Wynthia Goh is a key editor of Sintercom. She worked for Sembawang Media on the Schools on line project before leaving the company to pursue a master in public policy. She was recently interviewed by Singapore's Business Times. Sintercom reproduces that interview with Wynthia here for those who missed it.

How did Sintercom start? What were your goals for Sintercom when it started and how would you rate its success/progress now? What kind of role do you see Sintercom playing five, 10 years down the road? Will you stay on with it or go on to other similar projects? What is your present involvement now? Well Chong Kee set up Singapore Electronic Forum in 1994 and I joined him soon after. As more volunteers came on board, we started to dabble in more projects and the sum total became SInterCom. In 1994, I had just got on the Net with a Technet account and I recognised Chong Kee as a regular poster in soc.culture.singapore (SCS). When he started to promote a site called Singapore Electronic Forum in his signature, I checked it out and immediately offered to help. At that time, it seemed like a meaningful way to use my time and expand a hobby. I never thought it would take up as much time as it did nor introduced me to so many great people, in and out of SInterCom. That was a real bonus. Soon after I came on board, more people volunteered to help us and SInterCom grew from there. When I tell some people how we got started. they would remark "just like that?". Yes, just like that. I never even meet most of them till a year later. On the Net, one really only has an email address to go on and SInterCom started when all these faceless email addresses started to communicate with one another, work on projects in their own time and sending the work to those of us with a free university web account to show the work to the rest of the world. As for why I started out on it, every new Internet user goes through a cycle, they go through a stage where they are struck by how easy it is for them to put up content and they itch to do something about that. I always took to heart the advice of one of the Internet pioneers in Singapore, he is based in California now. He reminded me that all these resources on the Net were created by volunteers (this was before the Net was commercialised) and that as I make use of them, not to forget to give something back in return. We call it Net karma. I think it helped that Technet didn't provide free personal web space in those days. Those of us with the energy to move beyond being a passive absorber of all that information to pursue web development in those early days, gravitated towards university students with web accounts. Now, people start off by doing their own thing through their personal web pages and in a lot of instances, the effort did not go beyond listing one's favourite hobbies, websites etc., which is a pity. SInterCom has very very broad goals and in the end, the goals are totally self-centered. The editors started projects from the point of what they themselves were interested in and is not available on the Net. We wanted an easier way to sieve through all the discussions on SCS so we created an archive. We would like to read about interviews from various Singaporeans, so we arranged and conducted the interviews ourselves. We thought websites from Asia were not given much attention by the many "award" sites on the Net so we created the Best of Asia-Pacific awards. We wanted to know more about how Singapore related issues is being reported in the world, we created SG Daily. We thought it would be interesting to create a Singlish dictionary and we did, with the help of contributors who submitted entries on the Net. SInterCom projects reflected the interest of its editors, as editors came and went, their pet projects thrived and died. In many ways, SInterCom isn't a real organisation, we are a loose grouping of Singaporeans who shared resources with one another but maintained most of our independence in pursuing the projects that only we ourselves can justify forgoing sleep to finish at 3am in the morning. So in a way, editors didn't join us to follow the SInterCom direction, SInterCom's direction was decided by the aggregate and the strength of those individual interests. I always say we are a good example of order in chaos. As for my own goals as a SInterCom editor, I am Singaporean and inevitably, many of those interests relate back to Singapore in one way or another and in that sense, I am still pursuing the same goals now as I was then. In mid 1995, the editors started to think "long term", which on the Net means beyond the current year, and wanted to bring the SInterCom pages home. At that time, they were physically located on university machines in US and UK. Through the help of Sun Microsystem in Singapore which donated a server and Sembawang Media which provided us access, we were able to move the whole website to Singapore. It was a move we worked very hard to secure. There was a growing sense that while we were archiving and promoting all these commentary on Singapore issues on the Net, it really would be most meaningful if we can do it from home rather than on an overseas university server. SInterCom is more than 4 years old and I am pleasantly surprised it lasted as long as it did. How much longer it will last is anyone's guess. Many of the key editors will be finished with their studies soon and they will be bogged down by the nitty gritty of settling back in Singapore while I have just embarked on my studies. We have reached a critical point. Even now we will be stripping down the site to a more manageable level. It is difficult for me to discuss what role SInterCom will play in the future. From the beginning, we never defined ourselves in those terms. I hope it can continue to play the same role it had performed from the beginning: a useful nonpartisan resource and a platform for discussion of Singapore issues. The larger question you should probably ask is if the overall penetration of the Net in Singapore will have any significant impact on Singapore society. SInterCom is just one of the more prominent members of that still growing Internet community. As for myself, my main involvement these days is SG Daily, it is a mailing list sending out news articles and commentary pieces about Singapore. It is also a great way for me to keep in touch with what's happening back home. Remember what I said about how we pursue projects out of self interest? (-8 [In case you are wondering, yes the smiley is left-handed. People just have to learn to tilt their head the other way to read it. (8 ] What other projects I will dabble in will depend on where my interest takes me. So far, most of the projects have always related to Singapore in one way or another, I expect that connection to stay in any future projects as well. What I do find amazing which transcends beyond SInterCom but which SInterCom is a great example of, is the ease with which a handful of people, ordinary citizens, can find out information, put up information, collaborate and work together.

