After a slow start, BG Yeo is warming up. His posts are getting more interesting. I hope he keeps it up. Thank you, Lesley, for highlighting these: (1) Global Connectivity and Friendships, and (2) Goal Setting & NS.
Honestly, I am disappointed with George Yeo's foray into the blogging world.
He seemed so half-hearted over things. For someone in his capacity, he should know what to expect from the community.
Firstly, I really question his good taste if he hangs out with that Loy chap, so often ....
Secondly, he doesn't seem intend to answer any questions nor is there any desire to connect with anyone. It is more like to showcase he is human, like us. Bad move, because even old aunty here tries to reply.
Thirdly, he should come clean to us what his intentions were, not in some chinese daily where most of us don't read. Tell us in the Straits Times, man! If it's to show us you know how to blog, it's a joke. Aunty here did it without anyone's help....
I really think this must be GY's unwisest move in his whole career. Write some lame comments and he'll show the world too much of himself. Not responding to comments will also tell us something and it's not going to be positive.
But he did manage to make LBY looked stupid, blogging just days after LBY said Ministers are too busy!
This GY thingy is getting really boring, very PAP trademark production.
May be the government should create a position for a Minister for blogging who spends 70% of his/her time blogging on issues of the day and gets paid an annual salary of $2 million.
i'm fairly sure it's the BG Yeo, judging from the ultra-safe blog posts - they hardly leave any room for discussions. And it is even safer a post than if you turned on TV and heard what George Yeo said in response to a reporter's question.
Not that I complain about it; I suppose in many ways, this is to be expected, especially from the PAP, which manages information meticulously. And of course, Mr Yeo is a politician and can less afford to have a slip of the tongue.
All in all, I think this is a good thing. Really, we can't blame the man for being cautious to begin with. In his posts he would have to contend not just with our reactions, but also with the reactions of his own party: a culture that we can rightfully expect to be generally skeptical of and perhaps somewhat divided over even this cautious experiment he is conducting. BG Yeo, Minister of our Government, can never truly post completely as George Yeo, "The Man". He would have to be far more circumspect than the average Private Citizen.
To be fair, I would suggest that we do not compare the quality of GY's posts and responses (or lack thereof) with what we would normally expect in the blogosphere. I would suggest instead that we compare them against the infomercial press releases that passes as quality journalism in the MSM. I admit that this starts us off from a depressingly low standard, but then any genuine effort from a government official that does not even attempt to rise from these depths would be rightfully open to criticism and disdain. We can work it out from there.
Mr Wang himself has a spotty record of responding to comments on his own posts. I would attribute this more to a matter of judgement than a lack of capacity or intent to engage in discussion.
If a senior member of our government wants to engage us on pressing issues that concern us all, I say let us respond with the same intelligence, insight, humor, and tolerance that we would normally accord an anonymous blogger than has something to say. Let us not frag the messenger because of who is is, notwithstanding even what he has to say. Further, I would suggest that we allow the man a little more latitude in recognition and respect of the constraints that certainly bind him, regardless of what we belive to be his true intentions. But let us not make nor empathise with any excuses for poor quality in material, judgement, or character.
I believe we have a strong hand to shape how this initiative develops. If what we, the citizens of our own independent country, truly want, is the ability to have meaningful dialog with our own government, then perhaps we ought to think about how we can encourage this behaviour in our elected representatives, and at the same time mitigate the fear, insecurity, and ignorance that doubtlessly prevails. What would we like to see as the end result? What do we have to do to take it there?
Let me leave my post as is for the moment. I have other ideas that I may contribute later as this discussion develops, or not.
All in all, I think this is a good thing. Really, we can't blame the man for being cautious to begin with. In his posts he would have to contend not just with our reactions, but also with the reactions of his own party: a culture that we can rightfully expect to be generally skeptical of and perhaps somewhat divided over even this cautious experiment he is conducting. BG Yeo, Minister of our Government, can never truly post completely as George Yeo, "The Man". He would have to be far more circumspect than the average Private Citizen.
To be fair, I would suggest that we do not compare the quality of GY's posts and responses (or lack thereof) with what we would normally expect in the blogosphere. I would suggest instead that we compare them against the infomercial press releases that passes as quality journalism in the MSM. I admit that this starts us off from a depressingly low standard, but then any genuine effort from a government official that does not even attempt to rise from these depths would be rightfully open to criticism and disdain. We can work it out from there.
