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speaking up for nature in singapore
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on youths of singapore to speak up PM's call on youths | list of all articles speak up for nature: why bother? | what others have spoken | feedback channels The Straits Times, 20 Aug 04 The art of communication: from CCCs to WWW By Basskaran Nair IN THE days of the British empire, Singapore functioned as a communication hub, often taking advantage of its geographical location to maintain close links with financial and news centres such as London, Tokyo, New York and Hong Kong. The British empire itself was unambiguously a media empire, with news agencies like Reuters dominating the international news flow. On attaining independence, the national priority for the new Singapore Government was to unite the hearts and minds of a migrant and racially diverse population. Radio played a crucial part initially. There was a series of 12 radio talks given by the then prime minister, Mr Lee Kuan Yew, on his personal struggle with the communists. Subsequently, the ruling Government used television to win the hearts and minds of the populace. Most important were the lessons learnt from the communists themselves. They had an effective study group network, underground newspapers, and a well-developed chain of command for cadre members. As Dr Goh Keng Swee, one of the PAP's founding fathers, said in 1975 while looking back on the Government's strategies in the 1950s and 1960s: 'We (non-communists) were, so to speak, the apprentices to the magician (the communists), who had a far larger experience and expertise than we had in struggle and political organisation. 'Their penetration and control of student societies, trade unions, farmers' associations, women's associations and others were marvels of political organisation. Their manipulation of these mass organisations, and their orchestration in struggle campaigns, displayed extraordinary finesse and skill. 'As apprentices to the magician, we occupied a vantage point from which we observe the master's virtuoso performances as he drew thunderous rounds of applause from the mass audience. More than once we said to ourselves, 'Ah, that's how it is done!' 'We took these lessons of apprenticeship to heart and, later, when the social democrats broke off from the communists, we were able to apply them to good effect.' On taking over from the colonial government, the Singapore Government made sure that the coordination of publicity work, via the community centres and the Ministry of Culture, was effectively under the charge of the politicians. Under the colonial government, publicity campaigns came under the Colonial Information Service. Emulating the communist network, the new Government exercised control over the leadership positions in the community centres by forming Citizens' Consultative Committees (CCCs) and Management Committees (MCs). It also revitalised activities under sub-committees, like the women's and youth sub-committees. Two political appointees, a Publicity Liaison Secretary (Political) and a Personal Secretary (Political), were responsible for 'shaping people's ideas and mental attitudes', as the Singapore Parliamentary Hansard of 1959 noted. Today, four decades later, we see new communication practices that are just as personal and community-based. But there is a significant difference: The new communication practices will increasingly be driven by technology. The foot soldiers who worked the ground in the CCCs must also include communication initiatives related to today's World Wide Web (WWW) information highway. Singapore heartlanders increasingly live with ubiquitous new media technologies. The Singapore Government has made its e-services more user- oriented. Just visit the HDB Hub in Toa Payoh and see future heartland homes: They boast, among other things, of the intelligent fridge that enables a gamut of family communication interactions. Grassroots leaders, therefore, have to consider how new technology has shaped family relationships. More people are into SMSes to reach out to family members. The cycle time for communications with the kids is a lot closer to Nintendo, which they grew up on. The Net generation is a much more skilled, mobile and always-in-contact workforce. This generation can uproot and live abroad without too much difficulty. Moreover, the Net generation thinks differently. It is already starting to demand big changes in the way society, business and individuals interact. The Net generation is altering the balance of power between managers and workers. Authority will be based less on seniority than on the demonstrated abilities of people or teams. They will work in an increasingly 24/7 work environment that also lacks intermediation, namely having someone, a human being, between them and other people. They will also be a migrant population in the sense that they are mobile and frequent fliers for business and pleasure. The challenge ahead is to create a rootedness among these 'new-migrant' people, a policy issue not dissimilar to the migrant and diverse population faced by Singapore's founding fathers in the 1950s and 1960s. POWER OF E-SPIN CYBERSPACE has become the global equivalent of the corner coffee shop, a place where rumour-mongers, busybodies and snoops hang out. It is a form of community life flourishing on the Internet