I saw a video from razortv and they were discussing about a stomp post where a girl was found asking her maid to take out the beansprouts from her bowl of noodles. When the maid didnt do her job properly, she scolded the maid?

Is this wrong? RazorTV seems to think so. Yet since when can our media claim that a particular action is right or wrong? Morality in plenty of cases are not so clear cut.

One thing for sure, plenty of bosses scold their employees too when they make mistakes. Unless we censure such actions too, Im afraid its plain wrong to suggest that reprimanding a maid be wrong. In the eyes of the law, reprimanding is not maid abuse!

Stompers also took the moral high ground and said that such princesses are spoilt. Whilst I would not allow my future children to do this, I doubt I can say that it is wrong. Is it in the maids job scope or is it not?

Can we safely accuse someone of being spoilt just like that?I mean its just a different way of living, and is it called being spoilt? Women who hire part time maids to clean the house cause both husband and wife are at work, are they spoilt? What if their jobs are very important and many peoples survival depends on them running the company properly? As such time is better spent on business and recharging rather than slogging on housework during the weekends?

Can we honestly claim a moral high ground based on an aspect of the truth?

I think this is a very interesting topic. What is everyone expecting from Stomp? We (me included) exclaim “Stupid Stompers”, “What kind of Stomp is that”, blablabla. I still remember someone taking a photo of any truck in Singapore and Stomping it, saying “It looks like Transformers”. In a way, that does seem like a stupid post and a waste of resources.

Or the recent “Durian auntie gives wrong change, but insists she’s right” Stomp article? Should someone ever use Stomp as a place to complain? Or the “Outrageous that man goes naked in East Coast Beach!” incident? I can already see the comments in my head even before I browse the comments section: “Why Stomp? Should have called the police”. Blablabla. Or for the durian auntie article, people will say, “that’s a one sided view”, and the auntie may be “suay” to have such a customer.

But seriously, if we think about it in another way, forums have been existing for years. It is very easy to set up forums. You can just get the software and upload it onto your own server that supports PHP/MySQL. There have been popular forums teeming with childish children and young adults, and more often than not, they have a rant place, where people do complain about certain things that happened. “The rude auntie who gave me a stare when all I want is to use the toilet”. Or “The salegirl who was rude and loud”. Sounds familiar? It happens all the time on forums too.

Some forums put up photos of pretty girls or celebrities. Some put up the funny things they see. In a way, the transformer post would become an excellent material for a normal forum. People can chit chat and laugh about it. If we think of Stomp as a forum where people can easily post up photos just by MMSing, then what is wrong with it?

The actual problem is the label of what Stomp is about. They call it citizen journalism. When we hear of the word journalism, we think that there must be a certain kind of standard. You can’t expect a truck that looks barely like Optimus Prime in the Transformers Movie to be news. You won’t see them in the papers. But we can see “Man naked in East Coast beach”, of which the man will be fully clothe by the time the reporters arrive.

So what are we expecting from Stomp? If we want Stomp to be a newsworthy site with posts from citizens, then I’m sorry to say Stomp falls short of it. There does not seem to be any editorial guidelines on what a Stomp should be, because nearly all Stomps will be shown. But if we just think that Stomp is just like any normal lame forum out there, then Stomp is perfectly acceptable.

Yet we can’t think that it is like any lame forum because its a journalist powered site, albeit citizen journalists. The best thing is that it is powered by SPH!

But what I can say is this: When Stomp didn’t exist, and forums do, the level of such content in the internet is lower. When Stomp came into the picture, suddenly, anyone with a camera phone can become a smart alec who may take your photo from afar and post it on Stomp. Stomp has made it so easy for someone to post up an article, and that is why the standards are so crappy. In reality, it is really a no control forum. So with that thinking, we can understand perfectly well why such articles may be up on Stomp.

But that is not to say that I support Stomp. In fact, I dislike it. I dislike the fact that you can take anybody’s photo and Stomp it, and then the camera wielding man or woman becomes the judge. How can one expect to judge fairly? “Kid does not give seat for pregnant woman”. Is the kid wrong? He may not be wrong!

