Living Dangerously
This is probably the year blogging became (in my head anyway) a dangerous hobby.
You could get sued for it, kicked off your job, arrested or worst of all, become a victim of a witch hunt.
I wasn't blogging during the time of the Dawn Yang saga due to my exams. But I followed it pretty closely, or as closely as my study schedules would allow.
Thing is, apart from being foolish enough to draw attention to herself in that Xiaxue type manner, she didn't actually do anything wrong. Her plastic surgery(which she was an even bigger fool to deny) was her own perogative. As long as her parents had the money and were willing to pay for it, they should be the only ones concerned. As it is, most celebrities are tweaked to some extent anyway; one has only to take a look at this site to realise that.
The image conscious society we live in demands nothing less. Xiaxue's a pretty enough girl, but she has had tons of her detractors make snide and cruel comments about her looks, her weight and her use of photoshop.
Why turn on these girls in that manner? So what if she had plastic surgery? So what if XX uses photoshop? So do most celebrities (and by most I mean something like 98%).
Next thing I knew, yet another pretty female blogger(Daphne Teo) had decided to put an end to her blog. This too, was due to the amount of cruel and uncalled for comments she'd been getting in her comments boxes and apparently in forums as well. Again, the only thing she could have been guilty of, was flaunting her father's wealth and ability to purchase myriad designer handbags and electronic accessories. Again, the only people who should have been concerned about that would be her parents (and perhaps her future husband who may need to support that lifestyle).
Perhaps the main problem is that Singaporeans just cannot stand people flaunting their wealth or assets or success in any way. I've often noticed that it seems to be part of Asian/Chinese culture to deny success or downplay it in anyway. Response to any praise is almost invariably a slew of self deprecating remarks to show one's modesty and humility. Any other response would make the person seem 'proud' or 'arrogant' and that seems to be the crux of the problem with these bloggers.
Or maybe, in these sorry economic times, when most people find themselves financially challenged, watching these girls go out and spend money and time heedlessly just got to be too much. And for them to sit around and say after the fact, that they were not rich, merely got to be the proverbial straw on the camel's back.
The problem is that whole point of blogging is to draw attention. It's a platform for many things, a social diary, fashion, current affairs etc. It's the adult version of the poser's game for many people( like the 3 bloggers I highlighted). It's the online "hey look at me, look how pretty/knowledgeable I am!" scenario. And I guess the main problem with that is that most lifestyle type bloggers are unwilling to admit that this attention seeking type behaviour brings with it the downside of celebrity as well. Not only are they unwilling to admit it, most (with the possible exception of XX) don't know how to cope with it as well.
Singapore's not a place for revolutions. We all know that. But as the gap between the rich and the relatively poorer widens, we may get more witch hunts like these if people unwittingly decide to flaunt their successful lifestyles online and off. Perhaps that's why the government chooses to keep the lifestyles of its ministers quiet and under wraps.
After all, unless what you post is really inflammatory( or illegal), blogs that discuss current affairs and other intellectual matters tend not to be attacked in quite the same way. It is true that they don't draw the numbers the same way, but at least they tend not to draw the same amount of flak.
In these times(and with regards to our culture), blogging is a dangerous hobby, not for the fainthearted or timid. Those who thought that the Internet was a harbinger of a world without censors, some utopia of freedom of expression were fools. There will always be censors, official or unofficial. Even if freedom of speech is guaranteed, no one can protect you from the nastiness that envious minds breed.
You could get sued for it, kicked off your job, arrested or worst of all, become a victim of a witch hunt.
I wasn't blogging during the time of the Dawn Yang saga due to my exams. But I followed it pretty closely, or as closely as my study schedules would allow.
Thing is, apart from being foolish enough to draw attention to herself in that Xiaxue type manner, she didn't actually do anything wrong. Her plastic surgery(which she was an even bigger fool to deny) was her own perogative. As long as her parents had the money and were willing to pay for it, they should be the only ones concerned. As it is, most celebrities are tweaked to some extent anyway; one has only to take a look at this site to realise that.
The image conscious society we live in demands nothing less. Xiaxue's a pretty enough girl, but she has had tons of her detractors make snide and cruel comments about her looks, her weight and her use of photoshop.
Why turn on these girls in that manner? So what if she had plastic surgery? So what if XX uses photoshop? So do most celebrities (and by most I mean something like 98%).
Next thing I knew, yet another pretty female blogger(Daphne Teo) had decided to put an end to her blog. This too, was due to the amount of cruel and uncalled for comments she'd been getting in her comments boxes and apparently in forums as well. Again, the only thing she could have been guilty of, was flaunting her father's wealth and ability to purchase myriad designer handbags and electronic accessories. Again, the only people who should have been concerned about that would be her parents (and perhaps her future husband who may need to support that lifestyle).
Perhaps the main problem is that Singaporeans just cannot stand people flaunting their wealth or assets or success in any way. I've often noticed that it seems to be part of Asian/Chinese culture to deny success or downplay it in anyway. Response to any praise is almost invariably a slew of self deprecating remarks to show one's modesty and humility. Any other response would make the person seem 'proud' or 'arrogant' and that seems to be the crux of the problem with these bloggers.
Or maybe, in these sorry economic times, when most people find themselves financially challenged, watching these girls go out and spend money and time heedlessly just got to be too much. And for them to sit around and say after the fact, that they were not rich, merely got to be the proverbial straw on the camel's back.
The problem is that whole point of blogging is to draw attention. It's a platform for many things, a social diary, fashion, current affairs etc. It's the adult version of the poser's game for many people( like the 3 bloggers I highlighted). It's the online "hey look at me, look how pretty/knowledgeable I am!" scenario. And I guess the main problem with that is that most lifestyle type bloggers are unwilling to admit that this attention seeking type behaviour brings with it the downside of celebrity as well. Not only are they unwilling to admit it, most (with the possible exception of XX) don't know how to cope with it as well.
Singapore's not a place for revolutions. We all know that. But as the gap between the rich and the relatively poorer widens, we may get more witch hunts like these if people unwittingly decide to flaunt their successful lifestyles online and off. Perhaps that's why the government chooses to keep the lifestyles of its ministers quiet and under wraps.
After all, unless what you post is really inflammatory( or illegal), blogs that discuss current affairs and other intellectual matters tend not to be attacked in quite the same way. It is true that they don't draw the numbers the same way, but at least they tend not to draw the same amount of flak.
In these times(and with regards to our culture), blogging is a dangerous hobby, not for the fainthearted or timid. Those who thought that the Internet was a harbinger of a world without censors, some utopia of freedom of expression were fools. There will always be censors, official or unofficial. Even if freedom of speech is guaranteed, no one can protect you from the nastiness that envious minds breed.
posted by adinahaes at 6:24 PM
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