Oh My GOD you have got to be fucking kidding me. A*STAR (only those who score A Stars in Science, Technology, and Research can join? Heh) is demanding the author of a personal weblog (i.e. AcidFlask) “apologise unreservedly, retract what he had previously said in his blogs and promise not to do it again.” It’s like a pebble that’s gathered dirt and moss as it’s rolled slowly downhill, and now it’s this behemoth that cannot be stopped. Someone expressed some personal opinions on a personal, non-commercial website, someone alerted A*STAR, and now they’re treating the kid like he’s been published in The Economist to effusive praise and acclamation?

Gee, I didn’t know bloogs were that powerful.

squished like a bug

It is fucking unbelievable that A*STAR would spend so much effort being affronted by this personal opinion. But this serves as a clear indicator as to how open the Singapore government really desires to be. Personal opinions on personal websites about statutory boards naturally lead to race riots, communist coup plots, and the destruction of individual reputations. It’s a slippery slope, y’know. We let Singaporeans freely post personal opinions without fear on the Internets today, next thing you know they’ll be homosexuals who preach armed revolution against the government while they splash around in foam parties.

A quiet, respectful e-mail to AcidFlask rebutting his criticisms would have generated a healthy respect for Philip Yeo, for engaging with the younger generation and trying to have a good discussion over concerns, but no, a complete over-reaction that, in my personal opinion, makes him appear ogre-like and a complete ideologue, is much more appropriate. Way to fucking go.

Update: AcidFlask says (amongst other things),

I would like to emphasize that I still do not know exactly what I had written that he had found offensive, and that Mr. Yeo had demanded that I remove all posts which mentioned either him or A*STAR, whether directly or indirectly, and cease “running [him] down” on my blog. It was impossible to satisfy such vague demands except by taking the entire blog down altogether.

…

I spoke out because as a taxpayer and citizen, I cared enough about the policies at hand to make reasoned opinions about them, and in particular to point out what I considered to be possibly counterproductive side effects.

I hope the next time some government minister or MP laments that Singaporeans are so apathetic about improving their society, they are (strongly) reminded of this story.