The following is a good commentary and observation by Kim Quek.
Notice the characters and the subjects:
a) Character of Police - slow in action and suppressing vital info
b) Character of MACC - secretive and trying to avoid responsibility
c) Teoh Beng Hock's Mobile Phone - remained 'invisible' until day 4
d) Room at 14th floor - Details remain undisclosed
e) CCTV records - was taken only on day 4
Article taken from: http://en.suarakeadilan.com/top-story-1/2009/07/12359
A Royal Commission of Deception
Friday, 24 July 2009
By Kim Quek
Prime Minister Najib Razak has finally announced the setting up of a
Royal Commission of Inquiry (RCI) to assuage the nation’s anger
over the tragic death of Teoh Beng Hock in the hands of the
Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC).
But what a let down, and what a deception!
Instead of probing the death of Teoh, the Commission is asked to
look into the interrogation methods of the MACC.
The absurdity of this move is akin to a school boy caned to death in
a school, and the public inquiry is over the disciplinary procedure
of the school, not over how and why the boy met his death.
The injustice that befell Teoh Beng Hock – a clear victim of
political persecution – has infuriated the nation to boiling
point, and yet Najib thinks that an RCI looking into MACC’s
methodology would be sufficient to douse the anger and restore
confidence in his leadership.
What does he take Malaysians for? A bunch of dimwits?
Oh ya, I know what they will say, concurrent with this RCI is an
inquest where a magistrate would look into the cause of death. But
any one familiar with legal practice can tell you that comparing an
inquest to a RCI is like a child vs an adult.
An RCI is commissioned by the King, and it is usually made up of
senior members of society with distinguished records of competence
and integrity, and having wide power to summon for witnesses and
evidence, and reporting to the King; whereas an inquest is manned by
a junior legal officer whose source of evidence is limited to
feedings from the authorities (mainly police) with no power to call
for witnesses and other evidences, and forwarding the findings to
the attorney general.
Since an RCI is going to be set up in response to public demand to
uncover the truth pertaining to Teoh’s death, why create another
junior body to take away the principal task – finding out how and
why Teoh died – leaving RCI to do a side show?
Besides, without allowing RCI to probe into the death, how could it
fathom what has gone wrong with the operations of MACC’s? In fact
these two tasks are integral and inseparable.
Only when the full circumstances surrounding the death are
ascertained, can the defects of the system be defined and
recommendations made.
Umno’s intentional hide-and-seek
hideandseek1This is plain common sense, and I can’t imagine a man
of Najib’s intelligence cannot comprehend it. That leaves us with
no alternative but to conclude that the UMNO leadership is playing a
game of hide and seek with the public with respect to this tragedy.
Najib said “the government will do whatever that is necessary to
find the truth” and Inspector General Musa Hassan has repeatedly
warned the public not to speculate and hurl accusations but to trust
the police to carry out a “transparent and professional”
investigation, but what has transpired is contrary to these
assertions.
The police investigations in particular have been shockingly
questionable and unprofessional.
It should be plain from day 1 of the discovery of the body (July 16
) that Teoh died while under custody and he fell from the window of
the MACC’s 14 floor office.
That he was never released was verified by his personal articles
including his hand phone which were still being kept by MACC when
the body was found and the fact that he could not have walked off
the office on his own as implied by MACC as he did not have the
electronic card to open the door.
That he fell through the office window was evidenced from the 14th
floor window latch which was found next to Teoh’s body.
Questions Galore
Then why didn’t the police seal the office, seize all
relevant documents including notes of interrogation, dust for finger
prints particularly those at the window on the very first day (July
16), as death by foul means clearly could not be excluded.
Despite evidence of Teoh’s fall from the building while under
custody, why did Selangor police chief Khalid Abu Bakar say that he
did not suspect foul play and classified the case as “sudden
death” – even before autopsy was performed? Didn’t this
presumption betray patronization of a fellow law-enforcing agency?
Why did the police forensics personnel visited the crime scene only
on Day 4 (July 19) to take evidence, removing articles such as
documents, CCTV records, window latch etc, knowing that vital clues
could have been erased, tampered with or removed in the intervening
3 days? Didn’t this reflect a lack of seriousness?
Why did the police deny repeatedly to assemblyman Ronnie Liu until
day 4 that it had Teoh’s hand phone, when in fact the phone has
been in its possession since day 1? What was the police secretly
keeping the phone for so many days for?
The body was discovered at 1:30 pm and Teoh’s boss assemblyman Ean
Yong Hian Wah arrived at the MACC office at 5 pm asking to see Teoh,
but the personnel therein including Selangor police chief Khalid Abu
Bakar did not entertain Ean Yong for more than an hour.
Why keep the news from Ean Yong for so long? Why wasn’t Teoh’s
family informed in the first instant? Was this long duration of
silence a needed interval to complete certain preparatory work
before the bad news was announced to the world? Shouldn’t such
improper conduct give rise to suspicious imputations?
The autopsy was completed on day 2 (July 17), why is the police
still keeping the findings under lid?
As for MACC, questions galore that suggest criminal liability over
Teoh’s death in the backdrop of a political conspiracy to sabotage
the Selangor Pakatan state government with corruption prosecutions.
Examples of these are:
1. Why did director of investigations Shukri Abdul lie that Teoh was
released at 3:45 am and that he had no idea how Teoh’s body landed
on the fifth floor balcony, when in fact Teoh was never released and
he fell off a window in the office? Was there a necessity to lie if
there was no criminal liability on the part of MACC?
2. Why was Teoh tortured in a marathon interrogation that stretched
into the early hours of morning when he was not a criminal suspect
but only a witness assisting in an investigation over a hearsay
allegation of misappropriation of a paltry RM 2,400 by his boss Ean
Yong?
Ean Yong was among a group of seven Pakatan assemblymen selected for
investigation for unspecified suspicion of miss-using their annual
allocations of half a million ringgit each. In contrast, Pakatan
complaints against BN assemblymen for having dubiously spent their
entire annual allocations within the short period of two months
shortly before the last election in Mar 8, 08 have been met with
silence for more than a year.
3. Why have Pakatan leaders been systematically hounded over dubious
petty allegations while MACC routinely playing deaf and dumb over
multi-million and even multi-billion scandals of corruption and
abuse of power by Barisan Nasional leaders?
Why keep silent over the RM 12.5 billion PKFZ scandal despite having
received numerous reports of complaints from Pakatan since 2004?
Why took no notice over the recently exposed mansion of former
Selangor Menteri Besar Khir Toyo reputedly worth RM 24 million which
was well beyond his accumulated official income?
Why took no action on Khir for the numerous reports of corruption
and abuse of power uncovered by the Pakatan state government since
the last election?
It is as clear as day light that MACC exists not to wipe out
corruption, but to wipe out Pakatan Rakyat – not only in Selangor
but all over the country.
It is in the realization of this despicable role played by MACC,
that the tragic death of an upright and dedicated young man – who
was due to get married on the day his life was so cruelly snuffed
out – has caused the tolerance of the nation to touch its breaking
point.
Let us resolve that the fascist power be not tolerated henceforth.
Let us all stand up for justice for Teoh Beng Hock.
.
[Kim Quek aka Yong Thye Chong is a well-respected political
commentator and author]
Thursday, July 23, 2009
Sunday, July 19, 2009
Teoh Beng Hock mystery notes
The death of Teoh Beng Hock has become a mystery
waiting to be solved magically by power of the internet.
We are seeing very little information being slowly released
to the public which is suggesting as if a 'grand conspiracy'
is in progress.
a) The Police being too slow and unprofessional (Getting CCTV, Teoh's mobile phone and checking staircase)
b) MACC remained secretive (refuse office access and publishing details. Most loud PR was 3am discharge time!)
c) Official Sudden Death Plunge theory being mostly propagated (and some warning against speculation/opinion)
d) Death Details (Blurred/Small Photo) coverup (lacking details as if to hide something)
e) Broken Belt (unknown DNA?) and Stains (Rust or Blood) at staircase known for too late (weeks later)
f) No reason given for Teoh's torn trousers (No one suggesting it could be purposely being torn by someone)
g) The broken window latch analysis was missing (could be a planted evidence by somebody)
h) The Blue Marks on Teoh's stomach info was not highlighted or made into media headlines!
i) Teoh's missing wristwatch and marks on his palm.
j) Teoh's new shoes / soles condition (This is an MACC favourite torture technique - knock the soles of your feet)
Lets read a quote from Malaysia Mirror on 21st July 2009:
Out of many reports out there perhaps the biggest clue is
the MACC refusal to grant access to all rooms on the
15th floor!
[Latest Mystery Edit: 7th August 2009]
The Staircase Stain Clue?
As reported by MalaysiaKini on 7th August 2009, under the title
"TBH inquest: Blood on stairwell?"
“We were walking up the staircase to the 15th floor through the backdoor. When we reached the 15th floor, we found a two-feet long stain on the floor of the staircase,” a lawyer for the Teoh family Lim Lip Eng told reporters on Friday.
“We asked the director of Selangor MACC what was the stain but he didn’t know. The police investigating officer said he would inspect the substance.”
Lip Eng was part of the entourage of lawyers, court officials and police that accompanied coroner Azmil Muntapha Abas to Plaza Masalam, where the office of the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission is.
The group was originally slated to visit just the 14th floor office and the 5th floor corridor where Beng Hock’s body had been found after a marathon interrogation by MACC officers.
But the lawyers also asked to see the 15th floor, where there were more interrogation rooms. Although they were not allowed to enter, they spotted similar looking stains on a wall in one of these.
Photo: Seriously Lacking in Details
For example, only one photo (Edit: Some days later, Kosmo published a closeup photo showing Teoh's torn pants but blurred) at the scene (with lacking details
of course!) was shown to the public. Why show only one photo
and why there was no close-up photo? It is simply because
they don't want to lead you to the 'ultimate information'!!!
Otherwise the police will state 95% instead of only 60% of
total investigation!
The following are some interesting findings/theories from
the net:
1. The picture didn't show any obvious pool of blood
and didn't specify reasons for such despite claiming
Teoh died because of the plunge.
2. Reports didn't mention which part of Teoh's body hit the
ground first.
3. Reports didn't say which parts suffered the most impact.
Reports should state the percentage of damage on all parts
of his body and details like which parts produced the most
blood vessels leakage.
4. There was no picture or description from which room and
which window Teoh was said to be falling from. The people was
just told it was from the 14th floor.
Ref: Merdeka Review
Malah, seandainya Teoh jatuh dari tingkap tingkat ke-14, bahagian pejabat tersebut perlu dikenalpasti. Sama ada tempat di mana Teoh jatuh itu merupakan ruang tamu, pantri, bilik soal siasat, bilik mesyuarat dan sebagainya, adalah petunjuk penting dalam siasatan.
5. If Teoh was merely a witness as said by MACC, then MACC
has already 'tortured' Teoh mentally and physically by detaining
him (and his mobile phone) up to 3am on that day.
(Note: United Nations Report classified depriving sleep as a kind
of popular interrogation torture)
Ref : United Nations, Economic and Social Council, Commission on
Human Rights (42d Session), P. Kooikmans (Special Rapporteur), Torture and Other Cruel,
Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment, February 19, 1986, 28-29.
6. There was no report on what food or drinks that Teoh has
consumed on that day. CIA or KGB are well known to deprive
their victims of solid foods during interrogation or giving special
doses of interrrogation drugs systematically or hiddenly.
Refer: Essential Forensic Biology By Alan Gunn
7. There seems to be a systematic and massive mainstream
media propaganda against Pakatan Rakyat Selangor government
with Star newspaper printing a BIG cover headlines 'Shah Alam Raid'
on 16th July 2009.
Please note that Teoh was found dead on that same day, 16th July 2009 and Khir Toyo bungalow case issue was exposed about 2 weeks before that (7th July 2009)
See: MalaysiaKini Khir Toyo's Bungalow:
8. It was said that the building has security doors but until now
there is no report on whose card has been used to open the
door of the 14th floor or what has caused the door to be opened.
Besides this, there is also no report on what type of electronic
security door system that MACC is using.
9. The report didn't mention the physical journey and history of
Teoh's mobile phone. It also didn't state if Teoh did make any call
or contact after 3am. For a typical busy person like Teoh, it is natural
that he would have made some phone calls or checking SMS upon
release. The Telco providers can actually check whether his phone
was turned on/off or was sending/receiving SMS in the telco server log.
From this server log we can know when Teo has been released.
From : Merdeka Review
10. MACC has been known to have prepared a written confessions
and then tortured their victim until he or she finally gave up and
signed the confessions. This is not a hearsay - we have friends with
proofs of such kind of torture.
11. There is a possibility that Teoh was punched/kicked somewhere
near the stomach and the genitals until he is lifeless. (This cause an
internal bleeding (haemorrhage) and sudden death - that's why no large pool of blood
can be seen around his body).
[Edit 31st July 2009 : He was beaten as the blue marks were found on
his stomach as reported in the press. ]
[Edit 7th August 2009: Media reported Mystery DNA on Teoh's belt. ]
The police can use DNA tracing on Teoh's clothes to identify those
who had made contact with him but so far we didn't get any info
on this.
Just for the record - the police didn't wear any special clothing
(like the Angkasawan thing) when they were around Teoh's dead body.
This is really bad for CSI.
Refer: Essential Forensic Biology By Alan Gunn
12. It might be true that he was already dead before being thrown
out of the window. Then the body position may have been adjusted
so that it is lying sideways in order to prevent zooming digital cameras
to detect some other important clues.
From what common sense can 'see' - Teoh's body may not have been thrown out
from the 14th floor and it seems he was already losing some blood (internally
or externally) before being put (but the too clever media reported as plunged)
on the 5th floor. By telling everyone Teoh fell from 14th floor it will hide
the possibility that he could have been killed somewhere on the 15th floor
and then was carried via backdoor staircase to the 5th floor.
