Week 10 - Politics and the Internet

This topic is rather interesting as this was my group project's topic. What my group did for project was to focus on Singapore's General Elections 2011. we made a comparison as to how the previous campaign in 2006 was as compared to the campaigns now in 2011. There was indeed a vast difference.

Before i begin, please do watch the video below.


This video is the inaugural episode of the Singapore Democrats' talkshow, Let's Talk, which features Alex Au, one of the most prominent bloggers in Singapore and author of the Yawningbread.org. Let's Talk is another groundbreaking initiative by the Singapore Democratic Party. It is the FIRST talkshow series on the Internet in Singapore. You definitely would not have been able to see such a thing back in 2006.

Back in 2006, the government placed many restrictions on the usage of the internet and new media for campaign purposes. However we see a big jump in 2011.

Now every active political party are making use of the internet and new media for campaigning. Besides just having a website for their party, they each have a facebook and twitter account.
Below are few links out of the many,

link for Singapore democratic party's facebook acct: http://www.facebook.com/yoursdp

link for People's Action Party facebook account: http://www.facebook.com/pap.sg

In these websites, critical issues are raised and the public are allowed to comment on the issue on the website itself. This is rather good as it allows interaction between the party and the public.

If you have twitter you can actually search for these accounts such as the PAP, SDP, and even individual ministers like Teo Chee Hean.

I believe that by using new social media such as facebook and twitter for campaigning, it is very effective as it can reach out to a wide range of audience.
Firstly, we all know that youths these days are active users of such social networking sites and youths 21 and above are allowed to vote. Hence, this mode of campaigning will definitely be effective as it allows youths to get information while surfing online at their own convenience.

Besides websites and social networking sites, there are also blogs and online citizen forums.
For example the head of the reform party, Mr Kenneth Jeyaretnam has a blog where he voices critical issues and blogs very often about the coming GE 2011.
Also, as you google, you can find online citizen forums where citizens are allowed to voice their opinions and express their concerns with regards to the coming GE 2011.
There are also videos posted online with regards to the different parties.

Overall, i feel that the Singapore government has given more freedom to both the political parties and the public with regards to using the Internet for politics. This is a good move as it fosters better interaction between the public and the parties and it bridges the gap, allowing citizens to have a say and to feel a sense of belonging to the coming GE 2011.