ClappingTree’s Web 2.0

WILL SOCIAL MEDIA ACTIVISTS CHANGE the face of politics in Singapore in one or two years’ time? Will the US Elections voting patterns correlate closely with the subscription, viewership and interaction patterns on YouChoose 08 (on YouTube) and other social media such as Facebook?

Last month (March 25), in a report entitled My Biggest Mistake, TodayOnline reported that Malaysia’s Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi admitted making the biggest mistake in thinking that the Internet was not important. The PM’s ruling coalition suffered its worst results ever in March 8 polls that left five states and a third of parliamentary seats in opposition hands.

Among them was 67-year-old opposition Democratic Action Party chairman Lim Kit Siang who won a parliamentary seat in Ipoh Timor. He ran three blogs, which were meticulously updated with multiple posts every day. Long-time blogger Jeff Ooi, 52, also won as a DAP candidate in Penang. Like many other opposition leaders, they were able to reach out to young urban and educated people, many who were voting for the first time. Mr Ooi added that Web users are not limited by age. “We attract many citizens above 45 years old and these are the people who are more interested in politics and the oppositions’ viewpoint.” Read the rest of this entry »

“…for love is stronger than death, passion fiercer than the grave. Its flashes are flashes of fire, a raging flame. Many waters cannot quench love, neither can floods drown it.” — Song of Songs, 8:6-7

THESE DAYS, THE WORDS “Love is stronger than Death” keep coming to mind. Four reasons: (1) Two very moving movies recently, (2) Our bible group is currently studying the Acts of the Apostles, (3) Four days of prayers and meditations during Holy Week retreat (March 19-23), and (4) Today is the third death aniversary of Pope John Paul II (also known as Karol Wojtyla before he became pope).

One of the two movies is famous: “The Passion of Christ”. The other is not well-known but its message is just as touching and powerful. It is “Karol, a man who became Pope”, showing in many concrete ways how love can conquer hatred, violence and even death. Here’re two 10-minute video clips and the English transcripts (click the “Read the rest of this entry” link below) for some of its most moving moments:

Karol, a man who became pope – Part 1 of 5

Karol, a man who became pope – Part 2 of 5

All, have a happy and blessed Easter! JPII, unum corde et anima una!

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DO YOU HATE PUBLIC SPEAKING? Whether your answer is “Yes” or “No”, I think you would enjoy this cute video as much as I do.
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FYI: THAT WAS NOT ME. Some Internet scammer started spoofing my NUS email address (blanked out below) while send out some crappy marketing messages. And I received one of them last night:

I’m continually amazed by how low (or high) spiritually one can get! However, this shall be as far as I would go… lest the vitriol in me get brewed into hatred and I end up joining the Dark Side (just as Luke Skywalker almost got seduced by his Darth Vader father in Star Wars).

As Eleanor Roosevelt put it: “It’s far better to light a candle than to curse the darkness.”