[Top right photo: Founder and president of AB(S), Jayne Goh]

By Liew Hanqing

EVEN before it's launched next month, Singapore's first official blogging association is getting flak from the very people it hopes to attract.

The Association of Bloggers (Singapore), or AB(S), has been fodder for local blog chatter over the last two weeks.

Numerous bloggers have expressed scepticism about the organisation, questioning its purpose and leadership.

Some have called for a boycott of the organisation, which now consists of 10 local bloggers.

A spoof site, calling itself the 'Singapore Plurk Association', has even been set up to parody the AB(S).

Plurk is a popular social networking and micro-blogging service.

In a 21 Jan post, blogger Holly Jean Aroozoo questioned the need for local bloggers to join the organisation.

She wrote: 'My blog is my labour of love. It is a big part of my identity. Why would I even need to be part of an association to validify my existence as a blogger of any worth?'

Not much credentials

Questioning the credibility of AB(S), she added: 'Would I really want to be associated with something that is set up and run by a clique of people with not much credentials and resource?'

Said blogger Brian Koh: 'I personally would not join the association, on the grounds that I am a free-thinking individual and I owe no specific allegiance to anyone. That is the beauty of blogging and exercising our right to freedom of speech.'

Another blogger, DeadPris, said: 'I don't think it's a good or bad idea, but I'm sceptical of how much AB(S) can really aid local bloggers...

'How can AB(S) help when there is chaos and politics in the local blogosphere? How are they going to educate bloggers to blog responsibly?'

AB(S)'s mission statement, posted on its temporary site (associationofbloggers.wordpress.com), states that it's committed to 'promoting, protecting, and educating its members', 'supporting the development of blogging as new media', and 'helping to extend the power of the press...to every citizen'.

To join, a blogger must pay an entrance fee of $50. Ordinary membership is $60 a year and corporate membership, $100 a year.

The fees go towards the association's operating costs.

Responding to the online comments, founder and president Jayne Goh, 43, said it was set up mainly as a self-interest group for avid bloggers.

She said: 'Such an organisation would allow us to pool our resources so that we can upgrade ourselves.'

The association plans to engage external instructors to educate its members on specific topics relevant to blogging, ranging from legal and ethical issues to creating blog templates.

It was not formed with the intention of controlling or regulating the blogosphere, she said.

'However, we required the organisation to be a legal entity in order for our members to have access to certain events we would like to cover,' she said.

Ms Goh gave the example of this year's Singapore River Hongbao, which she managed to get behind-the-scenes access.

She said: 'We wouldn't have been able to do this if we weren't a registered entity.'

Since the association got the official nod on 16 Jan, Ms Goh said it has received several enquiries from netizens interested in joining.

However, no new members have been admitted yet.

She said the organisation also plans to invite about 30 prominent bloggers to join as members, but declined to name them.

'We hope to get bloggers from across a few categories, such as food, lifestyle, socio-political blogs, photography and so on.'

This article was first published in The New Paper on Jan 31, 2009.