Simon of Simonworld wonders why Singapore blogs have bigger readerships, are more interesting and diverse than Hongkong ones. What do you think?
Excerpt of my email he posted:
Intriguing thought, your post.
Miyagi, Cowboy Caleb and I were just talking about it over dinner last night. [Ed. - what a great dinner that would have been!]
Could it be the fact that Singapore is the orphan child of British Colonialism?
Also I think we seem to buzz more because there is no real place for Singaporeans to speak their minds. Blogs offer anonymity and a chance to vent, rant and articulate thoughts that may get you in trouble offline. This is not to say that we live oppressed lives here. Most of us are quite happy and the perceived lack of freedoms is often over-stated in foreign publications. blogs and media. It's not that pathetic as it seems.
We could use more freedom offline but for now, blogs (and even, ahem, podcasts) are pushing the boundaries of tolerance, freedom of expression, and wit. Hopefully, this will spill over to the offline world too.