Mr Wang himself has a spotty record of responding to comments on his own posts. I would attribute this more to a matter of judgement than a lack of capacity or intent to engage in discussion.
If a senior member of our government wants to engage us on pressing issues that concern us all, I say let us respond with the same intelligence, insight, humor, and tolerance that we would normally accord an anonymous blogger than has something to say. Let us not frag the messenger because of who is is, notwithstanding even what he has to say. Further, I would suggest that we allow the man a little more latitude in recognition and respect of the constraints that certainly bind him, regardless of what we belive to be his true intentions. But let us not make nor empathise with any excuses for poor quality in material, judgement, or character.
I believe we have a strong hand to shape how this initiative develops. If what we, the citizens of our own independent country, truly want, is the ability to have meaningful dialog with our own government, then perhaps we ought to think about how we can encourage this behaviour in our elected representatives, and at the same time mitigate the fear, insecurity, and ignorance that doubtlessly prevails. What would we like to see as the end result? What do we have to do to take it there?
Let me leave my post as is for the moment. I have other ideas that I may contribute later as this discussion develops, or not.
Dear all, Some quick comments on George Yeo's foray into blogs:
1. It is the real George Yeo, Minister of Foreign Affairs, Singapore. We had dinner and the idea is that Minister will appear as "guest columnist" in one/two blogs. As early as the soc.culture.singapore (textbased forum) in the 1990s, the question of impersonation always crop up. Anybody can pretend to be somebody on the Net and there have been cases whereby impersonators speak more sense than the real guy! :-) As far as I know, there are two blogs Minister is posting - one is Ephraim's site (www.ephraim.blogspot.com) and the other is (www.beyondsg.typepad.com).
2. The next issue is why dont Minister have his own blog? I am just conjecturing here as obviously I cant speak for him. But as a commentator pointed out rightly here - it is tough to maintain a site. If he spends too much time on the blog, I can imagine a posting "Why do we pay the ^&&^%$%$#& Minister money to blog?"
3. It is also tough to reply to comments. You can drop in and reply one or two but to do it consistently takes a lot of bandwidth which explains why the guest columnist approach is adopted.
4. Why is Minister in the blogs? The simple answer, I think, is that this is another way of communicating what he sees and learns as a Foreign Affairs Minister. I said to him instead of hearing speeches about clash of civilisations and shift of global trade systems, maybe, it would be nice to hear what he thinks about people, places, businesses and things. If we get so excited about XiaXue's exploits (just kidding), maybe, a MFA Minister has a story or two to tell. So give the man a chance?
5. Hence for the moment, you have two blog sites. Ephraim site has lots of Young PAP, PAP stuff and young people stuff. Young at heart netters are encouraged to visit the site too. On the other hand, BeyondSG is really about surviving (or for the optimists among us, thriving) in the new flat world and Singapore's connectivity with it. The latter site will try its best to be apolitical and will have lots of stories on how a few Singaporeans make a living doing business and interacting globally.
Put my hand to heart, the business world is so much more exciting and fascinating compared to politics. The former is about creating value; the latter is about broadcasting value. But that is my 2 cents worth on politics versus business. Hopefully, you will get a good mix of stories in BeyondSG from George Yeo and other writers. Some stories will be funny (why cant we figure this business problem out?), some stories will be inspirational and some stories, I hope, will be useful lessons for venturing overseas. At the end of the day, it must be fun! Seriously, there is enough trouble on this planet and when I go online, i really want to hang out with happy people.
Hope you guys drop by and say hello! I need fresh ideas and inputs too. The sites will evolve and help us along the way. Thanks! And apologies for using this opportunity as an ad heehee!
I guess Harold has pretty mentioned all about why Minister George Yeo wants to blog. Well if you do have any suggestions on topics, perhaps you can leave constructive comments (flaming not included) and we'll see how it goes. Anyway, what's a blog without an audience? We want to make it a two-way thing.
This used to be my main blog - but no longer. As of January 2007, my active blog is over here: Mr Wang Says So. So click, come over and visit! It's one of the most popular and well-known blogs in the country.
The archives of Mr Wang Bakes Good Karma still contain more than 450 of my original commentaries on Singapore news and events (between May 2005 and Dec 2006). So feel free to explore.
