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[Orchard Revolution] slideThank you Lydia. Everyone, this is
Enjiao. We will now turn our attention towards Singapore,by looking
at whether we will have our very own Orchid Revolution.
Before we go on, lets take stock ofwhat we have learnt so that
we can apply them toSingapore later.[click to next slide]Zeni and
Arifa started at the past (refer), when they looked into the
historical background ofsocial media and the Jasmine Revolution
respectively. Lucy explained to you what the socialmedia strategies
used were. Finally, Lydia examined the inter-relationship between
socialmedia and the mass media and how this affects public
opinion.
So, looking forward: What does this mean for Singapore?...[click
to next slide]Will we experience a radical political revolution in
the near future?
The short answer is no. This will not happen because of 3
missing ingredients. They areage, culture and economics.[click to
next slide]
This is the Arab world (left photo), and this is what Singapore
is growing into (right photo)
Having a lot of youths on hand is like having a political time
bomb. What happened in Egypt
and Tunisia is in agreement with the youth bulge theory which
says that if you have a largenumber of young people that are not
dealt with the right policies to give themopportunities and
employment, conflicts and revolutions can result. Because
youngpeople have nothing to lose and everything to gain if they
succeed. Back to Singapore, ourmedian age is 37.4, and the
population is expected to age further. An ageing population
ishighly unlikely to favour a complete overhaul of the status quo.
Next, how about culture?...
[click to next slide]We are not alone in developed nations in
having an ageing population, but we complain a lot
more than them. How many of you here go by a day without
complaining about anything atall? [] In fact, complaining is the
fifth most cited essential trait of a typical Singaporean,
asreported by Channel NewsAsia. And that was before the global
economic recession, risingfood prices, and so on set in. Now
complaining must be in the first place. This culture is soprevalent
that its made fun of in national TV (refer to photos below) on the
Noose, aChannel 5 show. Safe to say then, you are unlikely to see
any of your classmates protestingwith a placard any time
soon.[click to next slide]Last but not least, while the Arab world
is fighting for its economic survival, we enjoy one ofthe worlds
highest GDP per capita. (refer to graph) This is where we are
economically, andthis is where Egypt and Tunisia lie. The kind of
economic decline marked by highunemployment and extreme poverty
that led to a revolution in the Middle East is simply
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missing in Singapore. We are unhappy about inflation and foreign
competition, but will youtake a bullet, set yourself on fire for
these things? I think the answer is quite obviously no.[click to
next slide]We conclude thus that Singapore will have an evolution,
rather than a revolution. Change inSingapore is largely a
conciliatory [kon see lia tory] affair, with an aversion to
conflicts.There is definitely political evolution in terms of
increased engagement as seen through inthe number of people
involved in the debate over 377A, a section of our penal
codecriminalising gay sex. In 2009, some 3000 people turned up for
AWAREs (an association forwomens rights) Extraordinary General
Meeting to vote out of office, a questionable groupthat was trying
to impose its religious ideals on others. The latest development in
2010 sawan amendment of our Parliamentary Elections Act that
allowed electioneering on nearly allnew media platforms. All these
are clearly evidence of a political landscape that is
changinggradually but surely.
[click to next slide]Now, what would all these mean for the
individual? Everyone in this room has the access tothe same tools,
same technologies mostly. The answer to these 3 questions must then
beyes, as seen in the promises of social media for politics that we
have presented. Socialmedia can be a catalyst in igniting and
inspiring the changes that we want to see in theworld. But the
extent to which you can practise this must depend on how you
participate. So what are you still waiting for?
Before we end our presentation, [click to next slide]Heres a
look at the sources weve used, from government data sets, special
reports, tojournal papers, in APA format.[click to next slide]We
hope youve gained some useful ideas. Thank you for your kind
attention and wewelcome any questions.
[click to next slide]Just leave summary on
