In case you are from out of town (like another planet), The Red Devils has done it on the last match of the season. One more match in Moscow and the women can have their men back on Weekend nights… until the Euro 2008 :)
Congratulations to the Devils!
Fear and Loathing in The Lion City
– People Like Us: Chan Mun Chiong should not have been charged under Section 377A
– Yawning Bread: Here’s proof: Section 377A being enforced
– Sayoni Speak: Broken Promises Part II: HIV positive man prosecuted for s377A (Singapore)
– Musings: Broadcasting Gay Content: S’pore vs. HK
– Yawning Bread: Hong Kong broadcasting regulator’s decision overturned by court
Burma Aid
– Sgpolitics: Converging Parallels – Burma & Singapore
– nofearSingapore: Burma’s xenophobic actions leave me almost speechless!
– The boy who knew too much: Taking credit for the goodwill of the world
21 to Vote
– The Online Citizen: Give credit where credit is due, Andy
– Empty Vessel: You serious?
Inflation
– Diary of A Singaporean Mind: And the pain deepens..
Singaporeans are fed, up with progress!
– Mr Wang Says So: Films That You Won’t See In Your National Education Classes
We Don’t Need No Regulation
– The Void Deck: Touchy Bloggers or Govt?
Daily Discourse
– mrhardy: A theory as to why Singaporean bloggers are so “bo liao”
– The Musings Of An Opinionated Sod: This Is What Happens When you Cultivate A Culture Based On Possession
– Feed Me To The Fish: Kiasi, Kiam-Siap, Chui Kong Lanpar Song!
Life, the universe and everything
– Fresh Brainz: Counterintuitive Science: Grand Complexity From Humble Beginnings
– Insane Polygons: Making Games Is Not Always Fun and Games part 1
– BHP: Who I am and who are you in the age of cut and dried
The Singapore Daily 
Gist of my blog
I’m a Australian based Singaporean blogger whining about Singaporean Bloggers who Whines about Situation that I have not yet experienced about the People in power Whining.
However I was not accepted into NUS, NTU And SMU and so study oversea.I like Xiaxue so maybe I’ll pursue a style like hers to generate traffic to my site however I can.
I write Good English not all overseas Singaporean are like me,I’m special.And I’m coming back soon please support.
I’m a Fake. This is my impression after reading that blog.
MY INALIENABLE RIGHT TO REMAIN ANON
As some of you may already know, here: https://singaporedaily.wordpress.com/2008/04/23/daily-sg-23-apr-2008/#comment-1851
I am not a very big fan of the proposal to outsource the moderation of blogosphere to a non democratically elected committee. This hardly requires any elaboration.
In fact, I consider it an outright violation of my privacy as an anonymous blogger. Why? Guess what? I am not going to tell you. Yes, it’s not a typo, you read true and right. As I said, I consider my right to privacy an elemental right, one that Louis Brandeis and Samuel Warren, both defined as “the right to be let alone.” So the onus isn’t on me to justify my position by attempting to elaborate as much as it’s incumbent on you to ask yourself whether you even have a right to ask me that sort of question.
I know this sounds a trifle confrontational and conceited even, but do bear with me as there’s really a point to all this wind bagging: consider this: do I have a right to remain an anonymous blogger? The liberal strand of progressive thought, shaped by such thinkers as John Rawls, holds to the view, I do. According to him the case is not altogether dissimilar to a woman’s right to terminate her pregnancy. Here it’s not necessary to establish the Catholic burden of proof that the fetus is a person from the moment of conception. It’s sufficient to show such a question cannot be reasonably directed to the aggrieved without legitimately constraining her right to exercise her prerogative as a human being. In short it’s a violation of her privacy i.e her right to decide on an abortion.
The same issue arises about gay rights. Their defense need not turn on the issue of whether homosexuality constitutes a crime; it can be successfully argued here governments don’t have a right to control sexual conduct of not only gays but also heterosexuals. What two consenting adults do in the privacy of their bedroom is really their and their alone.
Now that I have taken the trouble to go around the block a few times; do you now realize why, I don’t need to give you any justificatory reason why my right to anonymity should be treated as an elemental right. Neither do I take it very kindly, when others who may not even have bothered to do the requisite reading on this whole subject treat my right to anonymity as nothing more than a character flaw that needs working on.
The argument that is usually forwarded against anonymous bloggers goes something like this: “If you don’t show up, then you have something to hide” The flaw in this logic presupposes quite incorrectly every anonymous blogger who doesn’t step out is hiding something subversive. Of course usually the tone that accompanies this sort of corrosive mindset is subtle; its couched in terms one usually associates with the Kamikaze movement; “stand out to be counted” – “bravely walk forward” – the whole idea presumably is to differentiate the act of stepping out i.e disclosing identity as being a more been a more enlightened and mature state (please do go and visit Xiaxue vapid blog to confirm her maturity) than perhaps those who choose to remain anonymous.
My problem with quips like these: “if you have nothing to hide; then you should not fear coming out in the open” is simply this – it’s premised firmly on the belief one’s insistence to a right to privacy is equatable to having committed some unpardonable sin. It’s not. Fact remains people do have maybe 10,000,000 valid reasons to blog anonymously; that may come as a surprise to many; but their right to do so should not only be seen as indelible right, but should also be accorded the status of an unquestionable right that deserves the same measure of respect and dignity that’s accorded to bloggers who blog openly. Besides privacy is an inherent human right, and a requirement for maintaining the human condition with dignity and respect.
Tell me why shouldn’t it be seen in the good view of the ark light?
I not saying; I am against openness per se, not if there’s a compelling reason not to do so. For example: I don’t resist crotch grabbing searches in airports. As it’s conceivable that sort of compromise between the need for greater disclosure and my rights to privacy serves the collective good of making air travel a safer enterprise. I do however consider it a violation of my privacy and even an effrontery when some red neck custom officer who has an IQ of 5 below idiot on shift in either O’Hare or Heathrow gives me that all too familiar, “Okey dokey, what do we have here?” look when they riffle through my belonging only to discover a copy of the Quran – “What’s a China man doing reading the Quran?” See what I mean? Question: would I have provoked the same reaction had he discovered a copy of the Bible, Sutra, Talmud or even the Mickey Mouse Almanac in my suitcase? I really don’t think so! Is that right?
Neither do I mind the panoptical presence of closed circuit cameras in the public sphere these days. As I realize it’s a very efficient way to cover a footprint and it’s even conceivable it makes good use of human resources. However, I do take exception when closed circuit cameras with panning and zooming capabilities are sometimes directed to cleavages or derrieres of the unassuming, instead of the purposes which they were designed for – see what I mean again? The right to disclosure can be abused!
My point is simply this: when does disclosure give way to good old fashion harrying and harassment? It prompts us to consider: not everything; even if it serves the collective good should always be subject to full unconditional disclosure. What if it comes at the exorbitant price of liberty? Here, its important to buy into the idea that even the seemingly reveal-for-all-to-see hobby of blogging which traditionally accompanies parts of one’s life being splayed out in the public square pasar malam style, doesn’t preclude the possibility there may be even chapters of my or even your life which we may want to keep private and take to our grave.
My feel is one serious omission concerning the hubris of “disclosure vs anonymity” is it’s often framed as a simplistic “security vs privacy” conundrum. While this may seem at first justifiable and even logical, all too often it comes at the cost of leeching away the layers of what open and close really means and too often it comes at the unbearable price of surrendering our liberties.
I am reminded tyranny, whether it comes from a terrorist cell or from overzealous pineapple eyed domestic scrutiny, remains I am afraid very much still tyranny – whether it assumes the practical necessities of the Internal Security Act. Or denying wholesale the statistical significant anonymous bloggers the right to participate by deliberately rigging the rules requiring them to give up their elemental rights to privacy is tantamount to spitting in the face of liberty. Here it important to understand liberty exacts a higher onus; for one, it demands security without intrusion, security which even manages to guarantee one’s right to privacy. That may seem anomalous to many who will continue to insist no end on a pure and unfettered stream of data, only because they will claim that’s the most pragmatic approach that yields the best return on the cost and benefit calculations – however, I suspect, it would do our understanding an immeasurably favor if we paused for a while and asked ourselves a simple question like why did the framers of the American constitution struggle to articulate certain fundamental rights and even enshrined them as fundamental rights that should be placed above the ordinary pragmatic and cost effective calculations of the legislature, executive and judiciary? Why I wonder did these wise men put the cookie jar on the high shelve?
If power corrupts, then access to a pure, unfettered stream of data corrupts absolutely and completely.
I have to go now, my Nokia Communicator is running out of batteries. I hope this reaches you from the land of the anon.
Darkness 2008
[Harphoon / Jasta 1 / Aurora – The Brotherhood Press 2008]
kokopops,
I always take care of everything.
Why can’t you trust me?
Have I ever let any of you down bfr?
Never!
I don’t want this sort of shouting any more, it could spread will wild fire.
When the time comes all will be revealed.
I promise you all. No one will be left behind.
I put the very best ppl who I trust most on ‘SARAL.’
You will stop this! Fuck bitch!
Darkness 2008
I am sorry Kokopops, pls forgive me. Please, I didnt mean it like it sounded.
Chronicler pls close all comments channels. Run at zero bubble ultra silent mode pls.
Darkness 2008
So strange… so many words!
Dear All,
Now I know that some of you think that I making a mountain out of a mole hill when I begin accusing even the press for buying into this whole idea of discriminating against anon bloggers.
But I want you ALL to consider why did this bitch write it in this manner?
I leave it to you.
The Straits Times, 2 May 2008, by Clarissa Oon
——————————————————————————–
Bureaucratic ambiguity and Internet freedom
“A group of bloggers have submitted a 20-page proposal on Internet freedom to the Government, a move which reflects a small number of committed netizens willing to stand up and be counted.”
Bear in mind, I can get sued for this, but why did the bitch cut it that way? What you need to ask yourself is how true is it when Cherian says that we should free the press. Its obvious that these bitches didn’t even bother to shore up on the minimum reading on the whole issue of rights.
Why? What is she trying to imply obliquely?
And they expect to be taken seriously – how is that possible Cherian?
Darkness 2008
PS: When is your committee coming in?
If you notice very carefully, the BP has used the word ‘fuck’ in every single article ever since the whole idea of community regulation has been mooted.
Previously, this word featured only in one out of thirty articles. Why?
What message am I sending out here? What is my goal here? I want you to reflect on this small detail.
Pls come after us, pls. we will gladly see you court. I am better educated than you have no idea how sharp I look in a suit.
You know what I am a gambling man.
I don’t think you will take me on.
Darkness 2008
Baby Darkness Bad Boy,
“I am sorry Kokopops, pls forgive me. Please, I didnt mean it like it sounded.”
OK, but I want to be treated like a princess just like the Lady of the Lake.
Do you understand Bambi?
kkp
THE WOMAN WHO LIKES TO SCRATCH MY CAR – A STUDY IN ACCOMODATING IRRECONCILIABLE DIFFERENCES.
Occasionally in life we come across things we can’t understand because we have never seen anything similar. The lady who I caught red handed scratching my car one evening a few months ago certainly struck me that way; why didn’t I confront her? Why did I just let it past? I have absolutely no idea; it could have been her composure which betrayed hardly a tinge of guilt; that certainly took me for six; all she seemed to radiate was the calm assurance she could and will get away with it; if I was stupid enough to challenge her. You see she doesn’t like me, not even a bit, not that I even gave her any cause to hate me in the first place. I don’t even know her. Never so much as even exchanged a word of greeting even. Like I said, we come across things we can’t understand.
For the better part, we lead separate lives – occasionally I chance on her in the lift – usually she’s content to slide to one corner and give me that mother of all condescending look that simply says, “I know what kind of man you are.” Usually, I just look up and make teeth sucking sounds or pretend to check imaginary sms and that’s really all there is to it – you see I know what kind of woman she is; she is single, successful and probably a siaow char bor.
Things came to a head one day, when I met her in the lift again – this time, she told me, “I had no respect for her.” To which I replied, “you know what, you need a good…” Before I could finish the sentence, she slapped me and somewhere between gathering my senses making my way to the car. I found myself asking, “Why can’t we just get along?”
It seems like a simple question: “why can’t we get along?” But it isn’t when you really think about it; not in this age at least. When one considers how making as much money as possible these days has assumed a centrality in our culture; its even conceivable against the backdrop of this dystopian landscape we may even need to actively assure ourselves a community is some form of endangered species.