12 comments:
pardon my ignorance, how sure are you the george yeo is the BG you're thinking about?
same thing on my mind.
i see a harry lee responded too hahahaha!
What - you mean you don't trust your SPH newspapers to get this right? They already reported this matter.
The second link seems to be broken ... in the sense when I visit the page, I just get gibberish code.
Honestly, I am disappointed with George Yeo's foray into the blogging world.
He seemed so half-hearted over things. For someone in his capacity, he should know what to expect from the community.
Firstly, I really question his good taste if he hangs out with that Loy chap, so often ....
Secondly, he doesn't seem intend to answer any questions nor is there any desire to connect with anyone. It is more like to showcase he is human, like us. Bad move, because even old aunty here tries to reply.
Thirdly, he should come clean to us what his intentions were, not in some chinese daily where most of us don't read. Tell us in the Straits Times, man! If it's to show us you know how to blog, it's a joke. Aunty here did it without anyone's help....
I really think this must be GY's unwisest move in his whole career. Write some lame comments and he'll show the world too much of himself. Not responding to comments will also tell us something and it's not going to be positive.
But he did manage to make LBY looked stupid, blogging just days after LBY said Ministers are too busy!
This GY thingy is getting really boring, very PAP trademark production.
An idea!
May be the government should create a position for a Minister for blogging who spends 70% of his/her time blogging on issues of the day and gets paid an annual salary of $2 million.
i'm fairly sure it's the BG Yeo, judging from the ultra-safe blog posts - they hardly leave any room for discussions. And it is even safer a post than if you turned on TV and heard what George Yeo said in response to a reporter's question.
Not that I complain about it; I suppose in many ways, this is to be expected, especially from the PAP, which manages information meticulously. And of course, Mr Yeo is a politician and can less afford to have a slip of the tongue.
All in all, I think this is a good thing. Really, we can't blame the man for being cautious to begin with. In his posts he would have to contend not just with our reactions, but also with the reactions of his own party: a culture that we can rightfully expect to be generally skeptical of and perhaps somewhat divided over even this cautious experiment he is conducting. BG Yeo, Minister of our Government, can never truly post completely as George Yeo, "The Man". He would have to be far more circumspect than the average Private Citizen.
To be fair, I would suggest that we do not compare the quality of GY's posts and responses (or lack thereof) with what we would normally expect in the blogosphere. I would suggest instead that we compare them against the infomercial press releases that passes as quality journalism in the MSM. I admit that this starts us off from a depressingly low standard, but then any genuine effort from a government official that does not even attempt to rise from these depths would be rightfully open to criticism and disdain. We can work it out from there.
Mr Wang himself has a spotty record of responding to comments on his own posts. I would attribute this more to a matter of judgement than a lack of capacity or intent to engage in discussion.
If a senior member of our government wants to engage us on pressing issues that concern us all, I say let us respond with the same intelligence, insight, humor, and tolerance that we would normally accord an anonymous blogger than has something to say. Let us not frag the messenger because of who is is, notwithstanding even what he has to say. Further, I would suggest that we allow the man a little more latitude in recognition and respect of the constraints that certainly bind him, regardless of what we belive to be his true intentions. But let us not make nor empathise with any excuses for poor quality in material, judgement, or character.
I believe we have a strong hand to shape how this initiative develops. If what we, the citizens of our own independent country, truly want, is the ability to have meaningful dialog with our own government, then perhaps we ought to think about how we can encourage this behaviour in our elected representatives, and at the same time mitigate the fear, insecurity, and ignorance that doubtlessly prevails. What would we like to see as the end result? What do we have to do to take it there?
Let me leave my post as is for the moment. I have other ideas that I may contribute later as this discussion develops, or not.
All in all, I think this is a good thing. Really, we can't blame the man for being cautious to begin with. In his posts he would have to contend not just with our reactions, but also with the reactions of his own party: a culture that we can rightfully expect to be generally skeptical of and perhaps somewhat divided over even this cautious experiment he is conducting. BG Yeo, Minister of our Government, can never truly post completely as George Yeo, "The Man". He would have to be far more circumspect than the average Private Citizen.
