BangkokEdge Festival, billed as an "idea festival", returns to its old quarters of Bangkok this weekend. Spearheaded by MR Narisa Chakrabongse, the two-day event is a vibrant smorgasbord of literature, music, art, history and politics, anchored in the charming venues of Museum Siam, Chakrabongse Villas and Rajini School. There will be talks -- plenty of panels and discussions, on subjects ranging from "What Makes The Chao Phraya A World Monument?" to "The Power Of Slam Poetry", from "Populism, Religion and Neo-Nationalism In The 21st Century" to "Years Of Living Dangerously: A Woman's Take On War". The list of participants is starry, including writers, journalists, poets, historians and artists, Thai and international. Come evening, the lawn of Museum Siam will play host to film screenings (Pop Aye on Saturday and Citizen Dog on Sunday), as well as concerts by Hugo, Yena, Rasmee Isan Soul and more.
To warm up, Life approached two of the distinguished guests who will take part in festival panels. Anjan Sundaram is a journalist whose latest book is the acclaimed Bad News: Last Journalists In A Dictatorship, which recounts his days working in Rwanda, where the government retains tight control over the media. At 1pm this Sunday, Anjan will speak with Bangkok-based writer Christopher G Moore in a panel titled "Bad News, Fake News And Good News".
Another speaker to participate on Sunday is Julian Thomson, director of advanced design at Jaguar, who will talk about "The Future Of Transportation".
Anjan Sundaram
Author of Bad News: Last Journalists In A Dictatorship
Let's start with a simple question: How bad are things now with journalists in this part of the world? We know what's going on with the two Reuters reporters in Myanmar. In Thailand, though no journalists have been jailed, the situation is far from encouraging.
It's the nature of the press to find itself under pressure. Governments -- and people in positions of authority -- generally prefer not to be held accountable, and without constitutional protection, the free press can find itself in a precarious position, as is the case in Southeast Asia today. With the growing influence of China, governments in this region will increasingly see a free media as dispensable, and will suffer fewer financial consequences from cracking down on journalists. The outlook for reporters is dim.
Your talk this Sunday will be about fake news. Can you give us a little introduction to that?
Fake news has been around since news began. Often, fake news does not stick. But people can begin to believe in fake news when their trust in the media is broken. In Southeast Asia, governments have clamped down on the press to stop it from reporting on abuses of power. In the US, the mainstream media disenfranchised the views of large segments of the American population. When citizens stop receiving reliable news, they turn to unreliable sources. Beliefs gain force. This is why curbing free speech for any reason -- even in the case of racism or genocide denial -- can be dangerous. Such restrictions create underground networks where radical and false beliefs become entrenched. Racism and genocide-denial only grow, and to the believers, fake news can feel like the truth.
How have the dynamics between journalists and readers and/or journalists and governments changed with the rise of social media? Who controls facts now?
Social media for a while shifted the balance of power in favour of civil society and away from governments, providing a rapid and often anony mous means of spreading information. We saw the power of social media during the Arab Spring. But it has its limitations -- places like the Central African Republic are still in an information blackout. Hundreds of people get killed and we rarely hear about it. And increasingly, governments occupy social-media forums with armies of public-relations officials who flood these spaces with good news. Social media has democratised the flow of information, but the battle with governments is still very much on.
Why is it so difficult to use fact -- proven fact -- to change people's minds, as we have seen in the US and Thailand and elsewhere?
People believe in falsehoods not because they want to believe them, but because they serve an emotional need. Simply presenting facts does not address this need, and so does little to change people's beliefs. When people distrust sources of information, they won't listen. In the US, there has long been discontent with media organisations seen as left wing and catering to an elite. Some news channels have exploited this, broadcasting fake news that becomes popular by tapping into this distrust.
Compared to the African countries from where you have reported, how are the intimidating mechanisms different in various parts of the world?
Most journalists are simple citizens. Governments have armies, tanks, great force. Among the tools societies have to defend themselves against governments are the spoken and written word. The simple act of telling someone that a person has been killed or arrested is incredibly powerful. Governments are understandably threatened by the word, and they often try to silence journalists who might expose authorities' abuse of power. Government tactics vary from brute force to creating an atmosphere of fear and paranoia so that people are too afraid to speak. The latter situation is what I describe in my book, Bad News.
What's your view on citizen journalism?
The more people speak, the better. It doesn't matter if people speak real news, fake news or bad news. We should speak.
Julian Thomson
Director of advanced design at Jaguar
What's the most important concern in the future of transportation for the next five years?
We will see more changes in our industry in the next few years than we've ever seen before. The way people buy, use and power their cars will fundamentally change. In the next five years, I think that city air quality and the associated health concerns will define the biggest change in future automobiles.
Jaguar, if I've heard correctly, will launch a series production of electric cars later this year. What do you think makes the growth of electric cars slower than we might have thought?
We were very pleased to announce that the Jaguar I-Pace, a fully electric SUV, will go on sale later this year. We believe this car has huge potential and demonstrates we are fully committed to producing electric cars in the future. Public interest and excitement of this type of vehicle is growing very quickly. As with any new technology, people need to experience why these cars are better and feel confident about charging and everyday usage. How quickly electric-charging infrastructure is installed in different countries also determines people's willingness to change.
In our experience, once people fully embrace electric vehicles they never want to go back.
When do you think electric cars will take over gasoline cars in terms of market share?
I can see electric cars' popularity growing very quickly over the next 10-20 years. It's certainly possible that between 2030 and 2040, electric cars will have more market share than gasoline cars.
In terms of design, what can we imagine to be the car of the future? Each car has a different design, but fundamentally all cars have looked the same since the times of Henry Ford.
As I said before, the car will change significantly in the next few years. I've mentioned electric, but self-driving cars are also on the horizon, and will be commonplace in the next 10 years. How we use our cars and how they are connected with our everyday lives through the cloud will bring big changes in vehicle usage and efficiency. People will increasingly share cars and vehicle services too.
If you don't have to drive a car, when a car means you can share with other people, when it has no engine and collects you from work automatically, I think it could look and feel very different to what you use today.
How should a city like Bangkok, with millions of cars on the streets every day, move forward in terms of transport management/organisation?
Congestion and pollution are huge concerns on Bangkok's roads. Electric propulsion, as well as the latest clean diesel and petrol engines, for cars, motorcycles and buses, are vital. Integrated transport solutions that link personal transport with public transportation can tailor individual journeys to be easier and more efficient. People should be able to seamlessly switch between trains, cars and bicycles, for instance, if it suits their individual journeys.
Is it possible to imagine a world without private cars?
For many people there is no interest in owning a car, and as cloud-connected transport and vehicle-sharing become more commonplace, many people will never want or need to own a car.
We don't believe that people will stop buying cars. Cars like Jaguars have always represented something a bit more than just pure transport. Our cars are beautiful to look at, beautiful to drive, and something you will always desire and cherish. As the world around us becomes more and more chaotic, with work, data, and information overload, cars like ours will always offer an escape and a special experience of the journey like no other.
