I was reading the newspaper today and I came across this article "Blogging's more than idle chatter".
I defintely agree with the title, TOTALLY.
Blogging is so common among people nowadays, including Singaporeans. We use this form of media to relay out personal emotions and opinions, which sometimes may turn out to be a bit radical and individualistic. But as mentioned earlier, it's a PERSONAL opinion. We use this as a form of an online diary, a place where we assume that we can voice our views without restrictions. Yet, external pressure from the government and institutions such as schools and workplaces often disable this form of 'media'.
I feel that this is absolutely intolereable. Definitely, there should be a limit to what should be said and what should not, for example, extreme religious and racist remarks, or opinions which may threaten the maintainance of a harmonious society. Espeacially for Singapore, where many religions and races are mixed into a single society.
However, many at times, we fail to remember the basics of a democractic society and freedom of speech. Too many strings are attached to voicing out ideas and views, so much so that teenagers and youngsters nowadays do not even bother anymore. How often do you see teenagers raising their hands in forums and conferences to ask questions? How often do you see teenagers who aren't afraid of the cameras when life talk shows requires their input? Bringing brought up in such a 'trapped' enviornment has resulted in us not being able to express what we feel deep inside.

Secondly, I feel that focus of blogs in Singapore are shrouded by fame and benefits. Blogs of some 'famous' personalities are publicised so widely in newspapers and magazines, so much so that the informative and beneficial blogs which discusses pressing problems faced all around the world are disguised, or rather, IGNORED! No one knows about blogs which talks about the Israel-Lebanon issue, or the ageing population in America and Japan, or the nuclear weapons issue in North Korea, or closer to home about National Day and Singapore's worrying problem about umemployment and how we're going to compete with the rising Asian countries. The focus is totally wrong and there should be an immediate shift to the more intellectual topics for discussion. Looking at pictures posted on other people's blog and them talking about how fabulous their day has been is nothing but a dairy, which should maintain their profile among their friends. The aim should be creating a more informative Singapore society and not one which talks about how photogenic a girl is. If this trend was to continue, it would bring about a more fame-conscious and a 'dumb' society. I'm sure that none of us wants to live in a Singapore like that.

That's my entry for today. Don't know why I'm suddenly talking about this, but I think it's a pressing issue that Singapore faces and we should change it!

p.s. I'm loving GP.