The Prime Minister of Singapore has revealed his intentions to declare The Online Citizen as a political association.
According to an email sent to TOC at 5pm yesterday evening by the Prime Minister’s office, the Prime Minister ”intends to declare the owners, editorial team, and administrators of The Online Citizen, by order in the Gazette, to be a political association for the purposes of the Political Donations Act. The owners, editorial team, and administrators of The Online Citizen have been determined to be an organization whose objects or activities relate wholly or mainly to politics in Singapore.”
This means that TOC is barred from receiving funds from foreign donors and letting foreigners take part in its events.
TOC has 14 days to reveal the identities of its owners, editorial team and administrators. TOC is also required to designate a President, Treasurer and Secretary of the association, and they will be responsible for the preparation and accuracy of the donations reports for The Online Citizen.
The last group to be gazetted is human rights advocacy NGO Maruah in November last year. Maruah is the fourth group -after the Open Singapore Centre, the Think Centre and Singaporeans For Democracy – to be gazetted as a political association.
If TOC complies, it will be the fifth. It will also be the first time bloggers are considered a political association.
HELP keep the voice of TOC alive!
If you like this article, please consider a small donation to help theonlinecitizen.com stay alive. Please note that we can only accept donations from Singaporeans. Thank you for your assistance.Do you have a flair for writing? Volunteer with us. Email us your full name and contact details to theonlinecitizen@gmail.com
IF a march or a mini-protest is organised, I will definitely attend. TOC, please do not accept their proposal. FIGHT ON! Rally the Opposition Parties who will come to TOC’s cause. This cannot be allowed to happen. Regular readers of TOC and may I say TR as well, please rally behind the TOC team at this time. General Election is just around the corner, and the PAP is damn scare. We just have to hang on till then. FIGHT ON TOC! Do not give up!
was to be expected, you get what you deserve when the majority of the population is more interested in any electronic gadget than in freedom of speech
it’s a sign of respect and recognition, but a way to bring prominent sites under control and subject them to the subjective rules of the state.
either that, or election is coming really soon. forever akan datang.
to bring under control websites like TOC, doesn’t necessarily hide the shortcomings of a state that is deficient in citizenry engagement, let alone new media engagement and e-governance.
To quote Aung San Suu Kyi…”It is not power that corrupts, but fear. Fear of losing power corrupts those who wield it and fear of the scourge of power corrupts those who are subject to it.”
To be fair. TOC is a political website. What’s wrong with being classified properly. At least people know your intentions. No restriction whatsoever apart from foreign funds. Unless TOC says they are not political and survive on foreign funds. So quit complaining and keep doing what you are good at. Write more articles!
I just went through the Political Donations Act and the Societies’ Act (the only two acts which mention political associations) and neither one says anything about what a political association can do in an election.
“This means that TOC is barred from receiving funds from foreign donors, letting foreigners take part in its events and operating as a political party.
It is also not allowed to use its funds, premises and new media platforms in any election here, including the sponsoring of any candidate or member.”
The foreign donors part is correct. I cannot for the life of me figure out where you got the rest of it.
Anybody can enlighten me?
You are the ones being gazetted, surely you’ve checked properly to see what it means right?
Pretty useless for a PM of a country?nation?city to resort to all these tricks. He is forever hiding between his father skirt.
In my personal opinion, an eye for an eye, since the PAP see TOC as political association, why not we really rally around TOC and form the The Citizen Party – let’s associate and whack the hell out of the wimpy PAP in the next election and get netizens’ voice out in Parliament. At least TOC gets the decorum and are on off better than TR – I say.
GO THE CITIZEN PARTY!
TOC, what do u plan to do? I hope u won’t shut down and quit the good work u have done here. After u register, can u still write on politics? Before u register, u can still be sued for defamation if MIW wants your blood?
The ELD issued a statement:
The Registry added that TOC is “entirely free to continue with its normal, lawful operations and to receive financial support from Singaporeans and Singapore-controlled companies”.
The Media Development Authority (MDA) has also written to TOC, asking it to register its website in 14 days.
It said the registration is to “emphasise to Internet Content Providers to be responsible and accountable for what they say online …which is important given that Singapore is a multi-racial, multi-religious society”.
MDA qualified that registration “does not mean that the discussion of political topics is disallowed” and “does not entail more stringent conditions”.
Did not see MARUAH stopping its cause and activities online anyway. Urge TOC to do the same.
can the relatives of L** be classified as political association? make it special case, like Dr Chee SJ- 1 man (or woman) political association?
:D
Meant for you guys at TOC.
Endevour, as the saying goes.
When the going gets tough, the tough gets going.
Remember, you have many supporters out there, be brave to ask for help.
