PN Balji
Who says Cabinet changes here don’t spring surprises? Dig a little deep into the reshuffle announced by the Prime Minister on Thursday and you will find at least one.
Of all the ministries, only one has an Acting Minister. And for support, that Acting Minister has just one Parliamentary Secretary; that too a newbie as far as political appointments go.
All others have at least one, in some cases two, full minister and, at the very least, a Senior Parliamentary Secretary.
This is a surprise because the Ministry of Information and the Arts, which is being left under the charge of those who came into politics in the last elections in 2006 (Mr Lui Tuck Yew and Mr Sam Tan), is facing testing times that will determine how Singapore’s socio-political future will be shaped.
If there is one Cabinet appointment that needs an experienced hand, it is Mr Lui’s. With the internet media getting more shrill by the day and with the government still in a reactive mode in what’s thrown up in this largely faceless community, his job is going to be an onerous one.
Hovering over these developments is the next general elections and how the government will take its fight to the new media.
Three events in the last four months show how tricky things are getting.
The public ticking-off of a top civil servant for his article on his family’s culinary trip to France, the decision to come out with a report card sometime later this year on how well Town Councils are run and the Defence Ministry’s official response to the death of one of its medical officers in Melbourne. They all have one thing in common: by and large, it was the blogs and websites that were keeping the issues on the boil.
Having tasted blood, the new media is likely to push the envelope further. In fact, one website in a commentary recently said that bloggers will continue to push and push an issue until they get a reaction. In short, they are going into an area that has been out of bounds in Singapore: crusading journalism.
How the government responds to this effort to redraw the battle lines is primarily going to be Mr Lui’s job.
A crackdown will be a step backward for a government that has spoken of a light touch and for a country that is very plugged into the new internet world order. A folded-arms approach will mean surrendering to the new media community.
Mr Lui and his team have no other alternative but to engage this community. A robust defence of established principles is just not going to work. Instead, an unemotional sifting through of the issues discussed, identifying the talking points and responding to them is the way to move forward.
Here is an example. The angst over the Town Council debate late last year was all about two questions: Why did some of these organisations keep quiet about their investments in the doomed Lehman products? And why do they need to accumulate so much public money ($2 billion) in their sinking funds?
The government’s response should have tackled these questions directly and openly instead of, at least in one case, using that line from an old record: Be thankful.
Responses like this don’t wash anymore.
Mr Lui and his team need to convince the unconvinced that online media, despite misgivings of it being faceless and priding itself in a talk-first-think-later culture, is here to stay. And its influence can only grow.
They need to come out with a comprehensive plan in dealing and debating with them. Sometimes explaining policies painfully and patiently. Sometimes giving back as good as it gets. And, let me hasten to add, this cannot be done solely in the traditional media, which has been the practice all this while.
Mr Lui and Mr Sam Tan should not be the lone rangers in this fight. They need all the help they can get from every other arm of government. From MPs to civil servants, they must realise that the shift to the internet is irreversible.
MICA needs help and with the Cabinet changes already in place, the next best thing is to look at a high-level committee drawing people, even bloggers, to come together for a serious re-look of a policy that is in danger of being swept away by the currents of change.
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30/3/09
Only in Singapore and Malaysia, future DPMs and PMs must come from the Cabinet unlike UK, Australia, New Zealand and USA (UK, former PM Tony Blair was never in the Cabinet, so is present PM of Australia Kevin Rudd and New Zealand Prime Minster, and USA President Obama). Singapore is like these countries who have world class Civil Service and they are the ones who run Modern Singapore since her Independence and we have seen our Ministers with the exception of the Old Guards under Minister Mentor Lee Kuan Yew, came and gone, as many did not live up to Minister Mentor Lee Kuan Yew’s expectation so is the present Cabinet and MPs.
I pray that in future, Singapore Prime Minister comes from outside perhaps as Minister Mentor Lee Kuan Yew put it “he is able to lead and put the people’s interests first”, this is what I have been writing ie “putting Singapore and her national interests above everything elses”
Regards
Andrew Chuah
Less is actually more; there are actually so much more people monitoring the new media than you can count.
Hat’s off to RM Lui – he is the face of super efficiency and coolness.
Hope also of compassion and heart when he climbs the cabinet ladder. He could well be the great Singaporean hope for all inclusivity in the future.
Good Afternoon Balji,
“Mr Lui and his team need to convince the unconvinced that online media, despite misgivings of it being faceless and priding itself in a talk-first-think-later culture, is here to stay.”
