Occupy Singapore was certainly not the global movement’s highpoint. Apparently no one actually turned up! But it would be wrong to revert to stereotypes of an apolitical public sphere in the city state. Online political activity is increasingly making its presence felt. The excellent Circuit blog has an analysis of this emerging virtual space for debate and contestation. Here is an extract:

The May 2011 general elections were the most competitive to date, demonstrating practical effect of electoral rules relaxed in 2009 to allow significant and meaningful participation by opposition parties for the first time. In addition, political discourse flourished online as the government lifted restrictions on political advertising and the use of video, multimedia and social media in political discussion and advertising. Whereas previously discussion was dominated by anonymous message boards, the 2011 elections saw a massive increase in the number of blogs, and facebook dominated the opposition’s media campaigning. Political participation also flourished offline, with footage of opposition rallies being streamed live and legally for the first time. The elections saw the first major electoral gains for opposition parties since independence, and some academics suggest the impact of online political discourse on actual electoral change is increasingly important.

There’s much more worth reading in the full article.