BlogFest Asia 2010

http://2010.blogfest.asia/about

The TSNRA President and Blog Editor participated in  Blogfest Asia 2010 over the weekend at Wawasan Open University. It had been an enlightening, fully sponsored weekend on the world of blogging and how the New Media has changed our lives. We must be among the oldest , if not the oldest participants there in our 60s and 70s. This International Bloggers’ event was organized by Dot. Asia and partly sponsored by Tourism Malaysia and the Penang State government.  The Welcome dinner at QE II Restaurant, Weld Quay, was really good. We enjoyed the sumptuous cuisine and beautiful ambiance at the jetty.

To view the restaurant, please click : http://2010.blogfest.asia/archives/178

We were fully occupied with sessions and workshops on Sat and Sun from 9 am – 5 pm. We heard from bloggers from participating countries like China, Taiwan, Hongkong, India, the Philippines, Indonesia, Singapore, Myanmar, Cambodia, Vietnam and Thailand. A panel discussion between MP Bukit Bendera, YB Liew Chin Tong and Mr Neil Foo, MCA political strategist and Youth Leader, stimulated awareness among young bloggers there on the impact and growth of the New Media since the last elections. It was  not surprising to hear during one of the workshops that a number of  people no longer buy or read the mainstream media, preferring online news instead. The older generation however still prefers their dailies and TV news as they are not that web-savvy. To have an idea of the sessions we attended, please view the program :

http://2010.blogfest.asia/program

One of the most relevant sessions for us, which was unfortunately not well attended, ( participants had to choose among 3 sessions held concurrently) was “Internet Freedom & Responsibilities’ by a lawyer, Mr Nizam Bashir. He shared on laws governing blogs.  Bloggers have the freedom to blog about anything under the sun and moon, but the government retains the right to prosecute – the Net is not the wild,wild west!  Bloggers must be aware of the Seditions Act and the CMA ( Commission & Multimedia Act).  The speaker gave us egs of bloggers detained under ISA and  the acts of ISPs to block access to websites like Malaysia Today. The laws protecting the rights of bloggers can be blur as they can also be prosecuted for comments on their posts and hyperlinks to seditious, immoral or other ‘subversive’ sites.

So how does this affect out TSNRA BLOG?  Those of you who have been visiting and commenting on our postings and pages will be aware that as blog moderator, I have unchecked the ‘Comments’ box, but not the pingbacks. This is done to protect the TSNRA blog from seditious comments. Readers have to email me to get their comments approved for posting. As moderator, I have to always bear in mind that we are an NGO – we must always co-operate with the government of the day, but we are apolitical. You will also not find any anti-religious or racist articles in this blog.  Opening all postings to direct comments is most unwise – even a Muhibbah community event like Malaysia Day may get some nasty, anti -1 Malaysia/government comments. While I have control over the hyperlinks, it is very difficult to monitor direct comments as there are so many posts and pages. Our blog goes all the way to the PM’s department, CM, ministers, Penang State Exco Members, MPs and State Assemblymen  as we need assistance from all government departments for the betterment of the community. Seditious comments will jeopardize the whole RA and we could be de-registered by the Registrar of Societies or even charged in court even though the comments came from some anonymous source.

As YB Liew Chin Tong put it in a nutshell,  ’We have freedom of speech, but not freedom after speech’ !

So do continue to e-mail me your suggestions & comments for a better community.

Molly S.C.Ooi  < mollyosc@gmail.com >

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