Dissecting Minister Lui Tuck Yew’s take on the New Media
From our Correspondent
During a dialogue on the changing media landscape with some 200 members of the Singapore Press Club, Acting Minister for Information, Communication and Arts Rear-Admiral Lui Tuck Yew said the mainstream media can meet the Internet challenge by continuing to stay accurate and balanced in its coverage – not by becoming adversarial or one-sided like socio-political blogs. (read article here)
“Newspapers in the West have seen their circulation and advertising revenue take a dent, as more readers and viewers migrate online. However the mainstream media here still holds a secure position despite the emergence of sites like Wayang Party and The Online Citizen.” he said. (Wayang Party is the predecessor of Temasek Review)
Obviously, Mr Lui and his colleagues from MICA have been keeping track of both sites’ readership which have increased by more than 50% in less than a year. Though the increase is remarkable, it still has not reached a stage where it is sizable enough to compete directly with the mainstream media and pose a threat to them.
As an example of selective reporting on the blogosphere, he cited a recent online video of an elderly Singaporean woman who makes a living by collecting and selling scrap cardboard.
The video was flagged by several bloggers earlier as evidence that Singapore does not take care of its poor and elderly.
But the online commentators ‘did not mention she had a three-room flat that was fully paid for, and that she has five children but did not want to rely on them to support her’.
The reason why online news sites are unable to find out more about the elderly woman’s background is because they do not have access to state resources and information like the mainstream media. We do not even know where to locate her.
Besides, these sites are run by part-time amateurs and not full-time journalists who can afford all the time in the world to conduct a thorough investigation into the story they are writing.
Singapore’s alternative news media is still in its infancy compared to Malaysia’s. There is a difference between an online news site and a blog. A news site like ours churns out news from Singapore and around the world on a daily basis while blogs publish commentaries which may or may not be updated daily.
The next stage of development will be to turn professional. There is a lot of potential in the new media industry especially in Singapore where there is only one company – SPH in the business. It is time to give it some competition and allow consumers have a real choice.
Under the present circumstances, it will be make perfect sense for the two most popular socio-political blogs in Singapore to pool their limited resources together and collaborate to increase their readership collectively as a unit.
This will involve setting up a new media company to venture not only into online publishing, but into other business opportunities such as online advertising, blog TVs and website design to generate revenue to sustain the operations.
The company will have to run not only socio-political sites, but other “mundane” sites like entertainment, sports, leisure and healthcare as well.
Given the generalized apathy of Singaporeans, it will be foolhardy and suicidal to depend solely on politics to attract the crowd.
The key strategy will be to draw in passive readers through other means, get them hooked to the site and “indoctrinate” them slowly over time.
Sites run purely by amateurs and volunteers will not last long because there is simply no incentive or motivation for them to work on it unless there is some form of monetary reward or compensation at the very least.
The two news sites in Malaysia with the highest readership – Malaysiakini and the Malaysia Insider are both run by full-time journalists.
Journalists do not come cheap in Singapore. A fresh Malaysian journalist out of university commands a monthly salary of only RM $2,000. A Singapore journalist will fetch a basic salary of more than S$2,500 a month.
Despite the difficulties ahead, we have no choice but to take this route if we are to build a credible online news daily which will one day exceed the readership of Channel News Asia.
Mr Lui need not be too worried about the rising readership of sites like ours. In fact, they will become more moderate and less adverserial in order to capture the mainstream audience.
As Mr Lui himself admits, “the established media cannot escape the speed and immediacy of the new media.” Whether the government likes it or not, the new media is here to say.
Today we are the ones who are proposing the setting up of new media company to challenge SPH’s dominance. We may or may not succeed, but one thing we can be sure of, somebody will eventually achieve this feat some day. It is only a matter of time.
Instead of fretting over the purportedly biased, inaccurate and aggressive reporting of the new media, why not make use of the opportunity to build bridges with them to create a win-win situation for both parties?
The government has to change its attitude and behavior towards bloggers, in particular those who blog on socio-political affairs.
