Political Threads or Posting are not allowed.

[Gadgeter]

A reminder to all.

 

We have been very patience all this while. But that doesn't mean you can do it.

 

Anyone found starting such thread or posting any political comments, will have they account terminated without any futher notices (in any form).

 

 

Forum Guidelines

 

To ensure a great experience for all of us and considering the diverse makeup of our community, there are certain forum guidelines to follow. There aren't too many rules, but please read through these before posting. Our friendly moderators will help to enforce these guidelines in the forum.

 

• Postings

   

  • Slanderous, defamatory, obscene, violent, abusive, threatening and harassing comments will not be allowed.
  • Respect the viewpoints of others, even if you may not agree with them. Agree to disagree.
  • No profanity or obscenities of any kind.
  • No personal attacks on other users.
  • No political or racial comments will be allowed.
  • No impersonation of other participants or public figures.
  • No FULL CAPS postings. In internet, CAPS equates to shouting.
  • Refrain from posting information which is not publicly available.
  • No posting of number plates, unless it is your own. Respect others' privacy.
  • No copyrighted material is allowed. Please use links instead.
  • Please declare vested interest (if any) on the topic you are discussing
  • No multiple postings

[Nkps]

upz

[Bentwy]

For the sake of discussion and clarity, I would like to ask: what is deemed political in this fast becoming strait-laced forum (no offense, but this is my observation - is it political or too 'personal'?)

 

Threads that are tongue in cheek about 'men in white'. Is that political? Who decides what is political? Comments about party policies, decisions made by government and government related organisations - are they all political? There are many official and long surviving websites that are political in nature - and allowed or ignored by the Internet Regulatory bodies in Singapore.

 

I completely understand the moderator's wish to keep this forum 'focused' on car related issues. But if you want to keep a lite and ezy section, you must accomodate some political discourse. Or are we Singaporeans meant to only dicuss about superficial aspects of life such as our cars/toys and cosmetics?

 

By the way, it is my personal opinion that any call to use proper english is quite bigotted (pardon my language, but I cannot find another word). You'll be surprised how many non-Chinese understand common Hokkien words, and how many Chinese understand common Malay words. It's what makes us Singapore - and when Singaporeans are in doubt, we just ask.

 

Just my opinion here. Hope it's not taken personally. I enjoy reading MCF postings, and I appreciate how it is an outlet for all sort of pressures and issues in Singapore. Car and non-car related. Do you really think this forum is popular simply because it's a technical haven of car related subjects? Of course, some postings recently have been very personal and degratory, but fights are part and parcel of life. But the only thing that is hurt is usually our egoes.

Edited October 7, 2008 by Bentwy

[Deathism]

well as a malay..

 

i dun mind seein hokkien words..cos some of them words sound funny..

[Sony]

Since this thread is not locked, I would like to share my perspective as a member.

 

AS MCF, this is still very much a car-related forum and certain political thread such as COEs, ERPs, car ownership-linked topic shd be allowed but at times, there's quite a substantial amt of non-car related topic. Some of it have mushroom beyond a typical discussion as it started to show certain agenda. When it evolved as such, does the internet hero come forth to claim ownership or will it be left to the Admin/Mod to clean the butt?

 

I, for one, welcome the hard stance the Admin/Mod are having now, and keep MCF as what it was intended to be. If there's a need for other non-car related discussion, then why can't it go to those "official and long surviving websites" for discussion?

 

 

As for the use of language, i don't think MCF is going to enforce Queen's English but to curb those excessive use of S'porean style language that have evolved from simple expression to a full conversation. It have certain make it difficult for most people to read. If you go thru some of those threads, I'm sure you will understand my point.

 

Cheers

[Bentwy]

appreciate your comments.

 

yes i agree that this is orginally a car forum and should at least focus on being so. but like you mentioned, owning a car in singapore (and anything else for that matter) is hardly devoid of government influence (e.g. taxes).

 

and once there is a comment about taxation, for example, does that make the thread "political"? because technically, it does.

 

are we going for a blanket ruling of "no politics whatsoever", or do we allow based on soundness of argument/reasoning.

 

I think that's where the problem lies - the quality of reasoning is highly subjective.

 

I'm glad when opinions are aired, cringe when reasoning is poor. But I can live with that.

[Hishercar]

It appears what deem political is indeed very subjective

 

as the forum is not ours what can we do or not say

 

but the way it is run that is deciding who should be warn, what is acceptable, what is too political etc is begining to look like our brand of democracy

 

as long as we wish to participate we have to live with it

 

just like if you decide not to migrate but to stay put then you have to accept the rules whether they are subjective or not

 

hope that explains and encourage you to set up a blog of your own

[Damienic]

I personally feel as long as non-car related discussions are kept strictly in lite and ez folder, it is fine..just keep those discussions off car sections such as General car discussion, motorsports, maintenance and etc etc..a complete hard stance on non-car related discussions is imo a wee bit draconian..as and when pple find they can no longer chit chat in a forum, the popularity of such a forum will drop.

[Sony]

political or politicised with agenda to infused certain hatred or unreasonable bashing?

 

 

At one point, there's certain member that like to take articles and post it in MCF, stirring up plenty of bashing from most and little discussion of substance.. and the TS is not even based in S'pore.

 

 

and if kids cannot handle discussion and agree to disagree, then no more playtime for them. Sadly the Admin/Mod have to take such step coz the freedom have been abused.

