Tuesday, January 2, 2007

A preface to everything

Profile

Clarence, male, 24 going on 25 this year.

I graduated from NUS as of May 2007, with a B.Eng (Electrical) degree.

I would say I lean more towards the PAP government, because I have seen the soundness of their past policies after comparing them with that of some of my European friends' governments. (However that does not preclude me from speaking up against their policies, past and present, whenever I feel like something is not right.) I believe that no matter how brilliant a policy plan is, its purpose will not be fulfilled if the implementation is not done right.


Purpose of this blog

This blog is not to encourage political leanings on any side, so as far as possible I will not indulge in doing so - I will try to be as apolitical as I can. However in so mentioning, sometimes emotions in me get stirred (I am after all, not a true-blue journalist) and somehow it might get mixed into my words.

The purpose of this blog is to facilitate discussion on current topics, but sometimes I might go back in time to dig up past ones, where I deem fit. I am using this blog as a platform to hone my English, give myself a viewpoint and defend that with my reasoning, and basically to articulate my otherwise fleeting thoughts down into words. This is an exercise in language more than anything else, but of course in so doing, I would get to see a wide spectrum of viewpoints and learn humbly from each and every of you out there.

I firmly believe that everyone is entitled to their own opinions, and although we may not agree on everything (or anything), we can agree to disagree (or in other words, respect each other's views.) While I do not believe in any censorship of comments made on my blog, any banners/advertisements shall be taken down because they are an eyesore to me. I hope people out there will also not resort to name-calling because I am looking for a productive debate. If you disagree with my stand, please state your own, and reason it out with me, that's all I ask. On my part, I will respond to you in kind, as soon as is possible.


That's a really long introduction. I hope most of your queries have been answered by this post. If anyone needs to contact me, there's the email address at the sidebar you can email me at.

Cheers, and g'day!

1 comment:

Carol Soon said...

Dear blogger of Singapore and the stuff,

Let me first apologise for leaving my request on your comments page, as I couldn't reach you through any other way. I am a PhD candidate from the Communications and New Media programme at the National University of Singapore, and my research examines political blogging and collective action. "Singapore and the stuff" came up in my sampling process and I am writing to you to seek your valued participation in a survey.

WHAT is this study about?
Without saying too much to bias your responses, my study concerns bloggers' online usage, their social networks and their participation/non-participation in activism. Whether you have participated or have not participated in any activism activity, your responses will be vital in helping me gather empirical evidence on blogging and its effects.

WHY should you help?
There has been much talk in the media and in the parliament on the rise of blogging and online discourse. But do blogging really impact civic participation? How does it do so? Your responses to the simple survey will go a long way in contributing to the nascent field of research on blogging in Singapore.

HOW can you help?
The survey involves easy-to-answer questions (e.g. Yes/No, ratings of “1” to “5”) and will take only about 20 minutes of your time. Based on your preference, I can conduct the survey via email (or any other ways you prefer). Just reply to this email and I will send you the survey form.

Please help!
Bearing in mind the potential difficulties in getting an adequate sample for such a study, I would like to stress that every single participation counts. In addition, this study has been approved by the NUS Ethical Review Committee. You have my complete assurance that all your responses will be kept strictly confidential and your identity anonymous.

I have attached a Participation Information Sheet for more information. Do visit http://www.fas.nus.edu.sg/cnm/research%20students/2006_grad_carol.htm for a brief write-up of my profile (please cut and paste if the link doesn't work). Being a student with no funding support, I am bearing all research costs and appealing to your goodwill (and hopefully curiosity?) to take part in this study.

I look forward to hearing positively from you soon. Thank you for reading this email and giving my request your due consideration.

Best regards,

Carol Soon

(Emails: wtsoon@nus.edu.sg and carol_soon@yahoo.com.sg)