Nobody has the monopoly on truth. There is always two sides to the same story. Adopting a paternalistic stance against bloggers will only peeve them off and “radicalize” them further.
Rather than seeing them as potential troublemakers to be taught a lesson, the government should start treating news site operators and bloggers as partners in building a better Singapore for our future generations.
When we criticize the government, it is not because we hate them or bear a grudge against them. It is because we care for our country that we have decided to speak out though our criticisms may not be entirely justified due to our limited understanding of the situation on the ground.
Take for example the AFP video quoted by Mr Lui which triggered a torrent of criticisms from bloggers earlier against the government for not taking care of its poor and elderly. Will Mr Lui prefer that netizens remain nonchalant about it after watching the video?
Though bloggers may have wronged the government, the fact remains that they are doing so out of genuine concern about the plight of the poor and needy in our country.
Being the Minister for Information, Communication and Arts, Mr Lui should understand the importance of communication. His ministry has to do much more to reach out to the online community, listen to what they have to say and engage them on an equal basis to create a more open, transparent and competitive media landscape.
Perhaps the best way to “neutralize” the threat posed by the alternative news site is to liberalize the mainstream media itself: allow journalists more leeway and independence to report on socio-political affairs in Singapore.
Some Singaporeans turn to the new media because they are sick and tired of the daily spins and propaganda churned out by the Singapore media to insult their intelligence.
There will come a day when a significant segment of the population become so disillusioned and disgusted with the mainstream media that they stop reading it altogether resulting in them devouring whatever the new media has to offer even if it does not quite reflect the reality.
This is exactly the situation in Malaysia which allows online news portals like Malaysiakini to grow, proliferate and prosper.
The Singapore media is living on borrowed time. The only reason why they appear to be dominant now is because their opponents are still pretty weak, poor and inexperienced, but we are learning the ropes fast and the gap between us is narrowing with each passing day.
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cy on Thu, 10th Sep 2009 11:03 am
are you serious in working with your rival?
that would be good news
btan on Thu, 10th Sep 2009 11:15 am
Seems like PAP is on to your site and TOC. Take care guys.
Right now, you are not a threat to them. Should you one day grow to become like Malaysiakini and become a force to be reckon with, even if you provide “balanced” report (which in my opinion, is PAP-speak for carry-their-balls), they will be gunning for you.
No media with a wide reaching audience will be allowed to function without their stooges controlling it, be it supportive or non-supportive.
Another possibility is, once you attained “respectability”, you may be afraid to lose what you have. You may forget your original mission and become corrupted, just like PAP. After all, power corrupts and money talks. If your singtel advertisers threatened to pull out a multi-thousand advertisement just because you bad-mouth the establishment, you may just capitulate and “give them this one”.
So, please guard both these factors.
flyingdagger on Thu, 10th Sep 2009 11:31 am
What about a platform and model like Korea’s Ohmynews.com, will it work here in Singapore?
Fairplayplease on Thu, 10th Sep 2009 11:53 am
Of course, the funny omission NOT UTTERED is that MSM have not interviewed the old lady why she could NOT and would NOT, perhaps has compelling reasons, to burden her children. Her children too could be trapped in poverty with more onerous burden of their own and unable to cope. The 3-bedroom flat bought maybe 40 years ago could have cost her only a few thousand dollars and her children already helped her on that score.
Regardless, TR and TOC is being watched – that is your credibility of public interests of reality. There is a lot of public pain and hardships in society they would rather not know about – worse to come when the opening of casino feeds the desperate’s false hopes of relief.
admin on Thu, 10th Sep 2009 11:59 am
Hi flyingdagger,
Can you tell us more about it? How does it work?
James Oh on Thu, 10th Sep 2009 12:41 pm
‘Don’t post stupid stuff’
“US President Barack Obama warns internet-savvy youths about the dark side of online postings.
First of all, I want everybody here to be careful about what you post on Facebook, because in the YouTube age whatever you do, it will be pulled up again later somewhere in your life,” Obama said.
“And when you’re young, you know, you make mistakes and you do some stupid stuff.
