Philip Yeo has recently crossed swords with Elia Diodati, a famous local blogger who previously blogged under the pseudonym AcidFlask. I think most bloggers can recall that this is not the first time Philip Yeo has crossed swords with Elia Diodati aka AcidFlask. The so-called AcidFlask incident made headlines (it was given quite abit of coverage in the MSM) because Mr Philip Yeo felt that some comments that were made in his (AcidFlask) blog was defamatory and asked for the offending entries to be removed. AcidFlask removed the entire blog and migrated elsewhere as a new reincarnation, Elia Diodati.

What’s significant this time round is that Philip Yeo chose to cross swords with Elia Diodati by commenting on Elia’s blog. This is in stark contrast with the first time that Philip Yeo crossed swords with Elia Diodati/AcidFlask. One reason could be that perhaps there isn’t anything very defamatory in the writings of Elia Diodati this time. The only other possible reason (and a very significant one for blogosphere) is that Mr Philip Yeo thinks that blogosphere is an entity that is to be taken seriously, and that he should exercise his right of response to air his side of the story.

Mr Philip is a very high ranking civil servant, with a glittering portfolio such as helming EDB and A*Star. His decision to engage a blogger directly is perhaps evident of a tectonic shift of the government’s opinion towards blogosphere and cyberspace in general. I would call it a watershed because it marks for the first time that a high profile government official is directly engaging a blogger on his blog. And, I cannot think of another reason why would a civil servant of such high status and importance personally respond to a blogger (who is probably comparatively lower in status and importance in society) other than that blogosphere is something to be taken seriously.

Of course, let’s not forget that the government has, not too long ago, announced an online “counter-insurgency”. Taken together with the current Elia Diodati versus Philip Yeo incident, there seems to be a signal that government thinks the blogosphere is important. Whether this is a good thing or bad thing, nobody can tell at this point in time. But, it sure is exciting. And, those who are writing a thesis on blogging or chronicling the development of Singapore blogosphere should make a note about this watershed event. :)

Notes:

The latest exchange between Mr Philip Yeo and Elia Diodati can be found by clicking here.

For those interested in the AcidFlask incident, more can be found by clicking here.

Correction:

I originally said AcidFlask made remarks that Philip Yeo felt was defamatory, but that was inaccurate. It was a commenter that posted defamatory remarks, and AcidFlask was held accountable for the comments. Thanks to Agagooga for pointing it out.

*** Addedudum

Mr Philip Yeo has kindly commented and presented a copy of the original blog entry by AcidFlask. It would be in the interest of everyone to read that entry to understand better the issue of defamatory remarks surrounding the whole incident between AcidFlask/Elia Diodati and A*star. The comment can be reached by clicking here.