A society where you are appealed to think of the worth of the assets you own and how that has appreciated over the years as a key measure of the "value" of your citizenship is troubling to me...I think when we play the numbers game like this, Singapore will lose out in the end.

As a socially conscience 20-something, what are the issues that you and those your age are most concerned about? Do you feel that as a group, the government is not paying enough attention to you? If so, what can be done about it? That's tough, even when you have a lot of friends who feel and think the same way as you do, you really cannot confidently say that what is important to you is important to people in your age group. I always try to be mindful of that. As for issues that concern me, like everyone else, it boils down to how you want it to be a better place for you to live. My family is here and Singapore is home, it is only natural that I wish it to be better no matter how good it may already be. What differs from one person to the next is how they think things can be improved or even what is broken in the first place. At this moment in my life, I feel a sense of disenchantment, perhaps it is just a state of melancholy people go through once every 4 or 5 years, maybe a Singaporean rite of passage. A society where you are appealed to think of the worth of the assets you own and how that has appreciated over the years as a key measure of the "value" of your citizenship is troubling to me. If I have to think in terms of asset worth, then I really have to think also about why a drink cost twice as much in Singapore and why a car can cost 10 times in Singapore compared to in New York. I think when we play the numbers game like this, Singapore will lose out in the end. I value easy public access to information a lot and I value public discourse as an important form of participation in a civil society. And I feel that in Singapore both areas are still lacking. I guess I am infatuated with a lot of the "lofty ideas" that conventional wisdom tells me were insignificant to the Singapore electorate. If that is true, I may be more of a minority than I think. As for whether the government is paying enough attention, I think if you pick anyone on the street in any part of the world, they would think the government is not paying enough attention to them. It is quite a universal discontent. The question is what do you do about it?

How would you describe yourself - rebellious, idealistic? How would you describe your personal upbringing? I have always had a healthy interest in news and current affairs since young. I remember being left at book corners while my parents go finish up on their shopping. I don't recall particularly strong influences, everyone you have met in your life, even briefly, influenced you in one way or another. My interest in news just snowballed from youth. I have always been rather quiet on the school front. It was only in NTU that I became more involved, more of a "doer" so to speak. I was fresh into the hall and was attending a general meeting on proposed constitutional amendments to shorten the election process, I rose to comment on the amendments. After the meeting, I was led aside where a senior persuaded me to try for the JCRC. As for family, my family is a very close one. Growing up, my parents have always made it a point for us to spend time together as a family and even today, my sisters and I still spend a lot of time together. My family is one of the true blessings in my life. If there is one value that my parents taught me, it is to treat others fairly and well. In a competitive world such as ours, sometimes it is easy to simply forget to be nice to other human beings.