“I’ve been hearing a lot about young people who, you know, they’re posting stuff on Facebook, and then suddenly they go apply for a job, and …”
Obama’s advice about the perils of modern technology were born of bitter experience, as he has fallen victim to the YouTube age of modern campaign politics several times himself when off-the-cuff remarks or events have shown up on web videos or blogs.”
alamak.com on Thu, 10th Sep 2009 12:42 pm
How true, let’s hope one fine day the main stream media, or more accurately the PAP who controls the main stream media, wake up and realize that they have no way to liberalize the main stream media in order to attract the lost readership so far.
Mr Bean on Thu, 10th Sep 2009 12:52 pm
If the majority residents see the problems that readers in these 2 blogs have seen for the last few years,
there is no doubt in my mind they will also feel that many things need to be improved.
However, the viewer ship is not even on par with MSM to pose any threat. This i attribute to Apathy. This is the only explanation i can find.
All have access to internet.
The blogs have been named in the MSM before.
Its clear the people will only learn the hard way.
Now all we can really do is Wait for the Act of the Ultima.
Majority wins and sometimes this can be a pain.
btan on Thu, 10th Sep 2009 1:45 pm
@Mr Bean
It is two years till next election, plenty of time to grow readership.
My only wish is TR don’t pick and choose opposition parties, cos we simply just can’t do it at this moment.
sphgal on Thu, 10th Sep 2009 1:57 pm
To pose any real challenge to the MSM. You need to be able to crack one very hard nut that even the WSJ haven’t been able to figure out. How do you make it work financially? As I see it the Malaysiakini model would not have succeeded if the opposition did not bankroll it secretly.
The other way is to work people who are already know the ropes and the in’s and out’s of minting money online through sale of products and services, but these people who are like the brotherhood are hardly your kosher antiseptic lot. They seem to be more like pirates who seem to have a polish and preppie sheen about them. As half the time they are running foul of IP laws by transacting in things which cannot even see the light of day. Or selling schemes which are so mind boggling that no one understands them except maybe a few people. But I am sure somewhere down the line fake money gets changed to real money, but how it happens is anyone’s guess.
Besides they don’t seem to even remotely interested in the Social Political blog scene and from what I see, they are just happy to have a token presence. They don’t seem to want to take equity. Or to even develop it beyond what it already is.
So back to square one.
Anonymous on Thu, 10th Sep 2009 2:46 pm
OUT OF TOUCH with the people again.
Anonymous on Thu, 10th Sep 2009 3:07 pm
WHY he like to put his SAF rank, he is now a civilian minister not a Junta Military Government minister.
Anonymous on Thu, 10th Sep 2009 3:11 pm
ANOTHER ONE out of touch with the people.
Transparency? Does it serve purpose? – Lim Hwee Hua
http://theonlinecitizen.com/category/quotes/
http://theonlinecitizen.com/2009/08/…-lim-hwee-hua/
Transparency? Does it serve purpose? – Lim Hwee Hua
We have to ask ourselves if transparency is an end in itself, or if it is the means to an end… If all our cards are revealed in pursuit of complete transparency, does that serve the purpose of having Temasek and the Government of Singapore Investment Corporation manage the reserves well?
Lim Hwee Hua
TEMASEK AND TRANSPARENCY: LIM HWEE HUA
Some Singaporeans are sore that they do not know enough about how “their money” is being invested by Temasek Holdings, acknowledged Singapore’s first female Cabinet minister, Mrs Lim Hwee Hua.
“We have to ask ourselves if transparency is an end in itself, or if it is the means to an end,” said the Minister in the Prime Minister’s Office to Petir. “If all our cards are revealed in pursuit of complete transparency, does that serve the purpose of having Temasek and the Government of Singapore Investment Corporation manage the reserves well? The goal is really to value-add for all stakeholders.
“It is reasonable for people to ask questions, but ultimately the government holds the responsibility for deciding how much to reveal in our best interests.”
