The internet's political impact and the penetration/participation paradox in Malaysia and Singapore

Abstract

How intensively a communication technology is used depends on factors other than its level of diffusion. Accordingly, a country with lower penetration levels for a medium may, paradoxically, exhibit more and better utilization of that medium than a country with higher penetration. This penetration/participation paradox is seen in the case of Malaysia and Singapore. Singapore is significantly ahead in terms of network availability, but it is Malaysia that has the more developed political activism online. The paradox cannot be explained by the two countries’ regulatory regimes, which are more similar than different. Instead, the differences can be accounted for by traditional social networks that help to organize online dissent, and the motivation to use available technology in creatively political ways - both of which are stronger in Malaysia than in Singapore. This case study highlights the importance of social and political context in the shaping the impact of new communication technologies.

Internet and Social Media in Malaysia: Development, Challenges and Potentials

“…Due to the lack of open access to the mainstream media, the opposition parties in Malaysia have resorted to creating their own alternative media. Malaysia's alternative media includes "politically contentious" [3,2], professional online newspapers, NGO websites, and journalistic blogs. The main goal of these alternative media platforms is to contest "the consensus that powerful interests try to shape and sustain through the mainstream media" (p. 3) [2].…”

Blogospheric pressures in Singapore: Internet discourses and the 2006 general election

“…Most academic research on Singapore media and politics have taken on a pessimistic view of Internet liberalisation in the island-state, due to the continued survival and ability of the Singaporean state to apply hegemonic rule and disciplinary power over media and public discourses (Lee 2000(Lee , 2004(Lee , 2005a(Lee and 2005bGeorge 2003George , 2005. Terence Lee (2005a; see also Lee and Birch 2000) uses the term 'auto-regulation' to describe the automated, internalised and panoptic nature of regulatory power perfected by the government in the media and public sphere, ensuring their own self-censorship and 'docility'.…”

Gatekeeping in the Coverage of Interethnic Conflicts: An Analysis of Mainstream and Alternative Newspapers in Malaysia

“…The finding that civilians were predominant in Malaysiakini's coverage of the interethnic conflicts lends support to the above notion. In the specifics of Malaysian political culture, where the government has de facto control of the press and laws preventing journalists from reporting on sensitive issues such as ethnicity and religion, Malaysiakini has always been singled out for its independence and fortitude (Brown, 2005;George, 2005;Kenyon, 2010;Rodan, 2005;Tan and Zawawi, 2008). Steele (2009) also asserted that there was no question that Malaysiakini journalists saw themselves as agents of change.…”

“…The MSC is about 15 km wide by 50 km long, which stretches from the PETRONAS Twin Towers in Kuala Lumpur to the Kuala Lumpur International Airport (the region's largest airport). Estimated to take 20 years to reach its full potential at an approximate cost of US$20 billion, the MSC would help to diversify the Malaysian economy at a time when the nation faced increased competition from lower wage countries in the region, such as China and Vietnam (Abbott, 2004;George, 2005). In addition, Abbott (2004) pointed out that Mahathir was determined to give Malaysia a competitive advantage over its neighbor Singapore where stringent controls had been imposed on Internet Service Providers (ISPs).…”

“…(Tan and Zawawi, 2008, p. 86) Malaysiakini is the country's first commercial online newspaper launched by Steven Gan, just nine days before the 1999 general election, with funding from international press freedom groups including the South East Asian Press Alliance (SEPA). Malaysiakini is regarded as the most interesting and successful online newspaper among the various independent news sites in the country (George, 2005;Rodan, 2005;Tan and Zawawi, 2008). Furthermore, it is often recognised as setting the agenda for other news media (Chandran, 2006;Steele, 2009).…”