Singapore - Singapore netizens set up Facebook page to defend ruling party

After two divisive elections, a Facebook page has been set up by pro-establishment Singaporeans in what appears to be a first major citizen-led response to anti-government sites.

Called "Fabrications about the PAP", the two-week-old page has garnered more than 340 "likes" so far. Its declared mission: "To re-present the misrepresentation of information in the real light with facts."

Among the topics it has wrestled with: whether Minister for Information, Communications and the Arts Yaacob Ibrahim's son will serve national service and whether former minister mentor Lee Kuan Yew called Islam a "venomous" religion.

Both were among a cache of WikiLeaks cables made public a few weeks ago, and prompted swift rebuttals from Dr Yaacob and Mr Lee. The Facebook page reproduces the WikiLeaks cables and official rebuttals.

Mr Jason Chua, who claims to have no political affiliations, is among the core group behind the page. He said this was in response to sites like Temasek Review and The Online Citizen, which present "slanted" articles.

Mr Chua said: "We wanted our own platform in the Internet as we feel it's difficult for moderates like us to put our views on other platforms.

"When we go to other platforms we get deleted if they don't like our comments, or get attacked personally."

Added the 41-year-old, who used to work as a software engineer and is now jobless: "My main aim is to play a part in helping the Government explain and reason, ahead of the 2016 General Election."

The information they marshal to rebut rumours is culled from press reports and other publicly available information.

Another Facebook page, "Let's Discuss Singapore Politics", was also set up about two weeks ago by the same group.

Mr Chua said he is not paid by anyone to run the site, adding: "I'm not a PAP or Young PAP man.

"It's for the country. This is national service. We hope other moderates step forward."

Mr Chua and four others - who want to remain anonymous - approached other Facebook users who posted comments on ministers' pages they felt were aligned with their views.

They managed to mobilise nearly 40 people. Others in the group were wary about going public, he said, as some sites were already targeting their page.

The "Fabrications" page itself is heavily moderated, with negative comments swiftly removed.

The administrators make no apology for this. Mr Chua said: "What I want is, three, four years down the road, I have a clean page where people can read the truth and lies and decide what is the real picture."

Ground-up initiatives to combat political distortions and lies - in speeches, debates or online - are common overseas. In the US, independent sites such as FactCheck.org and PolitiFact.com are run by the Annenberg Public Policy Centre and the St Petersburg Times respectively.

FightTheSmears.com and Attackwatch.com are set up by Mr Barack Obama's team to expose untrue rumours about the US President.

In Singapore, IT-savvy PAP activists have also been known to correct allegations and misperceptions online - but anonymously and while trying to come across as non-partisan.

MP Zaqy Mohamad, part of the People's Action Party's new media sub-committee chaired by Minister for Community Development, Youth and Sports Chan Chun Sing, welcomed the Facebook page.

He added that while the PAP could back such initiatives, he said it might "end up giving them the kiss of death".

"But if there are certain good or credible sites, one point of engagement is to give them certain data or reference points," the Chua Chu Kang GRC MP said.

Political observer Zulkifli Baharudin noted a 'greater push for equality' in cyberspace. "But for a long time to come, the Internet will be an avenue for anti-establishments," said the former Nominated MP.

Law academic Eugene Tan said the page's success would depend on how objective it is. He added: "These sort of efforts are good for leaving it to Singaporeans to decide for themselves where the truth lies."

Leonard Lim 
The Straits Times


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