Anonymous on Thu, 10th Sep 2009 3:27 pm
The article was published in TodayOnline
http://www.todayonline.com/Singapore/EDC090812-0000073/TEMASEK-AND-TRANSPARENCY–LIM-HWEE-HUA
Anonymous on Thu, 10th Sep 2009 3:30 pm
Other comments to LBW mention of Temasek and Transparency
http://theonlinecitizen.com/2009/08/transparency-does-it-serve-purpose-lim-hwee-hua/
Idiot on Thu, 10th Sep 2009 3:50 pm
“If there are good grounds for them to take a certain position, which may be detrimental to the interests of an establishment or an institution, they are prepared to do so and they do so from a point of view of responsibility.”
This is actually entirely irrelevant.
It is not a question whether a FACT is detrimental or beneficial to anybody to decide to report or not, but rather whether that FACT is indeed a fact and something significant for the general public to know.
However deciding the degree of significance for the non existent, abstract “general public” is a difficult thing for any one person or institution to do; and especially and particularly so when that one voice is controlled, and any potential conflict of interests is masked and cannot at all be discounted.
And thus the need for a multitude of voices.
Anonymous on Thu, 10th Sep 2009 4:04 pm
MORE COMMENTS
http://theonlinecitizen.com/2009/08/transparency-does-it-serve-purpose-lim-hwee-hua/comment-page-1/#comment-104013
Anonymous on Thu, 10th Sep 2009 4:58 pm
An interesting article
http://theonlinecitizen.com/2009/02/did-lim-hwee-hua-say-gic-lost-41-of-investments/
flyingdagger on Thu, 10th Sep 2009 8:39 pm
admin@11:59, below are some links for your info on Ohmynews.
http://www.prwatch.org/node/6407
http://english.ohmynews.com/articleview/article_view.asp?no=219455&rel_no=1
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/OhmyNews
RSS Courageous on Thu, 10th Sep 2009 9:12 pm
Acting Minister for Information, Communication and Arts:
Rear-Admiral (NS) Lui Tuck Yew
He ‘retired’ as NAVY’s chief after the RSS Courageous incident in 2003. Now he is a PAP minister for information, communications and arts.
Talk about recycling.
admin on Thu, 10th Sep 2009 9:15 pm
Hi Flyingdagger,
Thanks for the links.
The setup of ohmynews is exactly the model adopted by us and online citizen now. Both sites rely primarily on freelance writers.
Ohmynews did employ a two full-time staff and was registered as a company. Even then, it is losing up to 700m won yearly.
In order for us to expand further, we will definitely need at least one full-time editor supported by a team of freelance writers.
The unfortunate truth is: one needs to have deep pockets in order to compete in the media industry.
establishment on Thu, 10th Sep 2009 9:36 pm
As Singaporeans, why are the articles on this website so pro-Malaysia? Do you want the Singaporean society that was built on the backs of your parents to degenerate into Malaysia? Riots on the streets, muggings, robberies, corruption, racism, and governmental incompetence?
fpc on Thu, 10th Sep 2009 10:47 pm
//establishment
Yeah, the very shitty country that you described produces the people (FT) that your government is trying to attract to work for them and to be your fellow citizens..
I don’t know if that justify the negative comments that you made about that country.
Isay on Thu, 10th Sep 2009 11:41 pm
A quote from this blog (http://simplygab.blogspot.com/2009/09/be-warned-but-dont-be-fooled.html) “While the MSM in media will likely, and for the foreseeable future, maintained its position as the dominant source of information, it no longer holds the monopoly in truth and breadth of coverage.” …. these days, the MSM read more like a company newsletter. To get a fuller picture of certain news or to help get the mind to think more critically and intelligently, new media or others seems to be doing a better job.
CK on Fri, 11th Sep 2009 12:00 am
Lui is a product of the military establishment where giving out commands and expecting everyone to toe the line is a granted outcome.
He is out of his league in the communications arena, till today, he still commands and dictate, dishing edicts and demonizing his foes.
randomnessinmind on Fri, 11th Sep 2009 12:53 am
I never knew we were pro Malaysia. I only remember we’re trying to learn from the good stuffs of another country, no one told us to follow in mistakes as well. Is this how people evolve these days? You don’t keep the bad stuffs now, do you?