I think Stomp’s management should exercise some control. The photo posting feature of Stomp should have stricter guidelines. No photos of faces that may allow us to recognize somebody. No embarrasing the person when he may become the victim too. But I think generic photos of durians blabla are acceptable, because, ultimately, Stomp is just a like a forum. A really childish one. So Stomp, please stop saying citizen journalism, because the standards seriously disgraces the profession of journalists.

There have been plenty of discussion lately about Stomp and how pathetically stupid Stomper are. In fact, I have blogged my fair share about Stomp, including titles like Stompers have magical eyes. I do admit, there are plenty of articles there that are totally stupid.

But what makes them stupid? Because they assume something, like the link above, that the couple in the water are having sex. But are they? Can we be sure? We can’t. Or photos criticizing someone’s way of dressing, which I thought, “What has it got to do with you?”. I remember one Stomper taking photos of a person wearing three quarters pants in Esplanade, and claiming that it’s the wrong way to dress in a “high class” event, but in reality, anyone can go there and people walk inside Esplanade in slippers too.

Lately, there has been a new website called AntiStomp. People have started to applaud it’s launch because its a website that talks about the stupidity of certain posts in Stomp. Whilst I was quite happy to read up on some posts, I was frankly put off by others. A thought came to me, “Who will guard the guards?”. In our haste to label Stomp as a lousy piece of citizen journalism, have we discovered that the makers of AntiStomp are also in a way, “citizen journalists”? And the best thing is, they are actually doing the same thing as what those Stompers are doing.

Take a look at this article. The Stomper claims that there was a near accident because the SSDC student had his left signal light on throughout, giving the impression that he wanted to turn, but in reality, he wanted to go straight. Instead of feeling sorry that the student made such a gross error, the instructor still gave hostile hand gestures. Is this a stupid Stomp? I don’t think so. It is perfectly easy to understand that the driver was upset and he is merely using Stomp as a means to complain about SSDC. In this matter, I think it is very clear who is wrong, that is, the student. It is totally wrong to say that students have been known to forget to turn off their signal lights, and pin the fault on the driver. Why should we criticize the driver here? The driver isn’t making any assumption.

And what about the article on the pervert stomper? This Stomper, a lady, is upset that the fish balls and the sausage was placed in a suggestive manner, that looks like a man’s crotch region. In my opinion, the photo really proves that the stall assistant is a gigantic jerk. There are so many ways to place two fish balls and a sausage and of all ways he chose that? It is obvious he is trying to be funny. But if you read Antistomp’s article, they are being funny and childish too. They said that the Stomper is probably trying to flirt with the stall owner, that she gave them the wrong impression blabla. Is this morally right? Is this the wrong kind of things to go on Stomp? I guess not.

With these two examples, it makes me wonder, are they making the same mistake? Antistomp, is actually not a platform to showcase the stupid posts made by Stompers. In actual fact, Antistomp is actually the biggest Stomper of all. Though they do not post on Stomp in itself, they are doing exactly the same thing that those Stupid Stompers are doing. They assume, and they lack certain feelings. They lack the feeling of compassion and neglect to think “perhaps the lady IS a victim”. Instead, they resort to assumptions saying she is seeking attention when the author is NOT present at the time of the sale.

Hence, who will guard the guards? Whilst some of us may applaud the emergence of this new website, let us think about it. Ultimately, journalism is something for professional journalists. A citizen journalism style blog fighting a citizen journalism Stomp is like the pot calling the kettle black. Unless there is some form of editorial integrity where they make sure that their posts are of some standards, they are just simply a copycat of Stomp? Down with Stomp? Down with those posts in AntiStomp first.

No offence meant, but I think that post was way offensive. Think about it. Who will guard the guards?