Fake Evidence Possibility:
It is unfortunate that there is no focus on fake evidence possibility.. ie
someone could have purposely broke the window latch or handle and place it
near Teoh's body. Or those torn trousers could also be another fake evidence
trying to make it appears that it was caused by the latch. It could be that
Teoh was killed somewhere else (not at 14th floor) but it is really bad that
14th floor was exaggerated. There is a possibility that 15th floor could be
the culprit because MACC is very secretive on this floor.
The police should have sealed the MACC office (and stairways too) on 14th
and 15th floor from day one of the incident but this didn't seem to happen at all!
REFERENCE
In the Conclusion section of the book "Janus-faced justice - Political
Criminals in Imperial Japan" by Richard H. Mitchell, it was written:
... For beatings when they wished to leave no marks, interrogators used
rubber truncheons and small sandbags. Other techniques were blows to the
solar plexus or a hard kick to the genitals.... (page 171)
"A 1986 United Nations report on torture presents the following list of methods
of physical torture, which is not considered exhaustive: beating, burning,
extracting (teeth,nails, etc), suspending, suffocating, exposing to excessive
light or noise, denying sleep or food, assaulting sexually, administering drugs,
and electric shocks. " (page 173)
waiting to be solved magically by power of the internet.
We are seeing very little information being slowly released
to the public which is suggesting as if a 'grand conspiracy'
is in progress.
a) The Police being too slow and unprofessional (Getting CCTV, Teoh's mobile phone and checking staircase)
b) MACC remained secretive (refuse office access and publishing details. Most loud PR was 3am discharge time!)
c) Official Sudden Death Plunge theory being mostly propagated (and some warning against speculation/opinion)
d) Death Details (Blurred/Small Photo) coverup (lacking details as if to hide something)
e) Broken Belt (unknown DNA?) and Stains (Rust or Blood) at staircase known for too late (weeks later)
f) No reason given for Teoh's torn trousers (No one suggesting it could be purposely being torn by someone)
g) The broken window latch analysis was missing (could be a planted evidence by somebody)
h) The Blue Marks on Teoh's stomach info was not highlighted or made into media headlines!
i) Teoh's missing wristwatch and marks on his palm.
j) Teoh's new shoes / soles condition (This is an MACC favourite torture technique - knock the soles of your feet)
Lets read a quote from Malaysia Mirror on 21st July 2009:
Well-placed sources and officials close to the MACC said Teoh was "manhandled and threatened" by investigators during a 10-hour interrogation as part of a political conspiracy to bring down opposition leaders, led by Anwar Ibrahim, and to implicate them for alleged misuse of funds.
"When he refused to do so, the officers dragged him to a window on the 14-story building and threatened to throw him out," the said the source who was not authorized to speak to media.
Out of many reports out there perhaps the biggest clue is
the MACC refusal to grant access to all rooms on the
15th floor!
[Latest Mystery Edit: 7th August 2009]
The Staircase Stain Clue?
As reported by MalaysiaKini on 7th August 2009, under the title
"TBH inquest: Blood on stairwell?"
“We were walking up the staircase to the 15th floor through the backdoor. When we reached the 15th floor, we found a two-feet long stain on the floor of the staircase,” a lawyer for the Teoh family Lim Lip Eng told reporters on Friday.
“We asked the director of Selangor MACC what was the stain but he didn’t know. The police investigating officer said he would inspect the substance.”
Lip Eng was part of the entourage of lawyers, court officials and police that accompanied coroner Azmil Muntapha Abas to Plaza Masalam, where the office of the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission is.
The group was originally slated to visit just the 14th floor office and the 5th floor corridor where Beng Hock’s body had been found after a marathon interrogation by MACC officers.
But the lawyers also asked to see the 15th floor, where there were more interrogation rooms. Although they were not allowed to enter, they spotted similar looking stains on a wall in one of these.
Photo: Seriously Lacking in Details
For example, only one photo (Edit: Some days later, Kosmo published a closeup photo showing Teoh's torn pants but blurred) at the scene (with lacking details
of course!) was shown to the public. Why show only one photo
and why there was no close-up photo? It is simply because
they don't want to lead you to the 'ultimate information'!!!
Otherwise the police will state 95% instead of only 60% of
total investigation!
The following are some interesting findings/theories from
the net:
1. The picture didn't show any obvious pool of blood
and didn't specify reasons for such despite claiming
Teoh died because of the plunge.
2. Reports didn't mention which part of Teoh's body hit the
ground first.
3. Reports didn't say which parts suffered the most impact.
Reports should state the percentage of damage on all parts
of his body and details like which parts produced the most
blood vessels leakage.
4. There was no picture or description from which room and
which window Teoh was said to be falling from. The people was
just told it was from the 14th floor.
Ref: Merdeka Review
Malah, seandainya Teoh jatuh dari tingkap tingkat ke-14, bahagian pejabat tersebut perlu dikenalpasti. Sama ada tempat di mana Teoh jatuh itu merupakan ruang tamu, pantri, bilik soal siasat, bilik mesyuarat dan sebagainya, adalah petunjuk penting dalam siasatan.
5. If Teoh was merely a witness as said by MACC, then MACC
has already 'tortured' Teoh mentally and physically by detaining
him (and his mobile phone) up to 3am on that day.
(Note: United Nations Report classified depriving sleep as a kind
of popular interrogation torture)
Ref : United Nations, Economic and Social Council, Commission on
Human Rights (42d Session), P. Kooikmans (Special Rapporteur), Torture and Other Cruel,
Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment, February 19, 1986, 28-29.
6. There was no report on what food or drinks that Teoh has
consumed on that day. CIA or KGB are well known to deprive
their victims of solid foods during interrogation or giving special
doses of interrrogation drugs systematically or hiddenly.
Refer: Essential Forensic Biology By Alan Gunn
7. There seems to be a systematic and massive mainstream
media propaganda against Pakatan Rakyat Selangor government
with Star newspaper printing a BIG cover headlines 'Shah Alam Raid'
on 16th July 2009.
Please note that Teoh was found dead on that same day, 16th July 2009 and Khir Toyo bungalow case issue was exposed about 2 weeks before that (7th July 2009)
See: MalaysiaKini Khir Toyo's Bungalow:
8. It was said that the building has security doors but until now
there is no report on whose card has been used to open the
door of the 14th floor or what has caused the door to be opened.
Besides this, there is also no report on what type of electronic
security door system that MACC is using.
9. The report didn't mention the physical journey and history of
Teoh's mobile phone. It also didn't state if Teoh did make any call
or contact after 3am. For a typical busy person like Teoh, it is natural
that he would have made some phone calls or checking SMS upon
release. The Telco providers can actually check whether his phone
was turned on/off or was sending/receiving SMS in the telco server log.
From this server log we can know when Teo has been released.
From : Merdeka Review
- Dakwaan pihak SPRM bahawa Teoh Beng Hock telah dibebaskan pada jam 3.45pagi, 16 Julai, dan Teoh meminta untuk tidur di pejabat mencungkil keraguan, antaranya:-
Sekira-nya Teoh telah di- bebaskan, mengapa dompet, telefon bimbit dan dokumen penting yang lain masih berada di tangan SPRM?
Mengapa polis mengambil telefon bimbit Teoh dari pihak SPRM pada hari keesokan tragedi berlaku, dan bukannya pada hari kejadian berlaku?
Mayat Teoh ditemui pada jam 1.30 tengah hari, 16 Julai. Pegawai SPRM dikatakan telah mengenalpasti identiti Teoh pada ketika itu, namun mengapa polis gagal mengesahkannya, sehingga jam 5 petang?
10. MACC has been known to have prepared a written confessions
and then tortured their victim until he or she finally gave up and
signed the confessions. This is not a hearsay - we have friends with
proofs of such kind of torture.
11. There is a possibility that Teoh was punched/kicked somewhere
near the stomach and the genitals until he is lifeless. (This cause an
internal bleeding (haemorrhage) and sudden death - that's why no large pool of blood
can be seen around his body).
[Edit 31st July 2009 : He was beaten as the blue marks were found on
his stomach as reported in the press. ]
[Edit 7th August 2009: Media reported Mystery DNA on Teoh's belt. ]
The police can use DNA tracing on Teoh's clothes to identify those
who had made contact with him but so far we didn't get any info
on this.
Just for the record - the police didn't wear any special clothing
(like the Angkasawan thing) when they were around Teoh's dead body.
This is really bad for CSI.
Refer: Essential Forensic Biology By Alan Gunn
12. It might be true that he was already dead before being thrown
out of the window. Then the body position may have been adjusted
so that it is lying sideways in order to prevent zooming digital cameras
to detect some other important clues.
From what common sense can 'see' - Teoh's body may not have been thrown out
from the 14th floor and it seems he was already losing some blood (internally
or externally) before being put (but the too clever media reported as plunged)
on the 5th floor. By telling everyone Teoh fell from 14th floor it will hide
the possibility that he could have been killed somewhere on the 15th floor
and then was carried via backdoor staircase to the 5th floor.
Fake Evidence Possibility:
It is unfortunate that there is no focus on fake evidence possibility.. ie
someone could have purposely broke the window latch or handle and place it
near Teoh's body. Or those torn trousers could also be another fake evidence
trying to make it appears that it was caused by the latch. It could be that
Teoh was killed somewhere else (not at 14th floor) but it is really bad that
14th floor was exaggerated. There is a possibility that 15th floor could be
the culprit because MACC is very secretive on this floor.
The police should have sealed the MACC office (and stairways too) on 14th
and 15th floor from day one of the incident but this didn't seem to happen at all!
REFERENCE
In the Conclusion section of the book "Janus-faced justice - Political
Criminals in Imperial Japan" by Richard H. Mitchell, it was written:
... For beatings when they wished to leave no marks, interrogators used
rubber truncheons and small sandbags. Other techniques were blows to the
solar plexus or a hard kick to the genitals.... (page 171)
"A 1986 United Nations report on torture presents the following list of methods
of physical torture, which is not considered exhaustive: beating, burning,
extracting (teeth,nails, etc), suspending, suffocating, exposing to excessive
light or noise, denying sleep or food, assaulting sexually, administering drugs,
and electric shocks. " (page 173)
Wednesday, September 17, 2008
When Governments step up blogger arrests...
It is a sign that your message has hit the target.
Not just any target - but the target where it hurts
the most. You message has made a tremendous
impact.
This is an important information revolution concept.
An analogy of this is the 'art' and 'strategy' in the game
of wrestling. You need to find the weakest part of your
opponent. Sometimes you need to pretend as being
too tired or nearly losing in order to fool your opponent....
ESTABLISHING A CONNECTION
In other words it is a blogger's tactical journey to achieve his
ultimate goals. A blogger purposely publishes certain articles
to lead his audience somewhere. Some could be plain explicit
while some could be too implicit but very effective and deadly.
In the end the audience is 'electronically' connected with
maximum 'data transfer' and minimum packet loss......
IT IS ALL ABOUT CONNECTION
It is an art of making a connection and shaping the information
to build or destroy something...... and this is all done using
a programmed flow or exposure of information. The intended
recipients will react to such information and this will spark
a chain of reactions.
THE CHAINS OF REACTION
This stage is very important because it is a movement
of information.
When something moves a lot of things can happen.
A movement of information will create a force and a momentum
that will change the society.
All great revolutions in this world begins with a messenger,
a message, and a guided movement of such message.
"If you shoot for the stars and hit the moon, it's OK. But you've
got to shoot for something. A lot of people don't even shoot."
- Confucius
When a government arrests bloggers we know that the
government is already too weak. It is interesting to note
here that many governments were brought down after
such political arrests. It may happen sooner or later - but
the falling process has begun...........
Not just any target - but the target where it hurts
the most. You message has made a tremendous
impact.
This is an important information revolution concept.
An analogy of this is the 'art' and 'strategy' in the game
of wrestling. You need to find the weakest part of your
opponent. Sometimes you need to pretend as being
too tired or nearly losing in order to fool your opponent....
ESTABLISHING A CONNECTION
In other words it is a blogger's tactical journey to achieve his
ultimate goals. A blogger purposely publishes certain articles
to lead his audience somewhere. Some could be plain explicit
while some could be too implicit but very effective and deadly.
In the end the audience is 'electronically' connected with
maximum 'data transfer' and minimum packet loss......
IT IS ALL ABOUT CONNECTION
It is an art of making a connection and shaping the information
to build or destroy something...... and this is all done using
a programmed flow or exposure of information. The intended
recipients will react to such information and this will spark
a chain of reactions.
THE CHAINS OF REACTION
This stage is very important because it is a movement
of information.
When something moves a lot of things can happen.
A movement of information will create a force and a momentum
that will change the society.
All great revolutions in this world begins with a messenger,
a message, and a guided movement of such message.
"If you shoot for the stars and hit the moon, it's OK. But you've
got to shoot for something. A lot of people don't even shoot."
- Confucius
When a government arrests bloggers we know that the
government is already too weak. It is interesting to note
here that many governments were brought down after
such political arrests. It may happen sooner or later - but
the falling process has begun...........
Thursday, May 22, 2008
Take that: Internet key to Obama victories and Beyond Blogging
'Yes We Can'
You might have probably heard this 'magic phrase' many times
during the Obama campaign. It can bee seen that Obama is
using some crucial and important elements in his campaign:
1. A Belief that you can
2. Love to contribute and achieve the goals
3. Internet as the key transport mechanism
4. The spirit of togetherness
Read the following two articles carefully - You will notice something:
- It is the Magical Power of Internet
a) Main site as a center for knowledge, activities, programs, mobilization and reference.
b) How blogs managed to engage (two way communication, as it happens event/issues)
c) Social Media to organise and network (expand) further.
Reference: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/7412045.stm
He was able to get more local volunteers on the ground in key states earlier than the Clinton campaign, which was especially important in smaller states and caucus states.
Reference: http://www.businessweek.com/print/magazine/content/08_22/b4086044617865.htm
You might have probably heard this 'magic phrase' many times
during the Obama campaign. It can bee seen that Obama is
using some crucial and important elements in his campaign:
1. A Belief that you can
2. Love to contribute and achieve the goals
3. Internet as the key transport mechanism
4. The spirit of togetherness
Love is probably the greatest thing in this life. Love can unite and energize people.
And when this love comes with Belief - the movement will be unstoppable....