“A smart man learns from his mistakes, while a wise man learns from other people’s mistakes.” – I forgot who.
flyingdagger on Fri, 11th Sep 2009 2:26 am
admin@9:15pm
>Ohmynews did employ a two full-time staff and was registered as a company. Even then, it is losing up to 700m won yearly.
Just a note, Ohmynews employs about 70 staffs, about 50 are editorial staff. It has a daily readership of about 4 million.
It lost 700m won (s$816,000) last year and continued losing this year due to a drop in corporate advertising dollars caused by the financial crisis.
To put the lost in perspective, Ohmynews is spending about 450 million won (S$525,000) each month in paying wages, article submissions and server costs.
To balance the budget, Ohmynews is currently embarking on a membership drive.
http://english.ohmynews.com/ArticleView/article_view.asp?menu=A11100&no=385441&rel_no=1&back_url=
Rainnix on Fri, 11th Sep 2009 4:43 am
This Lui is an military man, anything that is not white is black. He cannot tolerate other colors in his eyes aka color-blind.
“But the online commentators ‘did not mention she had a three-room flat that was fully paid for, and that she has five children but did not want to rely on them to support her’.”
What Lui is trying to say is that whenever the old woman is hungry, she can take a bite out of her candy-three-room flat. Is he really so out of touch to the ground? Where is his empathy?
flyingdagger on Fri, 11th Sep 2009 10:11 am
Temasek Review should seek out the old lady and interview her.
Perhaps from the background of the video netizens can help to located her whereabout.
Ask her if she was denied help from whatever help scheme there is out there, based on the fact there she has a hdb flat and 5 children.
Ask her whether any of her 5 children is supporting her.
Ask her more about her hdb flat.
Panzer on Fri, 11th Sep 2009 10:24 am
I am not hopeful that the Government will grant any independent internet news media which is based in Singapore a permit to operate. The fact that main stream media is controlled by the ruling party is due to Newspapers and Printing Presses Act (Cap. 206).
http://agcvldb4.agc.gov.sg/
I doubt if Temasek Review or The Online Citizen can get a permit, but it’ll be good to try.
Sturmtruppen on Fri, 11th Sep 2009 12:58 pm
To establishment…
we want to make singapore better and we want to do it our way…we also want to learn from other countries great but wise strengths and built stronger pillars for singapore and its citizens…
and when one day singapore becomes as good as others or equal in a group of equally strong equals we should be humble and take great pride and willing to share others with the strengths we have learn but still always to move forward and find ways and means to improve together…1 reed can be broken easily, 10 reeds are harder to break…
also we should not compare ourselves and to point out other countries and their people negatively…it shows a lack of respect and will shows oneself to be arrogant and has no compassion…only attention seeking, lack of a moral/ethical compass and lack of self respect do so called human beings of kiasu and kiasee sick mentality will think and comment on other fellow human beings and their countries flaws [in time they will gain wisdom to recognize their flaws and made corrections and be more then they are now] instead of showing them a better and constructive peaceful way to go about making a positive change…by comparing negative points of another’s fellow country we also shows one’s lack of wisdom and humanity…it also finally shows the person who can comment so negatively is a person with lack of self respect or had been embittered with bad experiences.
One should look at one’s own home before commenting on another’s home…please rise above what you are right now, get above those embittered experiences and be more then the sum of what you are trapped and conditioned by artificial constructs and narrow-sighted people. You can contribute to the good fight and made good for your loved ones and made life worthwhile.As a human being, we can always better ourselves and be better in every way…
else one day with that kiasu and kiasee thinking and if it somehow permeats all countries and almost everybody else in authority, nature and earth become almost un-liveable…future generations of children will condemm our CURRENT generation for not doing more….as we are too busy digging for gold under an overhanging cliff and as we undermine the foundations of the cliff, it will definitely fall on top of us.
in the end, mother nature/earth will just recycle us and our future kids/grandchildren into bio mass and re-start with perhaps another more wise, more self-aware with lots of self-respect and more less selfish intelligent race on its surface a couple of million or tens of million of years from now and they will make better custodians of nature and earth then the current so called intelligent race inhabiting her right now.