/*Some Updates*/
What is the purpose of Stomp then? I guess Stomp could be a place for discussion, of which most of the Stomps would become perfectly legitimate. Take for example the photo taken by a rather appalled driver seeing an SSDC car parking using real cars as guides. In reality, is there a need to blast the Stomper? We could just discuss it over Stomp and point things out to them. Or take for example the angry football fan who complained to Stomp. We could just tell them “It’s not Starhub’s fault”. There are so many sides to a certain thing, sometimes we should just be understanding towards certain Stompers.

I was in the middle of studying for my exams when I took a break and went to the portal of many laughs, Stomp. I found this wonderful article contributed by a stupid stomper.

He labels the Singaporean inside the video a “Kiasu” Singaporean, so I suppose I have a right to call him stupid too. Baka!

What’s so kiasu about whatever he’s doing? Pushing the car up and down in oscillatory motion? How the hell does one link it to pumping more petrol? And since when Singapore offers an all you can pump petrol? Lol.

It’s weird that people are snapping photos like this. Do they win something? This is getting nonsensical. Now I’m afraid to walk in public else I may get stomped for just walking when the light is green. Haha..Great way to destress!

Sometimes I think stompers have magical eyes. They can see the truth happening around us. They know when something is happening and they can see couples having sex in the sea. This post really makes me wonder if we are jumping to conclusions?

I mean, how do we know for sure that the couple is behaving that intimately? A few photos cannot prove that. Neither can we say that it is obvious because we can’t see what’s going on down there.

Now, this brings a few questions:

The person is offended by the contamination of the water by such acts. If we think about it, the sea is not a purified haven. I do think that the fishes and sea creatures eat and shit, and that is, in my own opinion, more dirty than sperm. However, perhaps it cannot be called contamination since the sea creatures live there. What about oil spills? People who swim and pee in the sea? People who throw rubbish in the sea? The sea is already contaminated, and we do not need be so horrified of the level of dirtiness. Nevertheless, perhaps a few ml of sperm is contamination.

The stomper says, “Think of the children that are around”. Well, it has been shown that when adults and children view a picture, they have different throughts. The most famous one is probably in an email where you have many dolphins together. Adults will see that the dolphins form a shape of a naked lady, whilst children who are not influenced by adult’s dirty mentality will only recognize the dolphins. Thus, will the children know what is happening? They probably think that there are two people having fun.

Anyway the main point is that we do not know for sure what the hell they are doing. Judging by the two pictures, they could just be hugging and playing around in the pool innocently. Now I know for sure that stompers have magical eyes. Once they see something, they know for sure the truth behind it. Sometimes all we have to do is to stop and think, “Are we right?” and we find that we may not be sure after all. So stop stomping!

has got to be this driver. He claims that the driver of the car in front is inconsiderate as the driver drove the car into the bugis junction crowded taxi stand “like he has done it many times before”.

What does that mean? Who in the right frame of mind will complain and say “like he has done it many times before”? How the hell does the driver know that the other driver has done it many times, and how, from looking at the car, does it look like that driver has done it many times before? Puzzling.

Another point to note that the driver took the photo behind the wheel (note the car bonnet). Is he considerate? The worst thing is that he is doing the same thing as the driver in front. Furthermore, he is using his handphone / camera to take the photo, while being behind the wheel.

Wow. I’ve just found the most inconsiderate driver in the world!

I guess Stomp doesn’t have any editors. There is no editorial standards in Stomp. I guess they are in a dillema. If you edit and kill stories, then it isn’t citizen journalism after all. I think this proves one point: Why normal citizens can’t be journalists.

Has it occurred to you the number of morons we have in Singapore? Whenever I want to laugh, I make a trip down to Stomp. Trust me, the things Singaporeans do are really funny. In fact, Stomp has shown us how effective our education system is.

I say, lets just stop all the Civics and Moral Education lessons, all the Hao Gong Ming (Good citizen) (is it still being taught) and what have you. Its obvious that its not working. Just check out the link above.

This person saw someone’s handphone drop off. This person then saw another guy picking up the phone. This person then noted that the guy actually alighted with the phone, instead of returning it to the owner. This guy had the guts to Stomp and complain that no one helped the poor guy.

