We are paranoids.

Well, most of us are paranoids. While certain degree of caution is needed for us to keeping on going and obviously to live in today's world, I don't think its necessary of us to be suspicious of every human being or every single thing we see.

When the a Gerakan member decided to take a job offer from a DAP-lead state government, he came under the fire from his party. He was seen as a person who betrayed his party but he only asked for them to see beyond the party flag. He was chosen because he was the man for that job and he was trusted even by an opponent party. But his own people (so to speak) failed to see this and of course, eventually he resigned from the party. In the end, his own party lost a credible person just because he is in someone else's payroll.

This is not only confined to politics but even to our daily affairs as well:

• Imagine being suspicious of your mechanic.. did he actually fix the car brake properly?
• Imagine being suspicious of your rival neighbor's 5 year old daughter befriending your son.. what is this girl trying to do to my son?
• Imagine being suspicious of the vegetable seller at the pasar malam.. did he spray excessive pesticides on these?
• Imagine being suspicious of your MP whom you (and your entirely family) unanimously voted for... he is on a deal with the opposition?

When you publish a blog post, post a picture in Flickr or start a Facebook account, you are subjecting yourself to be known to 6B people out there. The is no such thing as 'maintaining' a low profile when you have snaps and your life experience pasted here. You are known. Face it. And when you willingly put yourself on the limelight and of course, people will start judging you from that day onwards. We are vulnerable in cyberworld.

Yea, this is a personal space of us, the bloggers. We are entitled to do whatever we want here without being questioned. BUT unlike our own home, we are not confined to 4 walls. Your neighbours can have 'full view' of whatever you are doing in your cyberspace. When that happens, couldn't it be more courteous to be humble?

If you think you are entitled to an opinion of your own (which is true), so does Mak Minah who has a pisang goreng stall down the street. So does your distant cousin who secretly reads about your nights out with boyfriends. So does your greatest rival of the blogworld. So does the so-called obsessive Flickr fan of yours. The key is to be yourself without hurting other human beings.

Guess that is not too much to ask.


* a post out of my frustration reading posts just published to condemn others without facts, which I think is a wastage of space.

There was a time when my food (read FUEL) cost Ammu just RM30 (USD9.21) per week. She was staying in hostel and the hardest work I have to do was to drive her to her faculty/eatery everyday, and back home during the weekends. She never failed to make sure I have enough to eat and I never starved in my life.

I wanted to blog about this quite sometime ago, but [excuse] other posts took precedence, and I didn't have the luxury of time to blog from campus (oppss.. that's a hint for next post). There was a news in the local newspaper which revealed a bizarre festival in Vietnam. It is called keo vo or simply - wife catching. Unable to believe my own eyes that such 'culture' exist at this era, I proceeded to google and landed in couple of news portals reported the same news.

In Viet Nam’s remote Vang Ma Chai Commune, a boy can seek out a potential lover, ‘catch’ her and take her home as his wife without having to go through an official ceremony.....

....children as young as 12 or 13 gather in the centre of the commune for another tradition, where a boy can seek out a potential lover, ‘catch’ her and take her home as his wife without having to go through an official ceremony.

The girl will only be his if he manages to get her home. Once there, they live with each other and if after a few days they don’t like it, the girl can return home and wait for another suitor. As well as encouraging sex with minors, the habit is inevitably resulting in underage pregnancy.

19-year-old Cheo Su Truong, employed at the commune’s veterinary unit. Truong is mother of two children, the oldest is five years old. Truong’s father became a grandfather when he was only 35.

Once the match is established, that’s yours for life, complains Ly Y Thong, who caught a wife when he followed his friends to the festival when he was 13 years old.

“I have two children now. Sometimes I get so sick of my wife, she’s old. But I can’t divorce her.”

The blogworld now is under intrusion. Serious - no joke. Those living in my part of the country would probably know what I am talking about(*hint - check out mahen's post). I am not going to take sides and start to sort of attack those who caused such surge in blogging activities in Malaysia. I see it as a positive sign - even politicians from the ruling party (who used to say bloggers are mainly unemployed women) have taken up blogging. Besides, the recent developments in the country also has urged many M'sians (especially those of Indian origin) to take up blogging as well *applause! We are all blogmates now! ;)

But the question of originality arise whenever I come across these blogs. I have begin to wonder if the blogs of prominent politicians of the ruling party are actually created and maintained by them. Okie, some may be unleashing the blogger in them, but how about the others? These are people who don't even write their own speeches! Are they actually sitting in front of their costly-higher end-but-under utilised laptops? Or have they employed other individuals to blog on their behalf? If they did the later, do they actually visit their own blogs? Hmm.. I'm still wondering.

If that is one dilemma the M'sian blogwo rld is facing, another form of 'blogs' is killing the spirit of blogging as well. Those are what I call 'copy-paste-blogs', and all you can find there will be political news articles copied and pasted as their posts! *sigh... We all have the access to news portals, and I don't think we need to read the same news again and again. Okie okie.. it's an important news, we got the point the every first time we read it! Maybe you could show some of your writing skills besides the copy-paste article?

