Old “cowboy towns”: enduring democratic enclaves as Singapore’s alternative digital histories, 1994–2011

Abstract

Once overshadowed in a tightly controlled media environment, alternative voices in contemporary Singapore found new avenues through the emerging cyberspace from the 1990s. As irreverent satire, critical commentaries, community networks and knowledge repositories blogs, websites and forums, they came to reflect the digital presence and extension of a nascent, autonomous and enduring digital public culture. Extending the discussion of democratic enclaves within authoritarian political cultures, this article positions such sites as democratic enclaves within alternative digital histories, once alluded by Singapore’s Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong as “cowboy towns.” Amidst the creeping trends of “flawed democracies” as historical precedence, these sites are reminder to the precarious democratic foundations, possibilities and networks pioneered over the early years of the internet.

Keywords:

• Singapore
• enduring democratic enclaves
• alternative digital histories

Acknowledgement

I would like to thank Professor Crystal Abidin for her generous feedback on this paper.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Kai Khiun Liew

Kai Khiun Liew is an Assistant Professor at Hong Kong Metropolitan University. His research interests cover that of Digital History and Humanities in the context of social media and popular culture as well as the social and cultural history of computers.