Monday, 18 August 2008
National Day Rally 2008
I just attended the National Day Rally tonight. The English speech has been embargoed until it is telecast tomorrow night, so the media will only report on it on Tuesday. All this is of course for a good cause -- our first Olympic medals in 48 years. While the NDR is always politically significant, I would encourage in particular everyone with an interest in the Internet and freedom of expression to watch it tomorrow or read the reports on Wednesday. And that's all I can say for now.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
9 comments:
That sound very very bad.
To salary: I'm not sure why you would think that from my posting -- but it's not bad at all.
Dear Sir,
I look forward what PM Lee has to say about closing the widening income gap. This has been a problem that has been with us for more than a decade. It is a great challenge as we try to solve it boxed in by various constraints and beliefs - "welfare is a dirty word", "subsidies will make us unhappy", "foreigners help create jobs for Singaporeans", "removing benefits will make employers more willing to hire", "retraining, retraining, retraining...".
I believe this is a serious if not the most serious problem facing our society. We ought to be tackling it with greater vigor and creativity.
You can watch it all on Channel NewsAsia's web site now. Having watched the portion on New Media and Politics, I'm impressed that the government is opening up to online videos and podcasts by the next general elections. His arguments were valid, that "infodemics" is a reality, yet adopting these new online interactive spaces is essential to responsible governance. I've posted a highlight of his speech where he demonstrates Qik on a Nokia n95 and provided commentary: http://theory.isthereason.com/?p=2299
Took the words right out of my mouth... Singapore's progress into transparency is now evident via Yahoo AP: Singapore to ease ban on political demonstrations
What's there to be impressed about ? They've already lost control of the internet. It's more of a damage limitation exercise. They've simply decided to amputate the leg instead of shooting themselves in the foot every time CSJ or Martyn See feel like having some fun.
Hi Mr Siew,
What I am interested in, is your thoughts on the speech.
Do you feel that the government have done enough to mitigate the impact of rocketing costs on the lower income Singaporeans, and that the problem is insufficient PR to make people realise that they are being helped?
What are your thoughts on the moves to open up? e.g. 'unbanning' political videos; no more reporting to police to talk at speakers corner; demonstrations at speakers corner etc.
To all: please see my latest post for my thoughts on the Rally. Thanks.
To all: please see my latest post for my thoughts on the Rally. Thanks.
Post a Comment