TODAYonline

PAP ready to YouTube to reach young

ESTHER NG

estherng@mediacorp.com.sg

YOU could soon watch clips of ruling party MPs online and other political videos, Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong said yesterday at the People’s Action Party conference.

The PAP has the videos ready, and its website has been revamped, to connect and remain relevant to young voters. All that is needed is for the law on political films to be changed.

Said PM Lee: “(This) is how this generation communicates — through YouTube, through images, through sounds — and we have to get our message across in a serious way, but in a way which people can accept, and we’ll resonate with them on our website and on many other places in cyberspace.”

Older Singaporeans, too, are becoming more IT savvy, PAP chairman Lim Boon Heng said on Saturday at the launch of the new website, so the party should use the medium to reach out to more people.

Party cadre Dr Tan Wu Meng also underscored the importance of understanding New Media.

“Just as financial literacy protects us from questionable investments, media literacy is a safeguard against an Opposition which sounds good and is media savvy,” he said.

As the Internet cannot be controlled or regulated, and “censorship alone cannot be the solution”, the best safeguard, Dr Tan said, is a “careful, discerning citizenry”.

Currently, films that promote a political party or push a political end are banned, but the law is expected to be amended early next year, after the Government goes through the recommendations by the Advisory council on the Impact of New Media on Society, which is expected to be ready this month.