Love and belief will bring people together irrespective of differences like race, skin color or status.
This is because love and belief will lead to support and sacrifice.
Look around and you will see a lot of things are moving in this (love and belief) direction.
Obama is receiving some 'magical' contributions nationwide - and some are very
imaginative that it will indirectly hit the intended target groups spontaneously........
Read the following two articles carefully - You will notice something:
- It is the Magical Power of Internet
a) Main site as a center for knowledge, activities, programs, mobilization and reference.
b) How blogs managed to engage (two way communication, as it happens event/issues)
c) Social Media to organise and network (expand) further.
Reference: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/7412045.stm
Internet key to Obama victories
| By Steve Schifferes BBC News |
 From early on, Mr Obama adopted the internet to reach his supporters |
With Barack Obama moving close to victory in the Democratic presidential primary campaign, the internet has proved one of the key tools to his success. And it may well give the Democrats a big advantage during the Presidential race itself .
The internet has been moving to the mainstream of political life in the US for some years.
But in this presidential cycle it has been particularly important for the Obama campaign, which was starting from scratch with few resources and little name recognition.
The internet favours the outsider, and gives them the ability to quickly mobilise supporters and money online.
And the more nimble use of the internet by the Obama campaign in its early stages helped him overcome the huge initial lead of Hillary Clinton in the presidential nominating race.
Ready to go
Mr Obama's internet strategy was at the heart of his plan to win the Democratic nomination, according to expert Phil Noble, who tracks trends in relation to the internet and politics.
When Senator Obama announced his campaign, his internet site was already fully developed and ready to go - with a set of tools which allowed supporters to meet and organise as well as contribute money.
According to Michael Turk, the e-campaign director for the Bush-Cheney 2004 campaign, the Democrats had learned the lessons of 2004 very well in an "arms race" between rival teams of developers.
 John Kerry depended on online fundraising in the 2004 campaign |
Mr Noble says he expects Mr Obama to raise $1 billion online during the 2008 campaign, 12 times as much as John Kerry raised through online fundraising in 2004.
And he says that two million Obama activists have already been mobilised to become volunteer workers for the campaign - a key advance in the "ground war" of getting out the vote.
And some key internet stunts - including the independently developed "Obama girl" mock ad on YouTube - helped increase Mr Obama's public profile early on.
Primary advantage
Both the fundraising and the mobilising potential of the internet proved key advantages for Mr Obama during the primary season.
 Senator Clinton took more time to see the full potential of the internet |
And his early success soon generated a wave of small-size campaign contributions that have continued to roll in.
This gave him a crucial advantage in campaign organisation and advertising over the Clinton campaign, which had raised a large sum of money, mainly from larger donors.
Funding shortages forced Mrs Clinton to dip into her own pockets, and limited the number of states she could campaign in.
New tools
One of the unique features of the Obama campaign has been its ability to embrace social networking sites like MySpace and Facebook.
 Mr McCain has invested less in internet tools despite being an early pioneer |
Indeed Mr Obama's decision to run was influenced by the fact that a page created on MySpace by supporters not connected to any official campaign quickly signed up 160,000 supporters.
According Paul Zube and Rebecca Hayes of Michigan State University, Mr Obama is far more popular on Facebook - the social networking site most widely used by college students - than any other candidate.
And joining Mr Obama's Facebook site - unlike responding to an email message of support - is a public expression of support which can have a broader political impact.
As such, it may be a more powerful mobilising tool to gain new supporters than sending out emails or expecting activists to come to your website.
Youth vote
His use of social networking sites has helped Mr Obama to mobilise young people, a group which has traditionally been uninterested in politics, according to Professor Thomas Patterson of Harvard University.
"Since the start of this campaign in early 2007, I think what we've seen is a second source of energy for young voters and that's the Obama campaign. They were attracted to him in the first instance by his early opposition to the war in Iraq. At the same time, he happened to have the kind of personality, the kind of message that appealed to them," he says.
Mr Obama has consistently performed extremely strong among younger and highly educated voters, whose increased turnout could be critical to the general election.
Lessons of recent history
In some ways, Mr Obama has drawn the lessons of the failed Howard Dean campaign in the 2004 primaries.
Mr Dean was the first Democratic presidential candidate to use the internet - through his Blog for America - to mobilise his supporters.
But he failed to connect with the voting public in Iowa and crashed out of the race.
Mr Obama has therefore also drawn lessons from the very successful Republican internet campaign that helped re-elect President Bush in 2004
As Michael Turk, the Bush-Cheney e-campaign director in 2004 explained, the Republicans were able to mobilise their supporters through a combination of email lists and internet 'data mining'.
They identified potential Republican supporters in every precinct around the country, using technology which predicts voter preferences on the basis of commercial data on car ownership, magazine subscriptions, and the like.
And then they sent their campaign volunteers detailed instructions on who to visit, including local maps of the area and walking routes, and issues that each potential voter was likely to be most concerned about.
Mr Obama has been utilising similar data to target primary voters - where turnout is crucial - through both telephone banks of volunteers and personal contacts.
Looking forward
Mr Noble believes that the Democrats will continue to enjoy an enormous advantage over their opponents in the use of the internet for campaigning in this election cycle.
Ironically, the McCain campaign in 2000 - when he unsuccessfully challenged George Bush for the Republican presidential nomination - was an early example of using the internet to raise money online.
But according to Phil Noble, this time round, Republicans are far behind in resources and investment in internet tools, and that Mr McCain is having difficulty appealing to the traditional Republican base.
The most important advantage could be in fundraising.
If Mr Noble's predictions are right, then Mr Obama could have a massive lead in the money needed to carry his message to the American electorate.
Reference: http://www.businessweek.com/print/magazine/content/08_22/b4086044617865.htm
The Future of Tech May 22, 2008, 5:00PM EST
Beyond Blogs
Three years ago our cover story showcased the phenomenon. A lot has changed since then
In the frantic news biz, where stories go stale overnight, one of our old articles is behaving very strangely. Year after year it continues to draw swarms of online readers, more than holding its own against up-to-date fare. Oddly, while technology races ahead, our story remains frozen in time. It describes a world in which YouTube (GOOG) has yet to emerge from the garage and Twittering, today's microblogging rage, is left to the birds.
The year was 2005, and the story was "Blogs Will Change Your Business." It marked our plunge into the world of bottom-up media, of news as a "conversation." Many people at the time—including a good number at this magazine and throughout the business world—considered blogs to be a publishing tool for trivia, banality, venom, and baseless attacks. This was all true, the article conceded.
But in the helter-skelter of the blogosphere, we wrote, something important was taking place: In the 10 minutes it took to set up a blogging account, anyone with an Internet connection could become a global publisher. Some could become stars and gain power. That was already happening. In this new world, any business that hoped to "control" information—and that included just about everybody—was in for a wild ride. This promised a seismic shock in our own media world. No mystery there. But it also posed challenges for businesses in practically every realm. Every e-mail or memo could be blogged. Every employee, no matter what rank, could become a voice for the company, either publicly or cloaked, some gaining more power than the entire public relations department. "Your customers and rivals are figuring blogs out," we warned, adding: "Catch up...or catch you later."
Following our own advice, we ended the story by linking to our new blog, Blogspotting.net. The conversation continued on the blog, as it does to this day. Who cared that the magazine piece grew a bit musty? Canaries don't read the yellowing articles lining their cages.
SERIOUS GOOGLE JUICE
Turned out it wasn't quite that simple. The magazine article, archived on our Web site, kept attracting readers and blog links. A few professors worked it into their curricula, sending class after class of students to the story. With all this activity, the piece gained high-octane Google juice. Type in "blogs business" on the search engine, and our story comes up first among the results, as of this writing. Hundreds of thousands of people are still searching "blogs business" because they're eager to learn the latest news about an industry that's changing at warp speed. Their attention maintains our outdated relic at the top of the list. It's self-perpetuating: They want new, we give them old.
What to do? Update the old beast, naturally. Early this year, we put out questions on Blogspotting. What needed fixing? Responses streamed in. We called the old sources and contacted some new ones. We annotated the original article, bolstering the online version with dozens of notes and clarifications. That approach works for the Net, with its pop-up windows and limitless space. But for the more cramped confines of the paper magazine, we have to cut to the chase.
So here goes. Three years ago, we wrote a big story—but missed a bigger one. We focused on blogs as a new form of printing press, one that turned Gutenberg's economics on its head, making everyone a potential publisher. This captured our attention, not least because this publishing revolution was already starting to rattle the skyscrapers in our media-heavy, Manhattan neighborhood. But despite the importance of blogs, only a minority of us participates. Chances are, you don't. According to a recent study from Forrester Research (FORR), only a quarter of the U.S. adult online population even bothers to read a blog once a month.
But blogs, it turns out, are just one of the do-it-yourself tools to emerge on the Internet. Vast social networks such as Facebook and MySpace offer people new ways to meet and exchange information. Sites like LinkedIn help millions forge important work relationships and alliances. New applications pop up every week. While only a small slice of the population wants to blog, a far larger swath of humanity is eager to make friends and contacts, to exchange pictures and music, to share activities and ideas.
These social connectors are changing the dynamics of companies around the world. Millions of us are now hanging out on the Internet with customers, befriending rivals, clicking through pictures of our boss at a barbecue, or seeing what she read at the beach. It's as if the walls around our companies are vanishing and old org charts are lying on their sides.
This can be disturbing for top management, who are losing control, at least in the traditional sense. Workers can fritter away hours on YouTube. They can use social networks to pillory a colleague or leak secrets. That's the downside, and companies that don't adapt are sure to get lots of it.
But there's an upside to the loss of control. Ambitious workers use these tools to land new deals and to assemble global teams for collaborative projects. The potential for both better and worse is huge, and it's growing—and since 2005 the technologies involved extend far beyond blogs. So our first fix is to lose "blogs" from our headline. The revised title: "Social Media Will Change Your Business."
Even when researching a story like this, it's easy to fall into old patterns. Let's see, we thought as we started out: Which top executives are embracing social media? Sun Microsystems (JAVA) chief executive officer Jonathan I. Schwartz is a blogger. What's he up to? IBM (IBM) set up its own social network for employees, Beehive. It has 30,000 employees on it. We should definitely give them a call.
But hold on. If we're writing about new networks that extend beyond companies and break down their walls, and if these technologies are often beyond the control of executives, what are we doing calling the bosses? Like many others in business, we have developed top-down reflexes that are nearly Pavlovian. We have to deprogram ourselves.
So. How to get in touch with the grass roots? We try Twitter, the microblogging sensation. People use it to send tiny haiku-like messages (140 characters maximum) to everyone who chooses to receive their feeds. The two of us each has a few hundred people following our posts, either on the Twitter page, sites like Facebook, or (for a few fanatics) the cell phone. Who are these people? Well, they're just that, people. They're not organized by industry or rank. They're screen names, just like us (stevebaker and heatherlgreen). An estimated 1 million folks are on the Twitter service now. It's a small number, but it includes lots of influential voices, especially in tech. Some follow friends to learn what they had for breakfast or what they saw at the Vatican Museum. But they also may see what technologies their competitors are putting into alpha tests and get the buzz on new rounds of financing. Work and leisure, colleague and rival; they all blend on these networks.
THE 140-CHARACTER RESUME
We send out a few posts on Twitter (they're called "tweets") asking people how social media are changing their work. Scores of responses pour in. People learn what colleagues are up to, inside and outside the company. They see trends. They make contacts. They learn. Some even sell. A Dell (DELL) employee who goes by the Twitter name of Ggroovin tells us that Dell's service on Twitter has brought in half a million dollars of new orders in the past year. Some on Twitter sniff around for the next job. "The new résumé is 140 characters," tweets 23-year-old Amanda Mooney, who just landed a job in PR.
Still, we have to talk with a few corporate honchos. How are they dealing with this outbreak of communication tools? J.P. Rangaswami is a good person to start with. He runs technology at BT (BT), the British telecom giant, and is famous for an approach that blends inside and outside networks. We leave a message with the press department. A day passes. We wonder if we should try another number before it strikes us how silly we've been. We can go straight to the person! That's what social media lets you do. We leave a comment on Rangaswami's blog, ConfusedofCalcutta, and promptly get a reply. He's flying to San Francisco, but he leaves his Facebook and Twitter contacts, along with a cell phone number.
Hours later, Rangaswami describes the changes since the 2005 article. Then, he says, there were either traditional communications or weird stuff with funny names, like blogs and wikis. People at BT now embrace a full range of online tools, and they use them more and more, especially as young workers join the company. "The new people come infected with the new world," he says.
More than 16,000 BT employees work together on wikis, using the same technology as Wikipedia, the online encyclopedia that lets anyone post or edit entries. But instead of teaming up to edit an online encyclopedia, employees gather on them to write software, map cell-phone base stations, launch branding campaigns.Nearly every new project hatches a wiki. This is especially valuable in a global economy, where engineers in Asia can pick up a project as Europeans go to bed. The new groups that evolve on these wikis raze traditional hierarchies: An intern can amend the work of a senior engineer. Meanwhile, some 10,500 employees at BT ( that Rangaswami knows of) are already on Facebook. BT is also offering an internal social network. But just like Facebook and Twitter, it won't work unless it attracts a crowd. Rangaswami can't force anyone to use it. It would be fruitless to try. To hear Rangaswami describe it, all his team can do is provide tools and watch.
There's a lot to look at. "We've spent years talking about the value of the water-cooler conversations," he says. "Now we have the ability to actually understand what these relationships are, how information and decision-making migrate. We see how people really work." Why does this matter? The company can spot teams that form organically, and then can place them on targeted projects. It can pinpoint the people who transmit ideas. These folks are golden. "A new class of supercommunicators has emerged," he says.
