Alicia Wong, Today Online 31 Jul 09;
IT was a month of 17-hour weekdays and weekends back at work for staff at Government feedback portal Reach in May, when public emotion ran high after the names of the new Nominated Member of Parliament candidates were revealed.
As forum postings are not pre-moderated, the staff had to monitor the site constantly to ensure abusive and vulgar postings, as well as those breaching race and religion sensitivities, were quickly removed.
It was the "most challenging" incident since 2006, when the Feedback Unit was revamped as Reach, said assistant director Lilian Ong.
In January, moving beyond just encouraging active citizenry, Reach was appointed the Government's official platform for e-engagement.
And the task of engaging the citizenry and "closing the feedback loop" falls on the shoulders of an all-women, 18-member team - all of whom are under 30 years old.
Some had transferred from other agencies to join Reach, while others such as 26-year-old executive officer Siti Nurhidayati Mohd Said, who studied public and promotional communication, joined fresh from university.
Within Reach, there is a six-member new media team who - while no strangers to the Internet - admit they are "not very media-savvy" but are learning the ropes to online interaction. One "paradigm shift" has been the effort to sound less official, said executive officer Gail Khoo, 27, whose duties include facilitating e-engagement between agencies and citizens.
So, instead of "we refer to your email dated ...", now it is "thanks for your email". Forum posts are now replied to using the administrator's name, instead of simply signing off as "Reach".
As Ms Ong noted: "There's that balance of being personal, yet not being trivial. Being personal, yet official."
The Reach website has also changed significantly to include new capabilities such as podcasts and vodcasts. Hits have gone up by over 54 per cent since it started using social media tools.
Ms Ng Sok Hoon, 30, a former webmaster who now manages its social networking tools, said the team meets with other Government agencies to share its efforts, and stays abreast of new media trends.
The team surfs mainstream media websites as the main source of online information but also visits alternative news sites for a gauge of ground sentiment on hot issues.
Feedback up by 34 per cent
When policy changes are announced, the team reports the changes on the website to show netizens how their feedback has effected change.
A work day starts with a morning meeting to decide on, among other things, the hot topics for the website's rotating feature. Throughout the day, postings are monitored, feedback channelled to the appropriate Government agency and contributors kept updated on the progress of their feedback.
Dr Amy Khor, Reach's chairman, said the website "actively generates discussion and solicits feedback".
People are also not stopped from creating their own discussion threads.
Feedback has gone up by about 34 per cent for the first six months of the year, compared to the same period last year.
So far, 16 agencies have responded to feedback, said Dr Khor. Prior to the Government's focus on e-engagement, it was harder to get agencies to cooperate.Ms Khoo said: "We have to talk to them, tell them maybe you want to consider this and that ..."
The team is given a fair bit of autonomy to converse with citizens. Only when it is a complicated case - where prior knowledge of the situation is required, for instance - do they consult their superiors.
Dr Khor said a forthcoming initiative could be a session where netizens who ask questions can get an immediate response from a "dedicated" Government officer.
There are also plans to use Twitter more extensively, such as tweeting key points of the National Day Rally speech while it is being broadcasted.
"I don't think people can say it (Reach) is a black hole still. There's some light. It's still not bright enough, but that's where we are. We are constantly looking to how we can improve," said Dr Khor.
