Opposition: Social Media Helps Bypass Pro-PAP Media

How did social media play a part in the Singapore General Election 2011? “A huge role,” at least according to the opposition parties. AFP wrote a nice story on how social media has helped the Singapore opposition parties spread their messages across the web.

Most importantly, social media has helped” bypass pro-PAP newspapers and broadcast,” as described by Chee Soon Juan, secretary-general at Singapore Democratic Party. It is a strong statement and I shall leave that for discussions.

Other opposition parties also echoed the same thoughts. Koh Choon Yong, the webmaster of Workers’ Party who is also the brain behind the party’s social media communication said that these social platforms provide “speed and ease of delivery”. However, he did say that coverage via Facebook and Twitter cannot be compared to traditional media.

“New media caters only to a particular segment of the population… It helps us to reach out to more people than we could have, but it is probably not going to be the major determining factor in the winning of votes,” he said.

The opposition parties’ social media effort includes the popular Nicole Seah Facebook community page. Nicole Seah, at age 24, is the latest and youngest candidate from the National Solidarity Party (NSP). Her confident appearance on the media has won her many likes and praises on the Internet.

A Penn Olson reader commented, “I have watched her videos at youtube. She is definately a notch above [Tin Pei Ling] showing maturity, sound judgement and good composure when facing questions from the reporters. Definately a girl of MP material despite her age. People of Marine Parade should give her their full support as this little chilly padi will be [a] force to reckon with if elected as MP.”

Although the opposition parties have gained much success via social media, the real victory still lies in the actual votes. It is, however, a good step forward for the oppositions.