Good networkers have always had their ways to work around the direct reports and dotted lines diagrammed on company charts. They've created informal networks. Now, with social media, they have a fast-expanding set of tools to extend these relationships, and even to change their companies. Charlene Li and Josh Bernoff of Forrester Research detail an example from Best Buy (BBY) in their new book about social media, Groundswell. In 2006 two marketing managers at the company worked weekends to create an in-house social network, Blue Shirt Nation. Now it has grown to more than 20,000 participants, 85% of them sales associates. In a company with a 60% annual turnover rate, this group churns at only 8.5%, blogs Gary Koelling, one of the founders. And Blue Shirt Nation gets results. A promotional drive on the site helped persuade 40,000 employees to sign up for 401(k) retirement accounts. This bottom-up approach moves a whole lot faster than initiatives that wind through a corporate approval process. Drawbacks? The new order favors those who network, create buzz, and promote their brand. Managers have to make sure that quieter employees don't lose out.
The change is even more dramatic in media. In the world we envisioned in 2005, the old dogs of mainstream media (like us) would learn the new tricks of blogging and use them to extend our reach and clout. We figured we'd be surrounded by constellations of standalone bloggers, each with his or her own niche.
COMPETITION FROM THE MEGABLOGS
Steve Rubel was our example. The opening spread of our 2005 story featured a full-page photo of Rubel, PR executive and leading blog evangelist. He was stripping off a sweatshirt, Superman-style, in the vastness of Grand Central Terminal. Rubel's job was to help companies communicate in this new world. He extended his brand by blogging. It wasn't a bad gig. He remains a power in blogging, and his stature won him a job directing digital media at PR firm Edelman & Associates from an office with big windows overlooking Times Square.
Sitting there one recent morning, facing a widescreen Mac laptop, Rubel drops a bomb. He doesn't blog much anymore. He lets his popular Micropersuasion site sit fallow for days on end. That would have been sacrilege when we wrote our article. Back then he was posting a dozen times a day—even from bed.
What changed? Two big things, he says: technology and media. In 2005, a smart and hyperactive PR guy with a blog could actually be a leader in tech coverage. Rubel came up with scoops. Since then, megablogs with paid staffs, such as Michael Arrington's TechCrunch and Om Malik's GigaOm, have become titans. And sites like Techmeme and Digg aggregate the hottest news—much of it from the megablogs. These are New Media champions, and they come from outside Old Media ranks. Some of them, it could be argued, wield more power than large metro dailies, or even magazines. Go to the Technorati search engine and see how many blogs link to TechCrunch, the leading source for dealmaking in Silicon Valley. Links are only one measure of influence, but a vital one in the blogosphere. The number is 170,908. That's more than (gulp) BusinessWeek.com.
Fine. TechCrunch and the others get plenty of attention. But what's it worth? Valuation is a hot question in social media. Andrew Baron, the co-founder of Rocketboom, an early video blog, had some fun with it. A few weeks ago, he announced that he was auctioning his Twitter account, which had some 1,300 followers, on eBay (EBAY). Anyone who wanted an instant crowd with some influential followers could bid. (Of course, these followers might not stick around under a new regime. That was part of the risk calculation.) The bidding quickly rose above $500. As the auctioning continued, more people (including us) signed up to follow Baron's account so they could witness this drama in action. That increase in his crowd theoretically raised the value of his Twitter property. In the end, he called it off. As we write, his following has climbed to 2,309.
While we're talking money, let's revisit one of the boldest assertions in the old article. Could a blogging bubble burst? "That's easy," we wrote, answering our own question. "No." The logic was that blogging, a free form of publishing, was anything but a highly capitalized industry. Even blog technology companies such as Six Apart and Technorati were small fry, backed by just a sliver of the venture capital in Silicon Valley. How could an industry built largely on free labor and free software develop a bubble, much less burst? It can't.
But social media sure can. Since our story, major investors and corporations have focused on the profit potential of social sites. Like Baron's Twitter crowd writ large, they promise relationships, millions of them. Such media could be worth a fortune. Strike that: They'd better be. Over the past three years, tech and media companies have been opening up their checkbooks for these properties. Google gobbled up YouTube for $1.65 billion; NewsCorp (NWS) bought MySpace for $588 million; and Microsoft (MSFT) bought a pricey slice of Facebook that put a $15 billion valuation on the company. Venture firms, meanwhile, have been racing to fund socres of social media startups.
For many of them, the business plan remains blurry. Even giants like MySpace are struggling to figure out the financials. And there's no guarantee that Web masses will stay loyal for the long haul. If investors lose faith in these new ventures built on relationships, all hell could break loose. This could convulse Wall Street, deepen the recession, sink pension funds—you name it. But you know what? The next day, we'll be back on the blogs and social networks, checking up on each other, uploading our analyses, and sussing out opportunities in the storm.
Even if the bubble bursts—and we predict it will—the power of social media to transform our businesses and society will only grow.
Links
Two blogging giants, Jeff Jarvis and Arianna Huffington, give their takes on how Old Media is adjusting to the current state of the blogosphere
JEFF JARVIS, BUZZMACHINE
Three years ago, blogs were still a curiosity to a business audience—new enough to warrant a cover story, strange enough to require explaining. Now blogs and social media are not only better understood and accepted, but they are coming to be seen as a necessity in media and, more and more, in business.
Next, I think, BusinessWeek's readers will see that social media are changing their fundamental relationship with customers to be less about serving and more about collaborating. No, I don't mean that every product will be the product of a committee. But customers who want to talk will, and smart companies will not just listen but will engage them in decisions. This will have an impact not just on PR and image but on product design, marketing, sales, customer service—the whole company.
Three years from now, I predict BusinessWeek's cover won't be about blogs or tools but about companies as communities.
ARIANNA HUFFINGTON, HUFFINGTON POST
The growth of New Media journalism will be a hybrid combining the best aspects of traditional print newspapers with the best of what the Web brings to the table. We're getting a glimpse into this with the many changes afoot at Old Media places like the The New York Times, and from New Media players like, well, like the Huffington Post.
The online vs. print debate is totally obsolete. It's as musty as the old barroom argument about Ginger vs. Mary Ann. It's 2008, why not have a three-way? Traditional media have ADD: They are far too quick to drop a story. Online journalists, meanwhile, tend to have OCD—we chomp down on a story, refusing to move on until we've gotten down to the marrow.
The shifting dynamic between the forces of print and online reminds me of Sarah Connor and the T-101 in The Terminator. At first, the visitor from the future (digital) seemed intent on killing Sarah (print). But as the relationship progressed, the Terminator became Sarah and her son's one hope for salvation. Today, you can almost hear digital media (which for some reason has a thick Austrian accent) saying to print: "Come with me if you want to live!"
Monday, April 14, 2008
The Information that will change the society.
It is not just any information. There must be something inside
that information that can really change the society.
The latest New Yorker article is interesting - it demonstrates how
"information can even shape the industry of the information itself!"
Now you see - information is a powerful weapon.
Again, it is not just the information - The information must have
some 'killer' substance. We will leave it to the reader to discover.
Hints on killer substance:
1) The ability to build interest (the power to attract) - current up-to-date and quality info
2) To serve relevant material (what people are most likely to be looking after)
3) To hit the target immediately with just few words (or powerful illustration)
4) Immediately identify the issues/subjects to the viewer (for quick absorption)
5) To trigger the human mind (break the barrier). and capture their heart (love).
Perhaps the last killer substance is the most important.
Human are known to do amazing things when they love something.
This is what we are after........
Consider this simple story with a powerful message:
The King and The Astrologer
Once upon a time, an astrologer went to a King’s Palace.
Accidentally, he saw one of the Palace’s woman, she looked tired
and sick............
He said to her: “You will die soon”
And that is what happened. She died few days after the date that the
astrologer appointed it. The King grieved on her death.
The King knew and heard about the astrologer. He decided to take
revenge on him, therefore, the King ordered two powerful and strong
men to hide themselves in the room. Whenever he signaled them, they
would attack the astrologer and carry him and throw him out of the
window to die. This way the King will be good and recover from
omen.
One day the King called on the astrologer, after he managed the plan
mentioned above and said to him: “You know the future of all the
people, and of course you know your future too, so tell me when you
will die?” The astrologer realized the critical situation, and the
king wanted nothing from him but to beat him down.
The astrologer looked at the ground for few minutes, then he lifted
his head and said with a voice full of confidence and accuracy: “I
will die three days before the King’s death.”
Therefore, the King had no chance to do anything except he allowed the
two strong men to leave the palace.
Finally, the astrologer lived a good life.
The following write-up by Leslie Lopez is a good example of
writing with substance:
Saturday, 12 April 2008
By Leslie Lopez, THE STRAITS TIMES
LAST month's stunning election results have once again thrust former Malaysian premier Mahathir Mohamad into the country's political mainstream.
He has resumed his spirited campaign to oust his successor Abdullah Badawi, whom he accuses of being incompetent and chiefly responsible for the ruling Umno's poor showing in the elections. But there is a growing view that the government's defeat in five key states and the loss of its customary two-thirds majority in Parliament represented in fact the final verdict on the 22 years of Tun Dr Mahathir's rule. That rule was pockmarked with assaults against independent public institutions, rampant corruption, racial tensions and economic fiascos.
While there is widespread anger within Umno towards Datuk Seri Abdullah over the recent election results, party officials say that his main fault was that he attempted to restore confidence in the institutions Tun Dr Mahathir emasculated, but did not have the political will to push ahead with the much-needed overhaul.
Indeed, the political mudslinging and blame game stemming from last month's polls have reopened the debate on Tun Dr Mahathir's legacy. In response to his attacks on the government, politicians from both sides of the divide have lashed out at the former premier.
In recent days Umno leaders, including Datuk Seri Abdullah, have chided him for his alleged abuse of power when in office. Opposition leaders have also weighed in.
'The opposition doesn't need the unsolicited support of Dr Mahathir to ensure that the Barisan Nasional government is kept on its toes,' said Mr Karpal Singh, the chairman of the opposition Democratic Action Party (DAP).
No stranger to controversy, Tun Dr Mahathir is insisting that he did nothing wrong. 'My conscience is clear. I have done what was my duty and I owe no one an apology,' he was quoted as saying in a letter to Mr Singh, made public this week.
For years, Malaysians have viewed Tun Dr Mahathir's autocratic political style through a soft-focus lens because he presided over a period of heady economic growth. For example, his crackdown on more than 100 government critics in October 1987 was defended as a necessity to prevent the country from descending into chaos. His assault on the judiciary was justified because large segments of the Malaysian public embraced his argument that judges were interfering in the business of government and were challenging decisions by his administration. Even his sacking of former deputy premier Anwar Ibrahim in 1998 was often justified on the grounds that it reflected the realities of Malaysia's take-no-prisoners political culture:
Datuk Seri Anwar paid the price for challenging his boss. But those views are fast dissipating.
As Malaysia grapples with its worst political crisis in decades, Tun Dr Mahathir's legacy is coming under a not-so-forgiving spotlight. In fact, many analysts and politicians are now blaming the election debacle suffered by the ruling Umno-led Barisan Nasional coalition on the overhang of the Mahathir years. Umno's sycophantic culture, the confidence deficit in the judiciary and security agencies, and widespread corruption are now viewed as elements framing his legacy.
Many Malaysian politicians believe that Datuk Seri Abdullah's position as Premier and party president is now untenable and the big question is whether he will be able to engineer a dignified political exit before Umno holds its own party polls some time in December. But his exit will not help rehabilitate Umno, and many party officials close to the Premier blame this on Tun Dr Mahathir. They say the party's decline began two decades ago after the High Court declared Umno illegal following a bitter leadership contest which almost unseated Tun Dr Mahathir.
He and his allies created a new party, but the democratic procedures that characterised Malaysia's oldest political organisation were removed. New rules made it virtually impossible to challenge the party leadership. That, say many Umno officials, sowed the seeds for the current disillusionment in the Malay community towards the party.
Tun Dr Mahathir's assault on the judiciary was the direct result of his problems in Umno. He led a campaign to sack the country's top jurist after the judge called for a full sitting of the country's highest court to hear an appeal by his political opponents.
They were seeking an order to overturn an earlier High Court decision declaring Umno illegal.
By removing the top judge and installing more compliant jurists, Tun Dr Mahathir removed potential political threats to his rule, lawyers and Umno officials say.
In all these battles, he won easily because he laid the ground rules and often moved the goal posts to get his way. But one fight that he has not been able to bring closure to is that with his former deputy, Datuk Seri Anwar.
The former premier's handling of Datuk Seri Anwar's sacking from Umno and the government in late 1998, and the subsequent imprisonment of Datuk Seri Anwar, ranks as one of his biggest political miscalculations. Even though Datuk Seri Anwar could not stand in last month's polls, he is widely credited with engineering the non-violent shift in the Malaysian mindset away from the divisive race-based politics that Tun Dr Mahathir promoted.
The public endorsement the opposition received can be viewed as a sharp rebuke to Tun Dr Mahathir.
Tun Dr Mahathir has challenged Datuk Seri Abdullah to carry out an international investigation into the alleged misdeeds of his years in office.
Some Umno leaders close to the Premier think that would not be a bad idea. They say it would provide a diversion from BN's political muddle and allow Datuk Seri Abdullah to proceed with rehabilitating his party and government.
The Mahathir years were Malaysia's most tumultuous. They will require careful examination to bring about the reforms Malaysia must undertake to move ahead.
Reference:
Internet is the future of news: The death and life of the American newspaper
You can see from that article that the young generations and the
'most politically engaged' are moving away from the main stream media.
"Taking its place, of course, is the Internet, which is about to pass
newspapers as a source of political news for American readers. For
young people, and for the most politically engaged, it has already
done so. As early as May, 2004, newspapers had become the least
preferred source for news among younger people. According to
“Abandoning the News,” published by the Carnegie Corporation,
thirty-nine per cent of respondents under the age of thirty-five told
researchers that they expected to use the Internet in the future for
news purposes; just eight per cent said that they would rely on a
newspaper. It is a point of ironic injustice, perhaps, that when a
reader surfs the Web in search of political news he frequently ends
up at a site that is merely aggregating journalistic work that
originated in a newspaper, but that fact is not likely to save any
newspaper jobs or increase papers’ stock valuation.
