Theonlinecitizen is taking a break for Chinese New Year

8 Responses to “Theonlinecitizen is taking a break for Chinese New Year”

1) Richard on February 17th, 2007 11.11 am

Dear TheOnlineCitizen,

Comments on Mr Wang’s blog have raised questions about whether TheOnlineCitizen is run by members of the Workers’ Party. They also ask why such conflicts of interest haven’t been declared:

http://mrwangsaysso.blogspot.com/2007/02/leaks-squealers.html#comment-5255799000770970288

http://mrwangsaysso.blogspot.com/2007/02/leaks-squealers.html#comment-4172535335136269975

I know you have been trying to respond to them, but the responses seem increasingly confusing. Don’t quite follow some of your reasoning.

It would be good for TheOnlineCitizen to put up an official front page statement on this, so that the matter can be resolved.

Nobody is saying TOC shouldn’t be run by Workers’ Party members, but this should be declared if you are reporting on WP events. Otherwise it is like an investment analyst owning shares in a company, and not declaring it when reporting on that company.

2) theonlinecitizen on February 17th, 2007 2.43 pm

Dear Richard,

Much appreciation for highlighting the comments on Mr Wang’s blog. We are aware of it.

Yes, it seems confusing but the main points are:

1. Theonlinecitizen is an independent, non-party-affiliated blog site.

2. The aspersions cast on theonlinecitizen by Deepthroat.sg are unfounded. He himself has been unable to provide concrete substantiation of what he asserts.

3. Theonlinecitizen’s contributors are either non-party members or they write in their own personal capacity.

I think these are the main facts which one should keep in mind and not be distracted and clouded by other issues which Deepthroat.sg seem to want to focus on.

And also remember that after being challenged to identify himself or themselves, Deepthroat.sg no longer replies to comments.

It would only be right to ask him or them to identify himself/themselves since he/they have declared that:

“We aim to bring balance to the blogosphere.”

He/they should reveal fully who they are so that readers can judge where they are coming from and whether what they say is true.

It is the same standard that Deepthroat.sg demands of TOC.

Instead, Deepthroat.sg has ignored and avoided such questions posed to him/them.

Regards,
theonlinecitizen

3) Richard on February 18th, 2007 5.18 am

I wasn’t asking just about this Deepthroat’s comments. I was wondering more about the issues raised by people like Chen D.N. and Akikonomu, regarding conflicts of interest and being seen to be non-partisan.

The two links above are to comments by Chen D.N. and Akikonomu, not those by Deepthroat. (There are more posts by those two, but if I add any more your spam filter will censor me.)

Anyway I am very sorry to say that TheOnlineCitizen, right now, does not appear very keen to engage on the key issues raised. Please think about this over the New Year.

4) theonlinecitizen on February 18th, 2007 12.31 pm

Hi Richard,

TOC has answered the questions asked by Chen DN and akikonomu.

Like I said, no answer will satisfy everyone. Thus, we will leave it to readers to decide for themselves.

Regards,
theonlinecitizen

5) Richard on February 18th, 2007 5.54 pm

I guess you are right, some people will not be satisfied by your answers.

I for one feel you have not really answered the questions put forth by Chen D.N. and Akikonomu.

To quote a few of these commenters:

Akikonomu

Technically, theonlinecitizen was in conflict of interest the moment he wrote the report on his forum and his party leader, no matter how objectively he decided to conduct himself. While conflicts of interest do not automaticallyr mean dishonesty and intent to deceive, the easiest way to avert such suspicions is to be honest, candid, and inform readers at first opportunity that potential conflict of interest exists at the beginning of the article.

Chen D.N.

On the one hand, your website says that “Andrew was never and is not a member of the WP Youth Wing.”

But we also have TheOnlineCitizen saying in response to DeepThroat.sg:

“Is Andrew Loh the registrant of theonlinecitizen as well as a WP member?
If yes, then theonlinecitizen is funded by members of a certain party.

The answer to both question is yes. But you are saying “members” with an ‘s’. That is misleading.And in any case, wordpress is free to use.”

This is very confusing… how does this work? Does this mean Andrew Loh is a Workers’ Party member, but not a WP Youth Wing member?

a straits times reader

Wordpress is indeed free to use. But it is now public knowledge that Andrew Loh registered a domain name (www.theonlinecitizen.com) for the blog instead of hosting it on wordpress itself. That separate domain name costs money.

Now, if theonlinecitizen was totally free (hosted on wordpress itself), it would be theonlinecitizen.wordpress.com instead. This implies that the blog is hosted on a separate, private server outside wordpress. That server space again requires money to rent.

Looking at it logically, the project has to involve funding from individual or individuals, and I’m curious to know why Andrew Loh insists the blog is not funded by anyone by pointing out that “wordpress is free” - a non sequitur.

I hope for the future of Workers’ Party that your “creative” interpretation of questions (and to me, less than honest responses) do not represent the direction that WP intends to take.

6) theonlinecitizen on February 18th, 2007 6.51 pm

Dear Richard,

Sorry that you see the answers as “less than honest”.

As has been said, we will leave it to the readers to decide.

For those who wish to see theonlinecitizen’s answers, please click here.

Regards,
theonlinecitizen.

7) Blues on February 18th, 2007 10.29 pm

Richard,

Are you genuinely concerned for TOC or you just enjoy stiring up smoke?

8) KuKuBoY on February 19th, 2007 11.14 pm

Richard, in the age of the internet, people will just vote with their mouse clicks. You can, too

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