In defence of Sumiko Tan: Notes on decent blogging

The veteran Straits Times journalist Ms. Sumiko Tan wrote an article in The Sunday Times (Reflect column, 31st July 2005) which I feel is a timely one. It is about time that somebody prominent so eloquently articulates the truth about certain portions of cyberspace, albeit in a somewhat exaggerated way. My personal interpretation of her article is a positive one. What Sumiko is doing in that article is not merely to describe cyberspace, but also to urge bloggers to do two things essentially: (a) to write in a more polite way, and (b) to read high quality websites from now. (a) is an explicit message; (b) is an implicit one. And based on my interpretation, I would summarize Sumiko's key points as the following:

(1) She wrote, "See no evil, blog no evil". This is what she proposed and the sentence is prescriptive. I would support what she has prescribed.

(2) Next, I would group the following sentences (a) to (c) together as 'sentences describing (large portions of) cyberspace'.

(a) "Need evidence that man is nasty and brutish? Go to the Net. You can witness the worst of human nature there....(b) Cyberspace has degenerated into such a malicious, nasty, toxic place. There is so much bile and vile floating around...The Internet has also brought out the worst in people. Cyberspace is choked with smut....(c) What scares me more is the personal smut that litters the Net, the vicious gossip, invidious hearsay and the big, fat lies you get on some websites, chatrooms and...blogs.... It's fine to lie about, insult and denigrate anyone you know...Isn't the Net simply reflecting the idle gossip that's already being traded at the office water-cooler?"

The words in bold are those representing the kinds of behaviour that I think she is really criticizing – those that are truly bothering her. And everyone would surely agree that those are terrible kinds of behaviour to display.

Of course, one could argue against Sumiko and say that not 100% of cyberspace is like that, and she would probably say, "Ok, even if not 100%, then at least 80%." But therein lies the catch: even Sumiko herself knows, obviously, that of course not 100% of cyberspace is like that (she is not stupid, you know?). Although she apparently said things to the contrary, as a reader, I felt that she was very much trying to get her point across by exaggerating things slightly, using hyperbole (where 'hyperbole' is defined as 'deliberate exaggeration that is not meant to be taken literally').

Next, Sumiko moved on to state her normative stance, which is exemplified by the third key point that I would extract from her article. She wrote, "In asserting one's right to comment, surely one must be guided by some decency and decorum?" And I think most readers would support such a normative stance.

Sumiko also wrote that she is "leery of chatrooms, forums, and blogs." That is her attitude and feelings towards blogs in general. She did say that she will be missing out on some potentially useful information that might help her feel the 'pulse' of society. Her attitude and feelings towards blogs resulted from a 'halo effect': she has seen too many terrible blogs to want to go near any blogs now. In other words, she has developed blogphobia, as I would call it. I think anyone who gets exposed to too many low-quality blogs will somehow be afflicted with this condition.

There is one solution that I will propose - which is that parents, educators, and everyone else should put in the effort to know blogosphere in greater rather than lesser depth, in order to direct the younger ones better in this jungle trail, especially in the earlier phases of their personal experimentation with blogs. Withdrawal from or complete dismissal of an increasingly widespread social activity like blogging is not the best way to cope with the changing times ourselves, let alone to provide relevant guidance to our children or younger/teenage friends. Just like the orang asli, we should know the jungle well in order to help the younger ones avoid the dangerous areas of the jungle. In other words, we should be the cyber-orang asli.

Many readers/bloggers have thus interpreted Sumiko's article in a negative way, but as I have shown above, her article should be welcomed despite the strategy of using hyperbole to get her point across. Now, even if she is saying that 99% of the blogs in cyberspace are of poor quality, that itself is also not entirely bad. The greater the number of lousy blogs in existence, the more the good ones will stand out and shine like twinkling stars in the sky at night. Discerning readers will then be more appreciative of civilized and substantial blogs such as Singapore Angle, Commentary Asia, and many others. I think even Ms Sumiko Tan herself would probably agree that blogs such as the two mentioned above are insightful and would accept them as notable exceptions. Although they are technically 'blogs' in the sense of 'online diaries' (in terms of their form or format), they are essentially de facto websites dedicated to social commentary and civilized discussion on societal issues (their substance). And Ms. Sumiko Tan did hint that she would still visit websites that are useful, civilized, and insightful, did she not?

Finally, Sumiko Tan wrote this: "If I want to be mentally and spiritually calm, I should strive to see no evil, hear no evil, speak no evil – and blog no evil". I can see her point. But at this point I would differ. I think that true calmness should not be just externally induced calmness, for that kind of calm depends on the quietness of the environment, rather than on the instrinsic calmness of the person himself, and is therefore something which cannot be sustained when one encounters a more chaotic environment or situation. The ultimate test of spiritual calmness should comprise three parts: (a) the ability to ignore people who hurl insults or vulgarities at you (i.e. do not exchange insults/vulgarities), (b) to speak politely to people who defame or misinterpret you (one can be firm and polite at the same time), and (c) to address the issues raised by an over-zealous blogger who has a misguided conviction in certain fallacious arguments, but to do so fairly. Indeed, these abilities can only be cultivated after regular practice – and such forms of practice are probably more readily available in cyberspace than in the real word. Such practice would be a very good way to build up one's patience, threshold of anger, and overall 'internal strength' to face less fearful enemies in real life, or even more fearful ones. Patience and the ability to contain anger are surely the best skills to possess in this Hobbesian society that we live in today, insofar as it is Hobbesian.

So, do not draw your weapons and fight the moment someone has a different view from you (if you slay him with your sword now, who will spar with you?). Do not hurl Hokkien swear words at people no matter how angry you are. And most of all, even if someone is rude, sarcastic, or appears ignorant, sit down with that person, drink coffee, and converse calmly. Be the calm one. The world is in a terrible state as it is - there is no need to make things worse...

Related Articles
(1) From a Singapore Angle: 'Sumiko Tan on Cyberspace's 'Bile & Vile' & 'Online Diaries'
(2) Trompe L'oeil: 'Blogging - An Extension of Self?'