If there is one value that my parents taught me, it is to treat others fairly and well. In a competitive world such as ours, sometimes it is easy to simply forget to be nice to other human beings.

Being a "sayer" maybe be a necessary transition to become a doer. The crime would be if you never move beyond just saying or writing about things that upset you.

Public convention tends to label idealists as being somewhat unrealistic in their outlook, but it's quite another thing to turn words into action. Where do you fit in this scenario? Are you a sayer, or a doer? Do you really believe you can change the world, and how? What do you think needs changing? I hope to be a doer, if not now, then sometime in the future. I am at that stage where I am still trying to cement my beliefs. You cannot really do anything unless you know what you want to do. Being a "sayer" maybe be a necessary transition to become a doer. The crime would be if you never move beyond just saying or writing about things that upset you. What needs changing? That is like asking what is wrong with Singapore, it is a very tough question to answer. Singapore's high GNP, prosperity, clean and safe streets makes a lot of criticism seem almost trivial. The only issue with which everyone would agree, is the humidity; and even there, there are probably people who like it. I don't really think about changing the world, just about how to make my own world better. Though the world can change. Real change is really thousands of tiny steps, I have only one pair of feet and can only make one step at a time. The other steps will have to be taken by other people.

A lot of 20-somethings these days are really into material well-being above all others. You don't seem to be like that. how important is money to you? One of my favourite quotation is by Emma Goldman. "I'd rather have roses on my table than diamonds on my neck." That pretty much sums up the way I feel about money. Of course, I appreciate my cup of Sumatra Mandheling at the Coffee Club and have sake sashimi cravings as often as the next young, single, working Singaporean but I am just as comfortable drinking teh at the kopitiam and having lontong for breakfast on a Sunday. One of the great things about Singapore is that you can actually have a nice compromise and have Korean BBQ in a food court. I have to say that being Singaporean, coming from business school and having worked in the private sector all this while, the smell of money is not foul to me. I also currently have too little of it for it to bother me at all. I can't live on bread and water nor do I think anyone should be expected to. Money isn't my religion, I am glad I am not overly dependent on it for my happiness. However, I do believe the more of it you have, the more thought you should give into how you may spend it for the greater benefit of society. A friend retorted that with the diamonds, you can buy more roses. However, you still have to sell the diamonds first.

Money isn't my religion...However, I do believe the more of it you have, the more thought you should give into how you may spend it for the greater benefit of society.

I have always been interested in public policy, its effects on society and especially how in a civil society, citizen participation in the process can help to formulate better policies.

Is the financial crisis affecting your studies in New York, by the way? What kind of work do you intend to get into when you get your masters? Will it be in S'pore or the US? Also, why did you choose to do your masters in public policy? Career-wise, you were with Sembawang Media and other IT-related companies. What was your reason for leaving, if any? W: I am on a scholarship so a large part of my academic expenses are "Asian-flu-proof" but my living expenses which is not covered in the scholarship, had risen above budget. It would not affect my ability to complete my studies but I do have to watch my pennies more. For my second year, another scholarship will cover all of my expenses. I have always wanted to further my studies, it has simply been a question of when and of having enough money to do so. After working for a number of years, mostly in the IT industry, I grew restless that this may not be what I want to do in the long term. I then thought it would be a good time to go back to school. The decision to go now was of course made much easier when I received the tuition scholarship. Otherwise, I might have delayed it for a couple more years. Why public policy? I have always been interested in public policy, its effects on society and especially how in a civil society, citizen participation in the process can help to formulate better policies. The MPP programme is closest to my interest. As for what I intend to do after my masters, family and friends ask me that all the time. I don't really know. I am keeping my options open but eventually, I will of course be back in Singapore.

