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作者：中央社（台湾）01/03/2010 新加坡民主党秘书长徐顺全在新加坡“联合早报”专访中指出，为突破新加坡主流媒体局限，下次大选时，民主党将以网路作为主要竞选管道。 新加坡官方持股媒体“联合早报”，今天罕见地以3 / 4版篇幅刊登专访反对党领袖徐顺全的内容，不过文中仍有较多篇幅着墨于民主党过往的内哄，并影射徐顺全接受外国机构资金。 这篇专访文章，以记者问及徐顺全夫妇都没有工作怎么养家？且坊间流传徐顺全拿外国机构资金，所以才能在新加坡无后顾之忧进行公民抗争式的斗争起头，指记者“左问又问，他（徐顺全）答说：『我是学者，偶而也领一些外国的研究基金』。“ 徐顺全是新加坡目前仅见，以街头抗争路线向新加坡政府争取民主的反对党人士，除遭内阁资政李光耀，总理李显龙等人控告诽谤而负债累累，破产外，也经常因街头抗争坐牢，并被官方指控是拿外国资金在新加坡进行颠覆活动。 徐顺全在专访中指出，2006年，年大选民主党的得票率在反对党中最低，是因为主流媒体刻意丑化他，以致民主党表现不如其他政党。 徐顺全强调，民主党提出有别于政府的可行经济方案，也提倡对现有机制进行大刀阔斧改革，“被人民行动党政府视为威胁，要把我们铲除，而主流媒体也把攻击矛头对准我们” 。 徐顺全所指的新加坡主流媒体，就是现在仍由新加坡主权基金淡马锡控股持股，掌控的“新传媒”旗下电视广播，以及“新加坡报业控股”旗下“海峡时报”，“联合早报”等各类报章与媒体。 因此，徐顺全说，为突破主流媒体的局限，下次打选战时，民主党将以网路作为主要竞选管道。 但是，徐顺全还是认为，民主党若要在大选中获胜，必须靠主流媒体。“我非常有信心，主流媒体如果公平报导我们的想法和资讯，民主党肯定可以把候选人送入国会”。 针对前几年出现对政党政治提出尖锐批评，名为“大戏党（哇扬戏党）”，后改名为“淡马锡评论（淡马锡审查）”的网路媒体，曾批评另一反对党工人党在作戏，谣传这个网路媒体是民主党幕后操控，徐顺全接受专访时加以否认。 徐顺全说，“我们不做诋毁其他政党的事”。 来源：http://iservice.libertytimes.com.tw  Read More →

作者：黄浩威（英国伦敦大学亚非学院中国与亚洲学博士生） 伦敦享有全世界文化、经济、政治和时尚首都的美誉，应该是当之无愧的。 除了经常阴霾的天空，这是一座很难让你讨厌的大都会。它既古老又繁华，蕴含着年长绅士高贵内敛的气质，又散发年轻彷客狂野新潮的生命力。简单来说，它是一座充满无限可能性，琳琅满目，却又包含着各种矛盾的多元城市 (metropolitan)。但，这就是伦敦令人难以抗拒的魅力。 这十多年来，新加坡政府进行了各种城市规划和翻新工程，推行艺文政策，为的是能增加新加坡的X元素和活力，使之成为另一个精彩的国际都会。尽管人们对文化的关注和参与提高，艺术表演和活动场次也增加了，但数据是否能说明岛国离国际都会的愿景更近一步了呢？ 也许，伦敦能给我们一些启示。在我看来，伦敦不需要过分的尝试，它就已经是一座精彩的城市了。 一座城市如果要在世界地图上占有一席之位，除了必须具备强大的经济实力以外，还必须是区域或世界的金融枢纽。这正是伦敦和新加坡共有的特点。然而，如果从文化多元性、人文的精神、政治的包容度和思想开放性的标准来看，岛国恐怕离国际都会的目标还非常遥远。 尽管岛国经常自我标榜为多元文化和种族的城市，但我们却有傲慢的排外心理。新加坡人对客工和家庭帮佣的藐视态度以及对外来人才的怀疑和排斥，说明了这点。作为国际大都市，伦敦当然也面对外来人口竞争的挑战，但报章的舆论大体上表现了更多兼容并蓄的精神。伦敦人很清楚地知道，作为拥有最多元国籍和种族的城市之一，文化和种族的多元性巩固了伦敦的优势地位。在伦敦市中心的任何一天，你可能会与几十个不同国籍的人擦肩而过；在地铁车厢内，也经常可以听到多种语言的对谈。在街上行走，你有时可能听到的更多是西班牙语、印地语、意大利语、韩语、汉语、法语等，而不是英语。语言的大杂烩，使伦敦变得绚丽多彩。 另外，伦敦拥有浓厚的艺文气息。这不是单有悠久的历史，宏伟宽敞的建筑物就可以培养出来的。在市中心地铁站，到处可以看到伦敦西区的戏剧海报，每天的文艺活动多得让你不知从何选择。伦敦到处都是免费供人参观的博物馆和画廊；当然，有些人可能会一贯地控诉英国人对文物的囤积和掠夺如何表现了帝国主义、殖民主义等等，但你不得不佩服他们对文化的推崇、文物研究的重视以及历史探索的执著。伦敦博物馆和画廊的多样化及其投入的管理和研究资源，令人惊叹；而文物的来源地就算收藏了同样的文物，也未必能予以相等的重视。此外，绝大部分的博物馆和画廊在周末夜晚都是开放的。访客之多，有时还不亚于商场里的购物者。购物、用餐、逛街和看电影，显然不是伦敦人仅有的消遣。 一座有生命力的城市，除了得包容不同的政治声音外，还必须拥有一个活力四射的公民社会。公民应该有阅读不同政治观点报刊的多种选择。这正是伦敦的一个重要特征。单以“柔性管理方式”容忍互联网上的批评，是不足够的。过于强势的政府，恐怕将成为岛国晋升国际都会行列的绊脚石。最终，我们可能只不过是一座只有政策，没有公民的城市。 当新加坡经济战略委员会探讨如何善用土地，开发更多的地下空间，修建博物馆、科学馆和画廊时，我们是否又落入了硬件必能提高文化素质的迷信中？这是不是另一种“过分的尝试”呢？也许，这座城市需要的，不是更多的物质空间，而是思想和政治空间。否则，我们充其量也只能是一座经高度消毒的综合度假胜地罢了。 来源：联合早报（2010-02-28）  Read More →

Jordan is up next for the Lions Jordan VS Singapore: Match Preview By MJ It will not be exaggerating to say that the Lions face the biggest tie in recent history as they resume their AFC Asian Cup 2011 qualifying campaign with Wednesday’s final Group E clash against Jordan in Amman. History beckons the Lions as they bid to become the first Singapore side to qualify for the Asian Cup Finals (we qualified as hosts in 1984). Thailand play group leaders Iran in Tehran on the same day simultaneously and the Lions have to get a better result than Thailand to ensure that they will be in the hat for the main draw. Singapore will be without dead ball specialist Shaiful Esah, midfielder John Wilkinson, forward Khairul Amri, all struck down by injuries. Midfield lynchpin Mustafic Fahrudin will also miss the tie due to a suspension and the Lions skipper Indra Shadan has pulled out of the game citing personal issues. Veteran striker Aleksandar Duric and Indonesia-based Noh Alam Shah will almost certainly be given the task of getting