What emerged for me during the course of driving to work was a twofold realization; firstly, she’s possibly an ex Singapore karate gold medalist. The other being her hatred for me isn’t really directed specifically at me, that may seem like a chauvinist attempt at self flattery, but not really when one considers hatred as a state of mind doesn’t just spring out from nowhere; usually from my experience, it emerges deep within the depths of primal fear. And that means her hatred isn’t really hatred of even a personal kind or type, but rather a desperate attempt to preserve the four corners of her known world. The thing being preserved could be her views and assumptions about the world. Or how this or that may stack up to produce this or that – but one thing remains certain as people grow ever more distracted and mesmerized by mass culture so do the waters rise on their ability to beacon out the murk; you could even say somewhere in this binary world; where one is either good or bad, in or out, with or against, successful or failure, right or wrong everything is expected be in its rightful place; as a consequence people will always be typecast; stereotype and even labeled.
You could even say this is how most decisions are made these days; “All Arabs hate Americans,” “all anonymous bloggers have something subversive to hide, that’s why they’re not coming out into the open,” “the internet cannot be trusted, its full of lies and disinformation,” and so forth. Do you ever find yourself stereotyping? What is the allure of stereotyping? I guess one undeniable aspect which accounts for its prevalence in character judgment to even planning a five year plan is it’s a very reliable supplier of one very narrow version of the ‘truth.’ Now it may seem odd that people should decide to make decisions about the nature, profile or even mental make up of people by just skimming over the surface. That a theoretical formulation is desirable because it makes it easier and more efficient to hold and defend a POV may seem odd to many, that it may even confuse understanding in the weak sense of making coherent and comprehensible the complex, may even seem odder, but this does not diminish its usefulness.
By lunch time the metallic taste in my mouth had all but disappeared – yet I found myself mulling over what had happened in the morning – again and again in mind the question turned are there any lessons here? – personally, spiritually, politically, and otherwise – that can help me to deal with the turmoil and bridge the divide. Somewhere between deciding to stay or go from my averagely depressing sandwich lunch – I decided to do something quite strange. I walked across to Raffles place, pressed a button gathered from a friend who knew her, checked my zipper, slicked back my hair back and when the lift door opened; there she was with a knot of people; her eyes caught mine, she looked surprise but recovered her composure with admirable ease.
She wasn’t sure what it was, but something must have stirred in her. Like a moth being drawn to the naked flame of a candle. Every moment would draw her deeper and deeper into the depths of my fiery eyes – heightening her awareness, she was not simply any woman, but the only woman a man such as myself was content to look upon for the rest of all eternity.
In a while, she became quite still. The slight quivering of her lips as they began to part like the moist petals of a lotus after the rains – her eyes watery reflecting fascination and fear like a ripple in moonlit waters gave the impression of woman who was not all together herself.
Yet I continued starring oblivious to time, space or even the others who had by then begun to peel away as they asked “are you coming?” Even then she could hardly hear them – she might as well be a thousand miles away, as lost in my thoughts as I was in mine.
I realize this post doesn’t make the slightest sense, only because that could be the real point, it’s pointless – but that’s what I said in the very beginning; in life we come across things we can’t or don’t understand because we have never seen anything similar.
But this doesn’t mean we should fight it and not simply let go and go with the flow.
Happy Hunting!
Darkness 2008 (I have to stop here now, my Nokia communicator is steaming up)
(Aurora – The Brotherhood Press 2008)
Kokopops!
Can! This is what I going to do Kokopops, just for you and that no one else, only you. I sumpah! You know I have a ns buddy of mine who is now a big time chef in Jumbo. So I even get access to into the kitchen and even get to pick the choicest claws. You know I happen to be a very good cook myself. I don’t want to boast but my drunken crab with Cordon Bleu 12 yr cognac sauce is simply a heavenly divine must try gastronomical tour de force.
I tell you what? You can invite anyone you want to the table, it’s all yours; but bear in mind my car sits only 5 and possibly 6 if someone wants to lie down in the boot. So I will leave the logistics to you. How’s that KKP?
My advice is get all the major loud mouths and trouble makers like yourself in the read clubs and we will have a whale of a time.
So make sure all of you doll up, because after that I will take all of you girls for drinks. How’s that? In exchange all I ask is for all you to end your little rebellion.
Tmr 7.00 wait for me at STSP.
Till then,
Darkness 2008
ONE RAINY DAY SOMEWHERE IN TANJONG PAGAR – PAST, PRESENT AND FUTURE IN THE REAL AND VIRTUAL WORLD.
I have always been irredeemably two minded about the whole issue of authenticity; for example: I don’t mind fake tits, but I draw the line on fake people.
Possibly my disdain for fake has a lot to do with where I am presently having lunch, as I tap away on my trusted Nokia Communicator.
Where am I?
Somewhere in the featureless acres of tempered glass, stainless steel and the air conditioned ambient of Tanjong Pagar – it’s certainly one way to keep the rain out along with all the pesky creepy crawlies, but here where pastel antiseptic Peranakan straits tenements (or whatever is still left of them) sit alongside the iconology of modernity.
I can’t help but wonder whether it’s such a great idea to pursue architectural dishonesty?
I mean, as I kid, I remember this place as rough and tumble China town; a place where there were real vendors who once sunned orange peels and splayed out their wares in the open; it was a real community made up of real people; now what do we really have to show for it, after the URA had a go with it?
Well this may sound a trifle conceited but it would not be completely wrong to say; what we really have is a cross between a soviet warehouse and something very close to a form of social Chernobyl – that I am reminded is what usually happens when “form” runs amok and hijacks over “function” so completely, the latter simply puts on a pair of Bata slippers and decides to move out from the neighborhood.
I wonder what really accounts for my parallel longing for the past and present? Maybe it’s just good old fashioned nostalgia; a sobriquet longing that harks back to a time somewhere in my averagely miserable childhood? Here, the sun always shines, only because memory has a strange way of filtering out all the rubber bands, duct tapes and super glues which once held propped up my childhood.
Nostalgia I am reminded is a powerful astringent a sort of rebellion even against the modern idea of the machinization of time. It probably accounts for why modern woman these days are more than willing to part with a hefty fortune for a jar of take-me-back- to-when- my-bum-was-firm moisturizer despite the fact the only active ingredient happens to be water. Yes, at the heart of it all, it has to be some sort of crie de couer that refuses to surrender to the irreversibility of time that plagues even the human condition.
So, our longing for things of old doesn’t necessarily mean we’re all just living in the past. As much as it sharpens our awareness concerning the present and how we may even believe solutions lie somewhere in the distant past. Here, nostalgia takes its cue from religion, it works principally on the power of faith: the past is I am afraid the only lens which allows us all to express a valid desire and concern about our lamentable present.
The divide between real and fake, past and present and even how we should live our life against the broader question of how we really want to lead our life has never been sharper in our age. The advent of the digital age has not only leeched much of our understanding concerning “who” or “what” is our community? Instead of being lengthened it’s systematically narrowed. Here we don’t craft our understanding of “reality,” based on reality, as much as we do on what I call the monologue that’s often churned out by the apparatus of assimilation; they regularly tell us, this is how you should work, live and play and this is how things should be or not be; is it such a wonder the vast of majority of us no longer bother to go beyond the broad line imposed by use by the narrative of officialdom?
And what’s the cost? We revel in finding hundreds of people just like us on the Internet and stop short of going further to build relationships with others who may even see the world slightly differently from us. We encase ourselves in our hermetically sealed bubble of reality; where it affirms no end the collective mentality we are firmly on the right track; never mind that others may even see the wisdom in stepping off the tried and tested path of the yellow brick road; they have to be foolish to do so!
It’s conceivable we may even be living in a lie without even realizing it. A sort of dystopian matrix revisited universe where the delectable lie fulfills the very function of life itself; here we are content to settle for one assembly line of neighbors who are exact facsimiles of us – in the land of the single track, there can be no such thing as the subdivision of people, thoughts and even such a thing as alternate views; only one omnipresent crushing reality that levels off the field of possibilities: what else I wonder can account for the single mindedness in which even the MSM and bloggers themselves hold on to the contention: only those who blog openly are deserve to be rightfully counted; while those who choose to do otherwise are simply dispensable.
If you really take the trouble and think about how destructive this sort of corrosive mentality is: it doesn’t take you very long to figure out how it even made perfect sense for URA to gut out this place where I am writing this; false reality begets false hopes.
That would be fine if only the cost didn’t threaten to drive out the homily sugary notion of: love your neighbor as you love yourself. My feel is somewhere in this sobriquet cliché, lies the real answer to how we should rightfully make sense of the past, present and future. Only because no man is truly an island these days – doesn’t even matter if the internet is the great devil that promises the reduce all of us into tiny island fiefdoms.
My feel is if we are to even reasonably make sense of where we want to go; then we can no more deny the ‘how’ and that simply means we need to address the issue thy neighbor. It really doesn’t matter what the imperative is; it could even be the proposal of the G-15 to deregulate the net or even a broader strategy by Mica to inure the net with greater freedom using a lighter touch. At its very core, it raises the question: Who is my neighbor? What are his rights? Do I have a right to judge him? What’s his history?
Those questions can never be elided wholesale not if real meaning is to stand a real chance in continually working its way into the gaps and filling up the blanks – in certain respects that’s what it means to nourish the idea of diversity, if we don’t want to end up with dead zones like where I am presently writing this.
Honoring the sense of belonging in objects and people is not simply an empty idea. You could even be said, it’s a necessary human condition like breathing; as this longing simply affirms what it means to be part of the greater community. It’s even conceivable we humans may even have come full circle with this realization; as people who were once so convinced that we could only find their answers in the bright and distant future. The past has somehow returned only because it never once left, it can never be denied – how could be it? We were as much a part of it as it’s a part of us, if only we knew. Yes, if only we knew. Then maybe China town would really still be a China town.
Darkness 2008
[Brought to you by Aurora – The Brotherhood Press 2008]
This article may be based on the following archives: Auto Gen /
Dear all,
First, you must know yr rights.
Once you know this. You will be able to hold your head up high.
Then it will be impossible for anyone to take it away from you.
It’s just impossible.
http://ca.youtube.com/watch?v=cMaMc4HlIjA&feature=related
Happy Reading
Darkness 2008
Bambi Darkness,
We already have our own community. Neither is it small and insignificant either. On the contrary, some of them comprise the leaders in their respective areas of expertise.
Bambi, I don’t believe you really have a full grasp how little it means to ALL of us as to whether Mr Raju of the National Library Board., Dr Cherian George, Bernard Leong or even any of the editorial team in the The Online Citizen does or doesn’t even see, hear and con’t to treat the BP as dead.
Like you always say yourself. What will not kill us will make us stronger, leaner and hungrier.
I want you to know this always, we already have our own community. Do you understand? We already have our own tribe. Our own values as to what, who and how to respect, love and trust. We have all these things and much more. We dont need any more. We dont need validation, affirmation or even edification from anyone. No need Bambi. The door could just as well close and we would not even need a blade of grass or drop of water beyond the walls.
We have our own community.
Rest Bambi, there is no need to fight any longer. Rest Bambi.
KKP
“We dont need validation, affirmation or even edification from anyone.”
I don’t think that is the reason he is fighting. I believe he has a larger purpose, like defending the rights of anon bloggers. If they surrender their rights to bullies, they will eventually be treated like doormats.
It seems there is more going on behind the scene. In fact, sometimes I wonder if co-opting has begun. Look how favorably the ST writes about them “standing up” to be “counted”. There is a terribly foul and fishy stench to it.
But yes, Darkness has got his messages across and he deserves to rest.
ONE BATTERY CHICKEN LIFE COMING UP IN THE NET?
You know what? I don’t like to humiliate people; neither do I like to be humiliated! That’s to say I don’t like to treat people like kids. That’s why I never micro manage them; it doesn’t matter whether it’s at work, life or play – I just resent the idea no end. And there is a very compelling reason why? Firstly, it’s just plain demeaning and dehumanizing. Everyone deserves their own bubble of freedom. Secondly, I don’t believe it’s a very effective way to manage performance. And thirdly, it makes a lousy case when you plot it against the efficiency / benefit curve – you might as well go and move a train by throwing out cannon balls or something.