Yes, this is an astute observation – well spotted. Though I believe the real solution to the problem – may NOT to be found in having to LEARN anything new about the new media; but rather FORGETTING many of the things they already have in their heads along with some of their mind boggling assumptions.
My feel is this will be the most challenging part; Liu is a military man – so he knows it doesnt pay to reinforce failure – by planning horse mounted cavalry charges in the age of the modern tank – that is what govt has been doing all this while- that has to be a form of insanity – they would need to work earnestly on the FORGETTING part – if they can make that mental leap; I think the ground is very much in their favor; they will make meaningful progress – if NOT, their supply lines will be stretched and they will be bogged down and it will be Verdun all over again.
Let us see what happens.
SD (Internet Liaison officer of the brotherhood)
30/3/09
Further to my posting, correct me if I am wrong, “to be appointed Prime Minister in countries like Singapore, Malaysia, UK, New Zealand and India (British Commonwealth Parliament style), he or she must command a majority in Parliament. How about Singapore, where as in Malaysia the in coming Prime Minister does not need this as he comes from UMNO ie 2,500 delegates and not commanding a majority in Malaysia’s Parliament.
Regards
Andrew Chuah
Balji, how about recruiting back the bloggers here? very good good de
/// 2) Singaporedaddy on March 30th, 2009 1.44 pm
My feel is this will be the most challenging part; Liu is a military man – so he knows it doesnt pay to reinforce failure – by planning horse mounted cavalry charges in the age of the modern tank – that is what govt has been doing all this while- that has to be a form of insanity – they would need to work earnestly on the FORGETTING part – if they can make that mental leap; I think the ground is very much in their favor; they will make meaningful progress – if NOT, their supply lines will be stretched and they will be bogged down and it will be Verdun all over again. ///
The question is, would he be tempted to repeat Kublai Khan’s attempted invasion of Japan by the Mongol fleet, only to be defeated by the Kamikaze (divine wind).
“The question is, would he be tempted to repeat Kublai Khan’s attempted invasion of Japan by the Mongol fleet, only to be defeated by the Kamikaze (divine wind).”
The problem with that analogy is: it’s closer to myth than fact; one reason why the entire Mongol fleet decided to do an impersonation of the Kursk submarine force was bc; the Mongols used shallow bottomed river tugs to transport their invasion troops – you see China believe it or not, never ever had a blue water fleet.
So the failure there had EVERYTHING to do with using the WRONG tools to get the job done; as for the strategy and generalship part – that was sound.
The whole problem with govt is they dont lack the TOOLS / they have data streaming out of their noses and earlobes – the problem is they dont have a coherent STRATEGY – that means they dont know how to meaningfully make sense of data to carve up competitive advantage. And that’s a very serious problem.
Even we daren’t invade another planet without a strategy. What of govt?
Think abt it. Need to go in for a conference call now.
SD
The PAP could never engage the new media effectively for the fear of escalation. Let me quote Jim Gordon from Batman Begins:
Jim Gordon: What about escalation?
Batman: Escalation?
Jim Gordon: We start carrying semi-automatics, they buy automatics. We start wearing Kevlar, they buy armor-piercing rounds.
So what do you think, RADM Liu is going to do SD? I see something like the clash of the titans in the cards.
As I happen to agree very much with Balji’s take when he said, Having tasted blood, the new media is likely to push the envelope further. In fact, one website in a commentary recently said that bloggers will continue to push and push an issue until they get a reaction. In short, they are going into an area that has been out of bounds in Singapore: crusading journalism.
Does that put blog-o-sphere and the PAP on a collision course? If they are going to do anything original dont you think, they would have already done it already?
I think they may have invested too much in their strategy to even consider pulling out. What you say about using horses to charge against steel tanks may not make sense to you. As SD you are very much in the front line and seeing the world through your field glasses along the trenchline. But these people are in some villa thousands of miles away drinking wine and smoking cigars. The only report they get from the front is from pigeon mail and how accurate a picture do you think, they will get if they sorround themselves with people who only tell them the things they want to hear? To them it makes perfect sense to charge with lances against tanks. Alot of sense:)
I hope, I get a proper answer instead of some barbed repartee Sd
Hi Balji,
Thanks for taking the time to pen this piece. It’s quite a breath of fresh air to see senior journalists writing on this new medium, I think more of your ex colleagues need to sit up and take notice of the internet the way you have. You’re right, its a serious challenge to the establishment.
Have you considered that perhaps this posting is Lui’s “baptism of fire”, to see if he’s ready to take on the heavier ministries before possibly going the Teo Chee Hean route to DPM, or even the LHL route all the way to the top?
