PAP declares war on Netizens, Moments later...Netizens declare war on PAP

PAP moves to counter criticism of party, Govt in cyberspace
By Li Xueying, ST, Feb 3 2007, Link

THE People's Action Party (PAP) is mounting a quiet counter-insurgency against its online critics.

It has members going into Internet forums and blogs to rebut anti-establishment views and putting up postings anonymously.

Sources told The Straits Times the initiative is driven by two sub-committees of the PAP's 'new media' committee chaired by Manpower Minister Ng Eng Hen.

One sub-committee, co-headed by Minister of State (Education) Lui Tuck Yew and Hong Kah GRC MP Zaqy Mohamad, strategises the campaign.

The other is led by Tanjong Pagar GRC MP Baey Yam Keng and Bishan-Toa Payoh GRC MP Josephine Teo. Called the 'new media capabilities group', it executes the strategies.

Both were set up after last year's General Election. Aside from politicians, some 20 IT-savvy party activists are also involved.

When contacted, Mr Baey declined to give details of the group's activities, but he outlined the broad principles of the initiative.

It was necessary for the PAP to have a voice in cyberspace as there were few in the online community who were pro-establishment, he said.

As such, the committees aim to 'observe how new media is developing and see how we can use the new media as part of the overall media landscape', he added.

'How do we facilitate views that are pro-party and propagate them through the Internet?'

The approach reflects comments by Rear-Admiral (NS) Lui at the PAP's party conference in December. He called on younger activists to put up views 'to moderate the vitriol and balance the skewed comments' on the Internet.

But this can only work if activists are not 'too obvious' about it, Mr Baey said yesterday. Otherwise it comes across as 'propaganda'.

'The identity is not important. It is the message that is important,' he added.

One activist who is involved said that when posting comments on online forums and the feedback boxes of blogs, he does not identify himself as a PAP member.

He tracks popular blogs and forums to 'see if there is anything we can clarify' on hot-button topics such as the impending hike in the Goods and Services Tax.

But he added: 'We don't rebut everything. Sometimes, what is said is fair enough, and we send the feedback on to the committee.'

This latest initiative comes on top of a blog site with posts by 12 MPs born after Singapore's Independence in 1965.

It recognises that more younger Singaporeans are relying on the new media as a main source of information.

An Institute of Policy Studies (IPS) study conducted last year found that younger and better-educated Singaporeans relied on information from the Internet when shaping their voting choices at the last GE.

Among the opposition parties, members and supporters of the Workers' Party, in particular, post regularly on forums online.

But IPS senior research fellow Tan Tarn How wonders about the effectiveness of the PAP's campaign.

He said Internet users who post on forums such as Sammyboy tend not to be interested in 'intellectual debate' and so will not be persuaded by PAP activists anyway.

As for more serious-minded bloggers, he said the views that the activists may put out are already available in the mainstream media.

KnyghtRyder says:
The problem with the powers that be in Singapore is that they think that there should only be 1 view for everything.. 1 solution to every problem. They simply don't know how to handle themselves in the complex world where there are many ways and many views.

That's why there is all this talk about fixing and managing. they should take a lesson from nature.. if you over-prune your garden, it may look well managed but it will be sterile. Sometimes you need a bit of weeds and a bit of undergrowth.

While it is true that most of the posts in this forum are frivolous, anyone who has spent any time trawling the other popular forums knows that Sammyboy is still the place where people post their true feelings as opposed to the sanitised and self-censored forums like stomp and ypap. I would much rather spend my time here than anywhere else. Who wants to read the same substantive post over and over again like in stomp.

honour6 says:
Those fucks are already in Sammyboy. Don't engage any of these fucks; they are just using it to gauge the ground.

How to have an intellectual debate with people who insist 66.6% is a mandate; who thinks of fixing the opposition and who puts hum in their mee siam.

methings2say says:
Let them come, one and all. It will be interesting to see those 'intellectual debate' by pappies. I for one would like to be persuaded.

I am looking forward to it. But are the pappies capable?

The_Latest_H says:
I will be happy to and welcome and counter those PAP online activists.

Besides, pro-PAP people have been in this forums for a long time now, and I have successfully countered their arguments.

Angry_One says:
I have no qualms about PAP lackeys coming in here and reading all that we have to say, but what annoyed me was the mindset of the establishment towards disagreeing minds, using words like "dissidents" and "rabble-rousers".

It is one thing to be a dissident against Sinkapore; it is another to be one against the corrupt PAP.

I would like a chance to go into forums like STOMP too, to 'clarify and manage their views'. But my personal details are required, which is a violation of my cyber-freedom.

The very same cyber freedom which the PAP lackeys use to post here anonymously!

Doggyy says:
I personally feels that it is a welcoming sign that those PAP bast**ds are finally engaging with the bloggers.

They could offer us an alternative view from their perspective and explain further on their actions. This could help us to broaden our perspective as well. We could be wrong at times but at least they could consider our feedback and understand where we come from.

StingWasp says:
Are these people paid by the PAP as employees of the PAP or are they funded by the taxpayers of Singapore.

I hope they are employed and PAID by the PAP themselves.

yapi_yapo says:
It was not so long ago that they say the internet do not have credibility as people post anonymously.

Now they are justifying this themselves and propagating anonymously.

Talk about slapping their own face!