Media prata, as served by Voices in Today, here.
For once, I liked the headline, but the print seemed to have missed out what I felt were a few pertinent points, such as about how TT Durai abused media regulation in his attempt to intimidate SPH into silence... N
18 January 2007
17 January 2007
Serving Singapore the best “media prata”
Following was sent to Today. I believe I have a reasonable healthy level of respect for Cherian George, but something about Tor Ching Li's piece just doesn't click...
George's more elaborated take on it can be found here.
And an online disagreement (I think) here by Mr Wang Says So.
* * * * *
My family had our favourite prata shop. Every weekend would find us there, ordering a hefty brunch. As a child, I thought that shop sold the best prata in the world.
Somehow, that changed as I grew older. I’m not particularly fussy about food, but I could not help feeling that this particular prata shop lost its standard over the years. What used to be crispy prata now tasted like rubber.
It’s not too hard to see why. As the shop gained popularity, its clientele grew. To meet the increased demand, the shop started to make prata in advance. The pre-made prata, taken off the hotplate, started to turn cold and lose their crispiness. When customers placed their orders, they were expecting something fresh. What they got in the end was something that has been sitting on the counter for a good 15 minutes.
After a while, my family stopped patronising the shop. As I start my own family, my wife and I found our own source for a good weekend brunch. Surprisingly, the shop we went to was just a walk away at the coffee shop under our block. It wasn’t nearly as fantastic, but it was fresh and crispy – the way I felt prata should be, at the very least.
In many ways, Singapore’s media scene today is not too different from the prata business. We started with a few good players who produced news and entertainment that most Singaporeans found to be of good quality. But somehow, that changed after a while, and we begin to see more people turning to alternative online sources for their update on current affairs.
Has our mainstream media lost the plot and would this lead to their eventual demise? I would hazard a ‘no’, because just like my old prata shop, which until today still commands crowded tables of loyal customers every time I pass by, mainstream media still enjoy huge circulation and viewership figures. The only difference is that it now has to deal with, not direct competition, but an uneasy complement from electronic media.
In that sense, Dr Cherian George’s comments on our “schizophrenic nation” in Tor Ching Li’s article, “The dangers of dual media regulation” (12 Jan) warrants another look. Led only by gut feel and a generalisation on comments posted on blogs and forums, I would contest that most Singaporeans approach their dualistic consumption not with confusion, but with a fully aware sigh and chuckle.
Singaporeans still hold our mainstream media in high regard for their consistency in accuracy and objectivity in delivering current affairs. However, we might begin to be disgruntled with the way it is presented instead. Content from our mainstream media now begins to read, look and sound like prata that has been on the counter for a good 15 minutes – stale and rubbery.
Singaporeans might grudgingly accept the factual content of mainstream media, but nevertheless feel that it leaves an unsatisfying taste in our mouths. In search of that crispy edge in their current affairs and a better feel of the nation’s pulse, online media users turn to blogs and forums. In cyberspace, we find honest comments unbridled by the demands of objectivity. Occasionally extreme, sometimes humourous, usually unrefined, yet echoing a sentiment that is inexplicably true to our hearts. Best of all, it allows us to be creators of our own media and have a stake in the news-making process.
Singaporeans who go online are not confused. In fact, I would propose that we do so purposefully and precisely to experience different portrayals of our society, to revel in diversity of opinions or to seek our own value-community by taking a stand.
For that reason, removing or reducing media regulation for mainstream media might instead have an adverse effect on our national psyche, should that lead to a sudden loosening-up of traditional media. Like it or not, electronic media still have their subjectivity to contend with, and it should come as no surprise if Singaporeans eagerly need a medium that “behaves” in accordance with regulation and can give us the right facts, even if that is a medium we would love to hate.
Having said that, there are indeed dangers with excessive media regulation, but not in terms of its perceived biases against mainstream media and the imbalances that this creates with electronic media. Rather, it is the abuse of these regulations by parties with vested interests that we need to be wary of.
The case of the old NKF is now a clear textbook example. We have seen how TT Durai made use of the legal system, supported by media regulations, to pressure Singapore Press Holdings into silence. Even more alarming is the old NKF’s alleged manipulation of the media, by flooding the print forums with ghost letters and making use of the respectability quotient of our newspapers to support their cause.
As such, it might be timely and necessary for new media regulations to ensure protection of media practitioners – reporters, film makers and bloggers alike – from those who have the financial clout to subdue them, where they can only choose between settlement and a legal suit they cannot afford.
As Singapore launches more initiatives to bolster our connectivity hardware, our mainstream media might also want to reconsider their “filtering function” as the alternative heartware. Perhaps it is time to expand beyond presenting the facts, but also do justice to readers and viewers and indulge a little more in the nation’s pulse, rather than let the quantity of letters decide what to print as “alternative” views.
