Net was abuzz with politics during poll period

By Lynn Lee
May 9, 2006
The Straits Times

FROM satirical podcasts to serious discussions of political strategy, the Internet was a hotbed of activity during the election period, a development which took Internet watchers by surprise.

Most had expected the sound and fury during the campaign, which ended with Polling Day last Saturday, to emerge only from more traditional places, such as coffee-shop discussions and the mainstream media.

But the Net also contributed to the election buzz.

From the time the Writ of Election was issued on April 20, a flurry of posts appeared on blogs and forums, with some offering various theories on where the opposition Workers' Party would field its candidates and predicting the People's Action Party vote share.

When rallies began on April 28, dozens of short video clips capturing colourful and fiery rally speeches surfaced on websites such as SG Rally (sgrally.blogspot.com) and Singapore Election Rally Videos (electionrally.blogspot.com).

But whether Internet activity affected how Singaporeans voted is hard to determine, said academics interviewed by The Straits Times.

What was clear though, said Singapore Internet Research Centre director Randolph Kluver, was the heightened interest in politics, and the use of the Net as an alternative space for political discussion.

Local blog www.singapore govt.blogspot.com, whose author did not want to be named, received between 5,000 and 6,000 hits during the nine-day campaign period, double what he usually gets.

While the Internet is usually seen as a space for anti-establishment views bypassed by mainstream media, Institute of Policy Studies (IPS) researcher Tan Tarn How noted that cyberspace threw up pieces providing 'good analysis'.

'There were also posts that helped clarify facts and increase knowledge, for example, on whether a four-member team could contest a five-member GRC,' said Mr Tan, who is doing a study on the impact of the Internet as an alternative medium during the General Election.

Contrary to earlier warnings, blogs by individuals were left unfettered in the commentaries and clips they offered.

Even though the Government had issued a reminder that individual websites and blogs would have to be registered if they persistently promoted a political party or stance, no bloggers were asked to do so.

If they had been asked to register, they would have been banned from putting up election-related items on their sites and blogs or risk facing a fine of up to $1,000 or 12 months in jail, or both.

Mr Tan of IPS said the Government refrained from taking action for a likely host of reasons.

First, most blogs are anonymous, making it difficult to track down their authors.

Second, even if they could be identified, clamping down might result in a negative backlash during the campaign period.

Third, the Internet's impact here is smaller, as its reach is not as wide as print and television media.

But it was not all serious stuff. The Internet was the one source of election season humour, due in part to popular bloggers Lee Kin Mun and Benjamin Lee - known respectively on their blogs as Mr Brown and Mr Miyagi.

A podcast they put together, spoofing Workers' Party candidate James Gomez's run-in with the Elections Department, was downloaded more than 30,000 times three days after it went live.

Describing elections as 'serious business', Mr Lee Kin Mun, who voted in Aljunied GRC, said: 'That doesn't mean you can't laugh about it. And if a side effect of our humour is that it gets young people interested in what's going on, then that's good.'