James Gomez, (Singapore: Think Centre (Singapore) & (Asia), 2002), ISBN 981-04-5563-1, pp. 120. Read on for the abstract.
Around the world, the rise of new communication technologies has been seen as aiding democratic processes that seek to break down traditional hierarchies of power. In Singapore, however, the impact of new technology on politics has been minimal. For instance, after much hype, the Internet made no significant impact on the 2001 general elections. Instead the ruling People's Action Party introduced legislation to regulate the use of the Internet during election time. On a day-to-day basis it is not unusual to observe Singaporeans and foreigners working in the city-state shy away from political messages on the Internet. Sometimes recoiling with fear other times expressing extreme discomfort and anxiety when they receive alternative political notices or views through email or SMS messages.
Why is this so?
Singapore is a modern police state where Internet posters are investigated, interrogated, warned, prosecuted and punished and even committed to a mental institute for psychiatric tests. A system of surveillance, legislation, control and prosecution has kept the political potential of the Internet in check. This has prompted some to avoid the Internet altogether and others to use it below its potential optimum point. As a result some commentators have expressed concern that other countries in the region and elsewhere for similar reasons might adopt the mechanisms of control developed and executed in Singapore. However, such a viewpoint is based on the assumption that the ruling party can succeed doing what it wants without any challenge from the ground. But there is resistance and in some ways the Internet offers an increasingly sophisticated generation of young Singaporeans opportunities to tackle the ruling party's continued stranglehold on power.
Internet Politics: Surveillance & Intimidation in Singapore provides the reader with an insider account on the workings of politics and Internet control in the city-state. The analysis contained within these covers show that superior techniques and counter-surveillance strategies are constantly employed by net savvy Singaporeans to outsmart the modern police state. In the information age, those who spy and intimidate on behalf of the ruling regime run the risk of being exposed on the Internet. This makes politics on the Web an interactive experience. A must read for all those who want to know more about politics and Internet control in Asia and how to counter it.
