How Now Mr Brown Cow ? - 3
Alright.. so its been reported in the papers that there was some FLASHMOB or something that happened in the citihall area. A pseudo spontaneous gathering of people who just loitered around wearing brown. supporting them in their own way. guerilla tactic demonstration.
and earlier it was also written by mr miyagi on his blog that he would stop writing for the Today paper.
link
I guess thats probably all that will happen for now. Im not sure that the media will stop at the reporting of the flash mob... perhaps......... hmm some official will come out and change the rules regarding demonstrations or illegal gatherings. or not. that sounds too kneejerk. how about some campaign on media responsibilty and accountability... add in a jingle and a celeb endorsement and that could be what we see next.
quantum weather butterfly...
posted by Qube @ 7:13 pm
4 Comments:
I'm kinda glad that there's actual demonstrations now. Gives me a little hope that there are Singaporeans willing to stand up for their beliefs.
And the fact that some Singaporeans have believes in the first place.
maybe once we get enuf cash we should organise a 'gathering of old friends' wearing 'similarly themed apparel' in a public place. Or 'accidentally' leave thousands of copies of a 'private anonymous newsletter'in mrt stations.
The government crony speaks
=)
I hate to say this, and i am not getting personal, but really Mah your sweeping statements will be the end of you, academically if not anywhere else.
Singaporeans do have beliefs. They believe in making life better for themselves and their family members, some believe in making the world a better place by smiling a lot more, although the percentage of that should not be judged by any campaign the government decides to launch. Freedom of speech is probably the last thing on their minds when they have problems trying to feed a family of 5 on $1600 a month.
There is also a little thing which everyone neglects to mention - Freedom of Speech, and Freedom of anything for that matter comes with a price. Modernism has us believe that if what we do doesn't affect anyone else, we are free to do what we want and say what we want - so-called freedom of speech and freedom of will and freedom of action, except what we do inevitably affects someone else.
The next time one wants to talk about Freedom of Speech, or Human Rights (since freedom of speech is part of human rights), one might wish to consider known terrorists who cannot be detained in prison cells because (British) laws are all for human rights and they cannot be detained for more than 28 days without being charged. Tell that to the bombing victims' families that freedom of speech, and human rights is everything. I am invariably mixing everything up, but ah well... humanities student.
I am not pro or anti freedom of speech, neither am i pro or anti government censorship. I have always been politically neutral, but i thought it would be nice to point out some things that the taxi uncles never mention when discussing the latest developments in the Mr Brown saga.
Mah, an academic suggestion if i may: everything has another side to it, and the good academics are the ones that try to validate both sides of the story, but finally stick with one, instead of sticking with one side of the story and disregarding the other. I am not dissing your point of view, and indeed i agree with it to a certian extent, but please please consider the other side of the story, otherwise it will be nothing more than an impulsive reaction, which truly is very unacademic.
I like how Yangen always chooses to respond when I'm being an opinionated dick, but rarely when I bother to write somewhat intelligently. Oh, wait sweeping statement, I think that's the grim reaper at the door. I'll go make some tea.
Also, Yangen, an academic suggestion if i may. When you write, plan a little ahead. It makes your points a little clearer, rather than the jumbled mess of words you display here. Look to Jed and even Yip for examples if you find me too distasteful.
It also wouldn't hurt to follow to clarify your point rather than waffle about a statement. And leave the strawmen extremist arguments somewhere else please. For every family you trot out as victims, I will refer to guantanomo bay and human rights abuses at amnesty.com. This gets us nowhere in a discussion and it is just as emotional as you claim my response to be.
By the way, I do find it completely ironic that you commit the exact same mistakes in your reply that you accuse me of. I admit to an emotional display of keyboard bashing in the original reply here, whereas I don't suppose you can claim the same with your lengthy reply.
As for the rest you guys. Thanks, for the replies, the thoughts, the considerations. Particularly to Jed and Q.
I understand Jed's concerns and would address them point by point another time.
As for Yip, I'm not writing objective academic essays since I'm no longer in school. I'm writing with my voice, that means I don't have to strip my writings free of my passion. You can feel free to agree or disagree and perhaps engage if you choose to.
That's what i meant by the freedom to exchange ideas.
"I may not agree with what you say, but I will fight to the death for you right to say it" - Voltaire.
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