Malaysia Elections
– Bad News on the Doorstep: Badawi is only 20% to blame
– Chemical Generation Singapore: The Writing is on the Wall
– Diary of A Singaporean Mind: Malaysia : With change comes risk…
– Ong Jiin Joo: Yet Another Malaysia Election Analysis
– Pseudonymity: Malaysia Opposition Win Shows Power Of Cyberspace
– Webs@Work: M’sian Blogger-Politicians Make History
– Singapore Kopi Tok: NEW DAWN, PERFECT STORM OR SIMPLY BN TAK BOLEH
Prison Break, Singapore Style
– The Daily Backtrack: Chastened. CHASTENED?!
– Hard Hitting in the Lion City: Are you kidding me?
– Sgpolitics.net: Poking fun at PM Lee’s “what to do” comment
– theonlinecitizen: Reviewing Mas Selamat’s escape
– To Fix a Mocking Peasant: Fantastic Conspiracy Theories about Mas
ERPains, Trains & Automobiles
– Simply Jean: Parking charges in town rose citing GST – by up to 36% ?!
– Baloney and Balls: The Future of MRT
Transport Reforms Announced
– Darth Grievous’ Dark Domain 鸟话连篇…: 2210hrs on a Sunday…
Daily Discourse
– Nomed Letters: Mapping out the Strategy for the next General Elections 2011
– Singapore Life and Times: T1 T2 T3 T4
Life, the universe and everything
– the world is thinking: The Olympics – A cause for celebration?
The Singapore Daily 
WHERE’S THE BEEF? WHAT REALLY MISSING IN ST’S COVERAGE OF THE MALAYSIAN GENERAL ELECTIONS.
I am sure by now the dust has finally settled on the recent Malaysian elections, sobering, leveling and a piping hot kopi “O” kau kosong comes to mind, along with the dawn of a new political landscape. But hold on! Something is missing in this picture. What? I don’t know about you, but do you ever get the feeling you’re like Will Smith 3 minutes into the movie I am Legend? Yesterday, I found myself pouring over our local rag and one catch phrase came to mind every time I flipped a page, “Where’s the beef?” Yes, we all know BN was pummeled. Yes, we all know the reasons why, but HOW DID IT HAPPEN?
Where’s the beef? What am I talking about? Why am I even using an all-purpose American phrase questioning the substance of an idea? After all didn’t the entire press corps in ST come out in full force, each taking a bite on the Malaysian elections? They did a good job right? They even threw in some nice colorful charts breaking every state from Kedah to Batang kali (there is actually a place called that Malaysia located somewhere in the mid area) it all down into understandable sound bites. But again, where’s the beef? What am I talking about?
I am talking about the role of the internet in the Malaysian elections. Now I know it was mentioned in passing in one or two sentences that the internet has changed the political game in the Malaysian elections blah blah blah – but again please, all together now, where’s the beef? I am very sorry, but that sort of nano bite reportage really tells me absolutely zero, that’s like saying, if I don’t learn to walk to the local sundry, then somewhere in the Artic some mysterious abstraction called the ozone hole is going to get slightly bigger! It doesn’t really come with any sense of scale that allows me to make sense of how my actions can really shape the eventual outcome of planet and people – it doesn’t tell me that oceans are going to rise and we all have to grow gills and learn to catch sardines on the move. So again. Where’s the beef?
Where’s the beef? Because I can sit down here right now hunched over my communicator and go in one steady stream for a full 30 minutes to recount precisely how the internet has changed the whole social and political ball game for not only the Malaysians, but probably every single free electoral system in the entire world! If the receptionist in the short skirt doesn’t parade up and down and keep on distracting me, I could even give you an account of the reasons why and how the internet managed to pull a supersonically fast one this round on BN, they still reeling.
The question you need to ask is why isn’t this story even picked up by our MSM?
You know what confounds me no end? Media supremo Cherian talks about investing in the professionalism of the press and recently he made a mountain out of an ant hill when he highlighted the issue of timeliness on the ST’s reportage of how a suspected terrorist hobbled away in Whitley road, he equates this to some ‘lack’ which somehow manages to lend credence to his assertion; there is a need to free up the press. Question; what does he consider this then? When the press doesn’t even consider it worthwhile to analyze the biggest story in the recent Malaysian elections? The role of the internet in shaping voter consciousness! If failing to report on time is tantamount to having a closed press, then this surely must be equatable to getting trapped in the Kursk submarine somewhere in the bottom of the Baltic sea! – my point is simply this; isn’t this even a worth while story that deserves coverage? Aren’t there any lessons to be learnt from how the internet managed to deliver the mortal punch? Could those ramifications even apply in Singapore or elsewhere? Is this a country specific trend or does it suggest a profound change both in writing and reading? Did anyone even bother to embed any reporters to cover the role of the internet in the Malaysian elections? Is anyone even awake? Hello wakey wakey!
Above all, one question remains; hey! Where’s the beef?
Darkness 2008
[You know what? I am in a good mood today and since I am such a great sportsman, I am going to give you all 3 days to write something about it – after that I am going publish my analysis right here]
This way is far better than regularly dropping it on them
http://www.straitstimes.com/Free/Story/STIStory_215784.html
problem is I don’t think they’re any sportsman there?
Hello Bambi Darkness Bad Boy,
Thanks for your grace period of 3 days. I believe this is the way politics should be conducted between bloggers and those in the press. I makes go a promising alliance, dont you think so? As you can see for yourself, the papers did finally deliver the beef.
