Comments on Singapore

Mr. McDermott has weighed in on what he thinks of the general Singapore blogsphere. I tend to agree to some extent. I wouldn't go as far as to call it infantile as to argue that their more whimsical and at time cynical. I cannot claim to have Mr McDermott's training in sociology, economics or anything else. I'm just a BA in history, but I can say from studying Turkey, Eygpt and other countries that have somewhat similiar situations like Singapore at one time or another, cynicism and humor are tools with which people oppose the state.

I guess Yael Navaro-Yashin's book "Faces of the State: Secularism and Public Life in Turkey" is a good book which talks about this. Especially in chapter 5. Sometimes when the State is all pervasive, and there is no real action the citizens can take since they are in every way touched by the State, there is little recourse but to resort to cynicism and humor as tools to battle the state. I realised that Singaporeans do that alot. That's my defense for mr brown.

As for Xiaxue, I point you to my contribution to the good brudders at The Voiddeck. I personally don't care for her. But I suppose she appeals to a group of Singaporeans who are younger and would prefer to concentrate on such trivial things. But that's my opinion. I believe Mr McDermott to be a little too harsh by dismissing Singapore's blogsphere as infantile. We're a little diverse right now, also a little lost. I believe the political blogs need to buck up and hold tight. We've done a good job so far, let's keep going.