Among the most significant aspects of the transition from “dead
tree” newspapers to a world of digital information lies in the
nature of “news” itself. The American newspaper (and the nightly
newscast) is designed to appeal to a broad audience, with conflicting
values and opinions, by virtue of its commitment to the goal of
objectivity. Many newspapers, in their eagerness to demonstrate a
sense of balance and impartiality, do not allow reporters to voice
their opinions publicly, march in demonstrations, volunteer in
political campaigns, wear political buttons, or attach bumper
stickers to their cars."
that information that can really change the society.
The latest New Yorker article is interesting - it demonstrates how
"information can even shape the industry of the information itself!"
Now you see - information is a powerful weapon.
Again, it is not just the information - The information must have
some 'killer' substance. We will leave it to the reader to discover.
Hints on killer substance:
1) The ability to build interest (the power to attract) - current up-to-date and quality info
2) To serve relevant material (what people are most likely to be looking after)
3) To hit the target immediately with just few words (or powerful illustration)
4) Immediately identify the issues/subjects to the viewer (for quick absorption)
5) To trigger the human mind (break the barrier). and capture their heart (love).
Perhaps the last killer substance is the most important.
Human are known to do amazing things when they love something.
This is what we are after........
Consider this simple story with a powerful message:
The King and The Astrologer
Once upon a time, an astrologer went to a King’s Palace.
Accidentally, he saw one of the Palace’s woman, she looked tired
and sick............
He said to her: “You will die soon”
And that is what happened. She died few days after the date that the
astrologer appointed it. The King grieved on her death.
The King knew and heard about the astrologer. He decided to take
revenge on him, therefore, the King ordered two powerful and strong
men to hide themselves in the room. Whenever he signaled them, they
would attack the astrologer and carry him and throw him out of the
window to die. This way the King will be good and recover from
omen.
One day the King called on the astrologer, after he managed the plan
mentioned above and said to him: “You know the future of all the
people, and of course you know your future too, so tell me when you
will die?” The astrologer realized the critical situation, and the
king wanted nothing from him but to beat him down.
The astrologer looked at the ground for few minutes, then he lifted
his head and said with a voice full of confidence and accuracy: “I
will die three days before the King’s death.”
Therefore, the King had no chance to do anything except he allowed the
two strong men to leave the palace.
Finally, the astrologer lived a good life.
The following write-up by Leslie Lopez is a good example of
writing with substance:
Mahathir's last stand
Saturday, 12 April 2008
By Leslie Lopez, THE STRAITS TIMES
LAST month's stunning election results have once again thrust former Malaysian premier Mahathir Mohamad into the country's political mainstream.
He has resumed his spirited campaign to oust his successor Abdullah Badawi, whom he accuses of being incompetent and chiefly responsible for the ruling Umno's poor showing in the elections. But there is a growing view that the government's defeat in five key states and the loss of its customary two-thirds majority in Parliament represented in fact the final verdict on the 22 years of Tun Dr Mahathir's rule. That rule was pockmarked with assaults against independent public institutions, rampant corruption, racial tensions and economic fiascos.
While there is widespread anger within Umno towards Datuk Seri Abdullah over the recent election results, party officials say that his main fault was that he attempted to restore confidence in the institutions Tun Dr Mahathir emasculated, but did not have the political will to push ahead with the much-needed overhaul.
Indeed, the political mudslinging and blame game stemming from last month's polls have reopened the debate on Tun Dr Mahathir's legacy. In response to his attacks on the government, politicians from both sides of the divide have lashed out at the former premier.
In recent days Umno leaders, including Datuk Seri Abdullah, have chided him for his alleged abuse of power when in office. Opposition leaders have also weighed in.
'The opposition doesn't need the unsolicited support of Dr Mahathir to ensure that the Barisan Nasional government is kept on its toes,' said Mr Karpal Singh, the chairman of the opposition Democratic Action Party (DAP).
No stranger to controversy, Tun Dr Mahathir is insisting that he did nothing wrong. 'My conscience is clear. I have done what was my duty and I owe no one an apology,' he was quoted as saying in a letter to Mr Singh, made public this week.
For years, Malaysians have viewed Tun Dr Mahathir's autocratic political style through a soft-focus lens because he presided over a period of heady economic growth. For example, his crackdown on more than 100 government critics in October 1987 was defended as a necessity to prevent the country from descending into chaos. His assault on the judiciary was justified because large segments of the Malaysian public embraced his argument that judges were interfering in the business of government and were challenging decisions by his administration. Even his sacking of former deputy premier Anwar Ibrahim in 1998 was often justified on the grounds that it reflected the realities of Malaysia's take-no-prisoners political culture:
Datuk Seri Anwar paid the price for challenging his boss. But those views are fast dissipating.
As Malaysia grapples with its worst political crisis in decades, Tun Dr Mahathir's legacy is coming under a not-so-forgiving spotlight. In fact, many analysts and politicians are now blaming the election debacle suffered by the ruling Umno-led Barisan Nasional coalition on the overhang of the Mahathir years. Umno's sycophantic culture, the confidence deficit in the judiciary and security agencies, and widespread corruption are now viewed as elements framing his legacy.
Many Malaysian politicians believe that Datuk Seri Abdullah's position as Premier and party president is now untenable and the big question is whether he will be able to engineer a dignified political exit before Umno holds its own party polls some time in December. But his exit will not help rehabilitate Umno, and many party officials close to the Premier blame this on Tun Dr Mahathir. They say the party's decline began two decades ago after the High Court declared Umno illegal following a bitter leadership contest which almost unseated Tun Dr Mahathir.
He and his allies created a new party, but the democratic procedures that characterised Malaysia's oldest political organisation were removed. New rules made it virtually impossible to challenge the party leadership. That, say many Umno officials, sowed the seeds for the current disillusionment in the Malay community towards the party.
Tun Dr Mahathir's assault on the judiciary was the direct result of his problems in Umno. He led a campaign to sack the country's top jurist after the judge called for a full sitting of the country's highest court to hear an appeal by his political opponents.
They were seeking an order to overturn an earlier High Court decision declaring Umno illegal.
By removing the top judge and installing more compliant jurists, Tun Dr Mahathir removed potential political threats to his rule, lawyers and Umno officials say.
In all these battles, he won easily because he laid the ground rules and often moved the goal posts to get his way. But one fight that he has not been able to bring closure to is that with his former deputy, Datuk Seri Anwar.
The former premier's handling of Datuk Seri Anwar's sacking from Umno and the government in late 1998, and the subsequent imprisonment of Datuk Seri Anwar, ranks as one of his biggest political miscalculations. Even though Datuk Seri Anwar could not stand in last month's polls, he is widely credited with engineering the non-violent shift in the Malaysian mindset away from the divisive race-based politics that Tun Dr Mahathir promoted.
The public endorsement the opposition received can be viewed as a sharp rebuke to Tun Dr Mahathir.
Tun Dr Mahathir has challenged Datuk Seri Abdullah to carry out an international investigation into the alleged misdeeds of his years in office.
Some Umno leaders close to the Premier think that would not be a bad idea. They say it would provide a diversion from BN's political muddle and allow Datuk Seri Abdullah to proceed with rehabilitating his party and government.
The Mahathir years were Malaysia's most tumultuous. They will require careful examination to bring about the reforms Malaysia must undertake to move ahead.
Reference:
Internet is the future of news: The death and life of the American newspaper
You can see from that article that the young generations and the'most politically engaged' are moving away from the main stream media.
"Taking its place, of course, is the Internet, which is about to pass
newspapers as a source of political news for American readers. For
young people, and for the most politically engaged, it has already
done so. As early as May, 2004, newspapers had become the least
preferred source for news among younger people. According to
“Abandoning the News,” published by the Carnegie Corporation,
thirty-nine per cent of respondents under the age of thirty-five told
researchers that they expected to use the Internet in the future for
news purposes; just eight per cent said that they would rely on a
newspaper. It is a point of ironic injustice, perhaps, that when a
reader surfs the Web in search of political news he frequently ends
up at a site that is merely aggregating journalistic work that
originated in a newspaper, but that fact is not likely to save any
newspaper jobs or increase papers’ stock valuation.
Among the most significant aspects of the transition from “dead
tree” newspapers to a world of digital information lies in the
nature of “news” itself. The American newspaper (and the nightly
newscast) is designed to appeal to a broad audience, with conflicting
values and opinions, by virtue of its commitment to the goal of
objectivity. Many newspapers, in their eagerness to demonstrate a
sense of balance and impartiality, do not allow reporters to voice
their opinions publicly, march in demonstrations, volunteer in
political campaigns, wear political buttons, or attach bumper
stickers to their cars."
Saturday, March 29, 2008
Ignoring the Internet is stupid - Pak Lah says ignoring Internet is his biggest mistake
“We made the biggest mistake in thinking that it was not important," - Pak Lah
Internet is a 'corridor' of information and information can do many things.
This is the plain basics.
Is the internet a major factor?
YES - when the boiling point has been reached. When that happens
some of the water will overflow to the ground while some will
travel at high speed as a deadly invisible steam.
Information will change the society - how fast that will
happen will depend on your hard labour, your ingredient
and your transport mechanism.
NewsKini is an idea of that transport mechanism......
Internet is a killer app of this century - just look at how Google
has managed to topple Microsoft in just a very short time. And
Google is actually a transport mechanism too....
Source:
APac
Malaysian PM admits his “biggest mistake”
Wed, April 02 2008
Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad BadawiIgnored by government-linked mainstream media, Malaysia’s opposition waged an aggressive online election campaign using blogs and news websites.
For example, 67-year-old opposition Democratic Action Party chairman Lim Kit Siang ran three blogs, which were meticulously updated with multiple posts every day. Like many other opposition leaders, he was able to reach out to young urban and educated people, many who were voting for the first time. Lim won a parliamentary seat in Ipoh Timor.
Last week Malaysia’s Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi, whose position has been considerably weakened after his coalition’s drubbing at the polls, admitted that his ruling coalition made a blunder by underestimating the power of the Internet.
“We made the biggest mistake in thinking that it was not important,” he said. The coalition suffered its worst results ever in March 8 polls that left five states and a third of parliamentary seats in opposition hands.
“We certainly lost the Internet war, the cyber war,” Abdullah said in a speech to an investment conference. “It was a serious misjudgement. We thought that the newspapers, the print media and the television were supposed to be important, but the young people were looking at SMSes and blogs.”
His comments constitute a major about-face for the government, which had vilified bloggers, calling them liars and threatening them with detention without trial under draconian internal security laws.
Even as he spoke, his critics in the United Malays National Organisation (Umno), his power base, were moving to force him out of office. To make matters worse, Umno’s 3.2 million members have also received a poison-pen letter listing his faults. It is not known if he was aware of these moves when he was making his speech.
The poison-pen letter, which hopes to ignite hatred against Abdullah, talks about the manipulations of the government by his son-in-law Khairy Jamaluddin and his associates, the PM’s alleged willingness to appease Singapore and his inability to fight rising crime in the country.
But in his speech, Abdullah said that in line with reform promises after the humiliating election results, the government would “respond effectively” and move to empower young Malaysians. “It was painful . . . but it came at the right time, not too late,” he said. The PM admitted that it was also his inability to push through reforms that earned voters’ ire.
The government, he said, had been given one last chance to prove itself and is ready to change to address the people’s concerns. He promised to implement bold agendas to restore public and investor confidence.
The impact of young voters on the electoral results was particularly underscored in Selangor, which fell to the opposition. The state has about 143,000 new voters out of a total electorate of more than 1.5 million.
http://www.theedgedaily.com
26-03-2008: Pak Lah says ignoring Internet is his biggest mistake
by Kevin Tan
KUALA LUMPUR: Prime Minister Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi said his “biggest mistake” in the recent general election was to ignore the political campaigns waged by the opposition on the Internet.
“We certainly lost the Internet war, the cyber war. It was a serious misjudgement. We made the biggest mistake in thinking that it was not important.
“We thought that the newspapers, the print media, the television were supposed to be important, but the young people were looking at SMS (short messaging service) and blogs,” he said at the Invest Malaysia 2008 Conference here yesterday.
Following the dismal election results for Barisan Nasional (BN), Abdullah said the government would “respond effectively”. “It was painful... but it came at the right time, not too late.”
In his keynote address, Abdullah also said the message from the general election was that he did not move fast enough in pushing forward the reforms he had promised to undertake.
“I thank the Malaysian people for this message. Point well made and point taken,” he said.
However, he also pointed out that the BN government was not constrained by dogmatism or rigidity and it was more than ready to listen to the people.
“Above all, it is a government that is ready to change and address the people’s concerns and grievances,” he said, adding that the government was now already in the rejuvenation process with the appointment of a new Cabinet last week.
Abdullah also said he intended to implement a “bold agenda” for addressing the concerns of the people as expressed through the ballot box.
Besides introducing a package to alleviate the burdens of the lower income group, he will drastically reduce crime, step up the fight against corruption, support reforms of the judiciary and ensure a fair number of places of worship for Malaysians of all religions.
“These are the major issues that resonated with the voters, regardless of ethnicity, background, gender or age,” he said.
Malaysia PM says 'big mistake' to ignore cyber-campaign
Mar 25, 2008
KUALA LUMPUR (AFP) — Malaysia's premier Abdullah Ahmad Badawi said Tuesday his "biggest mistake" in disastrous elections was to ignore cyber-campaigning on the Internet which was seized by the opposition.
The powerful Barisan Nasional coalition suffered its worst-ever results in March 8 polls that left five states and a third of parliamentary seats in opposition hands.
The opposition, which was largely ignored by government-linked mainstream media, instead waged an enormously successful online campaign using blogs, news websites and SMS text messages.
"We certainly lost the Internet war, the cyber-war," Abdullah said in in a speech to an investment conference.
"It was a serious misjudgement. We made the biggest mistake in thinking that it was not important," he said.
"We thought that the newspapers, the print media, the television was supposed to be important, but the young people were looking at SMS and blogs."
The comments are a major about-face for the government, which had vilified bloggers, calling them liars and threatening them with detention without trial under draconian internal security laws.
In line with promises to reform after the humiliating election results, Abdullah said the government would "respond effectively" and move to empower young Malaysians.
"It was painful ... but it came at the right time, not too late," he said.
