Mr Wang brought up something I’ve been thinking about for a while seems to have removed his post. Google cached it.
Bloggers are like Eurasians in Singapore. A minority among the minority.
In fact, I think there are more Eurasians in Singapore than people who read local blogs of note.
Very simple litmus test. If you’re reading this, you might know about Mr Brown, arguably Singapore’s most prominent blogger.
Now ask the next ten people you meet if they have heard of Mr Brown (not the Mind Your Language teacher).
If they do, ask them whether they read his blog faithfully (or even if they’ve actually read his blog in the first place).
I guarantee you – a minority among the minority.
Which brings me to another point which I think is lost to many young English ‘helucated’ Singaporeans: The Straits Times is absolutely nothing in terms of reach.
You see, ST readers themselves are a minority. Not as small a minority as blog consumers but ST reaches only a quarter of Singaporeans. (I’ll have to look up the statistics for that.)
To critically analyse media, politics and society in Singapore, to accurately gauge the pulse of this nation, you need to read the Chinese language mainstream media. You need to watch Channel 8 and Channel U. You need to listen to Chio San San (that’s what it sounds like to me).
Yes, you need a grasp of (at very least) Mandarin.
We bloggers and blog readers are a bubble in a freshwater pond, who often do not remember that there’s a whole salt water sea out there.
Technorati Tags: singapore, blog, blogging, media
Lam Chun See
/ Friday, 28 July 2006I fully agree with you. Bloggers are a minority. Bloggers above 40 are a minority among the minority among the minority.
acroamatic
/ Friday, 28 July 2006Yes, that’s so true. But that also makes them very special!
@everyone: Chun See writes about days gone by in Good Morning Yesterday and is a regular contributor to yesterday.sg.
Ivan Chew
/ Saturday, 29 July 2006That’s true, Acroamatic. But sometimes, minority can make big waves. Hopefully for right reasons :) Besides, what might be a “minority” now, can very well become mainstream later. Ah, but I think I don’t know what I’m talking about lah!
Pennycake
/ Sunday, 30 July 2006Hi! I saw your blog address in LifeStyle today. Cool blog. I left this note only because I saw your CJCian links. I’m studying at CJC now. =) have a great day!
“let our light spread and brighten the night/let our flame warm all hearts and unite!”
acroamatic
/ Sunday, 30 July 2006@ivan: Yup, that’s true. I pointed this out because, like any community, we can get a bit insular after a while.
Heheh… Like how someone made waves in ST today? ;)
@pennycake: Thank you! Have a great day and a terrific time studying at CJC!
Paddy Tan
/ Friday, 4 August 2006Minority we may be but we certainly know what is going on when the mainstream media simply ‘forgets’ to mention certain news or prefer to turn a blind eye to it.
The good thing is this small minority can help to pass the words around opening up others’ eyes and ears to hear more of the ‘alternatives’ :)
Lance
/ Friday, 4 August 2006this is why we should all raise the standards of average blogs. i hate it when big news are unreleased to us. for example, the truths of 911.
http://areasonforflight.blogspot.com/2006/07/911-greatest-media-coverup.html
you get the idea.
-lance.
whitelion
/ Friday, 4 August 2006being a minority amongst minorities myself I can understand where you are coming from. being english educated we tend to take what we read in ST at face value. but i think the chinese media is a better reflection of what Singaporeans think and feel (for what that is worth).
as a blogger we tend to have a seige mentality, where it is us against the system. and that somehow we are trying to ‘educate’ the world outside our sphere. we pride ourselves on being different and outspoken. it even pays to be controversial. but in reality we are but a drop in the ocean. I am thankful for my loyal readers who come to my blog and read all the mundane details of my life, but it would be rather presumptuous on my part to assume that what i say on my blog could break down barriers and change the world,let alone Singapore…
whitelion
/ Saturday, 5 August 2006Being a eurasian,I guess I can relate to what you are saying. as a blogger sometimes i feel that the world revolves ard what I write in my blog. but the reality is that 99.99999999999% (a conservative figure I might add) of the ppl out dare dun give 2 hoots abt anything I post up in my site.
Being english \’helucated\’, I read the ST and TNP. and besides the news on the Net and radio, they are my main source of news and information. so my thoughts are shaped by what is reported in the english media. but to my horror I discover that the other 76.8%(according to latest stats) march to a different drummer.
monkey
/ Saturday, 5 August 2006u know, when i was on semester at sea, when we docked in singapore, 2 professors actually was asking me who mrbrown is coz at that point was when he first got fired and THEY got really fired up and then going on ranting about how they just waylaid people on the street and asked them who mrbrown was.
its really bizarre because 1) they dont read mrbrown 2) i always tot mrbrown was very famous but didnt hesitate a moment to go like “oh puhlease the mama shop uncle doesnt know who mrbrown is” and 3) they got to know about mrbrown from… mainstream media. just not singapore’s.
sigh.
wish i can have such progressive professors in nus.
acroamatic
/ Sunday, 6 August 2006@whitelion: Apologies, my blog’s anti-spam system marked your comments for moderation. Yes, you’ve expressed how I feel, but as Paddy notes, we should continue unabated.
@monkey: That’s it, you see? People will read about blogs in the newspapers but not read the blogs themselves.
monkey
/ Monday, 7 August 2006but he read it in… foreign newspaper? i mean we were on a ship for crying out loud… surely they couldnt have learnt it the minute they arrive in singapore
foreign newspaper ONLINE
but that was the height of the mrbrown… erm crisis :P
acroamatic
/ Monday, 7 August 2006Oh, I’m sure foreign newspapers (online or offline) take great interest in what’s happening in our blogosphere. Still, it strikes me as strange that they found out about this from an online source, and yet never went to mr brown’s site.