Blogs, personal websites, or Facebook profiles — you name it, they’ve got it. Members of parliament, especially those of more urban constituencies, are taking to the Internet in an attempt to reach out to the public, write TAN CHOE CHOE and CHAI MEI LING for NST.
WANT to know what your members of parliament have been up to? Wondering how to send them messages, comments or complaints?
Or are you just curious about their latest hairdo or the venue of their upcoming wedding?
Well, you can find out all about that and more with just a click of the mouse these days.
Like their counterparts in Britain, Canada and the United States, Malaysian MPs are making their presence felt in cyberspace.
More and more are setting up and maintaining official or personal websites online, including Datuk Dr Ng Yen Yen (BN-Raub), Datuk Fu Ah Kiow (BN-Kuantan), Datin Paduka Chew Mei Fun (BN-Petaling Utara), and Datuk Shahrir Abdul Samad (BN-Johor Baru)
The reasons are almost always the same: to inform the public of their latest activities, clarify their stand on issues, archive their thoughts and speeches, show off the latest pictures of themselves, and get valuable feedback from the public they serve.
“I’ve had my own website for a few years. Now I’m in the midst of upgrading it again,” said Chew.
“The site is a vital communication link with the public to inform them of what’s going on (in their area) and provide them with my contact — it’s to create accessibility.”
Chew believes that having an online presence for politicians such as herself is a necessity because in her constituency most voters are using the Internet.
“Through my website, I get to stay in touch with the people of my kawasan and I know everything that happens in my constituency. I receive an average of 20 to 30 emails a day from my constituents on local or national issues, requests for help, complaints or praises.”
While she’s been out of commission after her recent car accident on the East-Coast Highway near Kuantan, she’s been working from home and answering emails from her site every day.
Some prefer a much more interactive alternative — blogging, which has become a favourite of opposition MPs such as Teresa Kok (DAP-Seputeh), Lim Kit Siang (DAP-Ipoh Timur) and Fong Po Kuan (DAP-Batu Gajah).
“When I first got online and started my blog, I just dumped in whatever press statements I had prepared earlier,” said Kok.
“One reader wrote in to tell me that that’s no way to treat a blog.
“Instead, she suggested that I write about my activities as well as my perception and comments on issues affecting the public.”
Now an avid blogger who updates her blog whenever she can find the time, Kok said the best time for her to write was when parliament was in session.
“That’s when I really have the time to sit down and write, especially in-between debates or when I’m waiting for my turn to speak.”
Inadvertently, Kok started to blog about the goings-on at the Dewan Rakyat, in a way that was uniquely hers, so much so that a reader wrote in to thank her for bringing politics alive for her.
Shahrir, too, used to give voice to his thoughts online. In fact, he did so as early as 1999, which was when he started his website.
He used to write regularly the “strong views on certain things which I wanted to convey”.
He called them now “an extension” of the articles that he was writing for Watan, one of the Malay magazines under Kumpulan Karangkraf.
However, he stopped writing when he became an MP in 2004 and used his site more to inform constituents about his programmes, some articles he had written and news items of certain issues he deemed important.
Then his assistant created a blog for him, where he posted some writings initially but stopped a few months ago.
“I don’t think I am ready to become a blogger because it requires discipline to write tenaciously and regularly,” Shahrir told the New Sunday Times.
“I don’t think I have the stamina to sit in front of the computer every day to update a blog.”
Another blogger-politician who hasn’t been updating her blog regularly is Fong, whose last posting was around August last year.
She started her blog around October 2005 to give voice to her feelings — her frustrations,desires, happiness and disappointments.
And she managed to get quite a following as online readers wanted to read what this youngest MP had to blog about.
“Blogging has brought me closer to the public in some ways. I think my blog lets them see and understand that MPs are just like everybody else, with feelings, aspirations and failings,” she said.
“Some occasionally write in to encourage, empathise or advise me on how to be a better MP.”
A new addition to the online politicking game is social networking sites like Facebook, where they can put up a profile of themselves, play games with friends and voters, ask and answer questions, and send and receive messages, virtual drinks or gifts instantly — all on one site.
Want to know how popular an MP you are in the public’s eye? No problem.
Recently, Kok made use of her Facebook profile to try to suss out her constituent’s perception of her performance last year.
She put up a question asking them to rate her and recommend suggestions on how to become a better MP and voila!, responses poured in overnight.
If the ratings she received were anything to go by, whoever is up against her in the coming general election will be in for a tough fight.
Soon to join his colleagues in cyberspace is Wong Nai Chee (BN-Kota Melaka), who will be launching his own website titled simply www.wongnaichee.com, later this month.
“It is a fact that more and more Malaysians are going online for entertainment, news and information.
“I think it’s important for politicians like us to make our presence felt online too so that the public can get to know us better.”
But Shahrir begs to differ, and despite his long association with the Internet he doesn’t think it’s a critical medium for Malaysian politicians yet.
“It (the Internet) is just one more medium of communication. There are other communication tools like SMS, letters and traditional media such as newsprint, radio and TV.
“But no matter what, none of these can replace going to the ground and connecting with the people personally.”