mike on Fri, 11th Sep 2009 2:14 pm
he can said what he wants. the ground happening is matter most. ppl like them chose not to know ‘the truth’ cos its painful and hurt to know.
so its normal in such situation for most human being. unless you are really ‘UNQUIE’
The Online Citizen And A Wayang Party. « Elfredian Enclave on Fri, 11th Sep 2009 7:24 pm
[...] Online Citizen And A Wayang Party. Here come two articles tossed at comrade Lui: http://temasekreview.com/?p=13437 and http://theonlinecitizen.com/2009/09/not-mainstream-media-not-new-media-then-who/ My [...]
TSH on Sat, 12th Sep 2009 1:44 am
The problem of Lui’s ‘criticism’ is that what he’s criticising is purely his perspective. If it’s his perspective that the socio-political blogs give the impression that ‘we are probably one of the worst Third World countries around, with an inefficient and corrupt government, and the whole place is a mess’, then I say that says a lot about his ability (or lack thereof) to interprete information and comprehend literature.
Furthermore, he has a flawed premise in his argument that the socio-political blogs do not ‘gel with reality’. Actually, all things considered, it is not wrong to say that we are a Third World country – we still are, actually. We’re just more developed than most. Either that, or we are one of the worst First World countries around. And yes, we do have a rather inefficient government, given all the cost overruns and numerous failed policies, not to mention an incompetence in achieving (or trying to achieve) many important social goals. Our government is not ‘corrupt’, in the fashion that Lui presumes us to believe, but it is certainly overpaid and intrudes too much into private sector for the SMEs to thrive. And why, yes, the whole place is a mess.
Fairplayplease on Sat, 12th Sep 2009 10:22 am
@ TSH on Sat, 12th Sep 2009 1:44 am …greetings.
The whole place is in a mess? Absolutely – that is EXACTLY THE BUSINESS OF PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION and whether the OUTCOME is a mess or an efficient public administration is HOW GOVERNMENT manage this “mess”.
Systematic challenges like the global financial meltdown superadded the “mess” of complexities of inter-connectedness of Government and country to evolutionary turbulent changes in the globalised environment. The epistemological richness and diversity of interconnectedless of parts in this “mess” of globalisation serve both to undermine and underpin the success or failure of policy analysis and decision making to either facilitate innovation, development and successful progress or failure and disintegration of society. The richness of discussion of managing the “mess” is well described in this policy paper of reforms to Brtish education – the issues of which is imminently RELEVANT to managing changes in the wider context of society.
http://www.uwe.ac.uk/solar/Publications/Recreating_Universities.pdf
Inefficient and incompetent Government will attempt to “order this mess” using monolithic power. Ordering the “mess” stems from the assumption that governments are placing growing emphasis on standardisation, homogeneity and accountability,
and on elaborately controlling procedures and bureaucratic structures. The PROBLEM AND THE FAILURE OF THAT IS UNDERMINE THE DEVELOPMENT OF A LEARNING AND INNOVATIVE SOCIETY. Is this Singapore?
My thoughts agree with the thesis of that author, Susan Weil. There is alternative and the proposition of Russel L. Ackoff (Anheuser-Busch Professor Emeritus of Management Science at the Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania) that the “mess” in public administration needs to recognise the role of Government is what Ackoff calls managing a complex systems of interconnected problems.
Efficient and effective Government works successfully “within” the “mess” is my thesis. That is in Susan Weil’s thoughts…defined as one of reducing mess, not reducing barriers or generating new insights into and possibilities for
learning and disciplined inquiry in and for an `unstable state’. The “unstable” state arose by reason of externally-driven turbulence as those we are under tremendous pressure now.
We need to explore….. “possibilities for systemic inquiry and learning from `within the mess’, as an alternative
to processes of highly centralised control, systematisation
and standardisation.” as in the words of Susan Weil.
How do we do that? By recognising diversity of alternative views, thoughts and welcoming the very epistemological richness and diversity that is required to support the kinds
of innovation, development and PARTNERSHIP in society.
