Interactive Politics

On 12 March, Lim Kit Siang wrote on his blog that DAP was unhappy with the appointment of a PAS representative as the Chief Minister of Perak, although DAP had won three times as many state seats as PAS. Apparently the blog entry in question attracted more than 800 comments in 24 hours, most of them disagreeing with his stand. The very next day, Lim Kit Siang issued an apology to the Sultan of Perak.

I would like to draw attention not to whatever Lim Kit Siang said or did, but to the interactivity afforded by his blog between this veteran politician and the public. I think this is singularly amazing. We usually think of politicians as remote figures whom we see on TV and in the newspapers. Now, those who have blogs are within reach and can even choose to listen to us and act upon our feedback. This, I believe, would have far-reaching implications.

21 March 2008 | Politics | Comments