Thread by @kixes

I know that many people have different opinions and criticism of The Online Citizen. I don't want to dissect all the things that have been said about TOC. Instead, I'd like to reflect on the impact it's had not just on Singapore, but on individuals like myself.

A thread...

https://twitter.com/kylemalinda/status/1438410538875162628

I joined TOC as a volunteer in 2010. Believe me when I say I was green—a complete blur-blur rookie. I was only just beginning to show an interest in socio-political issues. There was so much I didn't know, from the ins and outs of Singapore politics to how to write news reports.

Actually, the only thing I had to offer when I first joined TOC was the fact I knew how to operate a camera and use video editing software. They were short of a person who could go out (as part of a small team) to get vox-pops on the mandatory death penalty in Singapore.

Back then, TOC was completely volunteer-run, and its content was split between blog posts/commentaries, submissions, original reporting, and occasional campaigns/focus weeks.

It was a small team w/ varying levels of skill & experience, but everyone was committed to surfacing stories/issues that wouldn't get an airing otherwise. In 2010, things like the death penalty, homelessness, and migrant workers' rights didn't get airtime in the mainstream media.

It's not an exaggeration to say TOC was key to my political awakening. It was through volunteering at TOC that I learnt about the death penalty, inequality, migrant workers' issues, etc. All issues that I still work on/write about, a decade after TOC opened the door for me.

But changes at TOC were inevitable. It is not easy to run a regular independent media portal solely on volunteer labour. News/media production is hard work, and it's not sustainable to keep relying on people pitching in here and there.

Lots of people left over time. Some emigrated. Others ran out of time to spare because of jobs/life (getting married, having kids, etc.) Those who had devoted a lot of time to TOC found it financially unsustainable and had to move on.

Could things have been different? Maybe, if TOC had been able to access serious funding that would let it professionalise. But it was gazetted as a political association in 2011, which precluded any possibility of applying for international grants/funding for media start-ups.

There's also a lack of local philanthropy/funding support for an outlet like TOC, which is known to take on stories and commentaries critical of the ruling party and its government. Nor is it really sustainable/reliable to professionalise solely based on donations from readers.

In all the time that I've been part of/observed TOC, its survival has often depended on at least one person sacrificing *a lot* to devote time, energy, and determination to keeping it afloat.

In recent years, this person has been Terry Xu.

Terry never intended to become a journalist. But when the rest of us left TOC in drips and drabs, he decided to keep things going.

In 2019, we made a short documentary for the @freedomfilmfest about Terry and his work with The Online Citizen:

Terry has kept this platform—a space, existing outside of state control—running for an impressively long time on very little. He's had to put in so much of himself, his own money, his time. I don't think anyone can say that he's not done enough.

TOC has provided space for issues that wouldn't have had space elsewhere. Its presence, its work, *has* shifted the needle. It's pushed the mainstream media to cover (or do a better job covering) issues like migrant workers' rights, which is now quite commonly reported on.

There's a lot of criticism about TOC, and one can point to areas in which it can do better as a media outlet. But always remember that it's been struggling for years in an environment *actively hostile* to its development and growth. It's remarkable it's survived this long tbh.

I've not been as involved with TOC as I used to be. But seeing it taken offline today makes me sad. I wouldn't be where I am today if TOC hadn't been a space that welcomed a wide-eyed 21-year-old and allowed her to explore, connect with other Singaporeans, and learn.

I don’t want this to just be a mournful, defeatist thread. TOC is still fighting for its survival, but besides that, if Singaporeans want independent media and spaces for diverse perspectives, then we need to start thinking and talking and working on how to build it.

Whether you want to revive TOC, or want something better than TOC, we need to make sure that there’s still space and possibility in Singapore. That space has been under threat, and continues to be under threat, for a long time. All hands on deck are needed to defend it.