You see, I was on a bus that was equipped with Mobile TV, and the 9:30 pm news was on. Then this news report came over [1]:

Two out of three Singaporeans (or 65 percent) between 15 and 49 years of age use the internet in their daily lives but not all of them are discerning users.

This was a key finding in a recent survey by the Media Development Authority (MDA).

The results of the survey (taken from July to August 2006) suggest Singaporeans are ready to harness the power of the internet, says the MDA.

But with only one in two Singaporeans considered a discerning user who is able to sieve out information on the net, that is another story altogether.

And in terms of creating online content, only one in three in the same age group are actively at it.

 
What? I went. I am quite sensitive to people talking rubbish, and this was like an entire sanitation truck tipping its load onto me.

Please read it again, slowly, and you'll see what I mean. Almost every sentence begs a question. At the end of it, you are left with no sensible information, but lots of suspicion about someone attempting to manipulate you.

Arriving home, it bugged me still, and instead of researching the Penal Code issue, I found myself searching the MDA website for the source information. This was what I found [2]:

Results from survey show 65 percent of Singaporeans use Internet in their daily lives

9 November 2006

A recent survey commissioned by the Media Development Authority of Singapore (MDA) measuring the sophistication and attitudes of Singaporeans towards the Internet has revealed that 65 percent of Singaporeans aged between 15 49 are at least moderately aware and are casual users of the Internet.

[snip]

The survey was undertaken to understand usage, appreciation and attitudes of Singaporeans for the Internet space. The results will provide a benchmark and be used to refine MDAs outreach strategies.

More than 1,000 Singaporeans aged 15 - 49 were interviewed between July and August this year. The MDA survey showed that:

65 percent of Singaporeans aged 15 - 49 are at least moderate users of the Internet. 55 percent of Singaporeans aged 15 - 49 are at least moderately able to analyse and discern information on the Internet. 33 percent of Singaporeans aged 15 - 49 are at least moderately involved in producing content on the Internet, such as blogs, webcasts, and podcasts. 22 percent of Singaporeans aged 15 - 49 at least moderately encourage or facilitate others in the use of the Internet.

While the survey showed that about two thirds of the people surveyed use the Internet at least moderately in their daily lives, fewer are discerning users - able to critically sieve through the information on the Internet effectively for their purposes. Far fewer are actively creating online content (33 percent) or supporting others in the use of the Internet (22 percent).

Said Mr Michael Yap, Deputy Chief Executive Officer, MDA I am heartened with the results as it shows more than half of Singaporeans aged between 15 - 49 do engage the Internet for work, learning or play. This augurs well for Singapores readiness to harness the power of the Internet. The media landscape is undergoing an exciting transformation, especially with the emergence of interactive and digital media. We will continue to finetune our outreach strategies to increase the sophistication in the use and creation of media content.

[truncated]

There's a lot of flashy data, but no real information. What are meant by "moderately aware" and "casual users"? How did these two quite different attributes (however defined) get lumped together into one numerical figure of 65%?

Do you believe that one in three Singaporeans aged 15 – 49 are "actively creating online content such as blogs, webcasts and podcasts"? One in three of that age range would mean about 600,000 citizens and permanent residents.

But what I got worked up about was the statement that "55 percent ... are at least moderately able to analyse and discern information on the Internet." What does that mean?

If I told you 96% of Singaporeans use shampoo on a daily basis, but only 45% were moderately able to discern cleanliness...what would you learn from my statement? Does it matter anyway? Does it matter whether they can or cannot discern?

How about this: 75% watched sitcoms daily but only 62% could moderately analyse and discern humour.

Or this: 63% took public transport daily, but only 29% could discern bus travel.

In life, some people are gullible, others are cussedly sceptical. It's true of shampoo advertisements, TV programs and bus whatever as it is of information generally from the internet. To tell us that some people can discern and others cannot, tells us nothing. With anything in life, not just the internet, some people can and will discern and some people cannot or will not. Period.

You next ask, how do measure "the ability to discern" especially with respect to the infinite variety of information available through the internet? Isn't the final figure entirely dependent on how you have defined it? If you try to put a figure to it, all you do is merely to represent the bias of your own question. You define it one way, you get one figure, you define it another way, you get another figure.

The insidious thing about this kind of so-called "news" is that it's really an attempt to shape our perceptions under the guise of pseudo information. Merely talking up the allegedly widespread inability to discern is to plant into Channel 5 viewers' heads the thought that information from the internet is dangerous. That's why it's important to discern, you're subliminally told. It raises the sense of threat.

Conveniently, then it serves to justify the existence of the MDA and its censorship function.

But why does Mediacorp report this kind of "news"? Don't reporters stop and ask a few hard questions before they regurgitate MDA's press release? Who needs to get a bit more discerning?

© Yawning Bread