Correct me if I am wrong, but from my impression, it seems that in Singapore alone, there are more bloggers than journalists and reporters. And I should say about 80% of local bloggers are very well-versed in the English language. They express themselves well, have a wide range of vocabulary, and some are on par, or even better than some of the newspaper journalists.
I wonder if journalists themselves blog? Some journalists do keep a blog, although I have not come across any. But other journalists keep some sort of a blog, by contributing to weekly columns in newspaper and magazines. And these columns are nothing to do with current affairs; they are about the lives, thoughts and actions of the journalists in question.
I have been reading Sumiko Tan's bi-weekly column in the Sunday Life ever since it started, back when I was still in lower secondary. She published a book from her days as a crime reporter, and I have never stopped being envious of her because she was in a job which could combine two of my aspirations - crime and writing.
Through the years, I followed her through her ups and downs in life, the illness and subsequent death of her father, the marriage and migration of her sister, the birth of her niece and nephew, her visit to her mum's hometown in Japan, the grind of her work, her thoughts on politics, charity, current events, technology and men.
Hers is one print blog I never fail to read. I learnt a lot from her. As a student, I aspired to be like her - a good career woman and brilliant journalist. As a working adult, I can relate to her, the problems and stress at work, in life, and how everyone tries their best to earn a living.
Although we do not know each other personally, and we are two different ladies that think very differently - she seems like a strong-willed and independent lady who can do without a man, whereas I am totally opposite of her - in a way, my love for writing stems from her.
After her comes other columnists, like Colin Goh with his satirical humour and local colloqualism, and 8 Days' Jason Hahn, with his two whiny, needy and temperamental female flatmates. Theirs are all print blogs of their own. Each has his / her own style of writing, different stories, but all never fail in one aspect - entertainment.
And it is not entertainment by writing fiction. It is entertainment by writing true accounts of their lives (although some may say Jason Hahn may have exaggerated the true extent of how his flatmates really are like). Yet why do they have so many readers?
Because people are by nature "busybodies". They like to read about people's lives. Not just celebrities, but normal people, people just like all of us. And by reading what goes on in others' lives, we can sit back and reflect on our own lives.
Some people lead more colourful lives than us, some more interesting, some more mundane. But to me, they are all leading normal lives of their own. And by reading about experiences they go through, at times one can relate to them, because in certain parts of our own lives, we would probably go through the same experiences too.
It makes me feel I am not that weird after all. It makes me relieved that I am normal too, I am entitled to my own thoughts and feelings, and splash whatever I want to splash on my own blog, without needing to bother what others may say.
Perhaps the reason why there are so many more bloggers than actual journalists can be because there is now a great demand for bloggers. Not in terms of monetary values, after all, who blogs for a living?
People blog because they like to write, they like to share their lives like how some journalists share their lives, they can make new friends, they can keep their memories intact, writing can be therapeutic and a good outlet for frustration and stress.
But most of all people blog because they like to express themselves, share themselves. And to discover the hidden journalist in them.
So to my three favourite journalists, this is for you. My inspiration, my muse, and my ever-growing love for writing.
I wonder if journalists themselves blog? Some journalists do keep a blog, although I have not come across any. But other journalists keep some sort of a blog, by contributing to weekly columns in newspaper and magazines. And these columns are nothing to do with current affairs; they are about the lives, thoughts and actions of the journalists in question.
I have been reading Sumiko Tan's bi-weekly column in the Sunday Life ever since it started, back when I was still in lower secondary. She published a book from her days as a crime reporter, and I have never stopped being envious of her because she was in a job which could combine two of my aspirations - crime and writing.
Through the years, I followed her through her ups and downs in life, the illness and subsequent death of her father, the marriage and migration of her sister, the birth of her niece and nephew, her visit to her mum's hometown in Japan, the grind of her work, her thoughts on politics, charity, current events, technology and men.
Hers is one print blog I never fail to read. I learnt a lot from her. As a student, I aspired to be like her - a good career woman and brilliant journalist. As a working adult, I can relate to her, the problems and stress at work, in life, and how everyone tries their best to earn a living.
Although we do not know each other personally, and we are two different ladies that think very differently - she seems like a strong-willed and independent lady who can do without a man, whereas I am totally opposite of her - in a way, my love for writing stems from her.
After her comes other columnists, like Colin Goh with his satirical humour and local colloqualism, and 8 Days' Jason Hahn, with his two whiny, needy and temperamental female flatmates. Theirs are all print blogs of their own. Each has his / her own style of writing, different stories, but all never fail in one aspect - entertainment.
And it is not entertainment by writing fiction. It is entertainment by writing true accounts of their lives (although some may say Jason Hahn may have exaggerated the true extent of how his flatmates really are like). Yet why do they have so many readers?
Because people are by nature "busybodies". They like to read about people's lives. Not just celebrities, but normal people, people just like all of us. And by reading what goes on in others' lives, we can sit back and reflect on our own lives.
Some people lead more colourful lives than us, some more interesting, some more mundane. But to me, they are all leading normal lives of their own. And by reading about experiences they go through, at times one can relate to them, because in certain parts of our own lives, we would probably go through the same experiences too.
It makes me feel I am not that weird after all. It makes me relieved that I am normal too, I am entitled to my own thoughts and feelings, and splash whatever I want to splash on my own blog, without needing to bother what others may say.
Perhaps the reason why there are so many more bloggers than actual journalists can be because there is now a great demand for bloggers. Not in terms of monetary values, after all, who blogs for a living?
People blog because they like to write, they like to share their lives like how some journalists share their lives, they can make new friends, they can keep their memories intact, writing can be therapeutic and a good outlet for frustration and stress.
But most of all people blog because they like to express themselves, share themselves. And to discover the hidden journalist in them.
So to my three favourite journalists, this is for you. My inspiration, my muse, and my ever-growing love for writing.
6 comments:
I think there are more Singaporean blogs than Singaporeans. It sometimes seems that at least everyone and their cat has at least 1 blog (if not 2 or 3 or 4).
I have been reading Sumiko Tan's bi-weekly column in the Sunday Life ever since it started
BI-WEEKLY?!?!
fortnightly you mean.
what kind of english did you learn?
Ooops, yes I meant fortnightly. Totally overlooked, genuine mistake on my part. Thanks for pointing that out.
Seriously, what's wrong with the usage of biweekly especially if it's already been mentioned it's referring to Sunday Life? Heh. How many Sundays are there anyway in one week?
I also do not think there's anything wrong with the usage of bi-weekly here.
A google search for "bi-weekly column" returns over 90000 hits, while "forthnightly column" only returns 25.
If there is any problem, it is only mabe due to this.
Thanks guys! So I didn't really make a mistake after all! I sort of remember my first impression when I used "bi-weekly" was once every two weeks and not twice a week.
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