Perspectives: Goh Meng Seng
Mr Goh Meng Seng, NSP member and
author of singaporealternatives.blogspot.com,
was gracious enough to accede an interview with SG Review. Mr Goh
aka MADCOW is probably Singapore's first cyber-celebrity,
establishing himself first as a key figure in Internet circles,
then standing for elections in the 2006 General
Elections.
SGR: You're one of the very first if not the first
Singaporean netizen who actually transited from cyberspace as
madcow (??) in Sammyboy to real life as a politician. The fact that
you came from the virtual to the real was cause for great fanfare.
What brought on this transition?
Goh Meng Seng: I started out in cyberspace as far
as 1991, way before internet was made available to the public in
Singapore. That was the time where only tertiary institutions like
NUS and NTU have the privilege to "test out" the new toy. I was
active in the message board and subsequently, to newsgroups. My
very first nick used was Vincent the BEast (inspired by movie "The
Beauty and the Beast" ) and subsequently changed to MADCOW, a
direct translation from my Hokkien slung nick "siaogu".
Anyway, that's just a little bit of history there. During the NUS
days, discussions on message boards were pretty more serious
although we still cannot avoid some mudslinging. In Singapore's
context, FEAR is everywhere and our father's generation of active
civil society was crushed by PAP's iron fist rule. The virtual
cyber world provided a "false sense of security" to many of us who
wanted to participate in policy discussions and occasional
"whacking" the ruling party and university administration. I
remembered we have initiated social-varsity movement, out of the
main stream organizations, like anti-fee hike petition, EOGM on
NUSSU President (ask Steve Chia and he will tell you that's when I
met him for the first time!) and things like that. Forum or
internet participation at that time, was an outlet of young
idealism of actions. It is a "mutated" kind of civil activism.
While some move forward to form the Round Table, Socratic Circle,
join the PAP Pyramid Club and such, many like me still preferred to
stay "un-associated" or "un-affiliated" with any organizations.
FEAR was the factor. I was even told that my file in ISD is piling
up!
Quality of discussion was very much better back then, most probably
those involved have a certain educational background. As I see it,
the Black September is just a natural process of civil activism via
internet participation. It happened in my University days where
people walk out from their anonymous nicks to fight for something
that they think are unjust....i.e. University Fee Hike, restriction
on dress codes..etc.
Walking into the era where internet access was made popular from
1995 onwards, we face another whole new world. However, the very
same FEAR factor was there and yes, the most common comments on us
were "keyboard critcs". 1997 GE changed a bit me back then. It was
the year that Goh Chok Tong used the famous "stick and carrot"
strategy of HDB upgrading. I was all fired up and protest violently
against such IMMORAL election tactic, yes, through the newsgroup
soc.culture.singapore. It is to me, the watershed GE which made me
to come to one simple conclusion: either I stay and fight the PAP
head on or I will just have to emigrate out for the sake of my
children and future generations.
GE 2001 is the General Elections that breaksmy own FEAR. But it was
also a time that I have to face my own FEAR in "direct
confrontation". Most of us have tried very hard to avoid facing our
very own FEAR directly. Most of the time, we just brush away any
mention of the word FEAR. In view of the situation back GE 2001,
opposition parties face a total collapse and risk losing their only
two seats and Singapore will be back in total political darkness.
It is under such circumstances that I have to reason and wrestle
with my FEAR to make my very first move into politics. And of
course, I beat my own FEAR and the rest is history...
http://www.sgreview.org/index.php?q=node/51