Pritam Singh losing his cool with netizens...

The lover's online quabble between Pritam Singh and Andrew Loh got netizens talking about it for the past few days.

Andrew was one of the buggers who was invited for tea by PM Lee (aka "Pinky" by netizens) and the event was bloggged by someone which somehow got Pritam concerned. He wrote on FB "I found noteworthy that PAP MPs Tan Chuan-Jin, Zaqy Mohamed and Low Yen Ling appeared alongside PM in the Istana meet-up with the carefully selected bloggers. They are probably leading the government's effort to retake the online space. Should we let them?"

When Pritam was questioned by netizens (including Andrew Loh) to clarfy his comment, that was how it all started.  Pritam hit a raw nerve when he later remarked “You want change? Shut the PC down. Really. Join the struggle. contribute directly instead of indirectly,” With Pritam insinuating that what he is doing is more noble and worthwhile contribution, this was when sparks started to fly.

 
Several bloggers had written about the incident so you can read it here.

We know that WP has never been very active with their online presence, unlike SDP. But to come across sounding rather arrogant, that is political suicide. Pritam has to understand that he has to gather support in areas where their party is lacking and in this aspect, the online sphere. Getting into an online argument where people can scrutinise every single word you write is not a smart move.

The PAP played it right this time round, getting bloggers out of their comfort zone and engaging them face to face. Like it or not, what people write about you is based on the perception they have. How much they scrutinise you when you screw up is also dependent if they like you enough to cut you some slack.

Malay musician sow discord to disaffect Malay/Muslims

A reader emailed me this article and requested that I publish it. So here it goes and you guys decide after reading it.

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While many Singaporeans are contented living in harmony in Singapore, popular Malay musician and arts activist Art Fazil had created ruckus when he posted a photo of Muslims receiving alms from Buddhist monks in front of a Buddha statue during the holy month of Ramadan on Facebook. A photo taken from Suria channel evening Malay news was intentionally taken out of context to sow discord among the Muslims and the non-Muslims. Supporters of Art Fazil felt that the collection of alms in front of a Buddha statue was inappropriate. They even urged Muslims should not be too tolerant towards other religions at the expense of Islam, which opposes idol worship.

It is sad to see such a benevolent act from the Buddhist community was slammed with negativity from the Art Fazil and his ardent supporters. Obviously, this is not the view of majority of Malay Muslims who value the harmony in Singapore. Besides, who would reject and criticized a kind gesture of giving without receiving. Perhaps it stems from Art Fazil’s deep-seated desire to "make a difference", or maybe it is motivated purely out of arrogance, insecurity and an insatiable need for publicity. The simple truth is that when musicians dabble in politics, they generally end up trivialising the issues they espouse, in the process making themselves look foolish and their audience feel patronised.

Just last week, Art Fazil and his Malay supporters even exclaimed “ethnic cleansing” citing fears that the Chinese in Singapore will be outnumbered by other races following a photo that briefly detailed a regulation to stop naming roads in Malay. Failing to understand and harmonised with our multicultural landscape and keep on harping on the issue of Malay discrimination, Art Fazil and gang blindly discuss on topics which lacked background research. Such tactlessness can be very fatal in tiny country firstly because Singapore is a cocktail of many racial groups. Secondly, Art Fazil's professionalism in the music industry is questionable as he has failed to guard his public image by engaging in such immature jape. There are many ways to conduct discussion, and blindly discussing it on Facebook to create animosity among the Malay/Muslims is definitely an inappropriate approach. 

Art Fazil who is a pro-Workers’ Party and Singapore Democratic Party supporter dabbled in seditious tendency memes to forward socio-political issues affecting the Muslims in Singapore through his alter ego ‘Mas Riddim’.  Art Fazil stirs up the Malay-Muslim discrimination in Singapore by citing Article 152 and 153 of the Singapore Constitution and blamed it on the PAP leaders for being unconstitutional. Instead of rationalizing issues and binding Singaporeans together, Art Fazil has created disaffection within the Malay Muslim community and isolating them from living in harmony with the rest of the community.  So what is his motive in doing all these scrooge gimmicks?

cheers

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