Irony to the maximum. In fact, such a case would be a good usage of the word irony, and can be used as a teaching material in beginner literature. Judging from the angle the photo was taken, this man can very well be near the sleeping man. He could have done something, but he did not. But he has the courage to send it to Stomp.

Oh wow. What a great place we live in.

This Stomp article led me to ponder about this issue: When should we stand up and offer our seat on public transports? Public transports includes the MRT and the bus, but I think it is more applicable to the MRT since there is a greater chance that there is no space for sitting on the MRT.

The article is simple. This lady and her mum went into the MRT. Her mum is carrying the baby (her grandchild). This lady saw a selfish woman who signalled to her husband to tell him not to give up his seat. The lady felt that the woman and husband are both selfish and the worst thing is that they only sat for one more stop before alighting.

It sparked an interesting debate in Stomp that made me wonder, who is right and who is wrong? I guess it is pretty clear cut that the woman who was sitting down is wrong. She is entitled to decide not to give up her seat, yet her gesture to her husband is totally uncalled for. If her husband so decides that the baby carrying grandmum needs a seat, then he should give up his seat.

Yet, on the other hand I wonder, if the lady feels so indignant for her mum who was carrying her child, shouldn’t the lady carry her OWN child instead? Instead of making her mum suffer (if her mum wasn’t suffering then there is no need for a seat isn’t it), she should just carry her own baby instead. Maybe this way her mum would not need a seat.

But the central issue is, who should get a seat? It makes me angry when some people think that they should be given a seat. Once it happened to me. This Caucasian woman woke me up from my day dream and pointed to the sign above me that says “Give your seat to people who need it more”. I assumed that she needs it more, so I nodded and stood up. She sat down and her husband, who is in crutches, is leaning on the glass beside her seat. So who’s the needy one? The husband or her?

There are some times when I feel that the recipent is not too old. Probably in their fifties. Do I need to stand up and give up my seat? I think not. They should still be fit to stand isn’t it? I do not support the notion that younger people have to give up their seat to older ones. I feel that we should give up our seat to needy people, not old people. I feel that old people who are frail (I guess you can see how old they are?) should be given seats.

Pregnant woman should be given seats too.

However another issue is this: Is it nice of one to submit a photo of a selfish person to Stomp? This is an interesting issue because the selfishness is subjective to the photographer. That person may not be selfish, for example, when you take photos of some people sleeping on trains and claim that they are pretending,when they could be genuinely sleeping.

I do not support such photos and I never will. Give me a reason why such photos, which flames others, should be allowed.

This is not the usual blast the Stomp article entry, although I would say that there is some things to be criticized.

Either Stomp tried to sensationalize things by labeling China Woman, or that its the sender. I believe its both.

Why do we keep doing this? We repeatedly label them as from China, making it such that it seems as if China people are all doing something wrong. The white sheeps from China seem to suffer a lot due to the black sheeps.

“Put a stop to bad service,” the STOMPer said in an email on 18 Sept, after the encounter at about 6pm that same day with a rude staff she thinks is from China.

The problem with this is that the stomper does not really know if she is from China, and the only thing that probably led her to this conclusion is the accent. However my point is not how she derived at the conclusion, but rather, on the issue that society has become more biased against people from China.

Isn’t it?

Trust me, everything goes wrong on a China person, the proper nationality will be printed.

Recently another article on Stomp amused me. Its a few photos of snails on grasses and apparently this person was quite bothered by it to take photos to send to stomp. The headline is also weird. It reads, “Are snails helping to cut grass?” which seems quite sarcastic to me.

However my dear Singaporeans, do not be more ignorant than Ignorantsoup. Such snails are quite common. In fact I have a few at the grass patch near my house too. Even toads. Should I stomp them? Perhaps I can say that toads are having a mini Esplanade at my house area.

Funny how some mundane stuff are contributed to Stomp.Maybe tomorrow I will use plenty of tissue paper and say “Look at how much tissue I use!”