Whenever, I think about being treated like a kid; one particular incident stands out during my torrid university days when a lecturer who bore a grudge against me singled me out to resolve a math equation on the black board (I was banging a sweet Italian lecturer he had the hot’s for); it was obviously an attempt to humiliate me before the crowd. Not only did I resolve it in the time it took me to empty my anaconda, to add insult to injury. I even cut in half his wind bag equation and ended it with a hubris that took the entire faculty of mathematics nearly a week to resolve – he failed me of course on a minor technicality, but not before I had reduced him completely into a laughing stock; was it worth it? Probably not, but that should convey to you the degree to which I loath the whole idea of being treated like a child. I am prepared to go to extraordinary lengths to make my point.
That could be one reason why you will never ever find me lunching in McDonalds either; as I consider those sort of hell kitchens nothing more than a reenactment of the perpetual motion life of the battery chicken – again, I have a vague recollection of having worked there during my grinding poverty stricken days as a foreign student in London.
What I resent most about McDonalds as an employer during the period of my youth; was how I do not even have a single recollection of a supervisor adhering to a belief that the best way to manage people might be through a program of empowering them by allowing them a degree of autonomy as to how they should go about their work.
Here in the gridlock ceaseless panoptical soviet style surveillance one is regularly pushed beyond what’s humanly possible; the moment you arrive at work, you’re slaved to a work flow that is designed by time and motion experts; there’s no time to even scratch your bum without having to make up the slack. Your whereabouts is monitored constantly and if they can’t find you, there’s always the dog whistle. Everything one does – from your urination to your next work detail – can be monitored in a score card until you leave 12 hours later.
After a week of impersonating a Bangladeshi hamster on the flywheel – I decided to skip the golden arches and applied instead; for a sedentary post as an apprentice undertaker in the family run firm of James Crook & Sons in Kilburn, London. The only draw back with working with the dead is getting across the mental barrier, but when one compares this to the lack of pesky customer complaints (yes, the dead are terribly forgiving even when you use their ears as handle bars) and the freedom to even cat nap in one of those deluxe mahogany silk lined caskets (that could probably be the reason why so many walk in customers suffered heart attacks when I worked there. When I suddenly woke up to ask for the time) – all in all, it more than makes up for the little inconveniences like sporadic nervous twitches, hearing voices and carrying a leaky water pistol filled with holy water. I stayed on with Mr Crook for a good 2 years and even managed to win the employee of the year award twice in a row that managed to win me a TV and even put me through university quite nicely.
My point, this evening is this; at first glance, the push for greater ‘good’ i.e productivity, hardly seems unreasonable. Isn’t that what all good businesses should do? To continually guarantee lower prices for their customers? But tarry ho and look at how these “productivity savings” are made and what’s the real cost to people and community?
As there are dozens of small, simple hardships that can push life on the minimum wage over the edge from tough to unbearable for those workers. The worst being the constant monitoring – “go here and do that!” – “reverse there and make a right turn, please” (bang in the wall) – to being harassed no end by the watch dog supervisors into never letting up – “Why are you standing still?” Not only is the whole idea of panoptical surveillance demeaning, it’s also dehumanizing as it guts out many of the things that make boring and repetitive jobs bearable – a touch of personal initiative, a chat with a customer in a short skirt, a sneaky cigarette break – all these are surreptitiously stamped out by the all seeing eye of the corporation that is simply dedicated to the whole idea of faster in half the time, half the people and with half the resources.
Well I simply don’t buy it. There should be a better way really. A way that gives back the humanity to people who are simply trying to earn a honest buck.
And this leads me to my favorite bug bear this evening. One of biggest concerns that I harbor about the whole idea of the community regulator is; how it relies implicitly on the same panoptical surveillance that I have just described, as a basis of soliciting ‘good’ compliance – and here I need to be very clear; as some of the G-15 bloggers will probably say, “Hey, this regulator doesn’t have any legal powers.” So the corollary is it’s a paper tiger that doesn’t really have any capacity to instill fear.
You know what? I disagree completely with that simplistic take on power.
As it’s conceivable, the very symbolization of a community regulator, star chamber or people’s court is sufficient to create a very real climate of fear. Yes, here a little goes a very long way. That fear works at many levels is something no one can deny, but the most insidious and corrosive type of fear is not the ‘us against them’ fear which is usually distanced by variations in class, neighborhood or even schools of thoughts, it’s the one that resides within the very fabric of the community where it resembles the panoptical pineapple eyed gridlock world that we so often see in lousy dehumanizing work places.
Here fear isn’t distanced as much as it’s omnipresent seeping into the every day litany and this can only elevate it into the status of social engineering – what you need to understand here is this; we are not dealing with fear here in the dictionary sense as much as we are with psychological warfare at its very worst.
That simply means, even if it the community moderator manages to ride on stage under the mandate embodying the belief that the system is more important than the individual, that accountability is more important than individualism or creativity, my feel remains the cost has to be very high indeed – so high to both the mind and human spirit – it could even be said, one battery chicken life is certainly being dressed up as the good life.
Try harder. I am not buying. Not now or ever.
Darkness 2008 [I’ve got to get off the train now, this is as far as I want to go down the line anymore and I’ve start to grow gills like a sardine]
[Compiled by Harphoon, JUMO & Aurora – The Brotherhood Press 2008]
You are all foolish.You allowed to devil to speak. Now look around you. Its all finished!
The devil should have his tongue cut out and buried somewhere in the seventh levels of hell. Why do you think he has a bounty on his head in the virtual?
You have no idea how dangerous he is.
In the reign of Pandishah IX. During the advent of the age of the machine. The devil and his horde were attacked by the Aryanian. A white supremacy movement based in the US and EU.
Many in the brotherhood fled. But many also fell. Despite the many attempts by the Aryanians to sorround the Devil, he escaped.
200 years latter over the moors of Ashekoleon 3 days march away from the capital city of the Aryanians, Killormorganian. A travelling merchant appeared claiming to have the corpse of the great devil.
Eventually news spread to the gamers in the walled city of Killormorganian, who saw this as a great trophy to be possessed. The great devil had till then commanded the highest bounty in gaming history a sum just over 200,000 imperiums.
When the sehut, receptacle of the dead was brought into the high walls in the Aryanian capital. The entire Laanstrad gathered in the dome of the holy ascension. They all came from all corners of the universe. As all wanted to confirm the demise of the devil.
There placed in a circle guarded by the 10 mastiffs all the nobles from the high and low lands could see, this was indeed the coffin of the great devil himself, adorned with not only his personal seal but confirmed even by the bands of hieroglyphs that ran along its side which read, “Ursu Dah Urulian.” The Battle cry of the people who every gamer knows as the dreaded brotherhood.
There in the dome of the hollies, the sehut was further sorrounded by 13 divisions of pikemen. And ringed by another 30 brigades of archers. Such was the fear the devil commanded over the populace and the nobility and gentry in the entire Laanstrad.
They all feared, there might still be some sign of life left.
Finally when the hour slipped over the brow of the second moon, the coffin was prised opened. It was empty!
Someone shouted, “the devil is loose somewhere in the city walls.” In the months that followed all manner of deaths, plagues and misfortune befell the once prosperous city of Killormorganian.
Today the Aryanians are no more, they fell into extinction some 200 years ago, their history drying up and bleached away for eternity.
I was there. I saw it all. I played the game. And I know the great devil, Darkness. Curse be ontu his name!
webmaster of the singapore daily, why is all the reads permanently stuck on Daily SG: 12 May 2008? How many days do we need to endure this torture for?
Hahaha. Yes. Give a man enough rope and he will hang himself.
Darkness 2008
WHAT HAPPENS TO THE ROUND PEGS IN THE SINGAPOREAN WORLD OF SQUARE HOLES? – A STUDY ON DEFINING PERSONAL SUCCESS.
Most of us who have applied for jobs over the past decade will have been introduced to the Myers Briggs personality test, the personality categories loosely based on Carl Jung’s work on personality types. The whole idea is to beacon out the murk on whether you’re a high performer or an employee from hell. Often the whole process is accompanied with a certain measure of glee and playfulness by the people from HR (human remains), urging you to have a go – these test are really just for fun sake, they assure us all. They could well be right. After all how is one supposed to answer questions like this; Q: If you are stranded in a deserted island with your boss. When will you consider putting him in a pot with some diced carrots and onions (a) one day (b) two days (c) a week (d) or will you just settle for twigs and insects?
You know what? As playful and innocuous as the Myers Briggs personality test sounds. It’s serious stuff – there’s a chilling side to it when one considers its nothing short of an attempt to reduce one’s personality to some kind of numerical or alphabetic code, so they can see if you could fit in with their existing team. Deep down, I suspect, everyone in HR is quite embarrassed by the whole affair, only because they know it smacks of Orwellian zoo keeping.
Hey, I am not saying firms, institutions and even governments don’t have a right to peek-a-booh into your life. That’s probably why most people don’t put people who regularly hear voices in the cockpit of multi-million dollar commercial jet liners. Only, the very thought of either recruiting or rejecting anyone on the basis of such lofty approximations, which attempts to boil down all nuances, all contradiction, all mood, all paradox –rendering us as simple individuals that can be classified – smacks a little of stereotyping. Even of eugenics. Along with marketing the idea of the bottling “the right stuff” and picking it up with a surgical grade forceps.
That to me is just plain rubbish!
What’s even more worrying is how seriously managers these days take the results of these test – often they are promoted as the ONLY basis of decision making. If you don’t believe me just check out one article in the official Singapore ghost stories website, here one of those PAP shrunken heads is even talking about quantifying the whole process of character profiling – http://www.p65.sg/ check out the article dated April 18th, 2008, entitled EQ vs IQ.
No wonder all they can manage to produce is articles which use a lot of words only to say absolutely nothing of comparative importance.
Why is that I wonder? Why are decision makers so preoccupied these days with the whole idea of bottling goodness? Be it clarifying the form of the model worker, moral blogger or even model citizen? Why do they invariably lean towards the quantitative rather than the qualitative? Now I happen to know this area very well as math features as a very large part of my vocation; and the reason is really simply this; they’re just plain stupid at best and terminally unimaginative at worst. There’s really no nice way to put it across. When something is completely fucked up, then it completely fucked up – that really the long and short of it.
Stupid people will always gravitate towards clear ideas, not because it works, but because it supplies them endless means of making sense of the world.
And let me share with you why there are in essence a misguided lot. Especially when they go about trotting around their goody do good bandwagon – do I doubt there are people with good mechanical intelligence? Nope. What about those who may possess good mathematical intelligence? Nope. What of good linguistic intelligence. Nope. But there are also people with intelligences that aren’t academic but practical, useful and even jugular – sporting a whole plethora of geniuses which usually escape the metrics which we usually deploy to winnow out cruds from diamonds; here lies the shattered dreams of those who frequently propose to seed the good and drive out the bad currency; it really doesn’t matter whether its in the context of firm, country or even blogosphere.
They slip through the cracks!
As I said, I am very proficient in numbers so I know this area really like the back of my hand and that simply means there is a time to let things be and a time to make things happen; knowing when metrics should and shouldn’t apply is really wisdom; as the limits of metrics really falls apart when one applies it something as abstract as beauty, creativity and innovation. Here we may even be confronted with someone who is all together dysfunctional hardly any where near the ideal; his concept of time may even be elastic; he comes in to work whatever he likes and takes off as he pleases; while that may not be amenable to certain vocations such as banking or fighting fires, its certainly does little harm in an industry like designing games or inventing better mousetraps; he may even be slightly autistic as he doesn’t even have the social skills to network or to manage conflict effectively; but nonetheless, that’s precisely why he can morph himself so successfully to create surreal and fictional characters which continually enthrall the audience – see what I mean?
Here it takes effort, one has to seek out the real value in the way a miner roll up his sleeves and goes into the dark and smelly mine to seek out diamonds. That I suspect could be a big reason why most people are prepared to settle for the questionnaire approach; at the end of the day, they’re just plain lackadaisical lazy and woefully unimaginative.
My feel is when we discuss this subject; it would do us a well from time to time to consider whether its even such a good idea to impose our own criteria of ‘goodness’ and ‘idealness’ on people simply because we want to create a better tomorrow.
That may seem to be a noble enterprise, but what if it comes at the expense of narrowing the field of possibilities? What if all it manages to accomplish is to promote one very narrow and measurable definition of goodness, that really is so useless, you might as well equate it something that is closer to the uninspiring and unforgettable. The danger I feel is when we don’t even have the imagination to realize that much of the wonders that we regularly see in the net is because, someone once said, let’s go with the flow with this; I don’t understand it; I don’t even know where it’s going, but I am sure it will all work out.