You are editor of SG Daily. You also display a healthy skepticism of the way news is reported in the papers. Do you see yourself as a social commentator? Social commentator? Only in so far as being a concerned citizen running a mailing list. I always try to remind people that publishing a newspaper is a business and journalists are people with as much biases and opinions as you and I. I can even give you an example of the ST Forum page editors who edited their own opinion right into my letter. In other countries where there are greater number of newspapers, it does not mean that therefore the press in those countries are better. It means different newspapers present different perspectives on the same issues. Society as a whole benefits when all the different perspectives and ideas are discussed publicly. The danger with one newspaper is that only one set of people wrote about the issues and you read about only one point of view. When that newspaper did not pursue a news story as vigorously as you hoped, you pretty much do not get any information at all and I am only talking in general terms here. If Singapore wants to be a knowledge-based society, such a newspaper monopoly will be an impediment.

The danger with one newspaper is that only one set of people wrote about the issues and you read about only one point of view...If Singapore wants to be a knowledge-based society, such a newspaper monopoly will be an impediment.

I once worked on a research project covering 5 Asia countries. I had the toughest time in Singapore precisely because there is a pervasive attitude in our country that all information should be closely guarded. In the Singapore tradition, I also think we should care less about whether an idea came from the "West" or the East but whether the idea has any use for us in our society. Part of the Singapore success story has been to learn from and adopt any idea that may be good, anyone who dismisses any idea without due consideration because of some personal bigotry is really doing more harm than good.

Are you at all afraid of being labeled a dissident of sorts? or maybe an angmoh-fied Singaporean used to life in the West, who comes home to criticise and compare Singapore against Western ideals of freedom of speech and information? Incidentally, how long have you been in the US? Angmoh-fied Singaporean? That is funny! (-8 Well, I am almost certain that when I now criticise anything about Singapore society, somebody somewhere is going to throw that stereotype at me. They will of course conveniently forget that I have always discussed Singapore issues on the Net publicly the whole time I was working in Singapore and that if my education had imbibed me with all these wrong ideals, it must be the fault of the Singapore system. Afterall, I have been educated in Singapore the whole time and am only four months into my stay in New York. I hate to disappoint, but I am a product of the Singapore education system through and through. Freedom of speech and expression is one of the fundamental liberties guaranteed to Singaporeans under the Singapore Constitution, there is nothing "Western" about it. Sometimes it amazes me how some Singaporeans have forgotten that, maybe the MOE should include learning about the Constitution as part of the National Education curriculum? I have always told people that I have never personally encountered any restrictions on my freedom of expression in Singapore. If some people feel they do not have this freedom, it could be because they have kept it in their closet for too long. They should take it out to get some sun and wipe off the dust. Rights seldom exercised get lost easily. What I am more concerned about is freedom of information. I feel that in Singapore, the flow of information to the public is very limited. I was just reading the other day Francis Chong's string of correspondence with the authorities, trying to find out about the number of prisoners executed in Singapore for drug offenses since 1975. Out of 3 questions he asked, only one was answered and the MHA brushed off the other 2 questions by writing that they had replied to him in accordance with their standing policy. I think reforming our attitude towards information will be important to prepare our society and the next generation for the "knowledge revolution". We have to make information widely and cheaply available to the public, put it in their hands for them to chew over and use. Does that idea sound "Western"? Well it isn't. It grew out of working and living in Singapore and hitting against a conservative attitude towards information, even perfectly innocuous ones. I remember I once worked on a research project covering 5 Asia countries. I had the toughest time in Singapore precisely because there is a pervasive attitude in our country that all information should be closely guarded. In the Singapore tradition, I also think we should care less about whether an idea came from the "West" or the East but whether the idea has any use for us in our society. Part of the Singapore success story has been to learn from and adopt any idea that may be good, anyone who dismisses any idea without due consideration because of some personal bigotry is really doing more harm than good.

