Reported by: Frieda Chan

From left: Elvin Ong, Bernard Chen, Terence Lee

With the prevalence of online media used by political parties, the topic takes on special significance as the role of online media vis-à-vis print media will come into prominence in the coming elections, much more so than the General Election in 2006.

The sixth installment of the YouthQuake series forums attracted an audience of about 30 participants, including working adults and students, amongst whom the youngest was a secondary 2 student who participated in the vibrant discussion at the forum.

For the first time at YouthQuake forum, the panel was made up of an ‘all-campus students’ team. The speakers include: Elvin Ong (SMU Business and Political Science, year 4), Terence Lee (NTU Communications undergraduate and Former News Editor of The Online Citizen (TOC) and Bernard Chen (Workers’ Party Youth Wing Secretary and NUS History, year 1)

Dishing out the ‘appetizer’, Elvin stimulated the forum participants’ minds with questions on the effectiveness of online media reaching its Audience with its intended Agenda that results in eventual Action, using examples from local online alternative media. He also shared on some personal exchanges he had with a prominent leader who maintained the view that diversity is not good for Singapore. This perhaps, explains why our local mainstream media is less vibrant than its overseas counterparts. He questioned on how successful have both the government and alternative groups’ Agenda reached the Audience? Are the Actions or Inactions something we think that will strengthen this country?

Terence shared that the view “online equals to free” puts alternative media in Singapore in a delicate situation. Sharing from his personal experience as a student journalist, one of his opportunity costs to cover stories is the time he needs to spend on studies. Maintaining such websites is no easy feat as there are various costs involved in capturing and running stories and having the stories up on the Internet. He emphasized, “Passion alone cannot sustain the sites”. Comparing Singapore’s situation against that in the United States where it is easier to reach venture capitalists to fund the running costs, he attributes the difficulties faced here to the climate of fear in Singapore.

The other issue he raised was on the subject of “objectivity”. The impression that “online media = lacking in integrity and mainstream media = credible” is a fallacy because no journalist can claim that his or her view is objective. Everyone would have his/her view, including the mainstream media journalists. Hence, the next time any media claims to be objective, we might want to think twice and assess.

Related to Elvin’s theme on Audience, Agenda and Action, Bernard Chen shared that it is not easy to engage political apathetic young people through the Internet because people tend to go to sites which interest them, and do not necessarily visit political forums that they are not interested in.

Bernard believes that while the Internet helps political action, it is but just a tool. The more important factor is for the candidate to be able to put up a message that is stronger and more convincing. He illustrated this with a study on the US President Obama Barack’s successful campaign against his opponents who also extensively used the Internet.

In the local context, although some people may think that their views posted on the Internet would be heard and considered by the policy makers, experience tells Bernard: “Nothing beats the face-to-face communication with fellow Singaporeans, to understand what they are really facing and how they think.” Walking his talk, Bernard has been actively walking the ground with party members every week to engage residents. He is also known among the student activism circles as the main engine behind the recent successful campaign to lobby for fairer transport fares for tertiary students. Concluding his speech on “A Constructive Voice or An Unnecessary Noise – The Internet’s Significance on Politics”, he challenged all to, “Be the change that you want to see rather than the voice you want people to hear!”

Indeed, being in the Workers’ Party Youth Wing creates countless opportunities for constant interaction with like-minded people, fostering the inception of various initiatives and ideas. It encourages thinking out of the box and the development of ideas and opinions crucial to assisting and raising political awareness among the youths in Singapore. We are hopeful to see more youths taking keen interest in the affairs of the country. To find out more, you can contact The Workers’ Party Youth Wing at youthwing@wp.sg or go to our Facebook page at http://www.facebook.com/wpyouth.