It has been a frustrating 2 weeks for me. My blog has exceeded the hosting package’s bandwidth. Years ago when I first started it, the service seemed more than adequate. I had little more than a dozen visitors every month back then, but not now. I’m totally unprepared for the kind of traffic I’m getting these days.
One problem with my blog is that the subjects covered are very wide and varied. Even though I try to post my travel and adventure stuff at knapsacktreks.com and dental stuff at pamperteeth.com (the latter is managed by my staff), this blog still gets the bulk of the traffic, with an average of 100,000 visits every month. People who visit this blog and see me at my clinic are mostly middle-aged men. The hosting fees are well taken care of. But is it OK to let this blog “hang” for half a month?
Tough decision. Moving to a better host would involve quite a bit of time and money. It also involves tricky technical manoeuvres that may mess up the site in a very big way. Will the new hosts be better or worse than the current host? Tough decision. Tough choices.
I’m sure you know what I’m getting at by now. In a few days, we’ll be going to the polls. And this time, we’re seeing an unprecedented number of seats in Parliament being contested. What’s more exciting, is that the opposition has an impressive lineup of young but impressive candidates this time.
There is not just quantity but also quality in the opposition camp this time. Why? Wouldn’t it be much easier for these talented, well-qualified individuals (some from the civil service) to just join the ruling party? A last minute addition to Tanjong Pagar GRC actually sailed into Parliament without any contest at all. Didn’t our government say that it’s not possible to attract men of Chen Shao Mao’s calibre without paying millions a year? Apparently commercialisation of the cabinet doesn’t really work. There are people out there who are willing to stand up for their beliefs, regardless of the financial rewards or disasters which may befall them.
Even more exciting this time round perhaps, are celebrities who openly support the opposition in their Facebook and Twitter accounts! A couple of them even helped raise funds for a group to contest Tanjong Pagar GRC. In fact, anyone with the right contacts on Facebook or Twitter will be overwhelmed by the explosion of updates.
Even as the candidates are speaking on stage at the rallies, you can get live updates on what they’re talking about on Twitter – and not just from one source. You can compare, contrast and verify. Later in the day or night, unedited videos would be uploaded onto YouTube. Doesn’t matter if you don’t know where they are. Twitter or Facebook will tell you. More than just speeches, social media will also direct you to some excellent blogs with highly intelligent analyses of the party manifestos and policies. Hilarious pieces poke fun at the ridiculous remarks made by some politicians. Those who still depend on TV or newsPAPers don’t know what they’re missing.
I’m not sure if our government has prepared itself for the power of social media which is decidedly against it, but will the results be any different this time round? The answer seems to hinged on the same dilemma of me switching hosts for my blog. It’s always more comfortable to stay with the familiar. Many people thought I was crazy when I abandoned a practice I’ve spent 17 years building to go to Orchard. Sure, it was uncomfortable or even painful at first, but I’m in my 6th year now and I can only say I have no regrets. It must have taken Dr Ang even more courage to step out of the comfort zone to connect with heartlanders this way.
But not everyone is that daring and determined mountain-climber like me. Few people in the profession even bother with socio-political issues, preferring to spend their time on the golf course. Most people aren’t. Being one of the few web-savvy guys in my generation, I’ve been watching election fever on the internet since the early 1990s. There was no Facebook and Twitter back then, but there were online forums and newsgroups. Guess what. The negative feelings towards the ruling party on the internet were as strong, if not stronger back then.
Opposition rallies have always been crowd magnets. Nothing for the previously apathetic Singaporeans to crow about. Way back in the 1980s, Dr Catherine Lim had already written about the somewhat puzzling lack of correlation between crowds at opposition rallies and actual support for the opposition at the polls. Ruling party rallies often have to resort to free transport and even free meals to build up a respectable audience.
Actually, it’s not that puzzling after all. Why have I not changed host for my blog when the current host failed to manage my bandwidth consumption? Why would a tramatised woman curse, swear and threaten but still remain with her abusive husband? It’s the same with griping Singaporeans. Election rallies are places to blow off steam. When it comes to voting, the Chinese adage of 巧妇难为无米之炊 applies. Confucius told us 威武不能屈, but kiasu, kiasi and gian png people around us would scold the government at one end and vote for them when no one is watching. I won’t scold anyone for supporting the government and I’m certainly not scolding the government. The only group of people I’m scolding are the hypocritical cowards who entertain us with their gripes but quickly bow to the bully sitting on the pot of gold when the critical moment arrives. Our government obviously knows of the existence of this group of people and they are always factored into their winning strategy.
Toothfully, if I were a leader, I would not be comfortable with so many of these “supporters”. One day, the “supporters” may get so fed up with my threats that even threatening their lives may not work anymore.