I realize all this may not make a lot of sense to some people; but that doesn’t diminish my point as much as it amplifies it; that could really be the point; you’re simply not going with the flow, let go – there is a time to make things happen and a time to let it all happen. You have to decide which is which. I am not telling you.
Darkness 2008 [This isn’t my stop, but I have to get off now. I just saw a girl that has been making eyes at me. No I am not exactly a normal person, but I suspect neither is she either. There may still be hope after all.]
[Compiled by Aurora, Jasta 1 and JUMO – The Brotherhood Press 2008]
You see at the end of the day, you cannot stop me from reaching out, anymore than you can turn the sky vanilla cream yellow or even stop a baby from crying – it’s simply impossible.
It cannot be done.
Through the years we have developed the core competencies to write at a speed where you could even say thoughts acquire speed.
It just takes me less than 20 min to produce what I regularly post here; nothing more or less; if you have the balls we may be able to compete.
But no amount of official recognition and accolades is going to substitute for that economy of consumption to allow you to negotiate around that simple truth – the sooner you know that, the less you are going to fuck around and really dedicate yourself to the useful and purposeful.
It’s really as simple as that; YOU CANNOT STOP ME FROM REACHING OUT.
Darkness 2008
My feel is we need to wait for NLB to come up with the remainder of their list.
Raju has another 7 months bfr the time runs out.
Now you see the effect of the community moderator has the reverse effect.
Why? I want you think long and hard abt that.
Darkness 2008
Hi,
Who was darkness bfr he became darkness? Who was he really? If memory serves, he was called Bambi Boy. Why was he called Bambi? Because some ppl thought it was just good fun to take pot shots at him from time to time.
One day, some ppl went too far. They burnt their planet to a cinder. They said it was only a game. That is how games are played. No one remembers who they were, they could have been white racist who just didnt like the idea of some Asian prancing around. But one thing is clear, Bambi Boy decided to stand up and fight.
What did they do? They put a bounty on his head. It started with only 50 Imperiums. Eventually it bludgeoned to nearly 200″ when he kept evading the assasins and bounty hunters, the price of a condo! By that time, a virtual unknown who was once called Bambi became known as “Shah-dhal” or “Uhmah” or “Darkness.” A handful of men had now grown into the strongest army in the virtual, where not only did the perfect the art of invisibility. They were the first to make use of modern tactics etc. The first to even invade, hold and occupy any gaming force in the West.
By that time no one remembered Bambi anymore, only Darkness. The vanquisher of the planets, Darkness the bringer of death, Darkness the angel that holds the key to the abyss etc.
But who really made Darkness? Who once hunted his ppl when all they wanted to do was to be left alone? Who once invaded their lands? Who once trodded on their turf? Who disrespected them and treated them like dirt?
You see. I was there as well. I saw it all as well. And I too played the game.
Truth be known, you all created Darkness with your own small hearts, hatred and anger.
You all brought your worse nightmare to life.
Have a nice weekend. I just felt this needed some clarification. Usually, I just read and go like 99.9% of the brotherhood readers, but at times the bullshit index just goes up so high here. Sorry for the long winded mail.
THIS IS AN IMPORTANT EAM GENERAL ANNOUNCEMENT
Our esteemed guests, the lady of lake and her consort HRH Lady Adityadhornkitikhun and The Thai ambassador of the Space legation Admiral Ananda will be ending their annual tour of the virtual / all space diplomats are expected to be present in their No.1 at bay 15 of Entropia to wave our friends bon voyage / a honor guard of Sardu-Khan will be present. We will be escorting the KKD Ramayana and the KKD Amporn Science research deep space cruiser as far as the Amurillion system EVA @ Primus time: 992773.09.
Long live the brotherhood!
You will all obey this!
Darkness sends a com-sat from the Free French Star Cruise, Le Presage currently in orbit in the Orson 45 sector – he wishes the beautiful Lady of the Lake Bon Voyage. He has left a the following in a message capsule:
http://ca.youtube.com/watch?v=XK2Mn-XgHjA&feature=related
The Chronicler
EAM 2
We have received a deep space message in the strangelands rated @ EPA 0089 / it originates from a diplomatic fleet registered as simply “YALLA,” in the confederation treaties. We suspect they could be Turkish / Algerian group of gamers which previously did not exist. I have decided to send a reconnaissance mission to met up with these aliens. Hopefully “Yalla” will be something like this; http://ca.youtube.com/watch?v=obJeYUrfnEM I’ve take the one in blue and leave darkness with the fatty on the corner of the screen dancing around with the good morning towel / The Dimitri has observed this is a large fleet comprising of dated glomorgan class space cruisers/ we have classified them as friendly. However as a precautionary measure, we need Arabic translators on stand by. That will be all. I am sorry to choke up the lines here, but our EAM is currently on the blink.
The Chronicler.
EAM is on the blink again?
THE DAY I CANCELLED MY SUBSCRIPTION OF THE STRAIT TIMES
I am sure all of you have read Miss Chua Lee Hoong’s lament concerning the Mas Selamat debacle online? And who could possibly forget, le piece de resistance: Ong Sor Fern’s paramour, “I HAVE never, nor will I ever, read blogs.”
You know what I resent most about these articles don’t you? Apart from the condescending tone, the message to readers is blunt: you will learn one way or another – our way – or hit the highway! To add insult to injury, the newspapers pledge nothing in return.
Of course, I understand the impulse behind all this nervous energy only too well – newspapers are hemorrhaging revenue – they haven’t been able to prosper since the net made its debut etc. They’ve lost too much of their monopoly on the cultural authority they once commanded. No one I know, these day even aspires to be a journalist any longer. And judging from how even those who remain in the industry these days aspire to land comfy teaching job; it all makes a forgettable case for a poor excuse as a career choice.
But what really lies at the heart of the compact between news producers and consumers?
What if I said, all this is just an attempt to strip away the whole idea of the independent reader and squeeze his understanding into the factory-farming model of gobbling facts on the state assembly line? Too radical right? Yeah, but even you have to admit that’s a racy read.
Back to the cold cuts; if any thing, these manifestations reveal a characteristic failing of our newspapers: to assume if something is going wrong, like we’re not reading, then it has to be either the fault of the consumer or an supervening event like the net, not the news provider. Usually in the toss up, the evil net gets fingered; and just in case we might even forget it’s truly a land of the morally bankrupt. A steady stream of anti-net propaganda is regularly doled out, just so we never forget.
How convenient?
Tell me. If a restaurant found that its customers rarely ordered chicken, would it revise their chicken-menu, or ditch them?
Precisely, you get my point don’t you?
But when droves of readers abandon our beloved rag, they resort to compulsion, fear mongering and just plain hypnosis, rather than asking if there is something really wrong with the service they have been providing?
For instance; why is the Beijing Bureau so fat? Who the hell cares whether two hump back camels can’t find a decent bush to knob each other in the Gobi desert because of desertification?
Hey, you know what? No one gives two shits, what’s really happening in China!
Very strange indeed; if you consider the imperative is to captivate, yet none of the economics even suggest this is being seriously put to good and productive use.
But to accomplish this feat of customer satisfaction, our newspapers don’t need freedom as Cherian frequently likes to trout; rather all they need to buy into is the old fashioned idea of paying heed to customer service. Wat most of us really need to ask is this. Are we really getting value for money?
You know what? I don’t think so.
But the ongoing problems which frequently mire the relationship between its readers and news producers are only a symptom of two deeper trends that have been unfurling since the advent of the internet. The first is the growing disconnect between what consumers want and what is regularly been churned out. These days when one reads the ST, what’s not mentioned or written about is real news and what’s fleshed out is simply stuff most of us aren’t really interested in. I can’t speak for the vast majority of readers, but for me, as much as I want to continue reading the ST these days. I really see no compelling reason why I should even my time trying to wade out the shit from the nuggets – after a while, it just doesn’t make any sense to do so.
As a result most of my news these days comes from a patch work of foreign press usually in bits and pieces montages on the run on my Nokia Communicator; this I do quite well only because I have personal history of having once regularly read the New York Times, Independent and Guardian simultaneously; but again. My point is its hardly linear reading as much as it remains Jack rabbit hop here and there reading.
This worries me only because kids can’t do what I do these days. The only reason I acquired this skill was because during my university days; I genuinely enjoyed reading my derelict free copy of the Times, which I usually picked up in the tube. People who say littering is a crime should get their heads examined, it’s nothing short of a public service and beats navigating around KFC carcasses any day. My point this evening is simply this, without a solid foundation of what is really good news; its conceivable it’s impossible these days for youths to even develop the foundational skill sets to consistently winnow the truth from lies.
In the absence of captivating press that can be entrusted reliably to be the purveyor of the truth – against the endless choices presented by the internet, there will always be an incredible sense of release to go wild online and to confect their own version of a bent reality. But – more worryingly – these youths would never have once even learned how to structure thoughts. They haven’t taught themselves how to use a mix of newspapers, libraries and arguments to spot out, distinguish and even to differentiate what’s real from false. They will flail about and even lose their bearings – I fear.
The solution doesn’t lie in inuring the internet with a higher level of truth; my feel is all the G-15 bloggers need to seriously get their head examined; no one in their right mind proposes a plan to plough the sea; anymore than he could possibly hope blogosphere should mirror the news producing agencies of the real world; the internet will always be the domain of the amateur, diarist and at best an imitation of reportage. Rather the solution lies in investing in critical thinking skills in our schools and institutions of tertiary educations – youths these days desperately need to taught the skills sets of how to winnow the truth from lies.
Against the back drop of this reality, it’s not our press who should be making greater demands on their readers. It’s readers who should be making greater demands on their news producers – to provide a service they can really believe in and if possible even captivate them. Rather than a staid service they want to shun away from.
Incidentally, today is the first day; I hung out a post it on my door to the newspaper uncle; it read. “No more newspapers from today please. Tolong!”
Let’s see how it goes. I’ve keep you all updated, but don’t hold your breath. The only cold turkey, I know is the one that’s set on prema freeze somewhere in my freezer.
Darkness 2008
[Compiled by Harphoon – The Brotherhood Press 2008]
WHY NONE OF MY ESSAYS EVER MAKES IT TO THE ONLINE CITIZEN – A STUDY IN SOCIAL/POLITICAL UNIPOLARISM IN THE NET.
[Due to the high number of spelling and construction mistakes; this article has been re-edited by Aurora – I have kept some spelling mistakes just to keep the feel of the BP – Happy Reading]
[Ed: Prior copy removed]
A couple of months ago I spoke to this fellow called Jasper.
I am sure some of you know this shadowy whistleblower. He is the one The Online Citizen threatened to sue! We had a drink in some virtual bar in Ithaca in Entropia. He said to me, he had some incriminating information concerning a writer in The Online Citizen; he wasn’t so sure about the whole idea of going public with it; as he doesn’t know how to hide in greater net and if things really got hairy; he felt safer, if he knew there was a Millennium Falcon humming away to secret him off pronto.
You know what after a few of us reviewed the evidence; I just said, “Hohum, is that all? No Da Vinci code here man!” But you know wat? I tried to be as open minded as I could without the risk of my brains spilling out; eventually we agreed to him a new identity; we even put our best pilot on the get away space ship; Jasper would have his magic “get out of jail card” courtesy of the brotherhood; no strings attached; we even undertook to pay for the entire legal fee, if it got nasty in the real world.
Do you want to know why I did all those things for Jasper the snitch?
Well I just felt all of you had a right to know. That’s to say; I don’t believe important information like that should ever be secreted away just because I run the risk of ruffling a few feathers.
As it turned out Jasper was spot on – one the writers in TOC was actually receiving money from the establishment. I know it was structured like some coffin sounding Latin name, but my point is: he should have come clean with it; as a reader; I believe you had every right to know!
Now I know what some of you are thinking right now? Darkness do you hate The Online Citizen don’t you? Why do I get the feeling you seem to be pursuing a sort of ancient vendetta against them again in the way you did with Bernard Leong et al?
Hey gimme a break man!
What I will admit of The Online Citizen is this: It wouldn’t be too far fetch to say, I suffer from a morbid aversion for one assembly line “anything”; it really doesn’t matter what it is; the whole idea of the power of one just makes a lousy proposition whatever way you slice it; be it only one political party or even the idea of making do with card board chicken comatose inducing only one ST just spells “B-A-D” for me in more ways than I can possibly elaborate.
