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The Straits Times

www.straitstimes.com Published on Jan 25, 2011

Online Citizen submits names of 4 volunteers

By Zakir Hussain
SOCIOPOLITICAL blog The Online Citizen (TOC) yesterday met the Government's deadline for submitting the
particulars of those responsible for the site, as required by the law on political donations.
However, in its reply that was published on its website, TOC did not meet all the requests made by the
Registrar of Political Donations.
It said it could not name who is president, treasurer or secretary as TOC is 'a community platform run by
volunteers and not an organisation run by committee'.
'We do not have any such positions,' TOC wrote, adding that the Political Donations Act did not appear to
mandate such posts.
TOC also did not identify who are its owners, editorial team and administrators.
Instead, it listed the names of four volunteers whom it said are responsible for the preparation and accuracy of
TOC's donation reports.
They are acting chief editor Joshua Chiang, 35, and long-time TOC contributors Leong Sze Hian, 57, Ravi
Philemon, 42, and Siew Kum Hong, 35.
Mr Leong is past president of the Society of Financial Service Professionals, Mr Philemon is a social worker,
and Mr Siew is a lawyer and former Nominated MP.
When contacted, the Registry of Political Donations, which is under the Prime Minister's Office (PMO), said it
had received the reply.
The submission comes 14 days after the registry sent the site a letter, saying it would gazette TOC as a
political association as the site had the potential to shape political outcomes here.
TOC sent in an appeal, which was turned down last Tuesday.
As a gazetted political association, TOC is bound by the Political Donations Act which, among other things,
forbids donations from foreign sources.
Also, it cannot accept more than $5,000 a year in total from anonymous donors, and must report to the
registrar every year donations of $10,000 and more from a single donor.
Foreigners, however, will still be allowed to contribute articles, post comments or participate in discussions on
the site.
In a post yesterday, TOC said it 'decided to comply so we can carry on with what we do best - telling stories
that really matter, covering issues you care about, building a stronger community'.
'The PMO has assured us that TOC's new status 'will not impede its freedom of expression'. We are happy to
take this statement at face value and will have to rely on you, our readers, to hold the Prime Minister to his
word,' it added.
A day after the registry wrote to TOC that it has been gazetted as a political association, the Media
Development Authority (MDA) asked the site for the particulars of its administrators.
It wanted TOC to register under the Broadcasting (Class Licence) Notification, as is required for those
engaging in the 'propagation, promotion and discussion of political issues'.
engaging in the 'propagation, promotion and discussion of political issues'.
TOC said it had replied to MDA yesterday but declined to give details.
It is the first blog to be gazetted as a political association. To mark the occasion, it announced yesterday a
fund-raising party, to be held on Saturday.

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