| The Daily Show With Jon Stewart | Mon - Thurs 11p / 10c | |||
| The Blogs Must Be Crazy | ||||
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It made me think about the Singapore government's belief that blogs must self-censor and news must not be "sensational". Why? Are Singaporeans too lazy to examine content for themselves? Are they too "daft" to understand when something is blown out of proportion? Are they so bereft of reasoning that they are unable to separate arguments based on emotion from arguments based on evidence (I'm not even going as far as to say they have to be based on facts ... just evidence)? Maybe. Judging from some of the comments I've seen out there in the blogosphere, the Singapore government may just be right. However, must they intervene?
I think not. I think we need more Mr. Browns, Jon Stewarts and Stephen Colberts in Singapore. I think we need more Singaporeans to feel relaxed about their situation and to laugh at the silliness that is out there. I think we need to be exposed to more silly views so we understand what is sound and sensible. I think that if we as a people cannot handle the extremes of thought and ideas and must depend on what the government tells us, we do not deserve to exist as a nation.
3 comments:
Dear Chee Wai,
Let me first apologise for leaving my request on your comments page, as I couldn't reach you through any other way. I am a PhD candidate from the Communications and New Media programme at the National University of Singapore, and my research examines blogging and collective action. "Chee Wai's Random Musing" came up in my sampling process and I am writing to you to seek your valued participation in a survey.
WHAT is this study about?
Without saying too much to bias your responses, my study concerns bloggers' online usage, their social networks and their participation/non-participation in activism. Whether you have participated or have not participated in any activism activity, your responses will be vital in helping me gather empirical evidence on blogging and its effects.
WHY should you help?
There has been much talk in the media and in the parliament on the rise of blogging and online discourse. But do blogging really impact civic participation? How does it do so? Your responses to the simple survey will go a long way in contributing to the nascent field of research on blogging in Singapore.
HOW can you help?
The survey involves easy-to-answer questions (e.g. Yes/No, ratings of “1” to “5”) and will take only about 20 minutes of your time. Based on your preference, I can conduct the survey via email (or any other ways you prefer). Just send me an email and I will forward you the survey form.
Please help!
Bearing in mind the potential difficulties in getting an adequate sample for such a study, I would like to stress that every single participation counts. In addition, this study has been approved by the NUS Ethical Review Committee. You have my complete assurance that all your responses will be kept strictly confidential and your identity anonymous.
Do visit http://www.fas.nus.edu.sg/cnm/research%20students/2006_grad_carol.htm for a brief write-up of my profile (please cut and paste if the link doesn't work). Being a student with no funding support, I am bearing all research costs and appealing to your goodwill (and hopefully curiosity?) to take part in this study.
I look forward to hearing positively from you soon. Thank you for reading this and giving my request your due consideration.
Best regards,
Carol Soon
(Emails: wtsoon@nus.edu.sg and carol_soon@yahoo.com.sg)
Dear Chee Wai,
Let me first apologise for leaving my request on your comments page, as I couldn't reach you through any other way. I am a PhD candidate from the Communications and New Media programme at the National University of Singapore, and my research examines blogging and collective action. "Chee Wai's Random Musing" came up in my sampling process and I am writing to you to seek your valued participation in a survey.
WHAT is this study about?
Without saying too much to bias your responses, my study concerns bloggers' online usage, their social networks and their participation/non-participation in activism. Whether you have participated or have not participated in any activism activity, your responses will be vital in helping me gather empirical evidence on blogging and its effects.
WHY should you help?
There has been much talk in the media and in the parliament on the rise of blogging and online discourse. But do blogging really impact civic participation? How does it do so? Your responses to the simple survey will go a long way in contributing to the nascent field of research on blogging in Singapore.
HOW can you help?
The survey involves easy-to-answer questions (e.g. Yes/No, ratings of “1” to “5”) and will take only about 20 minutes of your time. Based on your preference, I can conduct the survey via email (or any other ways you prefer). Just send me an email and I will forward you the survey form.
Please help!
Bearing in mind the potential difficulties in getting an adequate sample for such a study, I would like to stress that every single participation counts. In addition, this study has been approved by the NUS Ethical Review Committee. You have my complete assurance that all your responses will be kept strictly confidential and your identity anonymous.
Do visit http://www.fas.nus.edu.sg/cnm/research%20students/2006_grad_carol.htm for a brief write-up of my profile (please cut and paste if the link doesn't work). Being a student with no funding support, I am bearing all research costs and appealing to your goodwill (and hopefully curiosity?) to take part in this study.
I look forward to hearing positively from you soon. Thank you for reading this and giving my request your due consideration.
Best regards,
Carol Soon
(Emails: wtsoon@nus.edu.sg and carol_soon@yahoo.com.sg)
Carol,
Thanks for your interest. I do apologize for not having my email easily available on this blog.
I will email you as soon as I can so you can forward me the survey. I wish you all the best with your Phd, and while I have never had to go through that myself, I can understand how rough it is to do any research without funding.
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