Kakuro & Blogger Registration Act
A few of my friends have picked up Kakuro. Which, for the uninitiated, is the mathematical equivalent of the crossword and somewhat more challenging than the in-vogue Sudoku. By coincidence or design, these guys happen to be first-class honours grads in engineering. Without appealing too much to stereotypes, I wonder why the fascination with number puzzles. Obviously, the popularity of Sudoku has exploded the myth that number and logic puzzles only draw the geek crowd. However, looking around me, I realize that the only people I know spending their free time with pencil and puzzle in hand are the engineers and scientists.I am not afraid of numbers, neither am I particularly inept in their application. But I rarely feel compelled to pick up a pencil when a number puzzle presents itself conveniently in my face. My friend, who is probably gonna land a job devising programming solutions, joked while mulling over an intransigent Kakuro puzzle that maybe he ought to write a Kakuro-solving program. "Why don't you do it?" I asked. His eyes widened. "That wouldn't be fun, right?" Hmm, I thought engineers are trained to seek the most efficient solution to the largest number of problems?
Someone mooted the idea of a Blogger Registration Act. Here, I'm not concerned with its possible consequences, just how it might work. All political bloggers will be required to register with the Ministry of Information, Communication and The Arts (MICA). Few people in Singapore blog primarily about local politics and current affairs. But a lot of people like to kao peh Gahmen, or at least indirectly by complaining about how screwed up their lives are (because of things the Gahmen did or failed to do). These people must also register. If there are people who aren't sure whether their infrequent non-constructive diatribes constitute partisan politics, then better play safe and also register. But don't worry, the blogosphere will be regulated with a light touch. As such, only persistent offenders and those who link to sites like Singbloodypore on their blogs will be monitored and served warning letters if necessary. Now what if some guai lan anti-Gahmen blogger decides to play the civil disobedience card and refuses to register? Warning letters won't work, so no choice but to bring out the legal cavalry. There's no need to come after every single infringement of the Act. Just a couple of cases ought to do the trick. Naturally, there will be fish that slip the net. But they pay the penalty for whatever subterfuge they resort to. A blog that is sufficiently low profile to escape detection is unlikely to be sufficiently read.
posted by KynTheMan @ 9:53 PM
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