TR EMERITUS

The Online Citizen (TOC), one of only 2 remaining decade-old alternative websites has been declared a Declared Online Locations (DOL) under the Protection from Online Falsehoods and Manipulation Act 2019 (POFMA). The decision was announced by The Minister for Communications and Information, Mrs Josephine Teo, and is set to take effect on Saturday (22nd July), affecting TOC's main website, its Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn pages. The statement from the Minister states that the Declaration was made following multiple falsehoods communicated on TOC. TOC is an online publication currently operating in Taiwan, and is reportedly owned by a Taiwan entity after its operation ceased in Singapore when its license was suspended by the Singapore authorities for refusing to comply with the Infocomm Media Development Authority (IMDA)’s demand to provide the details of its subscribers. The website has received numerous POFMAs in the past, but this is the first time that it has been declared DOL, effective for a period of 2 years, expiring on 21st July 2025. Although the declaration does not mandate the shutdown of TOC’s online operations, it imposes strict regulatory constraints, especially regarding monetization. TOC is also  required to carry a prominent notice confirming their status as a DOL. In a nutshell, under Part 5 of POFMA: 1. It will be considered an offence for TOC to gain financial or other material benefits from operating these online locations. This measure is designed to prevent operators from profiting from the dissemination of falsehoods. 2. Individuals, whether within or outside Singapore, found guilty of receiving or soliciting financial or material benefits for operating a DOL, could face penalties. These include fines up to S$40,000, imprisonment for up to three years, or both. Other entities could face fines of up to S$500,000. 3. Service providers and digital advertising intermediaries are instructed to ensure that paid content is not communicated in Singapore via these declared platforms. Individuals and companies are also warned against providing financial support to these platforms if they suspect such support would aid the spread of falsehoods in Singapore. Violations of these provisions could lead to a fine of up to S$20,000, imprisonment for up to 12 months, or both for individuals. Other entities could face a maximum fine of S$500,000. Similarly, penalties for providing financial support with the knowledge that it could promote false statements of fact on a DOL could result in a fine of up to $40,000, imprisonment for up to three years, or both for individuals and fines up to $500,000 for other entities. As of 15:50 (22nd July), TOC has removed all the advertisers on its main website, but there was no notice confirming their status as a DOL.      Read More →

While we expect our politicians to be competent and efficient, do we expect them to be morally upright? Are they the symbol of morality? Or should they be? I know that it is a loaded question. What do I mean by “morally upright” anyway? Whose standard should I benchmark a politician against? If we rigidly analyse Jesus’ admonishment, that is, once you look at a woman in a lustful way, or even catch yourself thinking that way, you have committed adultery, then, I won’t be wrong to say that most, if not all, men (even women exist in majority here), have committed adultery. In an interview, Jimmy Carter ”admitted in an unsolicited comment to two Playboy freelance writers that he had "looked on a lot of women with lust" and had "committed adultery in my heart many times." Is Carter too honest for his own good, or for his own public image? Isn’t there a place and time for being so candid? Or, maybe it’s a case where what he said, and what Jesus at least hinted to, has a grain of truth that is universal, and it is an inconvenient truth most, if not all, of us would rather not hear being spoken about us? Mind you, statistics have shown that when it comes to masturbating, more than 90% of the teens and adult men are guilty of it. And this majority applies to women too. So, unless we are filled with pure, wholesome thoughts, haven’t we all, in one way or the other, betrayed the marital oath? Going back to the first question, should politicians be symbols of moral values? And that would mean that they live a life of virtue; as Aristotle calls it, “moral exemplars”. It is a life of both excellence in thought and character. And for the latter, I would think it is similar to one bearing and exhibiting the fruit of the Spirit, as spelt out in Galatians like peace-loving, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. I guess self-control means a whole lot. And it is more complicated than you think. It is not just about you alone, your choices exercised, that is, whether you can resist or not. Most times, it starts with where you want to be in the roles that you have sworn to. Take marriage, for example. When you say I do, it is not a one-off affair. You don’t do it for show, even though, well, it is quite a night of celebration, where the bride and yourself are the centre of attention. That “I do” utterance before a crowd of witnesses is meant to be a lifetime covenant. The “force majeure” to that covenant is the end of one’s life (force majeure means legally justified unforeseen circumstances that force one to be unable to fulfil the contract). Death definitely qualifies. So the question we have to ask ourselves is, “Are we serious about our marriage? And how serious are we?” You can’t take any vows seriously if we are not serious about keeping it. Marital commitment comes in pairs and it takes two to clap, and for better grip. And this serious stand demands a disciplined mind and a committed heart. But more importantly, it demands that we renew and refresh our passion consistently so that our attention and actions are kept within the boundaries of the marriage vows. That’s called the freedom of being responsible, where our choices are directed to preserve the sanctity/integrity of the relationship, giving it our top priority. That’s self-control, come what may. And it’s the fruit of a resilient marriage. And I sincerely believe that that is what Jesus meant when he mentioned lust and adultery. So, don’t show me that you are faithful. Just be faithful. You can be an intellectual giant when it comes to promoting marital fidelity, but in private, you can’t keep your pants on when temptation comes knocking. Jesus is not just telling us that thoughts means adultery. It’s more than that. He is telling us this, for where your heart is, there you find the real you. And it defines you. It’s where you form your identity. Thoughts like building blocks, add up. One brick is useless, yes. That is why a single stray thought gets easy pass. But they add up, after many easy passes. No real harm advertises itself as real harm. It always disguises itself as no harm. And from there, it takes root as a foundation to build up a prison made of the same bricks you first thought could do no harm. That is what every politician (or anyone holding steadfast to an oath) must guard against. We can’t be moral exemplars if we can’t even control a “harmless” thought. Self-control comes with constant self-examination, and constant self-examination comes with radical self-awareness. So, I believe politicians are called not just to be competent and efficient. They have to live up to high moral standards too, in private and public. Because, as Jesus puts it, and I paraphrase, the lust of the eye ends up in the indulgence of the flesh. Once it takes root, the path is paved and our fate is sealed. The cost is in the recent scandals of our beloved parliamentarians. And the most fertile soil for its growth is a heart that thinks privately that he or she is beyond temptation or reproach. For we have heard, pride cometh before a fall. My last thought for this post is this: you can boldly stand sentry at the door of your heart, in broad day light, for all to see, but at the same time, secretly creating back-doors to give your wayward self the freedom to roam in the still of the night.   Michael Han * The author blogs on Facebook.        Read More →

1) The weeks of Scandals have distracted most of us from some REAL PROBLEMS of our economy. 2) The Iswaran corruption case, Ridout Gate Saga & the poor management of the sex scandal have dented our international image all around the world. 3) However there are more important issues most of us missed out during these few weeks. The $30.8B loss by MAS together with Temasek loss of over $7B loss are of great concern. 4) The 15% decrease in our Non Oil Domestic Exports together with the problems faced by two of our biggest construction companies which were the main contractors of HDB is alarming. 5) The Auditor General report on some of the financial malpractice is even more alarming. 6) PAP should be spending more effort to focus on our economy instead of fire fighting against scandals after scandals, issuing POFMA after POFMA against critics which won't change the fact that public trust and confidence in them has slided greatly. "Fixing Opposition" won't save you from the enormous loss of public confidence and trust.   Goh Meng Seng      Read More →