In your resume, it says that you made submissions against the Internet regulations proposed by the SBA. Could you elaborate on this and the outcome? What is your view of the Internet's role in society and how can this technology be harnessed for the greater good of all, specifically Singapore's next generation - you. What kind of role can you play, given your expertise? W: I think you are referring to SInterCom's appeal against registration. SInterCom was listed under Annex D of SBA's Internent regulations as one of the groups requiring registration. We appealed against the classification and registration, met up with SBA to present our case and eventually succeeded. The same time we appealed to SBA, we also protested against the Internet regulation in general by sponsoring a "Responsibility, Not Regulation" campaign on the Net where we advocated that all was needed was personal responsibility and not government regulation over content and that an intention to protect children against pornography on the Net should translate into a more intelligent response than a blanket regulation that affected all the adult Net users in Singapore. We also met up with the NIAC chairman Bernard Tan, that was before the NIAC met I believe. The result of those exchanges like the minutes of the meetings, were eventually placed up on the Web to inform the public. With their permission of course. I was really glad the appeal succeeded or SInterCom may be inoperable. Registration would have meant taking on liability for the comments we were archiving, which would have made our work impossible. I only wished more of the organisations that had to register appealed, we were the only one. It would have been an interesting test of the regulations. The Net (and by implication active Net users) strikes some people as having a very abrasive character, confrontational and hostile but that culture has no long term effect back in Singapore society because it is not transportable. What will be transportable will be the habit of public discourse. Whether netizens make that transition into traditional media, write and criticise the way they had on the Net remains to be seen. I believe they will, but slowly. After spending a number of years writing and engaging in discussion about issues on the Net, I think one may also unconsciously develop a perspective that is off the mainstream. Once when someone mentioned that the SInterCom's archive of a discussion on ministerial pay had angered some government officials when they chanced upon it during an introduction to the Internet, I went back and reread the archived discussion several times. I couldn't figure out what would have been considered offensive in the entire thread. I don't know how prevalent such a gulf in perspective is but with more and more Singaporeans getting connected, that gulf may become more apparent. The Internet content regulation aside, I can only add that I think we are headed in the right direction and wish Singapore will embrace technology and the Internet even faster.

I think we are headed in the right direction and wish Singapore will embrace technology and the Internet even faster.

I think if you save your idealism, keep it in a vault, hoping and waiting for the right environment to bring it out, you would only have killed it.

They say people in their 20's are the ones with the energy and motivation to "change the world". But all this disappears when they hit their 30's and 40's, when reality, age and financial commitments catch up with them. Do you see yourself going the same way when you reach your 30's? Where do you see yourself then? What do you hope to achieve before your 30th birthday? I think it is only natural that your perspective and priorities change as your life progresses. I am not the same person as I was 5 years ago and will probably be a changed person 10 years from now. I am not so arrogant as to think I would not take the same path as all who came before me but I hope to consciously keep my "idealism" alive in my daily life whether I am in my 30s, 40s or 50s. Not for others, but for my personal well-being. I think if you save your idealism, keep it in a vault, hoping and waiting for the right environment to bring it out, you would only have killed it. I have met many young self-professed cynics who do not seem to have any personal reason to be so cynical about the world and about Singapore. Maybe they are just frustrated idealists? (-8 Being an idealist doesn't mean you wake up every morning thinking you can "change the world". In Singapore, that may mean deciding not to squeeze violin, speech or computer classes into your child's weekly schedule but simply spend more time with her, taking the MRT to work, choosing a book for your child over giving her more cash or penning a signed letter to the authorities instead of whining about it all day. I do see myself as being somewhat of an idealist but that doesn't mean I live apart from reality. It is a constant everyday struggle to translate your ideals into your own life. Perhaps what sets idealists apart, is that they are still in the struggle.

What would give you the greatest satisfaction in life? What upsets you the most about society and what encourages you the most? In recent memory, one of the most upsetting incidents must be the naming of the wife of Tang Liang Hong as a co-defendant in his defamation lawsuits. I had bought a copy of the Women's Charter months before and questioned then what such a precedent would mean for women in Singapore. I am still extremely troubled by the implications of that case for married women who own assets. What encourages me the most? I think it would be coming across like-minded people on the Net. My greatest satisfaction in life is to find a career where my day to day work has meaning.

In recent memory, one of the most upsetting incidents must be the naming of the wife of Tang Liang Hong as a co-defendant in his defamation lawsuits.

Wynthia Goh could be contacted at: [email protected] But I doubt the link is correct any more for SInterCom was shut down.