About TOC
What is it ?
“Corpitiam” is a Hokkien term for the ubiquitous coffeeshops found in every estate of Singapore where residents chit chat and exchange information with one another.
The Online Corpitiam or TOC for short is a hybrid between a blog, a forum and STOMP where the distinction between the readers (consumers of information) and the writers (producers of news) is blurred. It will be a free platform for all readers to blog on it.
ANYBODY can log in and blog on it using the free user name and password posted on the blog itself. The user name is “theonlinecitzen” and the password is “theonlinecitizen”. For readers who want to have their own user name, they can email the administrator at theonlinecorpitiam@gmail.com their desired user names and passwords to be added for their own personal accounts.
Purpose of TOC
The most effective way to counter the propaganda, spins and lies sprouted daily by the mainstream media is NOT to have an alternative media dominated by a few news blogs, but to empower every single Singaporean to partake in the collecting, writing, editing, publishing and sharing of news.
Knowledge is power and whoever controls the flow of information has the power to influence public opinion. Singapore’s socio-political blogosphere is currently overwhelmed by 2 or 3 news blogs each with a daily readership of more than 10,000, some of which are run by ex-PAP members whose agenda has always been suspect. This is unhealthy in the long run should some of them be infiltrated by agents from the PAP internet brigade.
The ONLY way to pre-empt this is to allow a complete freedom to the access and dissemination of news so that more Singaporeans from various backgrounds are given the opportunity to become writers themselves instead of a minority dictating the political discourse on their own terms.
Of course, freedom of speech comes with responsibility and there are three house rules for all to follow: racial and religious issues are strictly out of bounds, personal attacks on any third parties, companies or entities known by their names are disallowed and plagiarism from other sites will not be tolerated. Other than these restrictions, readers are encouraged to express themselves openly and freely on all issues. There will be NO censorship, moderation or editing. Readers are expected to be responsible for what they post. Property agents, SMEs and advertisers will be allowed to advertise their services and products on the blog free of charge.
A news blog run by each and every Singaporean for all Singaporeans
TOC will bring citizen journalism to the next higher level. For example, in future elections, every single TOC reader will have the power to take photos at the rallies and upload them with a short write-up onto the blog which will enable other readers to know first hand information of almost all the rallies simultaneously, a feat unattainable by even the mainstream media.
TOC belongs to every netizen and not only to us. We are only there to start the ball rolling. Every one of you has a stake in it. We want to turn TOC into a self-sustaining community on its own where information and news can be exchanged freely and openly just like in real life corpitiams. No persons, entities or organizations should be allowed to monopolize information, the more of which is made easily available in the public domain, the less it can be manipulated and corrupted for one’s vested interest.
Are you peeved by the daily hogwash and propaganda spewing out from SPH everyday ? Are you sick of all the blatant brainwashing the 141st media has done to you over all these years ? Do you feel helpless that you as an individual can do little to counter its spins and lies because it is a mammoth company owned by the ruling party ?
Do not be despaired. We may not have much influence as individuals, but collectively we will be able to make an impact with OUR VOICE.