the(new)mediaslut

Its a classic case of accident and robbery in the north south highway in Malaysia.

According to The Star, a SG couple driving a Ferrari was hit by a unknown vehicle and was robbed by  Malaysian driven Mercedes on Friday.

Wrote The Star,

The couple were travelling in a Ferrari on Friday when it collided with another vehicle at the 274th kilometre of the North-South Expressway, slightly damaging its front.

Within seconds of the accident, two men wearing baseball caps arrived in a Mercedes Benz and began shouting at the couple.

A witness said one of them was holding a piece of wood and hit the Ferrari with it before assaulting the driver who was already injured in the accident.

Strangely, the couple has yet to make a report and a search in the SG papers resulted in no hits.

Couldn’t he just go to a massage parlour for a happy ending?

The biggest talk in ITU in the enterprise tech publication space is the appointment of the a new MD at Questex Asia.

Sources at ITU have highlighted that Jonathan Bigelow, the exisiting Group Publisher - Enterprise Questex Asia has taken over the
role of MD of Questex Asia from Robert Ferguson.

This information surfaced after certain clients and vendors were told of their cancelled  meetings with Robert Ferguson during ITU.  

An insider in the print industry described Robert as ” a fine man who never let work get in the way of a good vacation who also showed his commitment to the environement by dramatically reducing the call of his publications on dead trees”. 

They say that one should not talk about sex or politics at the dinner table at the risk of upsetting fellow guests or hosts. Well, perhaps that is true, but in a highly polarised society like the one Thailand is in today, it can also results in great friendship as well as being dumped by a PR on the other side of the fence in the middle of a strange town.

A couple of months ago, before all the current mayhem started, Smartbrain was on a junket in Phuket with a company that shall remain unnamed. Come dinner time, the foreign executives do what every foreign executive does when confronted with a Thai journalist in Thailand, ask him what he thinks of Thaksin.

Most readers of TMS know what Smartbrain thinks of Thaksin already.

The PR who was, as PRs are often ordered to do, shadowing Smartbrain gave his opinion that perhaps both sides should back down before the country is ruined.

“Yes, that’s a good idea. The PAD should stop their street protests unblock the roads and the pro-Thaksin camp should resurrect missing-and-presumed-murdered Human Rights Laywer Somchai Neelapaichit as well as the 1,500 plus people murdered in the war on drugs that the Senate investigation has cleared of any involvement in drugs,” I said.

The PR laughed the usual PR laugh.

The point I was making to the foreign executives is that there are some things that can be compromised on, but not mass murder and police-state style abduction and execution. Somchai was abducted in broad daylight by police and the investigation has been stalled. It seems like two junior police officers just wanted to abduct one of the thorns in Thaksin’s side all of their own accord without any orders from above.

Still, Smartbrain was quite unprepared for what was to come by the obviously pro-money, pro-Thaksin PR.

He simply left and joined a friend across town, leaving Smartbrain having to care for a Vietnamese reporter and a few others who found themselves suddenly abandoned by their carer. Not that it was a big problem, but still.

Actually, Smartbrain would like to commend that PR for standing up for what he believes in, even though our points of view differ. Most PRs would just laugh, smile and play along rather than show anger, emotion or in this case, dumping the journos and going AWOL in anger. At least this guy has the guts to stand up for what he believes in.

Generally speaking, the more open companies seem to be generally anti-Thaksin and, if not pro-PAD, at least think beyond their financial bottom line and do something about it. Smartbrain knows of one big multinational IT company director who has actually taken to the PAD stage in front of the Singaporean Embassy two or three years ago. Yes, he made a lot of enemies that day, but he also made a lot of friends. During the last push on Government House, he said he was super busy as the bosses from Singapore were in town (makes one wonder what exactly it was he said at the rally on mic in front of the Singapore Embassy) so his staff had to take turns going to the Mob that day, keeping the illusion that everything was business as usual.

On the other hand, the company that dumped Smartbrain in Phuket had a previous country manager who was happy to tell all the journalists at a press conference that she was neutral and has actually been to both the pro and anti-Thaksin rallies to see what it is all about.

Quite how she managed to go to the anti-Thaksin rally and not come back with a strong opinion as to who is right is beyond comprehension.

Smartbrain has lost many friends because of his vocal views on Thaksin, but he has also made many new ones. All things considered, it seems to have been for the better.

The New Media Guide for SG government is out.

Read it here.

Does this mean New Media will go mainstream sooner than later?

Who says reading the newspaper isn’t fun anymore?

You should not try this at home though.
The Star reported that a man in Johor Bahru, Malaysia, tried to get elongate his love tool with a nut to impress his bride-to-be in a week time.
Unfortunately, it got stuck. The hospital couldn’t do anything and the Fire Department wasn’t successful either.