the goals while the midfield will likely be patrolled by young Hariss Harun. The central defence pairing of Precious Emuejeraye and Baihakki Khaizan together with keeper Hassan Sunny will have to be at their best to keep out the Jordan team who must win to stand any chance of qualifying at all. Jordan presents somewhat of an unknown quality. They have a couple of Europe-based players, but none of them are well-known outside of their own clubs and country. Judging by the team’s record in the group thus far, it is probably fair to say that they are a defensive-minded side that is tactically solid at the back. They had only scored twice in five games, but had only conceded three times (two of them against Singapore in the previous meeting). In their last competitive game in Amman, they did beat a strong Iranian side with a late goal, so their quality should not be doubted. The positive thing for the Lions is that Jordan cannot afford to sit back for this game. They have to beat Singapore to have any chance at all of qualification, thus are likely to open up and try to get a goal at every opportunity. For Singapore, this is where we can break and hit them on the counter. Even without Shaiful, our set-pieces will remain a threat with the likes of Duric and Precious in the box. The climate is another factor for the Lions to overcome. Temperature is expected to hover just above 10 degrees Celsius for the game and the air will be dry, presenting very different conditions for our players, all of which are based in the South-east Asian region. However, let us not forget that SAFFC played under very similar weather conditions in China a week ago (in the AFC Champions League) and still managed to play out to a credible goalless draw. Perhaps Raddy Avramovic can take a few pointers from SAFFC coach Richard Bok on how he managed to get his team acclimatised to the conditions in such a short period of time. In the corresponding fixture a little more than a year ago, the Lions won an ill-tempered contest 2-1 at the Singapore National Stadium. Both sides accused the other with rough play and dirty tactics culminating in the Jordanians issuing a warning ‘You come to Jordan, you die!’ to the Singapore side. Raddy and his charges can expect hostilies on the pitch and on the stands. Given this history and the importance of the match, we can be expected to be treated to a cracker of a game. 25,000 Jordanians may fill the Amman International Stadium to back their team, but thanks to support from MediaCorp, millions (hopefully) of Singapore fans can support the team in the front of their television sets.   Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts  Iran 5 3 1 1 10 2 8 10  Thailand 5 1 3 1 3 2 1 6 Singapore 5 2 0 3 5 13 −8 6  Jordan 5 1 2 2 2 3 −1 5 Singapore will qualify if: Singapore beats Jordan AND Thailand draws or loses in Iran / Singapore draws Jordan AND Thailand loses in Iran (Head-to-head counts first before Goal Difference, hence Thailand will qualify as long as they match Singapore’s result) This match will be telecast live on Channel 5 at 2355hrs on Wednesday 3 March, 2010.  About the author – MJ has watched more S-League games than anyone he knows and hopes to see it blossom into one of the strongest leagues in the region. He is however annoyed by the lack coverage in the mainstream media and hopes to be the alternative voice  Read More →