I would just like to add there are plenty of rumors spreading around stating the brotherhood invested alot of manpower to study the Malaysian general elections. How true is this?
If it’s true, it may be a good idea to course it through the system. I believe Today and both the ST have plenty of avenues for people to write in and in certain cases even publish their essays with minimal editing. I really believe your piece would benefit tremendously from the terrific review from either MDA, IDA or any of the experts out there. Surely even you must admit, your work would certainly benefit from review. I wonder do you happen to know that such a facility exist? Why not use it then? As it is how readers do you propose to reach this way, even you once admitted the figures to be paltry, hardly more than a thousand, would that really be worth all the trouble? Do wise up.
Thank You and do have a very nice day.
It’s good that ST has wised up in heeding the lead from the BP. But instead of asking for more leads, it would be nice for those experts from the MSM, IDA or MDA to write articles or blog on the Net instead of just reviewing other peoples’ work. There is something alluring about pieces that are original.
Some may think otherwise, but chances are, being reviewed by one of these entities is a double-edged sword, given the reputation they have as being state-controlled or at least influenced. Not to mention being portrayed the way they want you to look. Unless they are willing to publish articles uncensored.
Instead of dipping your toes into blogland (like mediaslut’s blog) for clues (or waiting for calls to deliver the beef), why not step it up and plunge right in here to do your own stuff and interact with netizens in engaging discussions?
That would truly be cooperation between the experts and netizens.
P & P,
How should I put this? Are there any lessons to be learnt here? Well it’s very simple, if you don’t know, then you’re none the wiser and it’s very clear to me that you don’t even have an inkling of what really went so wrong! – let me share with you a brief history of underestimating a thing – in the 1930’s the Germans experimented with a new form of warfare known as Blitzkrieg, it would seem nothing had changed much, but nothing could be further from the truth – as Blitzkrieg brought with it a new understanding on how war would be tactically organized. For the very first time, the tank would assume primacy over the army, artillery and even the air force as the main spearhead.
As far back as 1931, the Germans were already conducting war games quite openly to test out their new theory and while this was going on the Poles, French and even the British looked on from afar, while the top brass balked at the idea. Each had their counter arguments, the French believed the terrain in the Ardennes was simply impassable, the Poles argued tanks would prove too unwieldy to transverse the soggy terrain in the west. As for the British, they just couldn’t see how anything would change so dramatically as to replace trench warfare.
For a while their illusions proved righter than right only because they had never been put to the test.
In September 1939, the Germans put theory into practice and proceeded to invade Poland, their armored divisions cut through the defenses like a hot knife like butter creating shockwaves throughout the defenses. The Polish light cavalry in an attempt to repel the invaders mounted a charge with lances on horseback against tanks! This was their solution! Surely it must have made the charge of the light brigade look like a sensible military enterprise. The rest is history.
There are lessons here to be studied and learnt here, if you do not heed my advice, you will be the poorer for it. Where are the experts now? You think life is so simple that I tell you how A connects to B and you simply sit down on some high chair prima donna style and award me points! You must be shitting me!
The question stands; where’s the beef? Pls try to take this constructively, my feel is Shoestring is wise here – we will follow his lead and wait for the full analysis. Again where are the experts, when we really need them? My feel is they are sucking their thumbs in one corner – why? Shouldn’t they be out in full force beckoning the murk? Or is that too much to ask of ‘experts?’
Darkness 2008
You know I consider Vivian Balakrishnan, one of the best ministers out there – I have even defended him not once but many times even sticking my neck out against the Mr Brown brigade, taking them on, one to one thousand, no sweat! Only bc he is the one who seems to understand why bicycles paths are important – I even want to buy into his idea of a more gracious society, but you all read this and decide for yourself – do you see their arrogance, their sanctimony and even curlish pride?
How? I wonder – you decide. Darkness 2008
Lets wait for Raju to come back with the list of the 100.
I told you all this thing will come back to bite us!
Good Morn Bambi Darkness
I don’t believe the MSM even bothered to study the impact of cyberspace on the recent general elections. Why should they? From my clinical experience, usually ppl in a state of acute denial will do everything including regularly telling themselves lies to prop up their reality. Until of course, the condition becomes chronic and irreversible.
As for sharing information with the so called “experts,” we all know they are still trying to raise the dead by advancing the logic, the press needs to be invested with professionalism, to me this is a bit like investing in mounted cavalry and horse drawn carriages when your enemy is busy arming themselves with modern tanks. Incidentally very nice story that frame it very well. Again they are in a state of denial, so its fair to assume nothing productive will emerge from them.
As for the other quasi-govt and govt experts. I dont think they know what is going on either and if you share information with them, they will probably tell you that foreigners are interfering with politics. As I am sure Malaysians were involved in this study? If they don’t do that they will probably take your work and rehash it and dress up as their own and if you ask them, who is the bp, they will say, “huh…I catch no ball.”
Best to keep it to yourself and sell it to the highest bidder. In the world of the 2.2 million man, the only currency that is worth anything at all is money. Expecting anything else would be an admirable sentiment.
I just want to ask a few questions, what are the long term implications of these changes? Is this the beginning of the end for BN? I for one cannot see how a sizeable segment of the Bumiputra populace is can accept losing their NEP status? Care to comment?
Reg
Dentist Jan