YOU can now poke, suckerpunch, and send a tulip - or perhaps a Venus Flytrap if you prefer - to the Government.
For it is now on Facebook. To be precise, its feedback arm, Reach, has created a profile on the popular social networking website.
Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong yesterday viewed it at the launch of Reach's roving interactive exhibition at the HDB Hub in Toa Payoh.
Putting on his spectacles, PM Lee confirmed four friend requests (adding to the existing 281), checked out photos of Reach events and typed a message on the wall of one of its friends.
"Welcome to Facebook! Glad to have you as a friend. Please tell your friends too," he typed, signing off as "LHL (for Reach)".
The profile was created two weeks ago and was made public to all yesterday. It can be found by searching for "Reach Singapore".
Reach chairman Amy Khor said it was a necessary platform to engage netizens.
"Singaporeans are increasingly comfortable with the new media. So to engage them on this platform is not just something logical but vital," she said, noting that Facebook was one of the top 12 search hits for Singaporeans last year.
At the same time, the nature of Facebook means there is a "multiplier effect" as friends of friends can be linked.
They will be able to give their responses to poll questions, such as what they think of the Budget, the National Day Rally or simply the latest policy announcement.
The Facebook effort is the latest in the arsenal that Reach is building to engage Singaporeans as it tries to combat the perception that the Government does not listen enough when it formulates policies.
For those who are less Internet-savvy, a roving exhibition was launched yesterday. It will tour community centres in the heartland and educational institutes islandwide.
It addresses questions like "Does Reach edit my feedback?" The reply: "Feedback is not edited to retain the original sentiment and nuance."
At the event, PM Lee also suggested that Reach start an online live screen showing the latest feedback.
Dr Khor, who is also Senior Parliamentary Secretary in the Ministry of the Environment and Water Resources, later said Reach will look at posting a summary of the top three issues each month either on its website or on its Facebook profile.
Giving an update on Reach's progress since she took over in 2006 and revamped the former Feedback Unit with efforts like a blog, Dr Khor said results have been "encouraging".
In the past year alone, input increased by 40 per cent while the number of members jumped 70 per cent to 8,500.
Marketing executive Rita Ong, 37, who has a Facebook account, said such new efforts will appeal to younger Singaporeans. "As they spend so much time surfing the Net, giving their feedback is now just a matter of clicks."
xueying@sph.com.sg
This article was first published in The Straits Times on 28 June 2008.
