Political Commentators

Gutentaginator SG

Hi Friends,

They give their views about current affairs.

They help people voice up.

They write well and criticise base on facts.

Recently, these people somehow emerged through Blogs and websites and TV appearances.

Tan KL , Ngiam TD, TOC's G.Giam and of course Siew KH, just to name a few.

Often giving good criticisms about policies affecting the public,

they Oppose policies at times, they appear Opposition-like. None of them , however, is an Opposition party member.

Siew KH , I believe belongs to the ruling.

Ngiam , worked for them before and now his company is so-called privatised.

Tan KL, kind of similar background, retired.

Coincidentally, all of them , except Ngiam, contribute to TOC.

Except for Siew, non of them are politicians.

What puzzles me is, given that the Opposition lacks good talent, and they all show that they are active in giving political commentaries and are very interested in politics, and some could have some spare time to contribute to society, and they write well and are all credible in their own ways, WHY do they not JOIN the OPPOSITION?

I am working on finding out the reasons behind this situation and to understand the bigger picture behind this phenomenon.

Please share with me your views on this.

Danke!

Tchuss!!

Dondontan SG

Will they make any significance if they become oppositions while MM Lee is still leading?

Sialution SG

maybe the effects they generate being NOT in a political party is greater?

Fantagf SG

maybe the effects they generate being NOT in a political party is greater?

Yes, this way they don't attract that sort of attention from LKY and his party to ever be ready to sue sue sue.

Sialution SG

hard to say also... see what happened to MrBrown...

But at least he not bankrupted like some others.... cos he not in political party...

Fantagf SG

hard to say also... see what happened to MrBrown...

But at least he not bankrupted like some others.... cos he not in political party...

Not in the limelight, not that threatening so PAP need not give any severe charge.

Jingojingjing SG

Hi forumites,

Nowadays, we see more non-Oppositional Political commentators who collect forum views from the internet and compile them into their blogs and they also provide their own views on social issues.

This seems like a growing trend.

Come 2011, what do you guys and gals foresee this effect on the elections?

Will those who initially feel like voting for the opposition swing their decisions as they now can have their alternative views heard via channels like these non-Oppositional political commentary blogs who at times have helped to influence some policies?

What is your views on this trend and the Opposition parties' prospects, considering that there are more oppositon parties now with Reform Party coming into the picture to woo or split opposition votes?

Jingo

Stevenson101 SG

Could you put Sylvia Lim on that list? She's pretty good too.

Gutentaginator SG

People like Tan KL are active writers in TOC who give high level recommendations and suggestions to current affair issues.

If they keep making suggestions and recommendations 1st, would this in any way not dilute the effectiveness and relevance of opposition parties?

I think the opposition's future may not be certain. Voters may find that non opposition people are proposing and suggesting but what are Opposition people doing to show people they can also make high level suggestions and recommendations?

Dondontan SG

People like Tan KL are active writers in TOC who give high level recommendations and suggestions to current affair issues.

If they keep making suggestions and recommendations 1st, would this in any way not dilute the effectiveness and relevance of opposition parties?

Take Workers" Party for example, they have been too quiet as an opposition.

Jingojingjing SG

There has been a focus on the youths since the last election.

There has been focus on how to utilize the internet to reach out the youths or spreading information. For example how to use youtube effectively.

Hip Hopping people for example. Stomp , Xin.sg , Class 95 video'ing event - all these reach out to the youths and probably help get a feel of what they are thinking.

I learned from my friend studying film making that there is a shortfilm contest organized by revolution.you.sg and

SUPPORTED by National Youth Council, Ministry of Community Development, Media Development Authority and The Singapore Film Commission, just to name a few. TOC was also invited to participate in speaking to the youths for the film contest.

TOC , in my humble opinion, provides politely, poetically, even scholastically written commentaries on social issues that affect all of us. Basically any issue read in newspapers. Taking a look at TOC blog site, you can see that Tan Kin Lian, former chief of National Trade Union Congress Income, is also an active senior writer.

It existed since Dec 2006, a few months after the GE. Yet, it manage to get published in newspapers and even invited to appear on CNA today! Opposition parties like WP does not get seen much, if any, on TV they also are rarely, if at all, heard on Air and also less read in newspapers than....

I share with some forumites that something is happening . How will this phenomenon affect Opposition party is an interesting case study. Online blogs and websites like TOC appear to be non-partisan. Imagine the effect they can have on the youths and on the next election, should they take part .

I can only wonder how all these shall or could affect Opposition parties like WP and Chiam See Tong's party. Interesting to know is it not?