Btw, to comments #4,5,6, its ungentlemanly for you to criticize the authour’s bona fides…please engage him based on the content of his writing and not what his day job is. It is irrelevant to the substance of the piece.
Thanks for pointing the abovementioned observation out, quite astute. The move by PM is quite anomalous considering the importance new media is going to play in the coming years…
Agree with comment 12: lets try to engage on substance and not on the basis of association. those in glass houses should not cast stones.
Quite accurate. The internet views censorship as failure, and seeks to re-route around it. The more you try to suppress it the more it will grow. Just look at the way TOC has kept growing and growing.
Viva la TOC!
Mr Balji: Talk first Think Later?
May not be a good idea. May land yourself in trouble. Better think before talk.
We already know that netcitizens can be identified. But certainly bloggers keep current issues boiling ……and yet still no big plans how govt can chip in.
Well like I mentioned to you yesterday, MICA is not a heavyweight ministry. Policymakers there mainly serve to perpetuate precedent. And a Parl Sec really doesn’t do very much unless he is very proactive. Civil servants led by their Perm Sec can do the job much better than a Parl Sec. Keep in mind that MOM was also led by an Acting Minister for a long time. If anything, this serves to demonstrate that Lui’s star is certainly rising.
I think Yawningbread has 2 articles that would be of interest
Harmless traits can be criminalised, says minister
Another one. This time it’s Lui Tuck Yew, the Minister of State for Education.
Even before I could reach for the morning papers, I was getting text messages with angry reactions. “Minister compares gays to pedophiles and psychopaths!” said one.
This is something we see all the time and in fact it’s a telltale sign that he is Christian. We look at his biodata on the parliament website and sure enough, it says so.
Why is it a tell-tale sign? The anti-gay campaign from the Christian rightwing is a political campaign. It is organised with talking points and reference “research” (which are not recognised as credible by real scientists). Comparing homosexuality to paedophilia, incest, bestiality, alcoholism, kleptomania are all well-practised tactics from the campaign handbook.
From http://www.yawningbread.org/arch_2007/yax-747.htm
Shield us good, mock us bad, says Lui
Quoting the ST:
Online attacks: Minister rues lack of self-policing
Opportunity lost for online community to regulate itself, says Lui
By Zakir Hussain, Political Correspondent
When MP Seng Han Thong was set on fire by a Yio Chu Kang resident last month, he drew many online attacks that were vicious.
Some were ‘downright outrageous’, said Senior Minister of State (Information, Communications and the Arts) Lui Tuck Yew in Parliament yesterday.
He was referring to postings that included statements saying Mr Seng deserved to be assaulted and a list of 10 things he should ‘be thankful for’ in spite of being attacked.
But instead of silencing these attackers, the online community largely bit their tongue.
The tepid response of netizens to the nasty comments disappointed Rear-Admiral (NS) Lui, who said it was ‘quite apparent the Internet is not an effective self-regulated regime as some may have touted it to be’.
From http://www.yawningbread.org/arch_2009/yax-977.htm
Looks like the new batch of leaders can take over the helm some day?
i really wonder….
seems like the renumeration system has worked?
i really wonder….
more good good year lah!
Good Evening Harvardian,
Well let me put it this way; has the govt projected into the internet? I think so. Thus far from what I have seen it is only to gather intelligence and they may have started as far back as 2 years ago – but you must be careful here; intelligence gathering is a double edged sword – for e.g if I know someone is snooping on me; what will I do? Simple, I will load a auto boot program to give them the impression ONLY one person is surfing the net and doing all this; not too difficult to configure a computer to visit 50-60 sites a day on a random basis -so what does it bring to the table? To me, its ineffect its an opportunity for disinformation. In which case you have to ask what is quality of the intelligence? And how do you move forward without timely and accurate information? Very difficult, I think.
Besides even if I knew; what Ah Liu is going to do; why should I share it? This is NOT how the game is played – we can only play that game, if we are considered credible – we are not, so you must NEVER forget that – dont believe me go and ask Tan Tarn How why he didnt see the wisdom to even invite us – knowledge is power and my feel is it pays to keep it close to ones chest on this one.
Remember we did NOT start this war. It was brought to us.
Good night
SD
David Lim was ACTING Minister at MICA or whatever it was then known BUT failed to make it to full minister and was later dropped as MP.
Lui is superficial and does not show much intellect nor wisdom from his speeches and statements made.
God help us with such a calibre.