David vs. Goliath
TOC and its commenters have only themselves to blame should this happened. If we had been kinder, polished more of the prince’s apple, shine the boots of of ministers instead of highlighting their inadequacy, supported their ever increasing salary, etc…. then maybe LHL would have instead gazetted TOC (and likewise sites) as model examples of ‘trusted media’, blah, blah, blah.. in his ND speeches.
@mice is nice
“…can the relatives of L** be classified as political association?…”
Why the hell U think mummy got a state funeral?
Close shop and “moved & operate” overseas.
corruption at highest level.
PM Lee can change law, internet online can be a political party.
beware sg, we had created monster.
Dear Akau 11 January 2011
To quote Aung San Suu Kyi…”It is not power that corrupts, but fear. Fear of losing power corrupts those who wield it and fear of the scourge of power corrupts those who are subject to it.”
————-
Please write to stooge Kishore Mahbubani who said…
“On the eve of the award of the Nobel Prize to Chinese dissident Liu Xiaobo, Kishore Mahbubani, a former Singaporean career diplomat and now dean of public practice at the Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy at the National University of Singapore, spoke at a shipping and offshore conference in Singapore.
He had this to say about the Nobel Committee’s picks for the peace prize:
“We all respect the Nobel Peace Prize. Most winners deserve the prizes they get. Nobel Prizes by and large reflect the western world view. The winners in Asia are never leaders who brought great change.
The man that did more good than anyone was Deng Xiaoping. When he came to power 800 million people were living on less than one dollar a day.
Thirty years later on after the results of his reforms, 200 million
lived on less than one dollar a day. Six hundred million people were lifted out of poverty.”
What is TWISTED LOGIC? It is the side of certain politicians that the masses DON’T know anything about! WHY?
And of Deng XiaoPing & the Nobel PEACE Prize:
“Will he ever get a Nobel Peace Prize? Never. Because of the
western world view that the prize must be given to dissidents in Asia like Aung San Suu Kyii”.
Aung San Suu Kyii a desident because she sacrificed her family life personal safety and a life of luxury to fight for her people’s freedom? What has Kishore Mahbubani sacrificed for Singaporeans? Except perhaps snugged up to the right person and got rather rich? A stooge and henchmen!
And of Obama he said…
” What has Obama brought? Where is the peace in Iraq? In Afghanistan?”
Question: 8 years of “GW BushWhack” and learned Kishore Mahbubani expects Obama to magically solve all of the problems Bush Jnr. created? Is he suffering amnesia or other? How is Indonesia now with 32 years of Suharto shit and after Soekarno at that? Just levelling of right!
“How can you give him a Nobel Peace Prize? He is a wonderful guy but he has achieved nothing. Deng Xiaoping saved 600 million people and he will never get a Nobel Peace Prize. That’s why it is important to step outside the western world view.”
What are people like Aung San Suu Kyii, Liu Xiaobo and Obama stand for and fight for? PEACE right! And also what does the Nobel Peace Prize stand for? Peace right. So why not according to smart-alack Kishore Mahbubani? Oversmart kid who sacrificed nothing and talk nonsense for the money! A NERD+++!
When all the blunders occurred, our coward wasn’t even brave enough to come out first to make a public statement for fear of political backsplash.
He only knows how to hide behind the law to bully people into submission just like his father. Very pathetic for leaders having to behave like this.
A sad move indeed. People will not forget so easily what you have done to us or neither will we forget what you haven’t done for the rest of us either.
We don’t have a perfect situation here.
Just as internet content providers are supposed to be responsible for what they say online (which not everyone complies), this level of responsibility in the mainstream media is equally wanting, and without repercussions. Setting double standards to hold internet content providers (in particular TOC) MORE RESPONSIBLE than sources of media, including mainstream media, does not help.
Haha! Funny idea
http://www.according2ed.com/2011/01/how-toc-could-have-avoided-being.html
zeil hail..welcome to the brand new world of the new gestapo party…
my dear here prince the cancerlee chancellor of this small tiny red dot states…you are just a CHANCELLOR..not God nor Moses..you don’t go aroun to other people homes and tell them repaint your house.. i don’t liked your colour
last but not least you also cannot tell meesiam hawkers to add seahums just because you are an a s shole well beside your whole family from papa to son…if only your mother was alived..she would had SLAPPEd you 3 times
Hi ,
“Civil Servant 11 January 2011
To those who think that the PAP people are angels, I hope this is a wake-up call. The rot within has long begun.
”
But does the majority even know about this?
My eternally apathetic brother did not know anything about this when I asked did he know about it.
He told me “TO…what? TOC ? what place you talking about?”
We really have to thank the apathetics.
Big Brother banging Big Stick, ugh?
Will there be UNintended consequences from this? Eg, a backlash against the PAP in much the same way that the PAP blitz unleashed in the James Gomez saga in last 2006 GE?
This is a fact that TOC is rather political and it is why it exist. Nothing to be afriad if TOC is upright and above board.
Hi,
I am a Malaysian reader from KL. Now that they have gazetted this blog site, i shall read be reading it more.