Jingo

potato chips social issues observer

drakxen SG

Yes, this way they don't attract that sort of attention from LKY and his party to ever be ready to sue sue sue.

methinks it's not the PAP that is the problem. when you are in opposition the expectations of you change.

take for example - csj, jbj (too noisy), cst, ltk, sl (too quiet). non-partisans are never too quiet or too noisy. everytime they write an article, people cheers. and alot of these people who cheer them are pro-opposition who cheer them over the opposition.

when csj an NUS lecturer entered politics opposition supporters had high hopes. today they condemn him for being a mad dog.

when sl a temasek poly lecturer entered politics opposition supporters again had high hopes. today they condemn her for being too quiet. although it's a different camp, they are all opposition supporters alike.

why do they want to enter opposition then?

Poh Ah Pak SG

today they condemn him for being a mad dog.

I don't see Chee Soon Juan as mad dog.

I see Lee Kuan Yew as dog shit however.

t_a_s SG

I suggest capable bloggers join opposition party, and contest all seats. Don't let pap win during nomination day!!!

Jingojingjing SG

In this case,

comparing TOC and Opposition,

I must say TOC is more EFFECTIVE in communicating social and political issues to the masses than existing generation of Opposition parties.

There seems to be good reasons why Opposition could not win any GRC in the last election despite the humongous turnout at rallies.

My recommendation is that they learn from Activists. They may never have a chance again.

just my 2 cents.

Jingo

Neutral element

drakxen SG

In this case,

comparing TOC and Opposition,

I must say TOC is more EFFECTIVE in communicating social and political issues to the masses than existing generation of Opposition parties.

There seems to be good reasons why Opposition could not win any GRC in the last election despite the humongous turnout at rallies.

My recommendation is that they learn from Activists. They may never have a chance again.

just my 2 cents.

Jingo

Neutral element

most of the time, the issues TOC communications are the issues of opposition parties. if opposition parties did not create issues, what is there for TOC to write about?

hard to believe people don't see that.

Gutentaginator SG

In this case,

comparing TOC and Opposition,

I must say TOC is more EFFECTIVE in communicating social and political issues to the masses than existing generation of Opposition parties.

There seems to be good reasons why Opposition could not win any GRC in the last election despite the humongous turnout at rallies.

My recommendation is that they learn from Activists. They may never have a chance again.

just my 2 cents.

Jingo

Neutral element

My friend skyped me saying that goh confident of winning back hg in not too distant future.

I wonder what it will be like when a so-called 1st world has zero opposition wards or worse no opposition mp in the parl.

if not already so, this scenario would certainly make singapore unique among 1st worlds.

singaporeans may not have any opposition to represent them in parl , if hg is returned and as we know, potong pasir may also be lost.

There may not be any more chance left for opposition if they do not improve this time round. There has never been a better chance for opposition. But with the strategies implemented by the P4P, and the Fragmentation of Oppositons parties , and the lack of daring and strong opposition challenge may just spell the demise of opposition in singapore resulting in a truely 1 party state.

Good or bad depends on the People what they want. I shall remain neutral being merely a singapore observer.

Jingojingjing SG

The Online Citizen article :

Monday, 28 July 2008, 8:49 pm | 267 views

NTUC Fairprice is extending its discount scheme till the end of October. This move comes after MAS revised upwards its inflation forecast for 2008 for the third time last Tuesday, it says.

In a media release received by The Online Citizen, NTUC FairPrice Group CEO Mr Tan Kian Chew said, “In view of continued inflationary pressure, we have decided to continue to help our customers fight the inflation war by extending the discount scheme for another three months.”

In the scheme, shoppers get a five per cent discount on 500 housebrand items when they shop at FairPrice. Priced “at least 10 percent cheaper than comparable national brands”, and with the five per cent discount, NTUC says consumers can “save at least 15 percent on the 500 essential housebrand items.”

Introduced in December last year, the scheme was extended twice to end July 2008. The extension till end October 2008 will help consumers save up to S$1.5 million, NTUC says.

Last Sunday, NTUC FairPrice Foundation presented S$1.5 million worth of FairPrice vouchers, under the FairPrice Food Voucher Scheme, to help needy families all across Singapore cope with the impact of rising cost of living.

=====================================================================

A blog fan asked TOC regarding the words in red shown above.

1) Jackson Tan on July 29th, 2008 7.04 pm

Actually, quite tangential to this news, I noticed that it’s mentioned TOC receives a media release from NTUC, likewise for the previous news regarding NTUC’s aid.

Does this mean that NTUC sent emails to TOC? If so, that’s certainly a positive sign, with TOC receiving attention from some larger organisations in Singapore.

----------------------------------

TOC Replied:

2) theonlinecitizen on July 29th, 2008 7.18 pm

Dear Jackson,

Yes, we receive press releases from NTUC FairPrice. We also receive such releases from a few others as well, including Anwar Ibrahim’s office.