Yesterday, the Singapore Democratic Party became the first political party in the country to get its voice across, literally, to voters by launching a dedicated online audio relay service on its party website www.singaporedemocrat.org.

The party calls it RadioSDP, except it is not "broadcasting", but "podcasting", which is the practice of making audio files (most commonly in MP3 format) available online in a way that allows software to automatically download the files for listening at the user's convenience, according to one definition.

Singapore's first "political podcast" was a denunciation of the ruling party by SDP secretary-general Dr Chee, who raised issues about the lack of transparency and accountability in government, among others, in a nine-minute recording.

In a statement on the website, he said that the podcast is a way for SDP to "bypass the state-controlled media in Singapore".

The statement added: "Airwaves in the country are monopolised, cable television is owned by a government-linked company, satellite dishes are banned, and the press is controlled by the ruling party.

"The Internet remains a medium that the Government finds it hard to censor, although it has enacted many laws aimed at curtailing the use of the Internet for political purposes."

The last time legislation was introduced to control political advertising and e-campaigning was four years ago, prior to the 2001 General Elections. Then, the Parliamentary Elections Act was amended to govern the dissemination of political messages, including via email and SMS, at the hustings.

Currently, political parties use their websites to feature candidate profiles, announcements, manifestos, party posters, the party's position on issues and moderated chats and discussion forums.

The Media Development Authority confirmed that podcasting does come under the current regulatory framework. It is still studying developments in this area, it told Today.

On his podcast, Dr Chee said "there is no better time" than the nation's 40th birthday period to launch RadioSDP.

The SDP plans to upload recordings of the speeches of its leaders, analyses of political developments, interviews with dissidents living in exile, and call-in programmes for citizens in the future.

— Derrick A Paulo

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