Mar 30th 2008 11:50 am Jeff Ooi
“Bloggers thrive” in the space for political expression says blogger-turned-politician Jeff Ooi. Teleconferencing from Penang, where he was recently elected as the MP for Jelutong, Jeff spoke of online media becoming an “authoritative source of information and analysis”.
In particular, Jeff emphasised the impact of using the internet to disseminate various political videos, be they simply an expression of one’s personal opinion, or a recording of a ceramah. In his analysis, Jeff attributed the dramatic results of the recent elections to the drastic proliferation of political media in the online space.
Responding to a question on why he decided to leave the neutral ground of civil society to enter the realm of partisan politics, Jeff explained that he had grown tired of dealing with political issues in an ineffective non-partisan manner, and “thrown in the towel”. He also stressed that being a blogger-politician would be beneficial for both his cause and Malaysian society at large, mentioning the possibility of explaining the inner workings of Parliament on his blog, and using online media to strengthen the space for political dialogue in the country.
Prompted by a Penangite questioner, Jeff also expounded on his analysis of the economic situation in the country. Rejecting the notion that Malaysia can compete in providing low-cost labour, he instead proposed looking into hi-tech industries as a future source of economic growth for the state and the country.
Posted by johnleemk / NMF 2008