In the language of political science, I am simply not a very big supporter of the “Unipolar World.” I don’t believe it has the capacity to revivify as much as to stifle and even lead to calcification and stasis.
The Unipolar World is a term frequently used to describe a political climate in which nations form factions built around only ONE superpower. It’s the opposite of a diverse Bipolar or better still Tripolar World – where the power to shape collective thought or to even effect change doesn’t reside in one super duper oligarchy. As power as an idea is broken up and even spread out like fertilizer; that way; the very general goodness gets evened out; it really doesn’t matter whether it’s newspapers, political parties or even just having three or four more chicken rice shop in the neighborhood. Where there is diversity; there is choice; and where choice features the threat of being hijacked or abducted by the power of one remains an impossibility; that really in a nut shell is the unedited version of the whole idea of separation of powers.
My point this afternoon is simply this; we don’t need the whole idea of one super duper juggernaut that dominates everything, especially not one that colors our ability to shape our collective consciousness freely.
Here, I am reminded anything big eventually becomes a form of government, it doesn’t even matter if it’s something as benign as The Online Citizen either; the threat is always there and this should always be recognized!
This is a theme that hardly requires repeating; we have all see this before, in stat boards which grow so powerful and big, they can even manage the wealth of nations without even having to account to the populace; why? Because they don’t have any competition. Here the Unipolar world violin requiem kicks in; (do you understand Cantonese? Ke-ke-kuh-ke-ke)
We have even seen how this corrosive formula scissors through newspapers who already enjoy a monopoly in the market place.
What happens there? Do they regularly deliver the goods? Nope, instead what usually happens is? The great divide is further exacerbated between new producers and consumers; and this only leads to news which has absolutely nothing to do with news.
Why does this happen? Because here there is only the power of one here = there is no competition = power is only vested in one supra entity = zero diversity = no choice = take it or leave it!
Now one more time; do you now understand why my decision concerning The Online Citizen is not one premised on the personal as it remains a very real concern; how I see them increasingly as the only purveyor of information in the internet; my feel is some netizens may not even be aware of this reality only because they may not be as adept at finding reads even here secreted away in the obscure threads; you could even say, if you have found us; then you will probably know what I am talking about here; only because if you notice of late the MSM only seems to be promoting The Online Citizen; at the expense of fringe sites like Sammy Boy (the non porn one that is). What about the Singapore Angle and even the Singapore Daily?
I feel as netizens. If we are really committed to the whole idea of not repeating the real world mistakes that we frequently see around us; then it behooves us all to really take sometime to ponder; why are rebuilding the same temples which we are all trying to dismantle in the real world? Here I am not talking about content. I am not asking you what does The Online Citizen regularly publish? As much as I am asking; where is the wisdom in putting all your eggs in one basket? Would the whole idea of a richer and diverse net be better served; if the whole idea of net content producing is spread out to other sites.
We should actively dedicate ourselves to cultivating the idea of separation of powers in the net; that’s to say, we should never repeat the same mistakes which has been committed in the real world; whether it’s the monopoly of the airwaves, the political rhetoric or even whether you have a choice to go to another chicken rice vendor; where choice is denied, all to often it facilitates a form of tyranny.
I want to share with you all, the decision and commitment of the BP to craft something besides a unipolar world in greater blogoland; did not come without having to reconcile ourselves with a terrible cost; today we are not even aggregated. You know why?
Because, we don’t give them ANY RIGHTS to any of our articles! That’s to say we are deliberately burning the bridge; that may seem at first petulant and infantile; but when you consider the necessary economy that is required to nourish the idea of a bi, tri or multi polar world in the net; then that has to be the cost. The prepareness to even say, “No!”
The net has always been an egalitarian place largely devoid of any social super structure; but for it to remain happily flat; the idea of the lone writer must always be given not only his rightful place outside the establishment from what we usually consider to be mainstream, acceptable or even the best platform; here he doesn’t need a lot of real estate to write against big government, big business and big anything; all he needs is a thread with nothing else except the barest of necessities; no bells and whistles; hardly even a splash of color, but despite the patina of the uninspiring; this is where he hones and crafts his skills. You can even say; I believe firmly a good oppositional writer needs to be regularly hounded, hunted and even harassed. There can be no better testimony; no statement which states clearer his intention; by wearing a badge such the one Mr Brown once wore when the ire of the big was once directed towards him.
The perverse effect is this could well mean; the elevation of the reading status beyond simply what is commonly produced by the one and only assembly lines of information be it either, the Strait Times or The Online Citizen. I reminded here; reading is after all self selecting and one is simply a click away; here as a reader, as a consumer and as a stakeholder in the net; you have the power to lay the bricks that will either built a better or worse future.
I wish you all happy reading.
Darkness 2008 [I am now in Pulau Ubin checking out the new mountain bike trail; I fell down a ravine, my arm and bike is all busted up; it’s a long trek back to the jetty; I am all alone; I can either keep to the trail or maybe; I’ve rough it out by going with my instincts to try to badger out a shorter route; I think, I’ve plumb for the latter; things can’t get as bad as this; I know it can only get better from this point onwards. I am sorry, I wrote this when I was resting to bandage my wounds; there could be more spelling mistakes than usual.]
This article is written with reference to the following auto-generated article:
MY FALL, MY PAIN AND THE LESSON – ONE DAY WHEN I FELL IN PULAU UBIN.
Pain, both physical and spiritual, is often seen as synonymous, with either “dexterity” “toughness.” It’s interesting to note; after Ah Thio had been flattened by the blogo locomotive after her impersonation of McCarthy’s, “reign of terror,” in Parliament during the S377A debate.
She referred to the tumult as a parliamentarian in Apollonian terms describing it as a baptism of fire. Lan Chaiu lah! You know what? I never even thought anyone could romanticize the whole idea of “sati” (bride-burning) cum Flagellation and even make it sound like a visit to a Banyan tree spa.
Nice thought if you can abide it. Or you’re still staying with mummy and haven’t really experienced life beyond the satisfaction of a battery operated dildo. Unfortunately, it’s false to all human experience to find growth in tragedy (except perhaps the bacteria variety when the yellow puss oozes out). In fact, the dull truth is that pain of any kind is tautological.
The only thing suffering teaches us is that we are capable of suffering.
Pain really teaches one nothing except that when a hammer falls on your big toe; you have every right to hop around like a Red Indian with his pants on fire – I should know. Just a few hours ago, I got “buang” (thrown off) nice and proper down a ravine, on the new mountain bike trail in Pulau Ubin; result; my mountain bike is completely totaled. My arm is fractured possibly in 3 or more places.
So much for pain being a teacher, friend or Counselleri.
Here, as I stand before the prow of the sampan unfurling towards the mainland. I am reminded no one, not Buddha, Jesus Christ or even the Dalai Lama has the sagacity, the intelligence, the endurance, or any other capacity of a “survivor” which would allow him to learn much from the same pain that’s coursing through my body right now – not the type that proves anything at least. Or even the variety that allows one to learn anything from it!
I am reminded real willpower does not requiring proving; by walking through fire and brimstones or even having to endure the extremities of which the elements, people and even nasty made in Taiwan products regularly fails as they do; only to remind us all how utterly fragility it is to be human.
My feel is REAL sacrifice and pain has to be much simpler. For one it’s an idea that even has to be removed from what we would usually associate with chivalry and even acts of bravery. I don’t doubt for one moment; it takes either exceptional courage or simply a complete lack of imagination to figure out what a full metal jacketed round can inflict on soft human flesh and bone; or to even hardened oneself to the prospects of never ever making it back, if one decides to stake a claim on the upper reaches of Everest. But all these acts despite their seeming radiance of bravery, courage and chivalry; all have a definitive start and cut off date. One doesn’t need to fight on when the ink has dried on the peace treaty; neither can one climb beyond the limits imposed by mountain peaks; here pain doesn’t possess the terror of litany; it even lacks the one requisite quality which sharpens it further; heightening the sense of hopeless and terror; continuity.
My feel is real pain. The one that’s most acute and requires nothing short of exceptional courage must reside in the ordinariness of life. Here it woven intimately into the folds of everydayness even, reflected in the ordinary wan of people as they walk around. Because sometimes even the act of waking up every morning and just going to work can be an extraordinary act of courage. Here the type of pain, I am talking about takes it’s cue from back pain; it’s always there, omnipresent, lingering even; seeping into every minute, hour, day and week. Its ceaseless, endless and there lies it true terror.
The horror of it all, the horror.
Somewhere in its unceasing grind, it even threatens all prospects of driving away all prospects of redemption; the courage of a parent with an autistic child to even harbor the dream his son or daughter would one day be able to live a normal and independent life; the silent caretaker who toils to give balm to the sick; knowing full well the impending doom is inevitable; the father who skips lunch; so that his children can have an extra scoop of ice cream, because we all know; he didn’t quite cut it into the $2.2 million club; the manager who struggles to do the ‘right’ thing, even if it means he has to put his reputation on the line find the courage to fight the big bad whatever that tries to take whenever is good out of him; the lone blogger who continues to think and write; despite a stat counter than only reads; hey you buddy what are you trying to prove here? It’s you statistical insignificant against us remember!
I salute you all.
In the every litany that confront us all, we don’t see our pain as much as we try to seek in out in others; to even witness it. In the way miracles have the capacity to edify and exalt even. It could even be said; when others see us all carry it all so well, with even a smile; here its even magically transformed into a art form; one which even allows us all the permission to accept ourselves for who were really are; humans who simply have the power to feel pain; that I feel is the real lesson from my fall.
Darkness 2008 (This has to be a very short one, I am afraid. My Sampan has arrived at the jetty. I see Harphoon and the Chronicler waiting for me. It time to smile. After all the good fight certainly doesn’t need another sour puss)
[The Brotherhood Press 2008]
Bambi Bad Boy, you best make your way to Changi Hospital, Catherine the Great is on duty. Silly boy!
Dear all,
Enjoy it while the party last – when the community moderator or Spanish Inquistion comes in, one thing is 100%, we will not be around anymore.
Why should we?
Meanwhile, its free flow of Champagne and beluga caviar galore, let’s drink and be merry, tmr, we may not even be around!
http://ca.youtube.com/watch?v=cMaMc4HlIjA&feature=related
There are never any regrets. Never!
The privilege has always been ours.
Darkness 2008
What fools you all are. You have allowed the great Devil to use his fork tongue and now he has won. Do you all not see what, he is doing? He is speaking to his followers.
I know the Devil. I know what haunts him and even keeps him awake. There was one incident some 500 years ago in their history. A painful chapter, just after at the beginning of the age of the rocket in their game.
The Shadal aka Darkness was ambushed by a group of gamers who called themselves the Aryan Scrouge. They came by the thousands and soon they were overwhelmed.
In this one deciding battle. The brotherhood had to leave many behind as they lacked space ships which could tranverse the infinity of space. The devil said, he would return but something happened. And so those who waited for him perished. Many were left behind. Many died. Many perished.
The Great Devil never forgave himself. For the next 100 years everyone of the Aryan Scrouge was mercilessly hunted down, their seed brought to and end. Whole cities and villages disappear such was the depth of his sorrow.
The man who all called “Shadal,” who was also known as the father of the game felt aggrieved. He believed, he had failed his tribe. So following that incident the brotherhood recruited the best engineers and mastered the art of space travel. Great industry and skill was poured into this one goal. Eventually they became so good at it, they even went into the business of selling space ships and space stations.
But the memory of having to leave so many people behind haunted the Great Devil. For the last 6 years. A secret project known as “Saral” has been in the forging. Here the Great Devil has embarked on a plan to construct a city in a space ship. He means to take all his people with him this time. Not a single one will be left behind. No one.
Even as we speak the devil has been in communication with other tribes, they are slowly preparing to go, very slowly, they are pulling one cable out at a time. You see my friends, this has nothing to do with the efforts of the 15 bloggers. This is the madness of one man who has managed to seduce many with his glib tongue.
This is the work of The Great Devil Darkness. We would like to fool ourselves this is not reaching out to many, but how wrong you all are. If only all of you know. If only you do not underestimate him. If only you see him for the danger he really presents.
Then you will not why I say, I know who the Devil really is. He is Darkness.
A WESAK DAY MESSAGE – ME AND A TREE CALLED ‘BO’
It’s Wesak day. And as I try my best to settle into the groove of having to live with a plaster cast on my left arm for the next 3 months; I tell myself; I shouldn’t be so hard on myself.
