May 04, 06:56 PM 
514 Chai Chee Lane 03-16, Singapore 469029 Update, May 5, 2015, 12pm:
TR Emeritus has replied to this article. They said the site is prepared for any developments pertaining to any action by the authorities.
They have also clarified that since The Real Singapore's demise, they have yet to receive any spikes in readership. And at this point in time, the impact of TRS's demise on TR Emeritus is speculative.
In case you were away overseas during the May Day long weekend, the big news has been and still is the demise of socio-political site The Real Singapore.
On May 3, TRS was asked by the Media Development Authority (MDA) to shut down within 6 hours. TRS editors, 24-year-old Australian Ai Takagi and 26-year-old Singaporean Yang Kaiheng, complied and TRS disappeared from the online world yesterday evening.
Here are three things we noticed after the sudden departure of The Real Singapore.
1. Most sites of note have "lim kopi" with MDA, except Temasek Review Emeritus.
There are a few non-Singapore Press Holdings and non-Mediacorp sites that cover socio-political issues and have a wide online reach - Yahoo News, The Online Citizen, Mothership.sg, Temasek Review Emeritus, and The Real Singapore.
In the past two years, MDA has asked the operators of four sites -- The Independent.sg, Breakfast Network, Mothership.sg, The Online Citizen, to register under the Broadcasting (Class Licence) Notification. All except the now defunct Breakfast Network complied with the request.
MDA also notified Yahoo News to obtain an individual license and put up a performance bond of S$50,000, like all other individually-licensed broadcasters.
And we know what happened to The Real Singapore when MDA contacted them yesterday.
This leaves us with Temasek Review Emeritus (TRE).
TRE started as TR in 2009 and was renamed TRE on May 25, 2011.
Perceived as possibly the most aggressive anti-establishment site alongside TRS, TRE got into trouble in 2012 when its editor had to apologise for an alleged defamatory post involving Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong's wife, Madam Ho Ching.
What will happen to TRE following TRS' death?
More web traffic to the site?
Source: Wikipedia
Or perhaps a call from MDA?
2. The online reactions among Internet opinion-leaders were more negative than positive.
Boo!
The FreeMyInternet movement, a collective of bloggers
"While'>
Posted by theonlinecitizen on Sunday, May 3, 2015
The Online Citizen editor Andrew Loh
Former TOC Editor Ravi Philemon
Blogfather Mr Brown
So now that MDA has shown they can take down a site like TRS, how about STOMP next? How about it, MDA?
— mrbrown (@mrbrown) May 3, 2015
Journalist and writer Kirsten Han
Much as I detest TRS as a website, we shouldn't be using draconian rules to shut them down. Surely we as a society need better ways to deal. — Kirsten Han (@kixes) May 3, 2015
CPF blogger Roy Ngerng
Some'>
Posted by Roy Ngerng Yi Ling on Sunday, May 3, 2015
