Death by Association

I love the Internet. A new dimension created... More space for everyone... A new world where many scramble to take control and advantage of. And for some, the Internet is like the latest club in town. Desire to be part of, yet unsure of what to do with it.

Blogkaki.sg & Jack Neo Scandal

Because of the Jack Neo scandal, I was introduced to this 'new' blogsite call blogkaki.sg. It's a relatively new site, started mid-2009. Quite a few people blogging on 1 site. Blog entries started rolling in a little more at end-2009. So... in nutshell, this site is a few months old.

What's noteworthy is the people blogging on this site. From the earlier entries, it is evident that the bloggers have been invited by George Yeo, and so, the site is plausibly funded by George Yeo. Bloggers on the site are:

• Foreign Minister George Yeo
• Jack Neo ((In)famous local director and public service + cultural medals recipient)
• George Quek (Founder and Chairman of local food SME, Breadtalk)
  
• Joanne Peh (Local broadcasting station's female artiste)
  
• Tracey Philips (Former manager of top local dance club, Zouk)

The blogkaki site is 'hosted' by Vincent Ha, an ACS boy who gave the Valedictorian Speech 2009 at SMU. Why him? Probably coz he is deemed as 'smart enough' + background, is enthuz about associating with politicians, and is willing to manage the comments and other technical issues.



Despite claiming to be "an experiment" and alluding that they are friends who dine at one another's, it is quite obvious that this blog is part of drumming up for the upcoming elections. And the bloggers are selected to attract different segments of the population, e.g.

• Jack Neo will attract middle-age and above heartlanders
• Tracey Philips will bring in 'clubbing people' and 'cool factor-followers'
• Joanne Peh will get the attention of guys and her fans
• George Quek to draw attention of the local business community etc.
  

All that they are missing is a suave intelligient show-your-mother-type male blogger to attract the women readers... But I guess that would upset the other 3 male bloggers... or maybe the young ACS boy is meant to fill this role? *shrugz*

Regardless, as it is, it's a deliberate PR plan. Rather ambitious one... But it does sound plausible that it's gonna work, because by association, the mindshare of these different groups of readers will inevitably be occupied by this blog and the bloggers. And by association, such a blog with harmless tidbit content will leave the reader with a good feeling. Sometimes... that's all you need, especially when the voter is sitting on the fence.

Sounds good and harmless... Until the Jack Neo scandal exploded in the most vulgar and messy fashion.

You see... Association cuts both ways.

By associating with someone, today you may enjoy the halo effect of this person being Singapore's preferred champion of the commoners. People may go, "So he's a friend of so-and-so, he must be a great guy too!" But tomorrow, when your friend is discovered to be Singapore's quibbling recalcitrant adulterer and sex predator, you may find yourself in a tough position where you have choose between supporting your associate (leading to national outcry), or ditching your associate (also leading to national outcry). That's a fix nobody wants to find himself in, but the situation has already happened and people have started to react. (See blog entry by Petunia Lee on "Don't vote for George Yeo")

Trying new stuff is especially commendable when others merely play it safe, but you just have to be very careful about who you associate yourself with. And most importantly, trust but verify before you publicly support someone. In terms of modes of communication, some are more flexible than others. If you proclaim your support through the press but regret afterwards, you can always claim to be misquoted and dismiss the report. However, if you blog about your support for someone, everyone assumes that's exactly what you think. And so, there is no recourse, except to delete the entry and/or act blur (not the coolest move in town, and also detrimental to public image).

Blogkaki.sg, Local Media & Reuters

The local politics scene is definitely heating up... But in a weird way...

The local press/mainstream media is schizo. While it mainly carries glowing reports on the performance of the incumbent party, from time to time, it sneaks in reports indirectly discrediting the incumbent party. Whatever the objective of the local press/mainstream media is, it is not as convincing as it was decades ago. As a result, a signficant and growing proportion of Singaporeans are seeking reports on local news from alternative sources, e.g. online newspapers by anonymous individuals, international news papers/channels etc.

Hence, we now have a strange situation. Where the incumbent party uses blogs to reach out to those Singaporeans who no longer rely on local media. E.g. Blogkaki.sg, MOHBlog etc. And opposition leaders who use international newspapers/channels to get their points across to Singaporeans. E.g. Kenneth Jeyaretnam's interview with Reuters.

The lesson here is that there are many avenues to reach out to the Singaporean. And credibility of these avenues from the perspective of the Singaporean is key. And by associating yourself with a newspaper/channel which is credible, your credibility also improves.

Stretching our imagination a little... What if the international newspapers/channels, with its 'third-party' status and credibility, are found to be the best avenue to reach out to Singaporeans? Will the incumbent party start using it to reach out to Singaporeans too? That's a real mean blow to our local press/media eh?

Whichever source you choose to get your daily news from, you must remember that there is no real objectivity. If you are really interested in something, do read up on the same issue via different sources. You will be surprised by what you find.