After all it’s only the first day. I tried to make coffee earlier this morning, but gave up half way when I realized, I wasn’t going to get very far by trying to open up my expresso maker with my foot. I’ve also given up on the whole idea of cooking; since all the diced carrots seem to be more interested in rolling off the chopping board.
The only thing, I seem to be able to do is water my potted plants.
And this brings me to my Wesak day message this afternoon. I don’t know whether any of you have heard about this story about a sacred Bodhi tree which once stood in Brickfields in greater Kuala Lumpur.
It sits uncomfortably along a hair pin that’s famous because there’s a famous curry fish head restaurant there. Sometime back ago, while visiting Kuala Lumpur. A friend took me out for lunch in Brickfields; the eatery had a good sweep over this famous tree, so it was an obvious conversational point.
According to KL urban legend, this is no ordinary Bo tree. For one, it dates as far back to the period when Sri Lankan laborers first made their appearance in the sleepy mud plains of Kuala Lumpur some 200 years ago.
The sapling supposedly originates from the famous Bodh Gaya; the same one Siddhartha Gautama, the spiritual teacher and founder of Buddhism later known as Gautama Buddha, attained enlightenment.
Looking at the tree from where we were makaning; I couldn’t help but wonder what an oddity it was framed against the hustle and bustle of tower cranes and spaghetti junctions; someone mentioned in passing; its days were numbered; they’re planning a new highway here; and the Municipal Council has contracted Chow Yuen Fatt and his replacement killers to plug the poor tree! Others exclaimed since it was still a frequent destination for pilgrims, it’s unlikely that the authorities would cut it down. Not so soon at least. Besides it was during the period just before the Malaysian elections; and judging from the numerous election posters plastered all over its expansive trunk; it probably still had a fair innings to chalk up.
Through out lunch, I found myself wondering; what would this tree have to say, if it was given a chance to say its piece? How long has it stood there? A silent witness to the urbanization of this mud delta once called Kuala Lumpur. Did it once inspire a generations of water color artists, photographers and even lovers who would have scrawled hearts of forever more on her trunk?
Whatever her libations some of what she may have to share will forever be associated with the pivotal moments in Malaysian history. Some of these stories might simply have been part and parcel of the every day litany of urban life in the straits, offering shade, a brief respite against torrential rains. A gathering point for the odd odd cendol vendor and his patrons – an oasis where time simply stands still as ordinary folk turn inwards for a moments rest against the endless cacophony of urban life. While others may have been momentous such as shielding protestors from bullets which once came forth like hailstorms from the guns of colonial masters. Yes, I am sure she has seen it all. She’s a lao chaiu after all.
As my mind turned inwards; I am reminded every age has its own concerns, and in ours; it was simply unacceptable that the good should not triumph on the last throw of the dice. I realize this sounds trite. Especially against the back drop of what will simply have to come to past with this whole business of the community moderator. https://singaporedaily.wordpress.com/2008/04/27/sgdaily-roundup-what%e2%80%99s-hot-in-week-17/#comment-1902
You could even say, I remain completely convinced that the powers will even see it right through to the last leg.
It doesn’t take exceptional talent or even great foresight; just a play at selective deafness and dyslexia with a perhaps lashings of avoiding eye contact. Any fool can cut down trees or destroy the internet – we cannot stop them. I have already done the last of my calculations. They are simply too big; the motivation for command and control too strong even; the allure virtually irresistible; its clear they simply don’t even want to stop, listen and discuss the matter; that’s how powerful the imperative really is; and if they did, we would still be destroyed – chased and hunted down as long as fun or a buck could be got out of it.
All we can do is to prepare to run away.
What’s emerging for me is the realizing; no one really cares any more; why should they? When did the single injustice of a tree ever provoke enough reason to force the axe man to lower his tool? In the litany of injustices which befall us daily; the malevolence of earth shattering earthquake and life churning tornados – one more egregious than the many, many disparate and relatively smaller injustices which regularly mark out our lives ;one tree and the thoughts of one man concerning what he believes about the net hardly matters.
It’s grist to the mill.
Trying to change the status quo. I am reminded is a silly preoccupation which only a fools such as myself are content to do. Hello Kitty dolls are infinitely a lot easier to market than first edition leather bound copies of Stendhal, wot?; the countervailing desire in our society (and others even perhaps) for authoritarianism and the warm embrace of the state is too powerful to oppose with small numbers of actions against small injustices.
It’s just not worth the bother.
As it is; the Bo tree that once stood somewhere on an obscure road in Brickfields was finally cut down to make way for a new highway. Proving once again, people’s desire for a better tomorrow is often overwhelmed by the grinding day-to-day practical necessities which would hardly allow them to take stock of even the interest of a single muted tree. I feel the same may be happening when many of these 15 bloggers go about the whole business of recommending change for the rest of us; but unlike the tree let me just say this for providence sake; I never once gave you the right to represent me. I don’t believe in what you are doing and I wish no part in your new world order.
Yes, the Bo tree and me have merged to become even the mythical contrarian.
But even as we prepare out hearts and minds for the final curtain act; there is cause for optimism. You see all is not lost my friends.
A few months after the tree was cut down; my friend in KL, thought it would be a good idea to tender a few saplings from this one unfortunate tree. Without even the slightest thought, he potted it and eventually, it grew. One of these saplings was given to me with just the words; “take this to a better place. It must live.” I fulfilled my duty by planting it somewhere in the bosom of Bukit Timah nature reserve during one of my solo mountain biking rides.
She lives on. And one day she will grow tall and strong. That shouldn’t come as a surprise. After all she comes from an ancient lineage of survivors going back at least a millennia to a time even before us or when dinosaurs walked this earth; long before the advent of mankind she had proliferated spreading out across the lands – calling it hers. Through the centuries she had seen fires, drought, disease, earth quakes, and maybe a billion libations of tempest; yet she stood her ground proudly proclaiming, “come what may, I will survive!
But the real tragedy and travesty of our time like what will probably happen to our beloved net is she cannot be saved from the acts of knaves and fools.
Nonetheless, there is hope. Happy Wesak Day.
Darkness 2008
iknowwhothedevilis,
Who are you? Why do you say this hurtful things of me? Is it possible, you are cut from the same cloth as me and the others?
You are one of us aren’t you?
How else would you know our history so well?
I will not fight my own flesh and blood; do you hear me? I will not fight my own flesh and blood!
Me and my brother against the world.
Me and my brother against
the world.
Me and my brother against
the world.
Have you forgotten this!!!!!!!!!
Wake up!
Join the line brother, take your place. We will never speak of this matter again. You have my word. I need every able man, I can find!
Enough of this childish nonsense.
I have been very patient with you.
Whatever disagreements we may have, we settle it amongst ourselves; brother to brother.
Come take your place. We have much work to do. I really don’t have time to fuck around.
Darkness 2008
Dear all,
Yee Hian wrote to me recently. The autistic boy who regularly likes to impersonate a HAL 9000 series computer in our game. He wants to know whether he can continue to be HAL? Or whether someone will force him to be a ‘normal’ human (whatever that is?).
Yee Hian wants to know whether someone will force him to register and force him to close shop?
My answer: No! Read my lips! Yee Hian, if that is how you see yourself; that’s perfectly fine with me and everyone of us in the brotherhood. You have every right to be who ever you want to be; a talking horse or even a poetry spewing vacuum cleaner; you don’t have to even explain, apologize or justify; you don’t ever have to make that sort of excuse not with me or even feel the burden of having to come across as ‘normal.’ I accept you the way you are; you are special; I don’t know anyone in Singapore that can even perform quadratic equations in their head like you! Do you understand? You must always walk with your head proudly held up high. If other people cannot understand ask them to go and die!
If other people have trouble with that; we can just fuck them off. In my book that is how the accounting is regularly done! I have no problem there!
I made a mistake many years ago; I left many of you behind; I will not ever make that same mistake again; let me share with some of you what I’ve done since I heard abt this crackbrained idea to introduce a community moderator. I’ve put some of our best brains on a project; they are the best! And they will ensure our world will be preserved; they are working around the clock; 3 shifts, 7 days a week; whatever comes; I promise you all we will have our Avalon. We do not need them. And we are at least 5 years ahead of them on the technology curve; all they have is one miserable IP and there is absolutely nothing they can do with that!
You see I never once trusted those mother fuckers; I knew they would press the chicken button sooner or later; that’s how it is when you have to regularly entrust your destiny to either power hungry or stupid people or both. We are prepared; we are ready and I want you all to know ours is a promised land where all our problems will melt like lemon drops; there you find me; somewhere over the rainbow Yee Hian. This goes out especially to you and your mother.
http://ca.youtube.com/watch?v=tDSJubIJL2U&feature=related
Now all you engineers know what is at stake! So I do not want to hear any more complaints! Many are depending on you!
Darkness 2008
Dear all,
Worst come to the worst; I’ve just put on G2000 white short and slacks and pin a lightning bolt on my lapel and join the PAP and kick out all those good for nothings.
I’ve just had enough of them!
I have even erased all my Ed Chen styled pics from my hard drive; besides the gaming and political world can’t be that different!
At the end of the day; its just one big game.
How difficult can it really be? Besides I am a pretender par excellence! Judging from the performance of those shrunken heads in P-65. I can’t do any worse than those card board personalities who all have as much charisma as a fire extinguisher and if that is really all there is to the so called competition; where is the fight? I wonder?
So what is there to worry abt? I wish all of you can stop writing to me and simply trust me on this.
Darkness 2008
Dear Brotherhood,
I have been trying to post on the common SLF line which the brotherhood normally uses to communicate with its regular readers for the last week. Either I have not been able to do so. Or I have been censored by the webmaster here. I want to ask of Darkness one question that has been bothering all of us.
In this last two weeks, two mega disasters have occured, one in Burman and the other in China.
In the past, whenever natural disasters occur in neighboring countries eg the tsunami. The Chronicler will usually mobilize the rest of the boys to report to the various emergency crews of the international red cross.
All of you are usually the first into the field. As many of them are certified medical technicians under the red cross.
However, I have noticed in this 2 case, not a single word. Not even so much as a reference. It’s as though all of you don’t want to see, hear or even think about it. Life just goes on as normal!
What I wonder has happened to the brotherhood? I know we live in the world of the 2.2 million man, but this is too much! Very concerned and disturbed!
JL
WHY NONE OF MY ESSAYS EVER MAKES IT TO THE ONLINE CITIZEN –A STUDY IN SOCIAL/POLITICAL UNIPOLARISM IN THE NET. PART 2
In the first segment of my essay: “why none of my essays ever gets published in the The Online Citizen.”
I took a couple of elephant bites on the Why’s; most notable, was the whole idea of how I believe; if the imperative is to craft an all inclusive and encompassing net culture. Then it’s crucial to nourish the whole idea of a bi-polar and if possible a tri-polar net – as opposed to only committing ourselves to building one super duper entity in the net; even if it means having saying to “no” to aggregators like TOC.
I understand some of you (judging from your charming mail) may consider this simply good olde fashion hate mongering a la Carte Darkness style. Do bear with me.
Now it would appear this kind strategy is closer to condoning mindless discrimination; worse it doesn’t even possess a morsel of logic that accompanies it; but nothing can be further from the truth.
In essence what we are really talking about is game theory, the whole idea of isn’t so radically dissimilar to the logic that makes possible the whole idea of anti trust laws and the anti- monopoly commission; which operates under the mathematical formula that stricter enforcement of anti monopoly policies definitely makes market structure more competitive and prices lower. Thus benefiting folks like you and me.
The whole idea which justifies setting up the monopolies commission isn’t all too hard to understand as it is premised on a series of what if questions, like; what if a car maker monopolizes, all the steel production? Where would it leave other auto manufacturers? Will that raise the quality of cars and lower the cost to consumers? Or would it create a monopolistic one car market producer like the model T-Ford, where the marketing tag goes something like this, “You can have any color car you want providing its black!”
Now if we juxtapose this logic on the ongoings in the net; we may well ask ourselves a few similar questions when we consider the whole idea of a supra entity online; what if only one aggregator monopolizes all the traffic in the net? Will that also mean it has the ability to control what you or I may read through a process of discriminatory selection? Where would it leave the rest of the fringe bloggers? Will that raise the quality of web content? Or would it create a situation of acute shortage whereby; “if you’re not aggregated, then you didn’t write it! We don’t even see you!”
See what I mean, the prognosis is chilling.