Malaysia's mainstream media are mostly part-owned by parties in the ruling coalition, and what was seen as biased coverage in the run-up to last month's vote alienated voters and boosted demand for alternative news sources.
Media watchdog Reporters Without Borders ranks Malaysia 124 out of 169 on its worldwide press freedom index. It says mainstream media are "often compelled to ignore or to play down" opposition events.
Technology March 6, 2008, 10:16AM EST
Malaysian Ruling Party Lost in Cyberspace
As the nation votes on Mar. 8, analysts say the Barisan Nasional coalition is losing the political debate to scores of anti-government Web sites and blogs
by Lee Min Keong
As the nation goes to the polls on Mar. 8, analysts say Malaysia's ruling Barisan Nasional (BN) coalition is losing the political debate in cyberspace to the scores of anti-government Web sites and blogs campaigning against the BN.
Ironically, the incumbent coalition is poised to win the electoral battle on the back of strong support from rural, non-Internet savvy constituents.
While the opposition admits they are unlikely to deny BN a victory this election, they are optimistic the proliferation of anti-government sites and blogs, as well as the YouTube phenomenon, has created a chink in the armor of the political behemoth which has ruled Malaysia uninterrupted for the past 50 years.
Though the BN has vast financial and manpower resources compared to the opposition, the ruling coalition is less savvy and nimble when it comes to effectively utilizing information and communications technology (ICT) and the Internet to upstage its political foes.
While the main opposition party, the Democratic Action Party (DAP), has unleashed its e-election campaign, the dominant BN-component party Umno, has yet to do likewise.
Senior Umno politician and BN Backbenchers Club chairman Shahrir Abdul Samad confirmed the Malay-based Umno does not have an Internet strategy for the coming election. He told ZDNet Asia in a phone interview that while the Internet was a useful "window" for communication, the election candidates still needed to travel across Malaysia, speak at rallies, visit community centers and meet the constituents face-to- face. Member of Parliament for Malaysian city Johor Bahru, Shahrir is one of few Internet-savvy senior Umno leaders who blog.
Yip Wai Fong, advocacy officer at Centre for Independent Journalism (CIJ), said the ruling coalition has been "very complacent" with regard to using the Internet in the political arena. "The BN government has been quite slow in using the Internet," Yip said in a phone interview. "It has been too comfortable relying on the mainstream media over the decades."
She explained that BN's biggest constituency is the rural Malay heartland, where there is low Internet penetration and a non-IT savvy populace, and the pro-government mainstream media exerts greater influence compared to the Internet.
Yip said the BN, which comprises 14 political parties, has been slow to adapt their messages for the Internet, and to respond quickly to the barrage of allegations and criticisms from the host of pro-opposition news Web sites and blogs.
In contrast, the DAP appointed popular blogger Jeff Ooi to organize and head the party's e-campaign for the election. The party operates a Web site dedicated to provide election information and collaterals, including profiles of all its candidates, the party manifesto, YouTube-linked video clips and links to all the party's bloggers.
DAP candidates are also raising much-needed election funding through their individual Web sites, and complementing this effort with the use of (SMS) text messages to propagate its political views and messages to thousands of voters via the mobile platform.
The opposition's reliance on the Internet and communication systems is borne out of sheer necessity. Ooi, who is standing for a parliamentary seat in Penang, said: "DAP's e-election initiative is a platform to circumvent the media blackout on the opposition's messages imposed by the government-controlled mainstream media."
Internet paths way to information
Without access to the mass media, opposition parties were somewhat handicapped in past elections. The emergence of the Internet has now provided the opposition and anti-government groups an alternative platform to spread their political memorandum.
CIJ's Yip said the Internet has benefited the opposition much more than the ruling coalition. "Online news sites, blog sites, YouTube and citizen journalism have definitely cracked the BN government's monopoly on 'truth'," she said. CIJ, together with Writers' Alliance for Independence (WAMI), are monitoring elections coverage together with Charter2000-Aliran and a group of citizen volunteers.
"The government (BN) now has to respond to what its opponents say on the Internet. Previously, it could just ignore the opposition's allegations," she said. In today's connected world, however, the government they can no longer afford to do that, Yip said.
Steven Gan, editor-in-chief of Malaysiakini, said in a phone interview: "Previously, most Malaysians were dependent on the mainstream media for news. Now, with the Internet, they have many options for alternative, independent news. This allows them to make an informed choice in the elections." Malaysiakini is an independent online news provider, and its growing popularity is a cause of worry for the BN.
According to Malaysiakini CEO Premesh Chandran, the online news portal's paid subscriber base increased by 40 percent in the last three months.
"Last year, we had an average of 100,000 unique visitors accessing our news Web site. Since the beginning of the year, to date, the number of daily unique visitors has shot up to 150,000," Chandran told ZDNet Asia in a phone interview. He estimates Malaysiakini articles are read by about 500,000 people each month.
Reaching the young
Thanks also to the Internet, Malaysia's Generation Y voters are becoming more politically conscious and are expected to have a bigger say in the outcome of future elections.
"The mainstream newspapers don't provide fair coverage to the opposition during the election campaign," J. Yeo, who lectures at a local university, said in an interview. This has prompted Yeo, who is in her late 20s, to seek out information from the alternative online news sites such as Malaysiakini and political blogs.
Likewise, IT consultant Randy Tan who is in his twenties, admits he has lost faith in the local media's coverage of political issues. Tan told ZDNet Asia he now gets his news from Malaysiakini, Malaysia Today, Ooi's blog Screenshots and various political blogs.
Despite the BN's lack of Web presence, Umno's Shahrir said the Internet will have "minimal impact" on the outcome of the coming election.
"Elections are about votes, not [page] hits," he said, and argued that even in highly-connected countries such as Singapore, the Internet did not stop the ruling People's Action Party's (PAP) from capturing a hefty majority.
CIJ's Yip said she considered the election a success if the opposition comes close to denying the BN its customary two-thirds parliamentary majority. In the 2004 polls, the BN won 90 percent of the 219 parliamentary seats contested.
Malaysiakini's Gan said as the country's Internet penetration rate grows, the Web and new technologies will play a major role in Malaysian politics.
About 10.9 million voters will cast their votes in Saturday's election.
Lee Min Keong is a freelance IT writer based in Malaysia.
Internet steers new way in M'sian election
By Lee Min Keong, ZDNet Asia
06/03/2008
URL: http://www.zdnetasia.com/news/internet/0,39044908,62038595,00.htm
MALAYSIA--As the nation goes to the polls on Mar. 8, analysts say Malaysia's ruling Barisan Nasional (BN) coalition is losing the political debate in cyberspace to the scores of anti-government Web sites and blogs campaigning against the BN.
Ironically, the incumbent coalition is poised to win the electoral battle on the back of strong support from rural, non-Internet savvy constituents.
While the opposition admits they are unlikely to deny BN a victory this election, they are optimistic the proliferation of anti-government sites and blogs, as well as the YouTube phenomenon, has created a chink in the armor of the political behemoth which has ruled Malaysia uninterrupted for the past 50 years.
Though the BN has vast financial and manpower resources compared to the opposition, the ruling coalition is less savvy and nimble when it comes to effectively utilizing information and communications technology (ICT) and the Internet to upstage its political foes.
While the main opposition party, the Democratic Action Party (DAP), has unleashed its e-election campaign, the dominant BN-component party Umno, has yet to do likewise.
Senior Umno politician and BN Backbenchers Club chairman Shahrir Abdul Samad confirmed the Malay-based Umno does not have an Internet strategy for the coming election. He told ZDNet Asia in a phone interview that while the Internet was a useful "window" for communication, the election candidates still needed to travel across Malaysia, speak at rallies, visit community centers and meet the constituents face-to- face. Member of Parliament for Malaysian city Johor Bahru, Shahrir is one of few Internet-savvy senior Umno leaders who blog.
Yip Wai Fong, advocacy officer at Centre for Independent Journalism (CIJ), said the ruling coalition has been "very complacent" with regard to using the Internet in the political arena. "The BN government has been quite slow in using the Internet," Yip said in a phone interview. "It has been too comfortable relying on the mainstream media over the decades."
She explained that BN's biggest constituency is the rural Malay heartland, where there is low Internet penetration and a non-IT savvy populace, and the pro-government mainstream media exerts greater influence compared to the Internet.
Yip said the BN, which comprises 14 political parties, has been slow to adapt their messages for the Internet, and to respond quickly to the barrage of allegations and criticisms from the host of pro-opposition news Web sites and blogs.
In contrast, the DAP appointed popular blogger Jeff Ooi to organize and head the party's e-campaign for the election. The party operates a Web site dedicated to provide election information and collaterals, including profiles of all its candidates, the party manifesto, YouTube-linked video clips and links to all the party's bloggers.
DAP candidates are also raising much-needed election funding through their individual Web sites, and complementing this effort with the use of (SMS) text messages to propagate its political views and messages to thousands of voters via the mobile platform.
The opposition's reliance on the Internet and communication systems is borne out of sheer necessity. Ooi, who is standing for a parliamentary seat in Penang, said: "DAP's e-election initiative is a platform to circumvent the media blackout on the opposition's messages imposed by the government-controlled mainstream media."
Internet paths way to information
Without access to the mass media, opposition parties were somewhat handicapped in past elections. The emergence of the Internet has now provided the opposition and anti-government groups an alternative platform to spread their political memorandum.
CIJ's Yip said the Internet has benefited the opposition much more than the ruling coalition. "Online news sites, blog sites, YouTube and citizen journalism have definitely cracked the BN government's monopoly on 'truth'," she said. CIJ, together with Writers' Alliance for Independence (WAMI), are monitoring elections coverage together with Charter2000-Aliran and a group of citizen volunteers.
"The government (BN) now has to respond to what its opponents say on the Internet. Previously, it could just ignore the opposition's allegations," she said. In today's connected world, however, the government they can no longer afford to do that, Yip said.
Steven Gan, editor-in-chief of Malaysiakini, said in a phone interview: "Previously, most Malaysians were dependent on the mainstream media for news. Now, with the Internet, they have many options for alternative, independent news. This allows them to make an informed choice in the elections." Malaysiakini is an independent online news provider, and its growing popularity is a cause of worry for the BN.
According to Malaysiakini CEO Premesh Chandran, the online news portal's paid subscriber base increased by 40 percent in the last three months.
"Last year, we had an average of 100,000 unique visitors accessing our news Web site. Since the beginning of the year, to date, the number of daily unique visitors has shot up to 150,000," Chandran told ZDNet Asia in a phone interview. He estimates Malaysiakini articles are read by about 500,000 people each month.
Reaching the young
Thanks also to the Internet, Malaysia's Generation Y voters are becoming more politically conscious and are expected to have a bigger say in the outcome of future elections.
"The mainstream newspapers don't provide fair coverage to the opposition during the election campaign," J. Yeo, who lectures at a local university, said in an interview. This has prompted Yeo, who is in her late 20s, to seek out information from the alternative online news sites such as Malaysiakini and political blogs.
Likewise, IT consultant Randy Tan who is in his twenties, admits he has lost faith in the local media's coverage of political issues. Tan told ZDNet Asia he now gets his news from Malaysiakini, Malaysia Today, Ooi's blog Screenshots and various political blogs.
Despite the BN's lack of Web presence, Umno's Shahrir said the Internet will have "minimal impact" on the outcome of the coming election.
"Elections are about votes, not [page] hits," he said, and argued that even in highly-connected countries such as Singapore, the Internet did not stop the ruling People's Action Party's (PAP) from capturing a hefty majority.
CIJ's Yip said she considered the election a success if the opposition comes close to denying the BN its customary two-thirds parliamentary majority. In the 2004 polls, the BN won 90 percent of the 219 parliamentary seats contested.
Malaysiakini's Gan said as the country's Internet penetration rate grows, the Web and new technologies will play a major role in Malaysian politics.
About 10.9 million voters will cast their votes in Saturday's election.
Lee Min Keong is a freelance IT writer based in Malaysia.
Techies sidestep Malaysian govt
By Lee Min Keong, ZDNet Asia
15/11/2007
URL: http://www.zdnetasia.com/news/business/0,39044229,62034449,00.htm
MALAYSIA--As police fired tear gas and water cannons to disperse thousands of activists Saturday in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysians had to turn to the Internet in search of news reports and updates.
On Nov. 10, some reported 30,000 people staged a rally in the country's capital, calling for electoral reforms to ensure a free and fair general election which is expected early-2008. Organized by Bersih (which means "clean" in Malay), the rally involved a coalition of some 70 non-governmental organizations and opposition parties.
The Malaysian government was "caught with its pants down" in its attempt to impose a media blackout.
-- Jeff Ooi
Blogger-cum-politician
Mainstream print and broadcast media were advised to play down the incident, and most took heed.
Undeterred by the government-imposed media blackout, many turned instead to alternative new media--encompassing an array of online news sites, blogs and YouTube videos--to get updates on the country's biggest anti-government street protest in a decade. This move parallels recent events in Pakistan, where students turned to the Internet to bypass media blackout and galvanize the community during the Nov. 7 protest rally against President Pervez Musharraf.
In Malaysia, local online news site Malaysiakini, reported a massive spike in page views over the weekend, so much so that it had to put up a stripped-down version of its front page to ease network congestion.
Malaysiakini's editor-in-chief Steven Gan, told ZDNet Asia the Web site registered about 1 million unique visitors on Saturday, a 10-fold increase over average daily numbers. Gan said rally video clips streamed on the site were viewed by over 50,000 visitors over the past few days.
To further ease network bottlenecks due to the heavy demand, he added that Malaysiakini uploaded on Saturday its Bersih rally videos on YouTube, which is better able to provide much greater bandwidth capacity.
Gan's news site was not the only one to do so. A search on YouTube yielded at least 100 Bersih rally-related video clips, with the most popular registering 120,000 views to date.
Uploaded soon after the rally was staged, the clips ranged from videos filmed with the protestors' camera-enabled mobile phones, to news broadcasts run by CNN and Arabic news and satellite TV channel, Al Jazeera.
