured that the BERSIH or Hindraf people should have maybe left the bait and called off the march(es). And then, in an open letter, challenge the decision to not allow the march. By doing what was essentially illegal (although the denial of the right to march could be challenged) you're playing right into the other party's court.

Anyway, I'm not here to provide an analysis of the turn of events that have recently happened. I'm here to remnisce about the march I was a part of... :) Check out these pics. LOL!


People of all walks of life came to protest.


More protesters.


This old uncle got creative and brought his little scooter along.


Stilts were part of the day's stunts.


It was so peaceful, the protesters even marched past people getting married.


There were many, many anti-prime minister messages.


The cops followed behind to just make sure nothing got out of hand.


Left one blur guy right behind. :) Yup, I was right there.