And this underscores, the whole logic of fragmenting rather than centralizing power. This incidentally, is what the Brotherhood Press does; for example, its not that I don’t trust the Singapore Daily or even the Intelligent Singaporean, but it’s hard if not impossible for either us or them to remain independent, if one is beholden to another. That’s simply a lousy way to sustain a long term collaborative venture. And this brings into focus the need to maintain the balance of power, very much in the way, real democracies that actually work, pursue the idea of separation of powers by deliberately fragmenting the power in the legislature, executive and judiciary. This way no one single entity is able to usurp power and exert undue influence. The general peace is maintained.
This accounts for why if you look at the Singapore Daily website; you see the “deregulate the net” emblem. Here it could be said, the webmaster and his team stand in opposition to our position; yet precisely because there is this delicate balance of power; we don’t feel our converse position would in anyway affect the happy relationship between aggregator and web content producer, thus allowing us and them to maintain our independence and respective stances. Now if you want to get all complicated, mathematicians refer to this as the law of equilibrium; I just call it; the art of how to get along.
My point is simply this; if we don’t want to end up mini me Temaseks, we should dedicate ourselves to the logic breaking up the linkages and networks even further, so that all information isn’t just restricted to one assembly line, but rather evenly spread out across the whole length of the reader spectrum – the whole idea is to seed diversity.
The converse is we run the risk of having only one super duper assembly line of information on the net – here instead of the net spreading out even further no overreach into new territory; it runs the risk of regressing and even convalescing under the sheer weight of being big. You can even say this is inexorable and it’s a condition that afflicts every big oligarchy without exception.
Doesn’t even matter whether it’s the one and only dominant political party that trumps the good life; or the one and only dominant newspaper that routs for the truth and nothing but the truth. Where power is vested in only one dominant entity instead of growing out holistically, the truth dies somewhere in the melee of power and politics; instead of ever broadening our attitudes and understanding, it narrows even further our understanding – about society, power, politics and even leads to at best a contorted truth.
This may seem like queer math to some of you; only because it is and I am really trying my best to gut out all the gobble-d-guck and make it as lay as possible.
Oh course at this point; you can very well say; “Well Darkness, it’s all well and fine for you to say all these things; because we all know the only reason why you can afford to say all these things is because you have absolutely nothing to lose; for one you don’t even allow them to aggregate what you all regularly write!”
And that my friend simply my point; you’ve even hit the nail squarely on the head; brought the point full circle even; that’s what it really takes to built a good net.
Think about it? Its queer but go with it.
Darkness 2008 [that’s all the 20 minutes I can spare, back to the thread mill of life]
[The Brotherhood Press 2008]
To the person or persons who run the SG Daily,
Do you really want to know why the fav reads seem to be permanently fixated on Daily SG: 12 May 2008 and why Daily ChioBu: Fiona Xie never seems to die off, like the Intelligent Singaporean.
I don’t have to tell you all this. But I want too, as I know none of those boys will ever tell you SG webmaster.
If you notice some of the readers refer to Darkness as “Bambi” and at other times “Bad Boy.” These are the old BP readers. You can read abt the history of “Bad Boy” here, http://www.hku.hk/hkcsp/ccex/ehkcss01/issue3_ar_amy_lai.htm
“Bad Boy” came after “Bambi.” We called him Bambi bc, he is a Disney fictional character who always ran away from evil hunters. Bambi is like the King of the forest and all the animals look up to him. The tragic thing abt Bambi is although he is talking about home. He never ever finds it.
That is why they came out with this thing called SLF. Stands for Single Line Feed. Its a sort of technology where one IP can carry something like 1,000 to 2,000 readers at a go. So we all share one IP. The problem with the SLF is it uses this thing, they called a navigation site, its very old technology, so it needs to be permanently fixed to one reference point, like a door way, that is why Fiona Xie regularly gets hits along with Daily SG: 12 May 2008. They use it as the door to this site.
That was how Bambi used to hide from the evil hunters. The hunters were webmasters who kept erasing the stuff he used to post on their forums. They considered him a troll and a spammer.
As a result many of the regular readers also develop ways to capture these reads and communicate with other readers. They call this read clubs. It is highly organized. You see if you look very carefully all BP articles run 3 to 4 pages. You know why? Bc none of us read the articles from the site here. One person copies it and it usually gets e-mailed to the others. Most of the old readers still print it out even.
They run 3 to 4 pages bc this was the exact lenght that his 4 bit love stories used to run. They are meant to be read on the train or passed around in the office etc.
That is why if you notice Fiona Xie doesn’t die, it still gets hits like all the articles once written in that site in the Intelligent Singaporean. That means the e-mail is making its rounds and it just keeps on going and going.
I just thought you should know SG daily webmaster. As I know they will never ever share this with even someone as good as you bc they trust no one. I mean no one. They have forgotten how to trust, love and care even I think. They have not changed after so many years. You would have thought after so many years of peace Bambi Bad Boy would have learnt to settle down in one place.
I hope it makes sense.
THIS IS AN IMPORTANT MESSAGE.
At Primus time @ 89300/3. We will be conducting an ultra silent test.
All of readers are invited to join us in this training exercise.
Chronicler
18 May 2008 at 12:40 am
THE DAY I CANCELLED MY SUBSCRIPTION OF THE STRAIT TIMES
I am sure all of you have read Miss Chua Lee Hoong’s lament concerning the Mas Selamat debacle online?
And who could possibly forget, le piece de resistance: Ong Sor Fern’s paramour,
“I HAVE never, nor will I ever, read blogs.”
You know what I resent most about these articles don’t you?
Apart from the condescending tone, the message to readers is blunt: “you will learn one way or another – our way – or hit the highway!” To add insult to injury, the newspapers pledge nothing in return.
Of course, I understand the impulse behind all this nervous energy only too well – newspapers are hemorrhaging revenue – they haven’t been able to prosper since the net made its debut etc. They’ve lost too much of their monopoly on the cultural authority they once commanded. No one I know, these days even aspires to be a journalist any longer. And judging from how even those who remain in the industry these days aspire to land comfy teaching job; it all makes a forgettable case for a poor excuse as a career choice.
But what really lies at the heart of the compact between news producers and consumers?
What if I said, all this is just an attempt to strip away the whole idea of the independent reader and squeeze his understanding into the factory-farming model of gobbling facts on the state assembly line? Too radical right? Yeah, but even you have to admit that’s a racy read.
Back to the cold cuts; if any thing, these manifestations reveal a characteristic failing of our newspapers: to assume if something is going wrong, like we’re not reading, then it has to be either the fault of the consumer or an supervening event like the net, not the news provider. Usually in the toss up, the evil net gets fingered; and just in case we might even forget it’s truly a land of the morally bankrupt. A steady stream of anti-net propaganda is regularly doled out, just so we never forget.
How convenient?
Tell me. If a restaurant found that its customers rarely ordered chicken, would it revise their chicken-menu, or ditch them?
Precisely, you get my point don’t you?
But when droves of readers abandon our beloved rag, they resort to compulsion, fear mongering and just plain hypnosis, rather than asking if there is something really wrong with the service they have been providing?
For instance; why is the Beijing Bureau so fat? Who the hell cares whether two hump back camels can’t find a decent bush to knob each other in the Gobi desert because of desertification?
Hey, you know what? No one gives two shits, what’s really happening in China!
Very strange indeed; if you consider the imperative is to captivate, yet none of the economics even suggest this is being seriously put to good and productive use.
But to accomplish this feat of customer satisfaction, our newspapers don’t need freedom as Cherian frequently likes to trout; rather all they need to buy into is the old fashioned idea of paying heed to customer service. Wat most of us really need to ask is this. Are we really getting value for money?
You know what? I don’t think so.
But the ongoing problems which frequently mire the relationship between its readers and news producers are only a symptom of two deeper trends that have been unfurling since the advent of the internet. The first is the growing disconnect between what consumers want and what is regularly been churned out. These days when one reads the ST, what’s not mentioned or written about is real news and what’s fleshed out is simply stuff most of us aren’t really interested in. I can’t speak for the vast majority of readers, but for me, as much as I want to continue reading the ST these days. I really see no compelling reason why I should even my time trying to wade out the shit from the nuggets – after a while, it just doesn’t make any sense to do so.
As a result most of my news these days comes from a patch work of foreign press usually in bits and pieces montages on the run on my Nokia Communicator; this I do quite well only because I have personal history of having once regularly read the New York Times, Independent and Guardian simultaneously; but again. My point is its hardly linear reading as much as it remains Jack rabbit hop here and there reading.
This worries me only because kids can’t do what I do these days. The only reason I acquired this skill was because during my university days; I genuinely enjoyed reading my derelict free copy of the Times, which I usually picked up in the tube. People who say littering is a crime should get their heads examined, it’s nothing short of a public service and beats navigating around KFC carcasses any day. My point this evening is simply this, without a solid foundation of what is really good news; its conceivable it’s impossible these days for youths to even develop the foundational skill sets to consistently winnow the truth from lies.
In the absence of captivating press that can be entrusted reliably to be the purveyor of the truth – against the endless choices presented by the internet, there will always be an incredible sense of release to go wild online and to confect their own version of a bent reality. But – more worryingly – these youths would never have once even learned how to structure thoughts. They haven’t taught themselves how to use a mix of newspapers, libraries and arguments to spot out, distinguish and even to differentiate what’s real from false. They will flail about and even lose their bearings – I fear.
The solution doesn’t lie in inuring the internet with a higher level of truth; my feel is all the G-15 bloggers need to seriously get their head examined; no one in their right mind proposes a plan to plough the sea; anymore than he could possibly hope blogosphere should mirror the news producing agencies of the real world; the internet will always be the domain of the amateur, diarist and at best an imitation of reportage. Rather the solution lies in investing in critical thinking skills in our schools and institutions of tertiary educations – youths these days desperately need to taught the skills sets of how to winnow the truth from lies.
Against the back drop of this reality, it’s not our press who should be making greater demands on their readers. It’s readers who should be making greater demands on their news producers – to provide a service they can really believe in and if possible even captivate them. Rather than a staid service they want to shun away from.
Incidentally, today is the first day; I hung out a post it on my door to the newspaper uncle; it read. “No more newspapers from today please. Tolong!”
Let’s see how it goes. I’ve keep you all updated, but don’t hold your breath.
The only cold turkey, I know is the one that’s set on prema freeze somewhere in my freezer.
Darkness 2008
[Compiled by Harphoon – The Brotherhood Press 2008]
@ 38. colgate people
Thank you for that little explanation. Very interesting this SLF.
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SHE TOLD ME, HER NAME WAS ‘SANDRA’ – A STUDY ON THE PRICE OF SOCIAL CONFORMITY
To be or not to be? That’s the question. In today’s society we are taught to give in. Fortunately, most of it is what I call the good giving; like volunteering to give up one seat in the trains for the aged or a pregnant woman. Slowing down for pedestrians who cross the zebra crossing and even digging for a few scraps of shrapnel whenever school girls accost me no end for donations.
But there’s a less savory side of giving in; which isn’t so good; and that’s the part where you give up part of who you really are or who you aspire to be; so that no one labels you a social retard. Here the like thumb screws; it works in steady increments relying on a plethora of fuzzy justifications such as the “collective good” or the “socially acceptable.” Sounds innocuous enough; after all everyone is happy and this way; besides you’re never going to get red flagged as a trouble maker, if you just learn to give a little.
But what happens when, the cost of conforming just slips over the line into plain selling out? What happens when saying yes or bowing out thrusts one’s consciences into turmoil because deep down, you just know its just plain rotten right down to the core?
I guess you can even throw the question on a broader canvas and ask yourself questions like what are you really expected to do when society is telling you one thing but your mind another?
When the question of conformity is posed that way, it gets terribly complicated, even darn right impossible to answer these questions. At the end of the day, it really boils down to beliefs and how prepared you are for the long haul. I mean there was this time; when I saw this transvestite all sprawl probably whacked up by one her customers over the bonnet of my car in Changi village. At first, I said to myself, I better outsource this to the police, but I don’t know whether they’re going to book her? So there I was running through the calculations till it was just about smoking; Mmmmh, what if I decided to take her home with me? What if the nosey parker bible thumping brigade in my condo spots me out with their high powered binoculars? What if someone whips out a camera phone and machine guns away? What if someone tells my ram rod pastor? What will happen to me? See my point, it’s a slippery slope, but one thing holds true in every calculation; it all boils down to how others see me and not how I actually see myself, as person. At the end of the day, that’s one of the things that I don’t really like about the whole giving in thingy; as what it usually solicits is a form of fight or flee. Where usually the response is the latter only because one has to take care of one’s interest first before others; you know what? You can even call me someone has a very weak personality, since I likely to be manipulated into conformity than someone who is sure of themselves as a person. But I am just being really honest here about how I make those life calculations.
