Without knowing what such a forum is all about,I was full of anticipation before the event.
When I arrived at the registration counter, the friendly guy asked me which group I would like to participate in? New media and politics, New media, family & community or New media,ethics and responsibility? I do not know which group to choose,so I asked him to just assign me. He grouped me under Ethics and Responsibility and gave me a yellow sticker to identify myself with fellow group mates.
Next,they encouraged me to have a bite at the buffet..mee siam,spring rolls,some puff..standard stuff,but I was quited pleased with how well organised everything was.
I sat down at my table and looked through the 'goodie pack'..A set of 5 highlighters arranged in a flower shape, a water bottle..(Gosh..at 1st I thought it was plastic,but this is the more expensive metal bottle in shiny black covered in a black nylon bag!).
Three panelists introduced for this forum:
1. Mr Cheong Yip Seng, Chairman of AIMS(Advisory Council on the Impact of new Media on Society)
2. Ms Irene Ng, MP for Tampines GRC
3. Mr Poh Yang Cheng, Manager of TOUCH Cyber Wellness & Sports.
I feel that it was a very fruitful and engaging event because I participated in the discussion(s) at my table after the opening addresses by the panelists. To summarize what the panelists addresses were, they basically outlined the new media, quoted examples of Malaysia's recent shocking election results because the ruling party did not engage the voters on issues like cost of living,corruption..etc. and also how a Filipino president was overthrown because people were able to mobilise the the public using SMS.
Mr Cheong also managed to expressed his 'minor' disappointment in the government rejecting 1/3 of his council's recommendation..or like how Ms Irene Ng put it.."the government accepted 2/3 of the council's recommendation". the main point of contention seems to be the Government's stand to accept feedback from their main stream platform..REACH. The irony was that i asked around my table of 8 which includes a Malaysian,an Indonesian,some PA youths..non of us have visited or know about REACH :)
I shall input the link here for all my readers' benefit:
Of course, there were people who mentioned about having to input his NRIC number to leave a comment and this draws laughter across the floor. From Ms Ng's explanation, I supposed our Government's fear of the Internet is that people can hide behind the anonymity and like what my group mate Harold Fong said "get away with murder".
The various groups have intense discussions and each table finally presented their conclusions through their facilitators. The panelists then further share their views and knowledge with us and during the final Q&A session, some very interesting points and questions were brought up by the film makers present.
Ms Irene Ng was happy with the feedback she gathered and promised to bring up some of the points discussed in the next parliament sitting. She assured us that the Government is currently pouring in the resources to engage the public in the new media. Mr Cheong also advised that the new media is a neutral platform which is non-partisan and take no sides. However,he predicts that in Singapore for a long time to come will still rely heavily on the mainstream media despite all these ongoing hype..new media currently is unable to equal norr replace the mainstream media in the near future.
I enjoyed the forum very much and gained a wider perspective after the event.
Good coverage!
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