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www.straitstimes.com Published on Jan 15, 20
The Straits Times
Blog will register if its appeal failsThe Online Citizen asks PM to reverse decision or to explain gazette move
By Jeremy Au Yong
SOCIO-POLITICAL blog The Online Citizen (TOC) said yesterday that it will comply with recent government
requests to register, but only if it fails in its appeal to the Prime Minister.
It has written to Mr Lee Hsien Loong to ask that the decision to gazette the site as a political association be
reversed, or if not, for the decision to be explained.
A statement put up on the site yesterday evening announced that it will submit the particulars of its editorial
team to the Registry of Political Donations and Media Development Authority (MDA) if that is the only way to
continue existing.
'If registering is what it'll take to continue our contribution to Singapore, we'll do it and send a clear messagethat we will not be intimidated into exiting the arena of public discourse,' it said in a statement signed by its
acting chief editor Joshua Chiang, 35, and co-founders Choo Zheng Xi, 25, and Andrew Loh, 43.
TOC indicated it would be willing to submit the names of up to four members.
But first, it intends to wait for the Prime Minister's response.
On Monday, the Registry of Political Donations, which comes under the Prime Minister's Office, sent a letter t
TOC stating its intention to gazette it as a political association.
The registry asked it to identify its owners, editorial team and administrators. TOC was also asked to name a
president, treasurer and secretary.
A day later, MDA also asked for particulars. It wanted TOC to register under the Broadcasting (Class LicenceNotification.
MDA explained that the TOC's activities satisfied the definition under the Class Licence that it is engaging in
the 'propagation, promotion and discussion of political issues'.
The Registry of Political Donations in turn, wanted to gazette TOC to ensure it did not receive funds from
foreign sources. The site, it said, had the potential to influence political outcomes.
While MDA's registration would not lead to any further restrictions, being gazetted as a political association
would mean the site would be bound by the Political Donations Act.
This meant it would be barred from receiving donations from foreign sources and cannot accept more than
$5,000 a year in total from all anonymous donors. TOC would also need to report large donations.However, contrary to numerous assertions made online, including in TOC's own announcement of the
gazetting, the Act places no other restrictions on foreign participation.
The registry confirmed to The Straits Times that foreigners will still be allowed to contribute articles, post
comments or participate in discussions on the site. There is also nothing stopping TOC from registering itself
as a political party under the Societies Act.
TOC said yesterday that it was confident of being able to operate within this framework since virtually all its
activities are self-funded. It said server maintenance costs around $1,000 a year and stressed that it did not
receive any foreign donations. Local donations last year amounted to between $10,000 and $15,000.
8/8/2019 Blog will register if its appeal fails
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Still, the strongly worded statement titled 'Keep Calm and Carry On' made it clear that TOC felt it was being
victimised.
'We have nothing to hide and nothing to fear from gazetting. We believe that shutting down or going
underground is precisely what those who misunderstand us want and will be fodder to discredit the
blogosphere. We will not give them that satisfaction,' it said.
If it is finally declared a political association, TOC will become only the fifth group, and first website in
Singapore, to have been gazetted as such.
The other four are the Open Singapore Centre, Think Centre, Singaporeans For Democracy and Maruah.
Copyright © 2010 Singapore Press Holdings. All rights reserved.
