Clean cut, punctual and well spoken, James Gomez hardly looks like a radical. "I’m actually quite shy," he confesses. "I used to tremble before speaking at seminars. Even now I’m not a great rally speaker."

What he most certainly is, though, is an eloquent advocate for speaking out. In most of the Western world, what Gomez, 36, and his cohort of pro-democracy activists do may not sound like much. They support citizens who appear at Speakers’ Corner, a leafy venue inaugurated last September by authorities as a highly regulated equivalent of the one in London's Hyde Park. They organized the city-state's first opposition rally not related to an election in its 35-year history. They raise their fists in public and shout slogans. And in Asia’s nanny state, where dissent of any kind has been treated as inherently destabilizing, this amounts to a revolution in thinking.

Most Singaporeans would still rather concentrate on maintaining their relatively high standard of living. But the Think Centre, the high profile group Gomez established in 1999 to promote free speech and political awareness, has tapped into a growing political consciousness among Singaporeans, thus far expressed primarily on the Internet. An April rally to support veteran opposition politician J.B. Jeyaretnam, which took three months to organize, managed to draw 2,000 people.

Gomez, who now spends much of his time in Bangkok, wants to expand the Think Centre’s activities to other Southeast Asian countries where free speech has traditionally been treated as a Western luxury. "Globalization cannot be avoided," he says slyly. “Why not export the idea?"

List of the other 9 Trailblazers in Asia

Zhou Litai, Labour Rights Lawyer, Shenzhen
Kim Wu, Lesbian Organizer, Beijing
Iwao Tojo, Digital Dragon Slayer, Tokyo
Ji Dong Hyun, Banking Gadfly, Seoul
Mariam Bibi, Tribal Feminist, Peshawar
Wardah Hafidz, Voice of the Poor, Jakarta
Wong Hoy Cheong, Avant-Garde Artist, Kuala Lumpur
Tarun Tejpal, Internet Muckraker, New Delhi
Zhang Shuqin, Children’s Advocate, Beijing

From Asiaweek's Power 50 Ranking

James Gomez(44), Internet Political Activist: "Singapore is a country that is tech-savvy but politically shy."

Call him brash - or a breath of fresh air. Whatever Singaporeans make of James Gomez, he has certainly exploited the Internet and the power of the media to strike a chord with citizens who want a more level political playing field.

Gomez, 36, is the founder of the Think Centre, an online network to promote political discussion. He has organized seminars on touchy subjects such as human rights, published a provocative book called Self-Censorship: Singapore's Shame, and held a rally in support of veteran oppositionist Joshua B. Jeyaretnam.

Gomez is unapologetic about his daring style, saying it serves to promote debate and get publicity for his cause.

Now he is considering exporting his little revolution: a Think Centre Asia is a possibility, he says. Timid electorates of the world, unite.