Unspun

One of the phenomenon in Malaysia’s current round of general elections is the rise of bloggers, or politicians who are also bloggers, as candidates.

The traditional route for an aspiring politician is to join a political party, or be, like Anar Ibrahim, an activist coopted into a political party.

Nut things are different these days. Jeff Ooi (second photo in the clipmark below), for instance, made his name blogging. His Screenshots blog became so polular that he was targeted by the powers that be and he’s being sued, along with another blogger, by people closely associated with the Malaysian Prime Minister.

A few months ago Jeff announced that he would go into politics and stand for election under the opposition DAP banner. That the DAP would enlist him and field him as a candidate suggests that the party’s reading of the ground is that bloggers like Jeff has traction with the voters at large.

This is at odds with Government claims that bloggers have a narrow audience confined to only the more educated chattering classes. Their theory is that elections are made or broken by the voters in rural areas and the majority of voters who do not have access to the internet and if they do would not care to read what’s written by bloggers.

Election Day on May 8 will see which school of thought prevails. It may open a new route all together for aspiring politicians in Malaysia, if not elsewhere.