I see this posting as a failure of the class 2006, 2001 and 1997. And of the people who selected them
If he is the Special One to make Internet more PAP friendly, Nah is #20 right
“Lui is superficial and does not show much intellect nor wisdom from his speeches and statements made.
God help us with such a calibre.”
Anyway someone who can make Net more PAP friendly, is someone that the PAP portliboro will deem to be “subversive”.
As to him being the Anointed to educate the PAP to get real abt the Net., now that is black comedy at its finest.
If I recall correctly, Lui was brought into politics coz he couldn’t go further up in the navy after two patrol boats langar and some sailors died under his wach.
20) Nah on March 31st, 2009 1.49 am
Nah, DL was not dropped because he can’t make it. It was primarily over the casino issue. In fact DL would have helmed MOM.
11) Thanks balji on March 30th, 2009 6.16 pm
I doubt Lui will make it to the DPM level. the odds of that are higher than of West Brom winning the EPL someday.
I think TCH will become PM in early 2011, with Tharman and Ng EH as the DPMs. Ng will likely succeed Teo sometime after 2016 polls.
Agree that TCH will become PM in early 2011, BUT only over the oldfart’s dead body.
If the prediction comes through, remind me to share my vintage wine, whisky and brandy with you and other like minded folks.
On the otherhand, I will have to quickly dispose my collection of vintage booze should NG become annointed as PM. No point carrying it with me when I leave for good.
I for one moment never believe this NG bloke is a bargain, and so are all the blockheads inducted into the PAP.
RADM Lui definitely a dud for the job of MICA Minister after his first skirmish with the online media. With a foot in his mouth, he’ll find it tough ‘walking the talk’, being challenged in both his organ and limb. His trigger-happy knee jerk reaction to online media comments on MP Seng still proved he has the Fire, Aim and Ready sequence of gut instincts. Tut-tut..was he a Navy guy? Protecting us at the highest levels? Think I’m safer under my bed.
i do not like the face.
just like some people do not like my face.
no offence.
24) George Bush on March 31st, 2009 10.19 am
But our mighty leader still got son and daughter can succeed wor. I mean based on fair competition lah. which has always been the case lor. Like our leader got this position by virtue of his capability and not his daddy lor.
another examper is the wife led T by virtue of he competency lor, as read on the MSM news lor.
you ming later they can also be lead lah after TCH or the future DPMs lah?
i no no leh.
kampong noose networking.
31/3/09
Singapore must never be a defacto military government ie its government headed by former armed forces top gun, our present PM Lee is a retired BG, so is the new DPM, a retired Navy Admiral and Foreign Minister George Yeo, a retired BG from Army. Singapore must always have a civil government and with a civil government, Singapore can continue to grow successfully and always remain a vibrant nation. Minister Mentor Lee Kuan Yew and his Old Guards are from the middle class and they succeeded turning Singapore without any resources into a Modern & Successful Singapore (today, we already have too many elitists and top guns from armed forces in our government).
Let us go back to the civilan government of Lee Kuan Yew who achieved our independence and then under Prime Minister Goh Chok Tong, Singapore continued to grow very successfully and vibrantly.
Regards
Andrew Chuah
Hi #19 SD,
“intelligence gathering”
I think also very funny lor. Blogs are showing all sorts of comments and some comments even when allowed led to articles being re-located after certain comments are posted and allowed. Yes, some articles are relocated such that only can be found when you goto the read other articles section.
Very strange wan.
So, I suspect while many may post their honest comments , some are not doing so to protect themselves and to play safe. Afterall many things are possible .
Teo and Lui are from the Navy. But don’t count on it they won’t use the Leopard tanks to do a rerun of the TianAnMen spectacle.
Singaporedaddy,
Does the government has a monopoly on ideas? Do only well-informed people work in the civil service? A mere top-down approach to problems is a sure path towards “failure” in this age of information. Part of the education of a learned man is for him to sieve out the useful information from a whole space of noise. But the existence of noise does not mean we do not have to engage the space. The analogy of the government engaging in warfare with the new media is also highly inappropriate. The relationship of our government and the citizens is not a competitive one, rather it should be a cooperative one. The objective of both groups is to work towards the greater good for Singapore. Singaporedaddy’s view that the government does not lack the tools but what it lacks is a strategy is also not an accurate one. Knowledge is never stagnant. Everybody, even the governments of First World nations are constantly learning new tools to explain and utilise knowledge. As I have said before, a mere top-down approach in expecting that everything will act according to a single strategy is not the way this complex world is organised.
#27,
He has an “ah pian sian” face – opium smoker face. Yrs?