Wrote The Star,

A department spokesman confirmed that they received a call from the hospital yesterday, and sent seven firemen to help out.

They, too, were unable to remove the nut.

At press time, the nut was still firmly attached to the base of the man’s genitals.

There are just some things you shouldn’t be doing for love.

Singapore may have won its first silver medal for table tennis (ping pong) during the recent Olympics 2008 but the post focus is on the sudden dismissal of the table tennis team manager.

The sacking of the team manager was said to be a result of Singapore’s only male representative in the same contest not having a coach by his during his match. The male player eventually lost to an unknown player from Croatia.

Seah Chiang Nee, a columnist for The Star, wrote of the saga that resulted in fierce debate on both the online forums and coffee shop talk.

Wrote Seah,

The fiasco started when a livid People’s Action Party MP chastised and sacked the team manager over national television without holding an inquiry.

She not only fired the manager, Anthony Lee, without telling him but also hinted that the future status of the popular head coach was being considered.

Many Singaporeans reacted angrily while players were upset – not by the idea of disciplining wrongdoers – but by the summary, arrogant way it was done.

The column included a link to another MP whose daughter caused controversy over the topic of “elitism”. Coincidentally, both MPs are part of the Singapore Prime Minister’s Ang Mo Kio group constituency.

Seah has written a column on Little Speck of the International Table Tennis Association’s decision to restrict imported ping pong players in the Olympics.

In April 08, this blogger wished for the next SG Prime Minister to be a web2.0 junkie.

Recently at the National Day Rally, Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong spoke of how New Media will change Singapore and how Singpaore is going to adapt to it. 

PM Lee even demostrated “live” streaming via his mobile phone.

Even that blogger-politician Jeff Ooi was mentioned in the Rally.

Sadly, the Prime Minister is getting a old media guy to regulate New Media.

Wrote Channel NewsAsia,

The Advisory Council on the Impact of New Media on Society - led by former Singapore Press Holdings editor-in-chief Cheong Yip Seng - will set out its recommendations on these issues later this month.

When will they learn that New Media does not equal traditional media?
 

Which SG journo was chatting to a Thai journo at a press conference loudly and non stop  that an Aussie journo told them to shut up and pay attention?

Following on from this article, PR O’s country manager called Smartbrain today and apologised for the mix-up, taking full responsiblity for providing his name for the Dellli (no, that is not a typo) trip to their client and for the late invitation.

Apparently O provided D with Smartbrain’s name for the invitation, not as confirmation that Smartbrain had accepted to go. Not that Smartbrain ever got an invitation with the junket details, late or otherwise, but still, apology accepted and he does appreciate someone having the guts to apologise rather than disappear and get someone else to manage the account which happens once in a while after big mishaps in this industry.

Meanwhile, the start of the Olympics brings back some sour memories. Smartbrain never got an apology from the other, er, episode he had, the Atos-Origin “people like you” incident where the country manger of Atos Origin said he personally withdrew Smartbrain’s name from a junket to the Olympic venue in Beijing as he didn’t want his precious games associated with “people like you”. He also had the nerve to CC Atos’ VP for communications and neither of them sent me a reply afterwards.

Smartbrain is still trying to figure out what “people like you means” and he can only assume that the Atos country manager does not want any investigative reporters on the trip, especially ones who might ask why he married the daughter of an arms dealer and, through his father in law, won a big payphone contract with the state owned Telco TOT that was being investigated by the (now defunct) Assets Examination Committee set up post-coup to prosecute corrupt politicians. Of course, it is probably just a coincidence but it would have been nice to ask the question in person. But, after deep thought (read: burning hatred), Smartbrain is taking it as a compliment.

All of that has left Atos Origin, who have done the RFID ticketing system for the Genocide Games, sorry, Olympic Games, with zero coverage in Smartbrain’s paper for now, or forever, as long as he writes there.

Yes, Atos Origin does the ticketing for the Genocide games.
Atos Origin does the ticketing for the Genocide games.
Atos Origin does the ticketing for the Genocide games.

Ok. Perhaps Smartbrain is being a bit silly today.

The rumour going around in the Singapore PR grapevine is the mass exodus at Fleishman-Hillard Singapore.

A total of 9 senior staff  left the PR agency during the months of June and July 2008.

They include the following:

Karen Ho (SVP, tech)
Ronald Wong (VP, consumer)
Yeo Siang Hock (financial controller)
Gavin Foo (AD & head, digita)
Adrian Lee (AD, tech)
Lars Voesdisch (AD, tech)
Sonia Chen (AM, corporate)
Kevyn Eng (SAE, corporate)
Navin Nambiar (SAE, tech)

Insiders have hinted of rumors of alleged mismanagement and alleged unhappineess over salaries & benefits.