Singapore becoming legalistic is not new to me. But a citizen’s blog getting the attention of censors is something new. Let TOC grow its readers across Asia and change/influence Singapore’s regime with a powerful cocktail of logic, good sense and justice.
Same thing is happening in Malaysia. Najib changed course to a more inclusive and less race-based economic model (NEM) after getting whacked silly and laughed at by bloggers/economists for several years since 2008 tsunami.
You guys need more humour and intellectual peer pressure to stand up tall against political oppression. There is nothing worse for an established politician than to be put down in the most intellectual way.
The gazzetting of TOC may be a sign post of either the beginning or the end of an empire….the empire of online hearts and minds.
I was at the PAP Raffles Place rally during the 2006 GE where LHL said he would fix the opposition if they are going to get more than 10 opposition MPs into parliament as he could not manage so many of them. With 12 SMCs in the coming GE he has started the pre-emptive strike against the opposition to ensure the number is less then 10.
People who think this is only a “proposal” are misguided. The government is not asking for cooperation but making an order to be published in the gazette.
Either try to challenge the orders, or comply, or move overseas.
The first is insurmountably difficult, and the last might mean that TOC could get blocked by the govt internet filters one day.
TOC just has to comply. The only question is how to find a smart way to comply with the directives.
PAP said TOC has the ability to influence readership so need to be gazzetted as political association. What about mediacorp trying to influence viewership and Straits Times trying to influence readership and still allowed to run commercially untouched. If this is not double-standard and contradicting rules, what is? Oh, I know the reason, because TOC tell the truth that hurts PAP whereas main stream media loves polishing their master and thus spared the whipped. I wonder how Singapore Kangaroo court view this matter? Anyway, don’t bother – they are just birds of the same feather. It is the voters power the “white-shirt” crows are afraid of and we must chase them away and not allow them to shit around our backyards again.
First of all, this is a blog. A blog is like an online diary where pure personal thoughts, opinions and ideas of the author are expressed online (web log). Unlike a diary, its contents is not secret. A blog does not have the ability to command someone to do something for the sake of the author.
PAP has over-reacted to TOC, thinking that it actually serves to influence people. Wrong! Their way of thinking that way is wrong. I just cannot believe that this government could interfere with a medium meant for review of the author’s collective thoughts. Absurd in a way I shall say.
so,does he wants gazette himself as ‘FUHRER’,hi HITLER!
So, showing the final true colors.
TOC, just open another outside Singapore like TR, far away from Singapore jurisdiction, then announce big, big on this website the last week regarding the new TOC hosted in overseas.
Funny that TR is not required to do the same when their report is much more anti-pap than TOC. It must the article from Lun Tian that managed to divert the attention from TR to TOC and makes TOC sound very scary.
As they say, the pen is mightier than the sword!
TOC is a great website – keep it going despite the unfortunate and unfair order of having it gazetted as political association.
I have TOC more informative than the Straits Times at many instances.
The advent of the Third Reich has begun, all over again! Sieg heil, mein Fuhrer Lee!
well…. at least TOc is making large enough waves to get the system worried. They do not act rashly and must realize that the reach is getting wider and hence the voice louder. Kudos to TOC for scaring the PAP into their opening gambit!!
//b
Hitler existed cos most of them (population) were stupid and he leveraged, manipulated and used them for his own ends.
Here in Singapore, the likes of old fart, LHL and many others exist not because they are clever or ”talented”- it is simply cos the Singaporeans psychic is of apathy, self-interests and fear.
Fear has been exploited and of course, it is also cos of stupidity and blind allgegiance of the population. We have forfeited our right to exist, we are all mere shadows!
Hope sense prevails to undo and unlearn the mistake(s) of acquisecence to ….
The day the population starts ”waking up” is the moment the politician(esp the self-serving type) would quake in his/her pants.
Intuitively one cannot help but feel that the incumbents cannot accept or fathom/prospect a scenario where citizens decide to think freely and live freely.
There is only one way TOC can be left alone to thrive as it is. PRAISE PAP till heaven opens even if it means telling half truths all the time.
I don’t understand the logic…afterall, this site is not exclusive to non-PAP..hence, PAP followers can also post their comments..how come TOC need to be gazetted as a Political Association…????
1) 好汉不吃眼前亏
2) 留着青山在,哪怕没材烧.
This remind me the story of Bengawan Solo, a well-known bakery shop.
If the founder not being complained and got red eyes from her neighbours which being forced to register as a company, Bengawan Solo will not be what it’s today.
PM will regret his decision.
http://www.bengawansolo.com.sg/abtus_history.aspx
in the past , the pigs have the isa.
Now, it is not fashionable to use the isa.
But the pigs still need to control people.
So they come up with this un-necessary label for TOC so that they can catch and sue much like isa allow them without the stigma.
TOC is silly to pursue this option.