Then another group of people called celebrity bloggers. Blogging is serious business nowadays, and (certain) bloggers have clinched the celebrity blogger title, but when I read through their blogs, I can't find a single useful post which I think that would justify the tag 'celebrity blogger'. Seriously, I think that term needs to be banned! Everyone blogs as per their interests, and some celebrity bloggers ONLY blogs for others' interest. Its all about getting more hits and more hits and even more hits. The passion for blogging has died and since replaced by quest for popularity.

Maybe this may not go well with many people out there, but hey.. what's wrong in voicing it? Plus, deep down inside, we all know its true after all!

The hottest news in town:

Former Prime Minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad announced Monday at 12.35pm that he is quitting Umno, citing a lack of confidence in the current leadership.

Dr Mahathir urged other party members to quit too, as a way of pressuring Abdullah into vacating his post.

However, he advised those who do quit not to join any opposition party, adding they can all rejoin the party once there is a change in leadership.

When I posted about Sufiah Yusof@Shilpa Lee turning to vice last week, I had the highest recorded number of hits, even higher from the days of HINDRAF and General Election 2008. I found my fellow Malaysian bloggers blogging about her, suggesting she needs 'help' and even the government offered to go all the way to Manchester to 'pull her back into the right path'. While I could understand the bloggers' sentiment, I couldn't digest the government's so called Save Sufiah Project. Come on!

• First, she is NOT a Malaysian, Sufiah is a half Malaysian who may not even consider herself as one of us.

• Second, we have more issues at home to be taken care at, rather than hunting down a full-grown woman who has chosen her path.

• Third, its high time the government stop trying to seek publicity via sensationalised issues like this one - you are in dire need of taking care of your own self here, okie?

Sufiah decided to CONFESS ALL after we revealed how the former child prodigy was working as a £130-an-hour prostitute while studying for a masters in economics.

"People think escorting is sleazy and terrible but I don't see it like that," she says. "I've always had a high sex drive—and now I'm getting all the sex I want—and guys are much better in bed with an escort than a girlfriend.

"I have men who are thrilled about my passion for mathematics. In fact one made me recite equations while he pleasured me, then I gave him oral sex while he chatted about algebra. It drove him wild."

And brainbox Sufiah has worked out that subtracting your respectability to become a prostitute can equal big money.

Thanks for the wishes, I'm getting much better except for this nagging headache. Anyway, hope I will get enough rest over the weekend. I'm coming to your blogs soon. Hang on there! :)

Back to the topic, I think now its the high time for bloggers in Malaysia. We are going places! First, 'somebody' underestimated the power of blogworld. That caused them dearly. We even manage to send a blogger to the Parliament, mind you. One blogger is currently taking part in Malaysia's Dreamgirl search - a reality show looking for a model (ala Next Top Model) which is being aired online. Yesterday I was faithfully going through Kenny Sia's blog and found out he has listed as one of Malaysia's 50 eligible bachelors (CLEO). Not bad..! Besides prominent opposition politicians blogging in the cyberworld, we now has a former MB joining the bandwagon as well. Now, that's a news!! :P

Right now I'm thinking what else could be in store for us. What are we going to achieve next? What is in store for us, the bloggers? And most important of it, till when we are going to make an impact in this country?

I know I know.. may be no point pondering over things which are beyond our control. But no harm in postulating isn't it?

I do have some blogmates from overseas here. Would appreciate if some of you guys could share the blogging culture in your respective country. Is it still a new culture? Are bloggers making such impact? What future holds for blogging in your place?

I have another post for today but I can't help it when I read this news online. Got to post it right away...

Not long ago, a 13-year old Sufiah Yusoff made it to the Oxford University. Now, she is posting 'her service' for £130 for an hour in the Internet. It is reported that she has turned into a hooker. The paper reported that she had called herself Shilpa Lee on a hookers’ website. She is said to have advertised herself as “a sexy, smart student” who preferred “older gentlemen”.

Happier Sufiah (Credit: BBC News)

Since Saturday, I have been answering calls & smses asking the whereabout of Mahen. Mahen, you have to pay me if you want me to be your secretary la :P. Kidding! Kidding! To those who are clueless, it was all about a Rose Rally, which turned ugly in the end.

What is Rose Rally?
It is suppose to be peaceful rally in which 100 children will hand over roses to request the Prime Minister of Malaysia to release five (5) detainees of the HINDRAF, who are currently under Internal Security Act (A draconian law which allows for indefinite detention without trial). These five detainees had earlier voiced their concern in the ever deteriorating state of the Indian minority in Malaysia and in a broader sense to provide equal platform for all Malaysians for the enhancement of the society.This peaceful gathering is legal and is in accordance to Article 10 of the Malaysian Federal Constitution. (More)

The rally was to be held in few cities around the world. So far, Raaja has updated his blog with photos and news of the rally in Los Angles, New York and Malaysia.


Why it turned ugly?
I wasn't there to comment on it, but for a fair share of news, I took some excerpts from leading media around the world:

Malaysian police fired tear gas and water cannon to break up a rally on Saturday by ethnic Indians demanding racial equality ahead of general elections.