This is also reflected by the sentiments of local headhunters that FH offers on of the least competitive remuneration packages in the industry.

Two of the ex-FH team have started their PR agency.

One of the biggest no-no for a blog is the use of vulgarities in any of the post.

Bloggers may argue that it is their freedom of speech to post what they want. That’s your right as a blogger but if you want to be considered to be engaged by the PR agencies or the big brands, it is better to refrain from using vulgarities.

There are some popular blogs out there that are on the PR agencies blacklist because of vulgarities found on the post.

Many of the PR do not want to have to deal with a post that has too much vulgarities especially with the client.

PR are also caught in between so it is better not to add fuel to fire. If the blog post were to have something vulgar in the post, the vendor might not want to be associated with  that post and demand that the PR get the blogger to pull out that post.

But if the PR were to ask the blogger to pull out that post, a backlash might happen as the PR might be seen as wanting to control the blogger’s so called “freedom of speech”.

Hence, PR would rather refrain from engaging such blogs despite their popularity.

Bloggers are now getting invited to events organised by PR agencies for the clients.

In Singapore, it seem those who are invited are the “In Group” bloggers from Ping.sg or those who are usually hitting the Top 10 at the same blog aggregation site.

If you do not qualify in either category, here are some tips, from the inside, on how you, as a blogger, can get yourself invited to such events.

Tip 1: Improve your “About” page

When PR selects a particular blogger to an event, the PR person needs to submit a brief to the client in order for the client to understand who the blogger is.

To assist the PR person, you, as a blogger, should fill up your “About” page accordingly with as much details as possible.

The essential details should include your name and your email address. If the PR person have selected your blog and can’t contact you, how would you expect the agency to invite you to the event?

Unfortunately, most PR would not put the invitation in your comments field as they fear that the event might end up too public.

In the about page, you should include a description of your blog and what interests you. This would have the PR person to have a better understanding of your blog and you as a blogger, thus increase your chance of selection.

Tip 2: Use a public  webstats page

In the PR industry, it is still a numbers game. The more readers or visitors you have,  the more likely you will be invited for the event.

Hence, its advisable to share your stats with a open webstats page. These numbers will provide further justification to have you invited for the event.

Otherwise, most PR person will make use of Alexa.com to get an estimation of your blog numbers and this estimation may not best reflect the true popularity of your blog.

Tip 3: Send an introductory email to the PR agencies

Take a look the bloggers that have been invited for these events and you would most likely see the names of the PR agencies  that have organised the events.

Some of the agencies, in Singapore, that have invited bloggers to events include Waggener Edstrom, Ogilvy PR and EASTWEST PR.

Go to their websites and email them a quick description of  your blog and yourself. They will definitely keep you in file and select you for events in the future.

FutureGov - Solutions for Government | Education | Healthcare

Check out the latest of FutureGov at their website at www.futuregov.net.

Wrote James Smith in an earlier comment on this blog,

FutureGov is not so much a replacement, as simply the new name for ‘Public Sector Technology & Management’ - a public sector solutions magazine that has been published in Asia Pacific for the past five years. The circulation remains largely the same, and the content is similar - what’s changed is our focus on public sector objectives and challenges, rather than IT execution.

Last week Smartbrain got an email from a certain computer maker thanking him for agreeing to go to a PC launch in Delhi and asking for passport particulars and further details so they could expedite the visa documents.

A trip to Delhi would be nice (sure beats Singapore) if it weren’t for the fact that up until then, nobody from company D or their PR, O, had contacted Smartbrain at all. In fact, Smartbrain has not done a piece on D (they can be a bit boring and generic) for many, many months.

“Perhaps there’s a mix-up”, Smartbrain’s reply began.

D’s internal PR sent Smartbrain the email from O as an attachment which clearly put down Smartbrain’s name, position and contact details as one of the two journalists going to Delhi. D was profusely apologetic and offered an invitation on the spot, unfortunately it clashed with another interview. D also cc’d O asking for clarification as they needed to get the letters out as soon as possible.

No communication was received from the PR company since. No email, no phone call, no invitation, no clarification, or as they say in the US of A, “no nothing”.

So, dear PR people, please check with a journalist and at least ask him at least verbally if he wants to go on a trip to India first before telling your client that the journalist is going.

Methinks that O was under pressure to provide names and sent their client Smartbrain’s name in panic to pretend that they were on the job doing the work that they were charging D big bucks for. Bad PR! Bad!

Quite why D, a tech company, would hire O is beyond me. O has no other tech clients here and their only regional one they represent, Novell, is barely active in this country.

This Al Jazeera clip shows why staying silent may not be the best option at all.

In this clip about the plight of Singaporeans affected by the rising cost of almost everything, Al Jazeera reported that “the ministry in charge of public assistance scheme chose not to be interviewed for this peice”  in about the 1min 40sec mark.