An array of blogs also gave extensive coverage, complete with on-the-scene citizen journalist reports, analyses, photographs, and links to rally video clips.
Popular local blogger Jeff Ooi recorded a five-fold increase in page views on his site Screenshots , last weekend.
In a phone interview with ZDNet Asia, Ooi said: "Screenshots recorded a spike of 24,600 page views and 21,000 unique visitors on Saturday alone. This is unprecedented for weekend traffic, which usually hovers around 5,000 page views a day."
Even theCICAK (which means "lizard" in Malay), an online socio-political youth magazine run mainly by Malaysian students from foreign and local universities, seemed to have covered the rally more comprehensively than the local mainstream media. Founded in 2005, theCICAK hopes to develop a generation of "thinking" Malaysian youth, states its Web site.
Plugging the independent hole
Ooi noted that alternative media platforms are filling the void of independent news coverage created by the abdication of local mainstream media in the country.
The Malaysian government, he said, was "caught with its pants down" in its attempt to impose a media blackout when activists and the opposition party were able to divert their campaign to the Internet, satellite TV channels, blogs, YouTube, and cell phones and text messages.
Local media reports quoted police as saying only 4,000 people turned up for the rally, while international wire services and Malaysia's local alternative media estimated between 30,000 and 50,000 people participated in the march. Thousands more were reportedly locked out of Kuala Lumpur, due to massive traffic jams as police set up roadblocks on the main arteries leading into the capital.
A senior editor of a local daily newspaper, who spoke to ZDNet Asia on the condition of anonymity, confirmed a media blackout was imposed and that the Malaysian government had instructed the local media to downplay coverage of the rally.
Activists also alleged that government operatives or its supporters conducted a campaign to sabotage the Bersih rally. Several pro-Bersih Web sites and blogs were hacked, while the SMS (short messaging system) tool of a key opposition party was commandeered to send out messages claiming the Nov. 10 rally was postponed.
The Bersih secretariat confirmed its Web site was hacked twice last week in the run-up to the rally. "On both occasions, the hacker inserted messages saying Saturday's rally had been postponed," said secretariat member Liew Chin Tong, in a phone interview.
He revealed the coalition has "learnt its lesson" and since moved its site to a more secured server. Liew also noted that the use of various technologies such as the Internet and YouTube, helped alleviate the impact of the local media blackout.
The opposition Peoples' Justice Party (PKR) claimed its SMS news system was hacked in the run-up to the rally. PKR information chief Tian Chua said in his blog that "someone infiltrated our [SMS news] system" and sent out a text message, purportedly from the king himself, saying the rally was canceled.
According to Malaysiakini's Gan, the government is uneasy about its inability to control the new media. He noted that ministers were unable to come to terms with the regular use of technology by opposition parties, activists, bloggers, NGOs (non-government organizations) and other groups.
"[The Malaysian government is] not able to deal with it. Technology is not going away, [society] is getting more open," he added.
Gan conceded, however, that the Internet is unlikely to have a major impact on the outcome of the upcoming general election. "But, the Internet and technology will play an increasingly important role in bringing about true democracy in Malaysia... In about 10 years' time, the full impact may be felt," he said.
Lee Min Keong is a freelance IT writer based in Malaysia.
Internet is a 'corridor' of information and information can do many things.
This is the plain basics.
Is the internet a major factor?
YES - when the boiling point has been reached. When that happens
some of the water will overflow to the ground while some will
travel at high speed as a deadly invisible steam.
Information will change the society - how fast that will
happen will depend on your hard labour, your ingredient
and your transport mechanism.
NewsKini is an idea of that transport mechanism......
Internet is a killer app of this century - just look at how Google
has managed to topple Microsoft in just a very short time. And
Google is actually a transport mechanism too....
Source:
APac
Malaysian PM admits his “biggest mistake”
Wed, April 02 2008
Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad BadawiIgnored by government-linked mainstream media, Malaysia’s opposition waged an aggressive online election campaign using blogs and news websites.
For example, 67-year-old opposition Democratic Action Party chairman Lim Kit Siang ran three blogs, which were meticulously updated with multiple posts every day. Like many other opposition leaders, he was able to reach out to young urban and educated people, many who were voting for the first time. Lim won a parliamentary seat in Ipoh Timor.
Last week Malaysia’s Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi, whose position has been considerably weakened after his coalition’s drubbing at the polls, admitted that his ruling coalition made a blunder by underestimating the power of the Internet.
“We made the biggest mistake in thinking that it was not important,” he said. The coalition suffered its worst results ever in March 8 polls that left five states and a third of parliamentary seats in opposition hands.
“We certainly lost the Internet war, the cyber war,” Abdullah said in a speech to an investment conference. “It was a serious misjudgement. We thought that the newspapers, the print media and the television were supposed to be important, but the young people were looking at SMSes and blogs.”
His comments constitute a major about-face for the government, which had vilified bloggers, calling them liars and threatening them with detention without trial under draconian internal security laws.
Even as he spoke, his critics in the United Malays National Organisation (Umno), his power base, were moving to force him out of office. To make matters worse, Umno’s 3.2 million members have also received a poison-pen letter listing his faults. It is not known if he was aware of these moves when he was making his speech.
The poison-pen letter, which hopes to ignite hatred against Abdullah, talks about the manipulations of the government by his son-in-law Khairy Jamaluddin and his associates, the PM’s alleged willingness to appease Singapore and his inability to fight rising crime in the country.
But in his speech, Abdullah said that in line with reform promises after the humiliating election results, the government would “respond effectively” and move to empower young Malaysians. “It was painful . . . but it came at the right time, not too late,” he said. The PM admitted that it was also his inability to push through reforms that earned voters’ ire.
The government, he said, had been given one last chance to prove itself and is ready to change to address the people’s concerns. He promised to implement bold agendas to restore public and investor confidence.
The impact of young voters on the electoral results was particularly underscored in Selangor, which fell to the opposition. The state has about 143,000 new voters out of a total electorate of more than 1.5 million.
http://www.theedgedaily.com
26-03-2008: Pak Lah says ignoring Internet is his biggest mistake
by Kevin Tan
KUALA LUMPUR: Prime Minister Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi said his “biggest mistake” in the recent general election was to ignore the political campaigns waged by the opposition on the Internet.
“We certainly lost the Internet war, the cyber war. It was a serious misjudgement. We made the biggest mistake in thinking that it was not important.
“We thought that the newspapers, the print media, the television were supposed to be important, but the young people were looking at SMS (short messaging service) and blogs,” he said at the Invest Malaysia 2008 Conference here yesterday.
Following the dismal election results for Barisan Nasional (BN), Abdullah said the government would “respond effectively”. “It was painful... but it came at the right time, not too late.”
In his keynote address, Abdullah also said the message from the general election was that he did not move fast enough in pushing forward the reforms he had promised to undertake.
“I thank the Malaysian people for this message. Point well made and point taken,” he said.
However, he also pointed out that the BN government was not constrained by dogmatism or rigidity and it was more than ready to listen to the people.
“Above all, it is a government that is ready to change and address the people’s concerns and grievances,” he said, adding that the government was now already in the rejuvenation process with the appointment of a new Cabinet last week.
Abdullah also said he intended to implement a “bold agenda” for addressing the concerns of the people as expressed through the ballot box.
Besides introducing a package to alleviate the burdens of the lower income group, he will drastically reduce crime, step up the fight against corruption, support reforms of the judiciary and ensure a fair number of places of worship for Malaysians of all religions.
“These are the major issues that resonated with the voters, regardless of ethnicity, background, gender or age,” he said.
Malaysia PM says 'big mistake' to ignore cyber-campaign
Mar 25, 2008
KUALA LUMPUR (AFP) — Malaysia's premier Abdullah Ahmad Badawi said Tuesday his "biggest mistake" in disastrous elections was to ignore cyber-campaigning on the Internet which was seized by the opposition.
The powerful Barisan Nasional coalition suffered its worst-ever results in March 8 polls that left five states and a third of parliamentary seats in opposition hands.
The opposition, which was largely ignored by government-linked mainstream media, instead waged an enormously successful online campaign using blogs, news websites and SMS text messages.
"We certainly lost the Internet war, the cyber-war," Abdullah said in in a speech to an investment conference.
"It was a serious misjudgement. We made the biggest mistake in thinking that it was not important," he said.
"We thought that the newspapers, the print media, the television was supposed to be important, but the young people were looking at SMS and blogs."
The comments are a major about-face for the government, which had vilified bloggers, calling them liars and threatening them with detention without trial under draconian internal security laws.
In line with promises to reform after the humiliating election results, Abdullah said the government would "respond effectively" and move to empower young Malaysians.
"It was painful ... but it came at the right time, not too late," he said.
Malaysia's mainstream media are mostly part-owned by parties in the ruling coalition, and what was seen as biased coverage in the run-up to last month's vote alienated voters and boosted demand for alternative news sources.
Media watchdog Reporters Without Borders ranks Malaysia 124 out of 169 on its worldwide press freedom index. It says mainstream media are "often compelled to ignore or to play down" opposition events.
Technology March 6, 2008, 10:16AM EST
Malaysian Ruling Party Lost in Cyberspace
As the nation votes on Mar. 8, analysts say the Barisan Nasional coalition is losing the political debate to scores of anti-government Web sites and blogs
by Lee Min Keong
As the nation goes to the polls on Mar. 8, analysts say Malaysia's ruling Barisan Nasional (BN) coalition is losing the political debate in cyberspace to the scores of anti-government Web sites and blogs campaigning against the BN.
Ironically, the incumbent coalition is poised to win the electoral battle on the back of strong support from rural, non-Internet savvy constituents.
While the opposition admits they are unlikely to deny BN a victory this election, they are optimistic the proliferation of anti-government sites and blogs, as well as the YouTube phenomenon, has created a chink in the armor of the political behemoth which has ruled Malaysia uninterrupted for the past 50 years.
Though the BN has vast financial and manpower resources compared to the opposition, the ruling coalition is less savvy and nimble when it comes to effectively utilizing information and communications technology (ICT) and the Internet to upstage its political foes.
While the main opposition party, the Democratic Action Party (DAP), has unleashed its e-election campaign, the dominant BN-component party Umno, has yet to do likewise.
Senior Umno politician and BN Backbenchers Club chairman Shahrir Abdul Samad confirmed the Malay-based Umno does not have an Internet strategy for the coming election. He told ZDNet Asia in a phone interview that while the Internet was a useful "window" for communication, the election candidates still needed to travel across Malaysia, speak at rallies, visit community centers and meet the constituents face-to- face. Member of Parliament for Malaysian city Johor Bahru, Shahrir is one of few Internet-savvy senior Umno leaders who blog.
Yip Wai Fong, advocacy officer at Centre for Independent Journalism (CIJ), said the ruling coalition has been "very complacent" with regard to using the Internet in the political arena. "The BN government has been quite slow in using the Internet," Yip said in a phone interview. "It has been too comfortable relying on the mainstream media over the decades."
She explained that BN's biggest constituency is the rural Malay heartland, where there is low Internet penetration and a non-IT savvy populace, and the pro-government mainstream media exerts greater influence compared to the Internet.
Yip said the BN, which comprises 14 political parties, has been slow to adapt their messages for the Internet, and to respond quickly to the barrage of allegations and criticisms from the host of pro-opposition news Web sites and blogs.
In contrast, the DAP appointed popular blogger Jeff Ooi to organize and head the party's e-campaign for the election. The party operates a Web site dedicated to provide election information and collaterals, including profiles of all its candidates, the party manifesto, YouTube-linked video clips and links to all the party's bloggers.
DAP candidates are also raising much-needed election funding through their individual Web sites, and complementing this effort with the use of (SMS) text messages to propagate its political views and messages to thousands of voters via the mobile platform.
The opposition's reliance on the Internet and communication systems is borne out of sheer necessity. Ooi, who is standing for a parliamentary seat in Penang, said: "DAP's e-election initiative is a platform to circumvent the media blackout on the opposition's messages imposed by the government-controlled mainstream media."
Internet paths way to information
Without access to the mass media, opposition parties were somewhat handicapped in past elections. The emergence of the Internet has now provided the opposition and anti-government groups an alternative platform to spread their political memorandum.
CIJ's Yip said the Internet has benefited the opposition much more than the ruling coalition. "Online news sites, blog sites, YouTube and citizen journalism have definitely cracked the BN government's monopoly on 'truth'," she said. CIJ, together with Writers' Alliance for Independence (WAMI), are monitoring elections coverage together with Charter2000-Aliran and a group of citizen volunteers.
"The government (BN) now has to respond to what its opponents say on the Internet. Previously, it could just ignore the opposition's allegations," she said. In today's connected world, however, the government they can no longer afford to do that, Yip said.
Steven Gan, editor-in-chief of Malaysiakini, said in a phone interview: "Previously, most Malaysians were dependent on the mainstream media for news. Now, with the Internet, they have many options for alternative, independent news. This allows them to make an informed choice in the elections." Malaysiakini is an independent online news provider, and its growing popularity is a cause of worry for the BN.
According to Malaysiakini CEO Premesh Chandran, the online news portal's paid subscriber base increased by 40 percent in the last three months.
"Last year, we had an average of 100,000 unique visitors accessing our news Web site. Since the beginning of the year, to date, the number of daily unique visitors has shot up to 150,000," Chandran told ZDNet Asia in a phone interview. He estimates Malaysiakini articles are read by about 500,000 people each month.
Reaching the young
Thanks also to the Internet, Malaysia's Generation Y voters are becoming more politically conscious and are expected to have a bigger say in the outcome of future elections.
"The mainstream newspapers don't provide fair coverage to the opposition during the election campaign," J. Yeo, who lectures at a local university, said in an interview. This has prompted Yeo, who is in her late 20s, to seek out information from the alternative online news sites such as Malaysiakini and political blogs.
Likewise, IT consultant Randy Tan who is in his twenties, admits he has lost faith in the local media's coverage of political issues. Tan told ZDNet Asia he now gets his news from Malaysiakini, Malaysia Today, Ooi's blog Screenshots and various political blogs.
Despite the BN's lack of Web presence, Umno's Shahrir said the Internet will have "minimal impact" on the outcome of the coming election.
