Useless rantings of a few disgruntled S'poreans...: The firestorm Airframe (Ephraim la... cb how to pronounce this type of name?!?!) stirred up and its potential political significance.

Tuesday, September 13, 2005

The firestorm Airframe (Ephraim la... cb how to pronounce this type of name?!?!) stirred up and its potential political significance.

As many of people would have known by now, Airframe sent a complain letter to ST to kaopeh why lime magazine and even ST recommend Rockson to S'poreans when he use so much foul language. Since then Hell had broken loose and Airframe has become public enemy number 1.

Well I have to admit that I am one of the loyal member of Rockson's fans who religiously check for the latest update everyday. So naturally I am on Rockson's side on this issues, however I am still very surprise at the speed and efficiency that Airframe is tracked down on the net. I guess it doesn't help that he uses his real name, which is somewhat unique and thus easy to tracked down, to blog. Soon even his friendster's profile is found and a "fan" site is setup for him. Well well, this teaches us to be careful with what you say when you have your pictures and profile out on the internet.

But beyond the hilarious comments and flaming that comes with picture (RA), there are issues that we can look at.

I noticed that S'pore bloggers and blog readers are somewhat militant in nature. This is not the 1st time that a person is tracked down and flamed for something he writes. One of the most notable example was the PSC scholar racist affair.

Is this a sign that Singaporeans have suppressed their frustration for too long and that it needs only the slightest excuse to explode? This militant tendency is not restricted to the Internet, a look at the recent NKF affairs you will see many signs that are similar to what is happening on the S'pore blogsphere. This, together with the undercurrent of dissatisfaction brewing against the government on the ground (as can be seen from many anti-PAP comments on blogs and the usual kopi-shop talks) makes the current situation very interesting.

Will frustrations against PAP and militant tendencies manifest themselves during the coming GE, which must be held latest in 2007? Well, that is a question I am unable to answer. However my gut feelings is that the coming elections might be the most exciting one since the one in 1997, and I am looking forward to that. ;)