[Engaging creatively online]
If I had to choose one exciting issue in Parliament today, it must have been Zaqy Mohamad's question with regard to e-engagement by the Government. He also noted the displeasure of many groups with regard to the main engagement platforms that the Government will engage in.

Mr Zaqy Mohamad said he hoped that the Government would not give up the opportunity to be able to connect to engage directly with mainstream public just because of its cautiousness to engage its critics online one-to-one. He further spoke about the development of technology that allows this.

What I will share now is a creative way of engagement. It has been something that I have been reluctant to share but I feel now is a right time to do so.

Last year, I was asked to pen a column for The Straits Times YouthINK page about e-engagement. I then looked to Facebook for inspiration and decided to ask a P65 MP on Facebook if it would be alright for me to chat with him on Facebook. He agreed. Subsequently, I have managed to chat with him online on several occasions.

To me, the Internet has brought politics closer to the people. The gap has been bridged. As what AIMS Chairman Mr Cheong Yip Seng said, the web is a level-playing field for all political parties - a democracy if you may call it. The next step is how political parties would harness this to their advantage. In future, the Internet will be an emerging platform for policymaking because the Internet will allow policymaking to have more transparency. This will allow everyone to see what has been brought up and discussed. However, I am not only advocating for online engagement. This way of engaging has to be balanced with face-to-face meetings as well.