"Elections are about votes, not [page] hits," he said, and argued that even in highly-connected countries such as Singapore, the Internet did not stop the ruling People's Action Party's (PAP) from capturing a hefty majority.
CIJ's Yip said she considered the election a success if the opposition comes close to denying the BN its customary two-thirds parliamentary majority. In the 2004 polls, the BN won 90 percent of the 219 parliamentary seats contested.
Malaysiakini's Gan said as the country's Internet penetration rate grows, the Web and new technologies will play a major role in Malaysian politics.
About 10.9 million voters will cast their votes in Saturday's election.
Lee Min Keong is a freelance IT writer based in Malaysia.
Internet steers new way in M'sian election
By Lee Min Keong, ZDNet Asia
06/03/2008
URL: http://www.zdnetasia.com/news/internet/0,39044908,62038595,00.htm
MALAYSIA--As the nation goes to the polls on Mar. 8, analysts say Malaysia's ruling Barisan Nasional (BN) coalition is losing the political debate in cyberspace to the scores of anti-government Web sites and blogs campaigning against the BN.
Ironically, the incumbent coalition is poised to win the electoral battle on the back of strong support from rural, non-Internet savvy constituents.
While the opposition admits they are unlikely to deny BN a victory this election, they are optimistic the proliferation of anti-government sites and blogs, as well as the YouTube phenomenon, has created a chink in the armor of the political behemoth which has ruled Malaysia uninterrupted for the past 50 years.
Though the BN has vast financial and manpower resources compared to the opposition, the ruling coalition is less savvy and nimble when it comes to effectively utilizing information and communications technology (ICT) and the Internet to upstage its political foes.
While the main opposition party, the Democratic Action Party (DAP), has unleashed its e-election campaign, the dominant BN-component party Umno, has yet to do likewise.
Senior Umno politician and BN Backbenchers Club chairman Shahrir Abdul Samad confirmed the Malay-based Umno does not have an Internet strategy for the coming election. He told ZDNet Asia in a phone interview that while the Internet was a useful "window" for communication, the election candidates still needed to travel across Malaysia, speak at rallies, visit community centers and meet the constituents face-to- face. Member of Parliament for Malaysian city Johor Bahru, Shahrir is one of few Internet-savvy senior Umno leaders who blog.
Yip Wai Fong, advocacy officer at Centre for Independent Journalism (CIJ), said the ruling coalition has been "very complacent" with regard to using the Internet in the political arena. "The BN government has been quite slow in using the Internet," Yip said in a phone interview. "It has been too comfortable relying on the mainstream media over the decades."
She explained that BN's biggest constituency is the rural Malay heartland, where there is low Internet penetration and a non-IT savvy populace, and the pro-government mainstream media exerts greater influence compared to the Internet.
Yip said the BN, which comprises 14 political parties, has been slow to adapt their messages for the Internet, and to respond quickly to the barrage of allegations and criticisms from the host of pro-opposition news Web sites and blogs.
In contrast, the DAP appointed popular blogger Jeff Ooi to organize and head the party's e-campaign for the election. The party operates a Web site dedicated to provide election information and collaterals, including profiles of all its candidates, the party manifesto, YouTube-linked video clips and links to all the party's bloggers.
DAP candidates are also raising much-needed election funding through their individual Web sites, and complementing this effort with the use of (SMS) text messages to propagate its political views and messages to thousands of voters via the mobile platform.
The opposition's reliance on the Internet and communication systems is borne out of sheer necessity. Ooi, who is standing for a parliamentary seat in Penang, said: "DAP's e-election initiative is a platform to circumvent the media blackout on the opposition's messages imposed by the government-controlled mainstream media."
Internet paths way to information
Without access to the mass media, opposition parties were somewhat handicapped in past elections. The emergence of the Internet has now provided the opposition and anti-government groups an alternative platform to spread their political memorandum.
CIJ's Yip said the Internet has benefited the opposition much more than the ruling coalition. "Online news sites, blog sites, YouTube and citizen journalism have definitely cracked the BN government's monopoly on 'truth'," she said. CIJ, together with Writers' Alliance for Independence (WAMI), are monitoring elections coverage together with Charter2000-Aliran and a group of citizen volunteers.
"The government (BN) now has to respond to what its opponents say on the Internet. Previously, it could just ignore the opposition's allegations," she said. In today's connected world, however, the government they can no longer afford to do that, Yip said.
Steven Gan, editor-in-chief of Malaysiakini, said in a phone interview: "Previously, most Malaysians were dependent on the mainstream media for news. Now, with the Internet, they have many options for alternative, independent news. This allows them to make an informed choice in the elections." Malaysiakini is an independent online news provider, and its growing popularity is a cause of worry for the BN.
According to Malaysiakini CEO Premesh Chandran, the online news portal's paid subscriber base increased by 40 percent in the last three months.
"Last year, we had an average of 100,000 unique visitors accessing our news Web site. Since the beginning of the year, to date, the number of daily unique visitors has shot up to 150,000," Chandran told ZDNet Asia in a phone interview. He estimates Malaysiakini articles are read by about 500,000 people each month.
Reaching the young
Thanks also to the Internet, Malaysia's Generation Y voters are becoming more politically conscious and are expected to have a bigger say in the outcome of future elections.
"The mainstream newspapers don't provide fair coverage to the opposition during the election campaign," J. Yeo, who lectures at a local university, said in an interview. This has prompted Yeo, who is in her late 20s, to seek out information from the alternative online news sites such as Malaysiakini and political blogs.
Likewise, IT consultant Randy Tan who is in his twenties, admits he has lost faith in the local media's coverage of political issues. Tan told ZDNet Asia he now gets his news from Malaysiakini, Malaysia Today, Ooi's blog Screenshots and various political blogs.
Despite the BN's lack of Web presence, Umno's Shahrir said the Internet will have "minimal impact" on the outcome of the coming election.
"Elections are about votes, not [page] hits," he said, and argued that even in highly-connected countries such as Singapore, the Internet did not stop the ruling People's Action Party's (PAP) from capturing a hefty majority.
CIJ's Yip said she considered the election a success if the opposition comes close to denying the BN its customary two-thirds parliamentary majority. In the 2004 polls, the BN won 90 percent of the 219 parliamentary seats contested.
Malaysiakini's Gan said as the country's Internet penetration rate grows, the Web and new technologies will play a major role in Malaysian politics.
About 10.9 million voters will cast their votes in Saturday's election.
Lee Min Keong is a freelance IT writer based in Malaysia.
Techies sidestep Malaysian govt
By Lee Min Keong, ZDNet Asia
15/11/2007
URL: http://www.zdnetasia.com/news/business/0,39044229,62034449,00.htm
MALAYSIA--As police fired tear gas and water cannons to disperse thousands of activists Saturday in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysians had to turn to the Internet in search of news reports and updates.
On Nov. 10, some reported 30,000 people staged a rally in the country's capital, calling for electoral reforms to ensure a free and fair general election which is expected early-2008. Organized by Bersih (which means "clean" in Malay), the rally involved a coalition of some 70 non-governmental organizations and opposition parties.
The Malaysian government was "caught with its pants down" in its attempt to impose a media blackout.
-- Jeff Ooi
Blogger-cum-politician
Mainstream print and broadcast media were advised to play down the incident, and most took heed.
Undeterred by the government-imposed media blackout, many turned instead to alternative new media--encompassing an array of online news sites, blogs and YouTube videos--to get updates on the country's biggest anti-government street protest in a decade. This move parallels recent events in Pakistan, where students turned to the Internet to bypass media blackout and galvanize the community during the Nov. 7 protest rally against President Pervez Musharraf.
In Malaysia, local online news site Malaysiakini, reported a massive spike in page views over the weekend, so much so that it had to put up a stripped-down version of its front page to ease network congestion.
Malaysiakini's editor-in-chief Steven Gan, told ZDNet Asia the Web site registered about 1 million unique visitors on Saturday, a 10-fold increase over average daily numbers. Gan said rally video clips streamed on the site were viewed by over 50,000 visitors over the past few days.
To further ease network bottlenecks due to the heavy demand, he added that Malaysiakini uploaded on Saturday its Bersih rally videos on YouTube, which is better able to provide much greater bandwidth capacity.
Gan's news site was not the only one to do so. A search on YouTube yielded at least 100 Bersih rally-related video clips, with the most popular registering 120,000 views to date.
Uploaded soon after the rally was staged, the clips ranged from videos filmed with the protestors' camera-enabled mobile phones, to news broadcasts run by CNN and Arabic news and satellite TV channel, Al Jazeera.
An array of blogs also gave extensive coverage, complete with on-the-scene citizen journalist reports, analyses, photographs, and links to rally video clips.
Popular local blogger Jeff Ooi recorded a five-fold increase in page views on his site Screenshots , last weekend.
In a phone interview with ZDNet Asia, Ooi said: "Screenshots recorded a spike of 24,600 page views and 21,000 unique visitors on Saturday alone. This is unprecedented for weekend traffic, which usually hovers around 5,000 page views a day."
Even theCICAK (which means "lizard" in Malay), an online socio-political youth magazine run mainly by Malaysian students from foreign and local universities, seemed to have covered the rally more comprehensively than the local mainstream media. Founded in 2005, theCICAK hopes to develop a generation of "thinking" Malaysian youth, states its Web site.
Plugging the independent hole
Ooi noted that alternative media platforms are filling the void of independent news coverage created by the abdication of local mainstream media in the country.
The Malaysian government, he said, was "caught with its pants down" in its attempt to impose a media blackout when activists and the opposition party were able to divert their campaign to the Internet, satellite TV channels, blogs, YouTube, and cell phones and text messages.
Local media reports quoted police as saying only 4,000 people turned up for the rally, while international wire services and Malaysia's local alternative media estimated between 30,000 and 50,000 people participated in the march. Thousands more were reportedly locked out of Kuala Lumpur, due to massive traffic jams as police set up roadblocks on the main arteries leading into the capital.
A senior editor of a local daily newspaper, who spoke to ZDNet Asia on the condition of anonymity, confirmed a media blackout was imposed and that the Malaysian government had instructed the local media to downplay coverage of the rally.
Activists also alleged that government operatives or its supporters conducted a campaign to sabotage the Bersih rally. Several pro-Bersih Web sites and blogs were hacked, while the SMS (short messaging system) tool of a key opposition party was commandeered to send out messages claiming the Nov. 10 rally was postponed.
The Bersih secretariat confirmed its Web site was hacked twice last week in the run-up to the rally. "On both occasions, the hacker inserted messages saying Saturday's rally had been postponed," said secretariat member Liew Chin Tong, in a phone interview.
He revealed the coalition has "learnt its lesson" and since moved its site to a more secured server. Liew also noted that the use of various technologies such as the Internet and YouTube, helped alleviate the impact of the local media blackout.
The opposition Peoples' Justice Party (PKR) claimed its SMS news system was hacked in the run-up to the rally. PKR information chief Tian Chua said in his blog that "someone infiltrated our [SMS news] system" and sent out a text message, purportedly from the king himself, saying the rally was canceled.
According to Malaysiakini's Gan, the government is uneasy about its inability to control the new media. He noted that ministers were unable to come to terms with the regular use of technology by opposition parties, activists, bloggers, NGOs (non-government organizations) and other groups.
"[The Malaysian government is] not able to deal with it. Technology is not going away, [society] is getting more open," he added.
Gan conceded, however, that the Internet is unlikely to have a major impact on the outcome of the upcoming general election. "But, the Internet and technology will play an increasingly important role in bringing about true democracy in Malaysia... In about 10 years' time, the full impact may be felt," he said.
Lee Min Keong is a freelance IT writer based in Malaysia.
Wednesday, March 12, 2008
NewsKini Goals, Strategy and Objectives
Newskini is designed to be the next generation Search Engine
ahead of its time. As such, it explores into sophisticated
algorithm unimaginable by others.
In general NewsKini consists of news, blogs and youtubes with
emphasis on Malaysia Socio Political issues and Latest Tech
news/innovation.
The reason is obvious:
1) Tech is a tool or weapon.
2) News/Stories/Blogs Contents are the ammunition
We need to teach/inform the masses the latest tech tools
to grab, manage and disseminate 'relevant' and 'quality'
information.
"And whenever you learn things, teach them to other people.
The more you and others understand the technology that runs the
Internet, the more you'll be able to control it better
than your government." (JM - cikgu virtual aku)
Search Engines such as Google is great but it is too general.
However Google has started to focus in specialise areas
because this thing is a killer.
Google News is an example of the next step taken by Google
to pull and auto-assemble those similiar contents together
into one section called 'Google News'.
Maybe Google is some kind of following NewsKini trend .....
and Yahoo too.
Our next innovation is context analysis. With such
our search engine can now analyse and rank contents quality
based on relevance to the current issues (News) or
Trends (Tech). This will definitely beat Yahoo and Google
combined together..... but we should expect these two
web giants to follow suite our idea.
ahead of its time. As such, it explores into sophisticated
algorithm unimaginable by others.
In general NewsKini consists of news, blogs and youtubes with
emphasis on Malaysia Socio Political issues and Latest Tech
news/innovation.
The reason is obvious:
1) Tech is a tool or weapon.
2) News/Stories/Blogs Contents are the ammunition
We need to teach/inform the masses the latest tech tools
to grab, manage and disseminate 'relevant' and 'quality'
information.
"And whenever you learn things, teach them to other people.
The more you and others understand the technology that runs the
Internet, the more you'll be able to control it better
than your government." (JM - cikgu virtual aku)
Search Engines such as Google is great but it is too general.
However Google has started to focus in specialise areas
because this thing is a killer.
Google News is an example of the next step taken by Google
to pull and auto-assemble those similiar contents together
into one section called 'Google News'.
Maybe Google is some kind of following NewsKini trend .....
and Yahoo too.
Our next innovation is context analysis. With such
our search engine can now analyse and rank contents quality
based on relevance to the current issues (News) or
Trends (Tech). This will definitely beat Yahoo and Google
combined together..... but we should expect these two
web giants to follow suite our idea.
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