Without a significant change in media regulation as well as the way we approach media production, mainstream media will be forced to serve only prata kosong or telur, while online media serve up a smorgasbord of tissue, cheese and even milo variants. Even if we were to clamp down further and decree that milo prata is technically not a prata, another shop somewhere is serving prata bomb – benignly loaded with condensed milk, of course. It is really a matter of whether we have the broadband capability to find the recipe online. N
George's more elaborated take on it can be found here.
And an online disagreement (I think) here by Mr Wang Says So.
* * * * *
My family had our favourite prata shop. Every weekend would find us there, ordering a hefty brunch. As a child, I thought that shop sold the best prata in the world.
Somehow, that changed as I grew older. I’m not particularly fussy about food, but I could not help feeling that this particular prata shop lost its standard over the years. What used to be crispy prata now tasted like rubber.
It’s not too hard to see why. As the shop gained popularity, its clientele grew. To meet the increased demand, the shop started to make prata in advance. The pre-made prata, taken off the hotplate, started to turn cold and lose their crispiness. When customers placed their orders, they were expecting something fresh. What they got in the end was something that has been sitting on the counter for a good 15 minutes.
After a while, my family stopped patronising the shop. As I start my own family, my wife and I found our own source for a good weekend brunch. Surprisingly, the shop we went to was just a walk away at the coffee shop under our block. It wasn’t nearly as fantastic, but it was fresh and crispy – the way I felt prata should be, at the very least.
In many ways, Singapore’s media scene today is not too different from the prata business. We started with a few good players who produced news and entertainment that most Singaporeans found to be of good quality. But somehow, that changed after a while, and we begin to see more people turning to alternative online sources for their update on current affairs.
Has our mainstream media lost the plot and would this lead to their eventual demise? I would hazard a ‘no’, because just like my old prata shop, which until today still commands crowded tables of loyal customers every time I pass by, mainstream media still enjoy huge circulation and viewership figures. The only difference is that it now has to deal with, not direct competition, but an uneasy complement from electronic media.
In that sense, Dr Cherian George’s comments on our “schizophrenic nation” in Tor Ching Li’s article, “The dangers of dual media regulation” (12 Jan) warrants another look. Led only by gut feel and a generalisation on comments posted on blogs and forums, I would contest that most Singaporeans approach their dualistic consumption not with confusion, but with a fully aware sigh and chuckle.
Singaporeans still hold our mainstream media in high regard for their consistency in accuracy and objectivity in delivering current affairs. However, we might begin to be disgruntled with the way it is presented instead. Content from our mainstream media now begins to read, look and sound like prata that has been on the counter for a good 15 minutes – stale and rubbery.
Singaporeans might grudgingly accept the factual content of mainstream media, but nevertheless feel that it leaves an unsatisfying taste in our mouths. In search of that crispy edge in their current affairs and a better feel of the nation’s pulse, online media users turn to blogs and forums. In cyberspace, we find honest comments unbridled by the demands of objectivity. Occasionally extreme, sometimes humourous, usually unrefined, yet echoing a sentiment that is inexplicably true to our hearts. Best of all, it allows us to be creators of our own media and have a stake in the news-making process.
Singaporeans who go online are not confused. In fact, I would propose that we do so purposefully and precisely to experience different portrayals of our society, to revel in diversity of opinions or to seek our own value-community by taking a stand.
For that reason, removing or reducing media regulation for mainstream media might instead have an adverse effect on our national psyche, should that lead to a sudden loosening-up of traditional media. Like it or not, electronic media still have their subjectivity to contend with, and it should come as no surprise if Singaporeans eagerly need a medium that “behaves” in accordance with regulation and can give us the right facts, even if that is a medium we would love to hate.
Having said that, there are indeed dangers with excessive media regulation, but not in terms of its perceived biases against mainstream media and the imbalances that this creates with electronic media. Rather, it is the abuse of these regulations by parties with vested interests that we need to be wary of.
The case of the old NKF is now a clear textbook example. We have seen how TT Durai made use of the legal system, supported by media regulations, to pressure Singapore Press Holdings into silence. Even more alarming is the old NKF’s alleged manipulation of the media, by flooding the print forums with ghost letters and making use of the respectability quotient of our newspapers to support their cause.
As such, it might be timely and necessary for new media regulations to ensure protection of media practitioners – reporters, film makers and bloggers alike – from those who have the financial clout to subdue them, where they can only choose between settlement and a legal suit they cannot afford.
As Singapore launches more initiatives to bolster our connectivity hardware, our mainstream media might also want to reconsider their “filtering function” as the alternative heartware. Perhaps it is time to expand beyond presenting the facts, but also do justice to readers and viewers and indulge a little more in the nation’s pulse, rather than let the quantity of letters decide what to print as “alternative” views.
Without a significant change in media regulation as well as the way we approach media production, mainstream media will be forced to serve only prata kosong or telur, while online media serve up a smorgasbord of tissue, cheese and even milo variants. Even if we were to clamp down further and decree that milo prata is technically not a prata, another shop somewhere is serving prata bomb – benignly loaded with condensed milk, of course. It is really a matter of whether we have the broadband capability to find the recipe online. N
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