The Internet in Asia

Blogger investigated under Sedition Act in Singapore

Singaporean blogger Char was brought in for questioning after under the Sedition Act publishing pictures on his blog that were thought to depict Jesus Christ in an offensive manner after finding the cartoons on-line in January. The cartoon depicted Jesus as a zombie biting a boy's head in January.  One month after first posting this cartoon on-line, he received complaints from readers but instead of removing it, he chose to irk the reader further by posting other similar cartoons.

He was called in for questioning in March after police received complaints. After being brought in for questioning, Char announced it via email to around 300 Singaporeans himself, and then removed the cartoon from his blog. When contacted by the press, he said that he made an unwise decision, and he did not think that anyone would lodge a police complaint. He also  requested to keep his identity secret as he is afraid of losing his job that he would like to keep before he enters a local university in August.

On a slightly different note, Singaporean Station Inspector Mohamed Zulnizan Mohamed Arsis  received an award for tracking down the blogger who posted racist remarks against Malays in October last year. The blogger was sentenced to a two-year probation sentence, to go for counselling, to get a psychological evaluation and perform 180 hours of community service at a Malay voluntary welfare organisation under a volunteer Malay probation officer.

Mobile phones, a new form of voyeurism?

It was recently reported in a Singapore daily that voyeurs are using mobile phones to take compromising pictures of unsuspecting victims in Singaporean MRTs. In fact, one man was so forthcoming that when the lady whose chest he was trying to take a picture of shifted her posture to block him, he merely moved to get better access, and seemed pleased that she was uncomfortable and scared. The victim said that she was not dressed provocatively, and was worried about what could be done with the pictures, especially with the current trend of moblogging and merging of ICTs.

According to SMRT authorities, reports of these incidences are low and that they rarely happen (but that could simply be because many of these cases go unreported as victims are not aware of their rights, and are unlikely to lodge such complaints due to the nature of Asian cultures). However, they do encourage commuters to lodge official complaints if such an incident does occur. According to lawyers, any man who takes a photo of a woman's cleavage can be charged for insulting her modesty, and that victims are protected under the law, as perpetrators can be jailed for up to a year, and fined for outraging her modesty.

If this is the case, then victims are indeed protected by the law and they should start speaking up if something like this ever happens to them.

Racy vs. racist blogs

As the furor around racist blogs start to die down within the Singapore blogosphere, a new topic is arising within  - that of racy, or sexually oriented blogs. Currently, there are at least 4 well known erotic bloggers, at least one of which is under 20 years old. Unsurprisingly, most choose to keep their offline identity secrets, carefully hiding their names and faces on all posts.

SiRC asssociate Mark Cenite who has done some extensive research on cyber-porn was quoted stating that amateur porn caters to a large market, and that Singapore is not any different. He goes on to say that blogs are only an extension of similar material already available all over the Internet, and that Singaporean bloggers who choose to post such material are pushing the boundaries  of Singapore's strict anti-porn laws, especially since it is becoming easier and easier for the authorities to track down the cyber-trail. 

SiRC Executive Director Randy Kluver feels that it would be a shame to see the blogosphere "degenerate from an interesting place for issues to be discussed into such attention-getting, juvenile behavior.'' A large number of blog are "disgusted" with the it, and many NGO's dealing with children and adolescents are worried about this change.

Singapore political "podcast"

The Singapore Democratic Party has launched on online "podcast" as part of its initiative to use the Internet to bypass governmental control in advance of the next elections.  The nine minute MP3 file features Chee Soon Juan talking about the goals of the podcast, and restates SDP policy propositions.

Although it should probably not be classified as a "podcast," nor as "internet radio," still, it is an innovative (in singapore's context) use of the technology to reach its audience.  Still, moving the file to an audio format, without providing a simpler way to download to your Ipod or Creative nomad, or whatever, doesn't really make it very easy. 

Reviews from Singapore's blogging community haven't been positive.  Elia Diodati, for example, says "the so-called podcast is unfortunately yet more rehashed rhetoric against the ruling party."  Gremspot calls it "a joke." And Shianux says "The tacky music, over-dramatization of the subject matter, the pompously self-important act. This podcast is an all-time classic in political comedy!"

More media

Local media in Singapore have caught onto blogs in a very big way.  Unfortunately, the Straits Times has limited their content to subscribers only, so we cannot post to a number of the articles that we used to.  When other media outlets that do have publicly accessible content, we usually will try to post to those. 

I am getting frequent calls from journalists asking for comments on local blog happenings, and believe me, i try to be fair.  But to the blogosphere, please remember that what I say is not always exactly what comes out in print.  Usually, though, i am trying to say something abstract, and that doesn't make for good copy. 

You should look for reports in the next few days from MediaCorp Radio, and the New Paper, though. 

Singapore blog hacked

Xiaxue, a popular Singapore blog, has been hacked, evidently in response to Xiaxue's (real name: Wendy Cheng) criticism of Sarong Party Girl.  The full story isn't out yet, but demonstrates the dynamic tension between the public and the private that is the blogosphere.  Comments on the original hijack indicate mostly favorable support for xiaxue, but a few applaud the hacker. 

Hacking into another blog would evidently be a violation of the Computer Misuse Act, but what are the actual consequences?  how would you assign damages?