I would sstrongly argue that for Lui to see TR and TOC from the perspective of “US OR THEM” dichotomoy is flawed of RELEVANT THINKING in this changed world. Cyberspace changed the world. Information has gravitated the focus of soceity dependent on MSM and Government for feedback loops needed for adapative learning and behaviour to THE EXACT OPPOSITE. Even for small country like Singapore, it is too big a mess to manage by “ordering the mess” In bigger country like China, it si a lot WORSE. China gave up its “Green Dam” censorship software – I suspect from belated recognition that it is self-destructive of consequence for its own innovation and development. THEY TURNED BACK FROM THE WRONG PATH OF TRYING TO ORDER THE MESS and now tyring to work with and harvesting the rich diversities and complexities “within” the “mess”. Maybe Lui might want to tell us why he perhaps should still favour “ordering the mess” detached from society of us (the Goverment) and them (the lesser than compliant cyber bloggers and alternative voices of TR, TOC and political dissent views)
In a stable state, ordering the mess might achieve economic salvation via “COCKROACH CAPITALISM” relying in part of caterpillar mentality of compliance. Such cockroach like behaviour could be aptly described as insect hiding in the safety of crevices and in the silent peaceful undisturbed environment comes out to stealthily consumes voraciously crumbs of foods left unnoticed by the richness of world’s opportunities. But in a wind swept turbulence of globalised change, the crumbs of food disappeared and could NOT be found nearby. THE NATURAL CONSEQUENCE IS THAT WE STARVED!!
Cockroach capitalism might works very well in China BUT VERY INEFFICIENT AND DANGEROUSLY IRRELEVANT IN SINGAPORE I SUSPECT. Just look around us,as one author noticed, a farmer weave through the openings in the direction against traffic could bring in his live pigs to the wet market faster than a truckload of dozens of live pigs trying to get to the abattoirs though clogged freeways. But that is only two pigs per trip for the bicycle-riding farmer!! I see similar parallel in Singapore of this cockroach capitalism relying on two words economy called ” foreign dependency” – foreign investment, then foreign workers, and now foreign immigrants. And when ALL THE FOREIGNS GONE, what is left of this place other than starvation??? IT IS A MESS!!!
Charles Lindblom, a Sterling Professor Emeritus of Political Science and Economics at Yale University, spoke of stable state public administration reelevant for the 1950s and 1960s and his comments I believe is even more apt this century.
And I quote below some of his toughts for TR readers to think if they agree or disagree.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles_E._Lindblom
…..advocates of the theory of Incrementalism in policy and decision-making. This view (also called Gradualism) takes a “baby-steps”, or “Muddling Through”, approach to decision-making processes. In it, policy change is, under most circumstances, evolutionary rather than revolutionary. …..
….Lindblom was a champion of the Polyarchy (or Pluralistic) view of political elites and governance in the late 1950s and early 1960s. According to this view, no single, monolithic elite controls government and society, but rather a series of specialized elites compete and bargain with one another for control. It is this peaceful competition and compromise between elites in politics and the marketplace that drives free-market democracy and allows it to thrive…..
TO BE SUCCESSFUL, PUBLIC ADMINSITRATION IN THIS CYBERSPACE AGE OF TURBULENCE WORLD, WE NEED TO EVOLVE A POLITICS OF INCLUSION, working from “within” the “mess” – NOT the POLITICS OF EXCLUSION of ordering the “mess” BECAUSE THE “MESS” is IMPOSSIBLE OF EFFICIENT AND EFFECTIVE ORDERING.
Does Mr. Lui or anyone disagree here???
Wrong Move on Sat, 12th Sep 2009 8:42 pm
Rear-Admiral Lui Tuck Yew should have stayed where he is… in the Navy…. he is obviously in unfamiliar territory.. …
wrong admiral on Sat, 12th Sep 2009 9:30 pm
I seriously doubt Lui should even be an admiral. Absolutely no sense as a leader. Not streetsmart at all. How to lead in a crunch situation. This shows idiocy begets idiocy. Who and what system put people like Lui there.