This was followed with coverage of opposition activist, Chee Soon Juan.

This blogger wondered why the ministry didn’t take the opportunity to highlight some of the schemes available to help the poor in Singapore.

The interview with a single mother only receiving SGD30 from her MP doesn’t help with the messaging either.

To clarify, this post isn’t pro-government or pro-opposition, but to highlight that non-participation of a serious interview like this can generate perception that could have an adverse perception by its people.

Also in the age of Internet2.0, a clip for broadcast may end up embed into political and oppostion websites that could use this to their advantage.

This week has been a pretty torrid week for Smartbrain when it comes to his love/hate relationship with the spawn of the devil, sorry, cute PR consultants, who vie for his attention, but often not in the way they should.

Early this week, an anonymous PR company, hereafter known as H contacted Smartbrain asking him to do a freelance job for one of their clients, client R. Smartbrain ignored the email as the last time he did the job for R, he was not paid any of the five hundred pounds promised. Plus, the job was far from amicable as R-R was, how shall one put it, very slow to respond to email for the months leading up to the deadline and then suddenly very, very demanding when they noticed that the deadline for the story was imminent.

Also this week, H managed to really upset Smartbrain (well, their other half did - all annoying PR companies have another hat to wear when they need to avoid “conflicts of interest” on paper) when they insisted on a one on one interview with their client.

Smartbrain declined the one on one, saying that he would prefer the general session later that day alongside the other journos. The saccharine sweet PR called his phone (note to self, change number and keep it secret) and insisted it was special and worth Smartbrain getting up at the crack of dawn for an early morning interview.

“It’s not that bad, high fuel costs mean that traffic is much less clogged up these days,” the sweet voice of the devil said, reassuringly.

The last time PR H did this was for a certain IT company, known anonymously as “the Evil Empire” (wonder who they could be?) which had a very interesting topic, mice, which obviously demanded a one on one interview arrangement.

It was an evening interview and Smartbrain got there early, in time for the last 10 minutes of the general press conference and Q&A. After firing off a few pointed questions to the acolytes of the Evil Empire, he was led off to the one on one where his questions were rebutted with the comment, “If you weren’t late you would have heard that….” from an annoyed spokesperson who was under the impression that Smartbrain was late for the previous session rather than early for his.

“I was not late. I was told to be here at 4.30 by H,” he replied.

Next Wednesday, Smartbrain hopes that their client, a certain chip company that is being sued left right and centre on anti-trust grounds known only as I corporation, had better have something that’s worth it or Smartbrain will unveil who this PR H is on this blog.

Next episode: Company O and how they told their client Smartbrain was going to Delhi without telling Smartbrain, or his editor.

Kudos to Intel Malaysia for coming up with this viral video with Intel for the Malaysia’s PC show this weekend.

We, of course, have to thank Intel for having a hand in making our gadgets smaller.

However, with a section of a smaller size Intel employee replacing somebody who is bigger in size and a tagline that says small is the next BIG thing, it could be seen as Intel as replacing staff who are dimensionally challenged.

This blogger would have stuck with the focus on the gadgets.

Which PR agency send two of their top two PR personnel to dissuade a journalist for a regional publication from writing a damming article on one of their client?

Not only did they not succeed, the journo had to pay for the meal, PR included..

Malaysia media came under the spotlight recently for focusing too much on Terengganu’s purchase of Mercedez E200 Kompressors replacement for the incumbent Proton Perdana V6 Executive cars.

Wrote Bernama,

This happened while members of the media were interviewing Menteri Besar Datuk Ahmad Said, who was also at the function, on the issue.

Many of those who were at the press conference questioned the media members for reporting the issue on the Mercedes purchased by the Terengganu government.

“Do you (media) think this news (on the Mercedes) is good for the people or the government,” said one of them.

Another chipped in saying that the RM3 million spent by the state government for the purchase of the Mercedes Benzes was small and could not understand why the matter was blown out of proportion by the media.

Malaysia’s Minister of Information chipped in to highlight the importance of the media as the fourth estate.

How ironic as it was just in June 2008 that the Malaysia government banned media from entering Parliament.

But the question here is why should a purchase of Mercedes by a state government be important news for the Malaysia media to cover?

The answer can be quite simple. The money used to purchased the Mercedes is state money and it belongs to the people. The people are also interested to find out if the money could have been used for better social benefits instead.

Could the RM3million be used for scholarships instead?

Also the choice of Mercedes over Proton is also worth debating especially Proton is Malaysia’s national car manufacturer.

Over in Singapore, a blogger debated whether the story of Dawn Yang vs Xiaxue should be newsworthy enough to be in the national paper.  Is the spat between the two bloggers worth precious print space?