 

While I'm neither Admin nor Mod, but I agree with their hard stances taken recently.

[Sony]

if they need to chit chat, do it in the "chat"...

 

why do a "ok", "hello", "how are you" between 2 or 3 individuals in a forum thread.

 

If a forum become popular because of all the wrong people attracted, I rather it remain low key

 

 

P.S. not that I have not engaged in such chat but some do it excessively to the point that they shd just move it to MSN or Yahoo messenger instead..

[Beei]

I too welcome the hard approach that the moderators are doing now.

 

Just a couple of week back, i remember that i comment to one of the moderators(was it you??) that they are too "soft" and slow in taking action nowaday. I do understand that all the moderators had their own busy life and jobs and may miss out some threads or not be able to response immdiately. Because of this, some people are taking advantage of it. Maybe we do need more moderators

 

Beside political comments, a lot of clones, flamings(which led to drifting) and name-calling are appearing in the forum which make it really irritating. So glad that you guys are doing something about it now instead of issuing warning. Don't need to be "patience" about it. Banning or account termination can discussed among the mods later.

[Gadgeter]

example: If the thread was a discussion about the recent surge in electricity bill, it is still acceptable.

 

But, many a times, the drift leads to make comment about political person. This will not be allowed.

 

Since you only registered in year 2005, I assume you might not be aware of the aunty lucy saga that happens. Thread started off quite innocently for pure discussion. Then somehow, people start to discuss about the 'skill set' that 'chief' should have. Little did we expect that, it leads to legal actions. I'll shall not go into details as it took us great pain to resolve that. That leads to the reason why why admin have the following stated under lite & Ezy folder.

 

Lite & EZ

Off-topic threads here (Inappropriate threads will be removed at MCF's sole discretion!)

 

By the way, it is stated in our guideline as well that no political or racial comments will be allowed.

 

Side note, we know who come to read MCF, but you don't. So, in the interest of MCF, we have to do what is deem fit.

 

Going back to use of proper English. if it is only a word or two in the sentence, there is nothing wrong. If one have noticed, there is an increase of people typing the whole sentence using 'dialect-English' which isn't too 'user-friendly' as 'others' will not understand. And many a times, this leads to drifting in the thread.

 

Therefore, instead of sending pm/reminder to individuals, a notice was put up cos we dun want it to become too personal.

 

cheers.

 

(Disclaimer: type this in a hurry, going for a meeting.)

[Damienic]

The point is, are we against threads that has too much chit chatting? or are we against any types of thread tat involves light hearted discussion that is not car related but is peppered with a bit of jokes and friendly banter in between from time to time? If its the former, how do we draw the line? How much is considered too much? Wat is defined as mere forms of "chit chatting" and what is defined as a "discussion"? Say a few forumers started to discuss for example "where to get nice, good and cheap furniture"..it is quite natural for individuals participating to evolve from a few hellos and stuff like tat before going on to discuss where to buy those furniture..Forums are made up of various people of which some is not just looking for answers in forums but also to make frens..and when it involves friendships and relationships, any such forms of chit chatting will naturally surface...

 

If one take drastic steps to eradicate this phenonmenon completely, it will become boring as well for some who can be discussing abt serious topics but whom is looking also for a bit of friendly and light hearted jokes/discussion from time to time...If dun eradicate it, it will be too much to ask of the mods to constantly monitor it in a way to ensure a good balance ie telling pple not to chat but allow lighthearted discussion which is peppered with a bit of jokes at times..

 

I can understand how you feel..I sometimes also got a bit fed up with some threads which I find boliao...but I feel any forums involving individuals from all walks of life will tend to see this phenonmenon surfacing..it is inevitable...the thing that can be done to avoid being too draconian and yet not to allow the problem to go beyond what is normal is probably to "reduce" or "limit" the damage..My proposal is to confine such discussion to certain section of the forum so that such kind of tcss-ing will be limited and not spread like a disease to all parts of the forum. For e.g allowing such talk in Lite and ez only...or if lite and ez is also deemed unsuitable, perhaps another folder can be created for people to go there and talk abt anything they like..in tat way, such type of tcss-ing will not spill all over the place...

[Gearoil]

Let me try to give you an idea of where you should be in this forum...

 

Between the Pappy Youth forum amd Sammy Boy...this forum want to be somewhere closer to the Pappy Youth forum with topics that bothered between those found in 'Flowerpod' and those found in the Shitty Times forum!

[Lv3338]

Singapore is such a fine country...

this cannot be allow..that cannot also.... chewing gum is a no no...(instead of educating the value of keeping Cleanliness for the state and look at moral value..we ban the pdt...that's the biggest joke.... happened on earth)

 

and now...the forum.... is also getting into a fine forum....

Edited October 8, 2008 by Lv3338

[Bentwy]

thank you for your clarifications and background information.

 

I think it is very vital for people to know the justification for actions by any governing body. especially when it comes to controlling people's behavior.

 

I think i can now appreciate your actions better.

[Gadgeter]

Am glad I clear your doubts.

 

Cheers.

[Gadgeter]

If you feel that there is too much retrictions in this forum, I would recommend that you surf & post in those forum which best fit your style.

 

Refer to my reply if you still have doubts.

http://www.mycarforum.com/forum/gforum.cgi...2558364#2558364