To be fair, I would suggest that we do not compare the quality of GY's posts and responses (or lack thereof) with what we would normally expect in the blogosphere. I would suggest instead that we compare them against the infomercial press releases that passes as quality journalism in the MSM. I admit that this starts us off from a depressingly low standard, but then any genuine effort from a government official that does not even attempt to rise from these depths would be rightfully open to criticism and disdain. We can work it out from there.
Mr Wang himself has a spotty record of responding to comments on his own posts. I would attribute this more to a matter of judgement than a lack of capacity or intent to engage in discussion.
If a senior member of our government wants to engage us on pressing issues that concern us all, I say let us respond with the same intelligence, insight, humor, and tolerance that we would normally accord an anonymous blogger than has something to say. Let us not frag the messenger because of who is is, notwithstanding even what he has to say. Further, I would suggest that we allow the man a little more latitude in recognition and respect of the constraints that certainly bind him, regardless of what we belive to be his true intentions. But let us not make nor empathise with any excuses for poor quality in material, judgement, or character.
I believe we have a strong hand to shape how this initiative develops. If what we, the citizens of our own independent country, truly want, is the ability to have meaningful dialog with our own government, then perhaps we ought to think about how we can encourage this behaviour in our elected representatives, and at the same time mitigate the fear, insecurity, and ignorance that doubtlessly prevails. What would we like to see as the end result? What do we have to do to take it there?
Let me leave my post as is for the moment. I have other ideas that I may contribute later as this discussion develops, or not.
Dear all,
Some quick comments on George Yeo's foray into blogs:
1. It is the real George Yeo, Minister of Foreign Affairs, Singapore. We had dinner and the idea is that Minister will appear as "guest columnist" in one/two blogs. As early as the soc.culture.singapore (textbased forum) in the 1990s, the question of impersonation always crop up. Anybody can pretend to be somebody on the Net and there have been cases whereby impersonators speak more sense than the real guy! :-) As far as I know, there are two blogs Minister is posting - one is Ephraim's site (www.ephraim.blogspot.com) and the other is (www.beyondsg.typepad.com).
2. The next issue is why dont Minister have his own blog? I am just conjecturing here as obviously I cant speak for him. But as a commentator pointed out rightly here - it is tough to maintain a site. If he spends too much time on the blog, I can imagine a posting "Why do we pay the ^&&^%$%$#& Minister money to blog?"
3. It is also tough to reply to comments. You can drop in and reply one or two but to do it consistently takes a lot of bandwidth which explains why the guest columnist approach is adopted.
4. Why is Minister in the blogs? The simple answer, I think, is that this is another way of communicating what he sees and learns as a Foreign Affairs Minister. I said to him instead of hearing speeches about clash of civilisations and shift of global trade systems, maybe, it would be nice to hear what he thinks about people, places, businesses and things. If we get so excited about XiaXue's exploits (just kidding), maybe, a MFA Minister has a story or two to tell. So give the man a chance?
5. Hence for the moment, you have two blog sites. Ephraim site has lots of Young PAP, PAP stuff and young people stuff. Young at heart netters are encouraged to visit the site too. On the other hand, BeyondSG is really about surviving (or for the optimists among us, thriving) in the new flat world and Singapore's connectivity with it. The latter site will try its best to be apolitical and will have lots of stories on how a few Singaporeans make a living doing business and interacting globally.
Put my hand to heart, the business world is so much more exciting and fascinating compared to politics. The former is about creating value; the latter is about broadcasting value. But that is my 2 cents worth on politics versus business. Hopefully, you will get a good mix of stories in BeyondSG from George Yeo and other writers. Some stories will be funny (why cant we figure this business problem out?), some stories will be inspirational and some stories, I hope, will be useful lessons for venturing overseas. At the end of the day, it must be fun! Seriously, there is enough trouble on this planet and when I go online, i really want to hang out with happy people.
Hope you guys drop by and say hello! I need fresh ideas and inputs too. The sites will evolve and help us along the way. Thanks! And apologies for using this opportunity as an ad heehee!
Harold Fock
I guess Harold has pretty mentioned all about why Minister George Yeo wants to blog. Well if you do have any suggestions on topics, perhaps you can leave constructive comments (flaming not included) and we'll see how it goes. Anyway, what's a blog without an audience? We want to make it a two-way thing.
Harold:
You're welcome. About the ad thing, I mean. :)
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