that is less geographically moored. E-spin by such cyber-communities can now affect significant events: The United States presidential election in 2000 was, for instance, dominated by e-spin warfare between the Gore and Bush teams. The immediacy of e-spin affects news flow: The prevalence of electronic communication has made it easier to e-mail and SMS stories with minimum processing. There is the added danger that mainstream media organisations publish these unedited, virtually-received news stories in the interest of scoop and real-time reporting. E-communities and e-communication make the boundaries of nation states less clearly defined. Citizens of a nation are now also part of virtual communities on the World Wide Web. The oxygen of publicity is delivered not merely through nation-based grassroots organisations and national news channels, but also increasingly through the WWW channels. In the past, people listened to foreign broadcasts, especially in countries where information is controlled by the government. Today, the Internet has become the preferred source for their information. The same demand is found in the capital markets. As more countries look to investments from abroad, they must note that the global investing communities prefer the communication-easing properties of WWW. Surveys by the US PR Newswire and the National Association of Investors Corporation have fairly consistently revealed that investors look at a company's website before making investment decisions. Over 10 million people use the Internet daily to access financial news or assistance. These figures multiply as more people have access to PCs. CYBER-ADVOCACY NEW media technology has the incredible potential to harness, motivate, and activate everyday citizens, within national boundaries and across boundaries. It is a leapfrog technology that enables even the most backward regions to have a larger universal voice. Islam Online, for example, receives about 250,000 page views a day, making it one of the leading Islamic sites. The site is run by a non-governmental organisation (NGO) that wants to ensure that non-Muslims - read Americans and Europeans - do not describe Islam on behalf of Muslims. Web-based communications have entered grassroots politics. In many developed countries, new breeds of young Web-savvy politicians are using new ways to communicate with their constituents. They have added the blog to their traditional websites and spend time updating them. Weblogs have enabled citizens to redefine politics as a public, participatory endeavour. In the not too distant future, politicians will harness the use of SMS and MMS. Currently, this communication tool provides creative and personalised marketing services. Consumers can receive SMS messages that relate to their vicinity or alert them that they are near a store or restaurant that is having a special offer. These strategies will be adapted and adopted by grassroots workers in time to come. Governments have to reckon with cyber-advocacy based on the example set by MoveOn.org, a US-based advocacy website. The online firm describes itself as 'an issue-oriented, non-partisan, non-profit organisation that gives people a voice in shaping the laws that affect their lives. It engages people in the civic process, using the Internet to democratically determine a non-partisan agenda, raising public awareness of pressing issues, and coordinating grassroots advocacy campaigns to encourage sound public policies'. It is influencing the 2004 US presidential elections, very much the way television influenced past US presidential elections. MoveOn.org type of advocacy is not confined to developed countries. Chinese netizens have been emboldened to pursue Net-based public campaigns. The spat over ownership of islands and the Asian Games football match between China and Japan revealed the strong anti-Japan sentiment in China. Diplomats have to factor in the growth of an articulate Net generation when managing the political atmosphere. Looking ahead, in the world created by WWW, e-media will dominate. Will the government's relationship with the people and the companies they serve be more complex? Will government-to-government ties intensify as a result of more borderless communication among people? Will NGOs operate with less geographical moorings? What are the new online equivalents of the community centres and CCCs - are they weblogs and MMS? Perhaps the day will come when one of Singapore's new leaders will ruminate, as Dr Goh did in the 50s and 60s, on the role of the new communication strategies: 'There are no protesters marching in the streets. No store windows have been broken. But millions of individuals are congregating... They have gathered their resources, and now they are reaching their critical mass. Soon the Government will be bombarded by e-attackers... ' But on the flip side, the Net enables netizens and online customers to have their individual voices heard. They post their views on bulletin boards and corporate sites. Their personalised e-mail get passed around the borderless online community... Aha, this phenomenon is what we need to understand and apply in our future communication strategy in a porous nation-state.' Basskaran Nair, a member of the NUSS Forum, is author of From Main Street To Cyber Street: Changes In The Practice Of Communication. |
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