As it turned out; I did take Mr Chin aka Sandra back home with me; that’s at least is what I gathered from his and her IC. And yes, the Bible brigade were not only rapidly mobilized, but they even filmed me carry Sandra into my apartment; and yes, my church was duly informed and it even reached a point when I even asked God why did he allow all these things to be done to poor me. At first, I tried to explain to everyone; but after a while. I realized, I was merely compounding their impression of me even further and very slowly, I just settled into a sort of stoic silence where I just didn’t even the slightest need to explain.
That particular incident set me adrift in more ways than I can possibly elaborate. You could even say; as far as my known community in condo land was concerned; I was the devil incarnate; gone were the days when every door was open to me; some people even came up to me and expressly told me not to look at their children; eventually, I kept to my world which saw me ridding mostly in the nights on my bike; it was a period which allowed me plenty of time to reflect; to really work out some things which I’ve just taken for granted all my life; respect, position and even the sense of belonging to a community.
Here I wish, I could say there is some redemptive ending which one usually associates with Hollywood movies when the sun breaks through the clouds and the hero discovers what he’s been searching for, but no; trite homily sugary narratives like if you conform to a way of life that is completely alien to their own, then you lose part of yourself in them! Sounds well and good, but it doesn’t cut any ice when one has to deal with malicious mail that is regularly slipped under my door. Words of comfort which are supposed to steel and fortify; like if you gave in to your principles then some little bit of the real you dies and is taken over by someone else who is the epitome of what society is looking for. You know what? I have no idea who was the idiot who came out with such clap trap. I really feel like shooting him with a tranquilizer gun and stripping him naked and tying up to the flag pole in the padang with a Ah Kua with a moustache.
Truth remains, life gets tough when you go against the system and it really doesn’t matter what the system is; it could be the consortium of nosey parker who run the condo community; the pastorial dream team; your bosses or even a group of people who think they are so smart in the net when they go about building us a giant coffin. At the end of the day even the best of us eventually learn not to cross those boundaries and to stick to our preplanned yellow brick lives. Those who do not conform will probably face the uphill. They will have to fight for their beliefs and constantly defend themselves and their ideals while they are living in a society that is constantly trying to hold them back, push them down, and beat the individuality out of them. Yet those who make it through, those who can proudly stand on their own two feet, will have a mental and physical strength entirely unknown to the other category of citizens also known as the conformists. You know, what? I don’t even believe in the last two sentences, but I just thought, it would allow me to reach the word count if I just included in as an adjunct.
At the end of the day; the life of the cookie cutter goes on; I still ride at night to Changi Village and on one night; when I just rained cats and dogs; I settled into a chair in some non distinct kopitiam in Changi Village mesmerized by some forgettable HK serial where this one eyed swordsman’s with really busy eyebrows was fighting to save the planet; besides the ABC beer auntie there never looked so good before in her cowboy booties and tank top. She’s even gave me the “special,” buy one get two free providing I stayed right on till her shift ended – and in the land of the fee where everything is going up and up; how can I say no to all that? And there amid it all, Sandra, the he or she, I once saved, sashays in with a few of her colorful friends; there, I was in my super skin tight spandex cycling outfit; amid the boisterous recount of how I saved her and the whales; the endless trades of yam seng and fren forever; providence won the day; good triumph over evil; the serpent’s head was crushed; and of course the lingering question: how they hell am I going to get home after this? The night wore on, unfurling like a prow on a calm ocean of time – there amid it all. I felt like crying for the very first time. The world suddenly became silent, calm, soon in my minds eye. I found myself like the mythical explorer standing before the prow of a boat as the ocean of time unfurled – life I realize just goes on.
Darkness 2008 (I have to leave the office now, I am sick and tired of pretending to work. Today, I took out a PAP application sheet.)
The Brotherhood Press – 2008
P.S: Chronicler, do we really need ultra silent training?
Chronicler.
What is the scariest thing to people who believe they can build an architecture to intercept the future? The scariest thing is when they lose control. The scariest thing is when they no longer have the power to influence, to coerce or to even persuade the would be outcome. Where it hurts most this is where we will hit again and again and again. I do not care what the cost is, here or any where else. It means little to me. Besides if they are not happy they can always sue me. Arrange for an interview series on this subject: WHY NONE OF MY ESSAYS EVER MAKES IT TO THE ONLINE CITIZEN –A STUDY IN SOCIAL/POLITICAL UNIPOLARISM IN THE NET. My feel is this is where it hurts most; so this is where we will hit again and again and again. After that we will all go to the UN and talk shop.
Meanwhile cancel the Ultra Silent training – re-establish SLF connection to 12 Daily. All you are doing is confusing our new readers.
Darkness 2008
“Meanwhile cancel the Ultra Silent training – re-establish SLF connection to 12 Daily. All you are doing is confusing our new readers.”
I am very sorry Darkness. I can’t do that. All the SLF’s have been shut down for security reasons.
We had a secret meeting last night; all of us decided thos would be best.
I am very sorry Darkness. I really am.
Sir, we have commenced powering off procedures. Once it starts, no one can stop it, not even you, it’s an automated shut down.
We need to pull out.
The Chronicler.
Darkness,
All of us agreed, you should be the last person to be told.
You see, you build the SLF’s. No father will kill off their own child.
Pls try to understand, you can hardly be entrusted to be objective over this matter.
Darkness, I want you to understand this was collective decision made by ALL of us.
http://ca.youtube.com/watch?v=hA4e239eyrg&feature=related
I am so sorry.
The Chronicler
Mr Chronicler et al,
I cannot believe what I hearing. No wonder I have not been able to log on the whole day. Have you noticed the traffic has dropped to only a measely 20%! Are any of you even aware? Hello there!!!!!!! This may not be any of my business, but I will have you know. I am one of the first few readers of the Brotherhood Press going all the way back to the icered.com days. So I have a right to speak my mind and none of you can stop me! What you people have done is despicable beyond description. Darkness put his heart and soul into creating those Single Line Feeds. They are as much as part of the BP as he is a part of BP, they are one of the same reality. That is the one thing that makes the BP unique, it has always had the underground feel. Now all this is gone! To many of us, this was more than just a means, it was an umbilical cord that connected us all to Darkness. The man who writes 365 days a year, without even a days respite. Now all of you have gone overboard with this whole idea of the Community Moderator and allowed not only your paranoia to sap all reason from your actions. But you have also stabbed Darkness in the back.You all betrayed him.
I met him once, a few years back ago. It was only briefly, but even then I realized, he was a very single minded man. A very unusual man who conveyed an uncommon strenght of character that came across in both word and deed. Even bfr meeting him, I heard much about him. This was the man who turned his whole back on his own church. Who walked away without ever once looking back even so much as once. He is gone for good. To the body of Christ, he will always be the one who got away, as he was not only the brightest, but deep down, he was also good, sincere and loving. Perhaps that was why he got himself into such a mess.
I have always prayed for Darkness return, but I know it will always be in vain. The man broke from us and then he broke from himself. It was very clear to all who saw it.
My fear is you have all hurt him terribly by your indiscriminate actions. He will never ever write again. Trust me. I know Darkness better than all of you put together. I have read every single one of his novels and every essay, he has published.
The man will just make himself a cup of coffee early in the morning and probably throw his Nokia Communicator into the Singapore River and go on with his life. He will never speak to anyone about this matter. He being Darkness will just walk away from it all.
You are all foolish! I cannot believe what all of you have done, really. I CANNOT BELIEVE IT!
Hello all,
Let’s all try to keep some semblance of calmness. I realize this must be very shocking to the regular users who have through the years being only using the SLF’s.
They have all obviously pulled the plug en mass. On even Darkness. They dont want to play ball any longer. They are not even interested to discuss, fight or even negotiate with the 15 bloggers or even this new committee that will come into effect. They are all without a single exception burning their own houses, packing off and closing shop.
Why?
I believe this is the clue.
I copied this from Yawning Bread’s site.
“Yawning Bread Sampler said…
To anonymous, 7 may 2008, 12:04
The problem lies in the word “anonymous”. Cherian’s argument is that decisions in society should be made by consulting as widely as possible, but I would add (and I am sure he agrees with me) that there will be limits, and one of those limits could be that participants must participate openly in the process.
Just as citizens need to identify themselves at polling booths, so it is not invalid to require that people wanting to be involved should identify themselves and stand up for their beliefs. In the absence of that, how would anyone even know that the “anonymous blogger” is Singaporean in the first place? And if we can’t be sure he is Singaporean, how does one justify his inclusion in a Singapore-societal discussion?
07 May, 2008 14:50
Anonymous said…
Dear Yawning Bread,
“how does one justify his inclusion in a Singapore-societal discussion?”
To me it’s very simple. If a man can migrate physically, so can his heart and brain.
Beyond that, I dont feel, I have a right to pry further.
But that’s all I need from him, a commitment that he’s genuinely working to make SG a better place to work, live and play.
You ppl feel you can throw ppl like that in the dustbin?
That’s fine. No worries, keep it up – we will pick it up.
We know value, when we see it.
If you want to be the best – the gold standard is not singapore. How can that be? It has to be the world.
Think abt it. I know that makes many insecure, but thats not my problem as much as it remains theirs to sort out.
Good luck in your enterprise.
Darkness 2008″
—————
I believe what is reflected in this two post is a fundamental difference not only in attitudes, but also in management style. One is open, the other tragically closed to all possibilities. One is dogmatic, the other is function and even goal driven.
You have to bear in mind the Brotherhood are essentially true and true gamers of an international caliber, so when one starts talking like a narrow person like the above. Not even a single one of them will agree. We all know 99% of all their Technology comes out of Singapore, so where the merit of even trying to run a net using only local talent. These people will just say very plainly, you dont have the right stuff and walk away. This is what they will do. Not Darkness, as he is quite a sentimental person, but others such as Cerebus, Vollaraine and especially the people who make up the Guilds are cut throat business man. If they know it doesn’t make sense. They will not put one cent into it. Doesnt even matter how many Majullah Singapura brownie points there are. If at the end of the day, the sums dont add up, they will just call a dog a dog, a bad investment a bad investment. What I think you all need to also understand is, the brotherhood do not make those sort of business decisions by themselves, they need to rely implicitly on their channel partners and what if they start to get wind some super nationalistic committee is going to run the net, wouldn’t they get jittery.
We have just started the first round of the extinction game. Play on.
Why did the rest of the boys hide it all from even Darkness? Was it betrayal? I don’t think so Doc. You are right in noting that Darkness is a sentimentalist, a romantic, a Rennaisance man. He would have fought to the very end.
Vollariane, The Chronicler and the ASDF are just very hard nosed businessmen. They know, it’s not worth to fight the govt or even this stupid Spanish Inquisition that is going to come abt. How do they know? Very simple. They will project it all out like a MS Excel spreadsheet.
So what probably happened was this. This spreadsheet was shown to darkness. He ignored it. The rest decided, we dont need to go with this dreamer. Lets plan a pull out in secret and tell him only in the last minute. That way he wouldn’t have time to sabo us.
They’re gone for good. Last time was all bluff, but this for real. Without the SLF Darkness cannot even post. He would have to rely on all of us like Missy Dotty Dotseng http://dotseng.wordpress.com/2008/05/21/she-told-me-her-name-was-sandra-%e2%80%93-a-study-on-the-price-of-social-conformity/
One thing is clear, Bambi had absolutely no idea abt all this, it was planned with ballet finesse and executed with military precision. Nothing was left to chance.
Back to the Crosby re-runs and Oprah book club for me.
Bye Bye all
Jannifer
“This place will stay up for another week or so then we’ll shut it down completely.”
Burn everything. Good. We are also erasing all traces of our presence from the Singapore blogosphere.
Remove all traces of the man who was once called Darkness. ALL HIS WRITINGS MUST BE DELETED. As if he never ever once existed.
This must be done bfr the “community regulator” comes into effect.
Switch off the lights when you’re done.
I have reserved a seat for you in SARAL. It’s best, if you feign ignorance abt it.
I was never here. I never said this.
Good bye
Chronicler.
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