Singabloodypore

From the NewSintercom

Is the PAP's Net offensive working?
Does the PAP have its hand in TOC?
Should we jump at shadows?

Dissatisfied with their monopoly over the newspapers and TV and knowing the obvious that they are gradually losing whatever small space they have in cyberspace, the PAP announced last year months after the General Election that they had a grand masterplan to dominate the internet. Coincidentally around that period, The Online Citizen (TOC) was already making its name known. TOC is fast becoming Singapore's leading political website with its pool of good writers from diverse backgrounds. However, the allegations that some TOC writers are actually the PAP's puppets is slowly becoming less unconvincing with the latest round of claims and the way TOC reacted.

Whatever we might think about the PAP, they are politically cunning at least. Since they are still the ruling party from 1959 is proof of their survival instincts. Their survival instincts constantly evolve to deal with the changing sensitivities of the population they lord over e.g. the PAP used the ISA on politicians before but have since moved on to sueing opposition members now. If you noticed, they are also gradually shifting away from sueing outright but now giving out fines and short jail sentences even just enough to keep someone from standing for election. The PAP in its Internet offensive have probably dropped its P65 blog as its Internet flagship and moved to something else that the public wants to read - a moderate blog.

Recently, Choo Zheng Xi is the latest from TOC to be put on the spot and accused of being a PAP stooge in TOC and the Internet - the previous one was silent TOC backbencher Ephraim Loy. The sheer denials and theatrics surrounding the initially seeming groundless claims that Choo Zheng Xi is paid by a PAP member to write is curious. Firstly, Choo zheng Xi and Andrew Loh chose to confront the people like Jasper and Wayang Party who made and spread the allegations respectively, rather than ignore them. The anti-TOC bunch would see it as guilty conscience or zhuo zei xing xu. Secondly, there was another Jasper who then oddly did an about turn and admitted that the previous allegations were lies and wanted to retract them. This second Jasper's confession sounds bizarre and looked like an effort to discredit the original Jasper. Nobody will know who was behind the second Jasper but incidentally, TOC would suspiciously benefit from that comment made by the second Jasper. TOC is paying too much attention to the usual Internet fingerpointing. Is there more to it than meets the eye?

Since the disaster from the Mr Brown and Bhavani episode, the PAP learnt that it has be subtle in its quest for absolute online dominance. What better way to be subtle than to get itself into a moderate "independent" quality blog like TOC which has been increasing its membership size? What better way to check WP's influence in TOC than to have a PAP counterweight inside, if not already done by now, then soon? Beware of Greeks bringing gifts.

The comment thread that contains the accusations and counter-accusations...