TODAY / Balji - Why obsess about Govt response?

Why obsess about Govt response?
Bloggers should focus more on convincing the community, instead
Monday • January 12, 2009
P N Balji

HERE’S a reality check for those bloggers who want the Government to respond to their views. The Government will do it on its own terms and in its own turf.
But the likes of bloggers like Gerald Giam don’t seem to get it. Responding to the Government’s rejection of a proposal asking for official engagement on websites run by bloggers and on online forums, he continued to bark up the wrong tree.
They should respond to some, particularly to the "serious socio-politcal bloggers who make cogent and rational suggestions’’, he said. I just don’t understand this fascination, this obsession, with Government attention.
By now, the likes of Mr Giam should have known how this Government behaves and operates. It cannot appear to be pressured to make changes; it will change at its own pace and comfort.
And such engagement will take place in its own living room or in the living rooms of those it has had a long-lasting relationship with.
That is why, in its response to the recommendations by the Advisory Council on the Impact of New Media on Society (AIMS), it drew the line on where it will do its e-engagement: Its own platform called Reach and on websites run by mainstream media.
Sorry, Mr Giam, it looks like bloggers like you will have to wait your turn.
But instead of waiting, I suggest they cast aside this craving for government attention and continue to do what they have been doing all this while. As Mr Giam himself correctly said, making cogent, rational suggestions.
And, may I add, analysing and contextualising issues, like when theonlinecitizen questioned Transport Minister Raymond Lim’s statement that transport fares are not linked to oil prices. The Ministry responded, even though it did so in the mainstream media.
Also, raising issues like the "White Horse", a term coined for those sons of VIPs serving National Service. Eventually, the issue got a good airing in Parliament in response to a question from Nominated MP Steve Chia in Nov 2003.
Think about this, too. What extra value will the Government’s engagement of bloggers add to the state of public discourse here? Generally, government responses to letters and views in mainstream media have been a robust defence of its stand or a reiteration of original principles.
In the end, it is the Singaporeans the blogging community should spend all its efforts on and win over. Engage them with thoughtful, intelligent and meaningful pieces. Over time, the online community will grow and grow, and the Government will have no choice but to pay more attention to them.
Like what happened with the green light for political films. That came about only because the ban became irrelevant with such films being made easily available on the Internet.
The victory is sweeter that way. Government recognition can sometimes end up being a kiss of death.

A veteran journalist, P N Balji is the director of the Asian Journalism Fellowship, which is funded by the Temasek Foundation and based at the Nanyang Technological University.