Malaysian police used water cannon and tear gas on Saturday to break up an anti-government protest by ethnic Indians carrying roses to symbolise a peaceful demand for justice. With the Malaysian government concerned about street protests in the run-up to early general elections on March 8, around 100 policemen, including riot police with helmets and shields, turned out to disperse a gathering of about 300 men, women and children.

Malaysian security forces have used tear gas and water cannon to break up a protest by ethnic Indians in the capital, Kuala Lumpur.More than 20 people taking part in the banned march were detained by police.

Malaysian police fired tear gas and water cannon to break up an illegal rally Saturday by ethnic Indians demanding racial equality ahead of general elections.The group planned to hand roses and a protest note to Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi, but police banned the rally citing national security.

On Saturday about 300 men, women and children were dispersed by about 100 policemen, including riot police with helmets and shields."Police were too rough. They used their power," said S Manikavasagam, a spokesman for the Hindu Rights Action Force (Hindraf), the ethnic Indian group that organised the protest.

More than 60 people — including two leaders of the Hindu Rights Action Force, or Hindraf, that organised the protest — have been detained in a police crackdown since late Friday, said lawyer N Surendran, a Hindraf member. The group planned to hand roses and a protest note to Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi, but police banned the rally citing national security.

Photo taken by FotoWarung. More photos here and here.

[Sorry for not visiting your blogs as often as I should. Currently busy with my remaining work in the office (:P) and some other projects. There won't be any Friday post 2moro. Will try to blog hop whenever I get the time. And Keshi, yours will be the first blog I am gonna visit. No worries. Hugss!!]

Okie, it has been exactly 24 days since the incident happen, and some of you may find this post like an old newspaper now. I am sure some of the bloggers have highlighted this. To those who have no idea what I am talking about (especially to my country people), here is a bit of the news:

The shocking pictures of two young women being molested by a mob of 70 to 80 men at Mumbai's Juhu area in the early hours of New Year's Day, has ashamed the city.

The women, one in a black dress and the other in a jeans and top emerged from the JW Marriott with two male friends around 1:45 am, and began walking towards Juhu beach close by.

A mob of about 40 got after them and began teasing the women when one of the women swore loudly at the hooligans. But the mob, now 70-80 strong, wouldn't let go.

They trapped the women near a vehicle and a tree, and pounced on them. A man in a white shirt tore off the black dress. Another, in a blue shirt, led the assault.

As the women fell on the ground, dozens of men jumped on them.

While the entire nation saw with horror pictures of the incident in a national daily, the Mumbai Police Commissioner D N Jadhav said, “Don’t make a mountain out of a molehill. Keep your wives at home if you want them safe. These kind of small things can happen anywhere”

Today is the D-day of the planned rally by HINDRAF. This supposedly peaceful assembly has turned ugly with the FRU (Federal Reserve Unit) firing tear gasses and chemical-sprayed water cannon at the assembled crowd.

Malaysian police have used tear gas and water cannon against a protest by thousands of ethnic Indians in the country's largest city, Kuala Lumpur.

Sunday's protest in the shadow of the city's famous twin towers was organised by a Hindu rights group to draw attention to complaints of discrimination against the minority ethnic Indian community.

Many ethnic Indians complain they are marginalised in terms of employment and business opportunities by a government dominated by the majority ethnic Malays.

[update]

The news on rally being featured in numerous blogs & online news portals. This post has been highlighted in Newskini as well:

(click on it for the larger image)

About 200 people gathered outside a hypermarket here yesterday to protest the the assault on a 22-year-old man by two security guards on Friday. Technician R. Sashindran claimed the guards hit him on the head and body repeatedly with a plastic stool until it broke and then forced him to write a confession that he had shoplifted some items from the hypermarket.

He claimed they then forced him to pay RM30 for the items he allegedly stole.

Sashindran claimed the guards later put several items into his bag and took pictures of him holding the bag before calling the police, who he claimed also assaulted him.

"One hit me on the back with his hand while the other used the butt of his gun."
Sashindran later lodged a police report, claiming he was taken to the Section 11 police station where he was forced to write another confession.

The protesters, who included members of non-governmental organisations, later met representatives from the management, who promised to investigate the claims.

District police chief ACP Noor Azam Jamaludin said police were investigating the case.

The following is the excerpt of the police report made by one Sashindran a/l Ravichandran,22 who was beaten and insulted by 2 security guards of the Giant store.

On 16 Nov 2007 around 11.20am, I went to Giant in Section 13, Shah Alam to buy some things. After purchasing items for RM23, I put it on the counter to buy another item.

[…] After talking via my handphone, I was reprimanded by two Giant's security guards and brought to their room. There I was assaulted from behind by one of the guard.

The guard kept on assaulting me and forced me to sit down. He erased the kum kum I was wearing and snapped away my chain with a pendant bearing Lord Krishna. Then he took the pendant and put it on my forehead, kicked me from back and said "Now you look like a devil".

He was later made to take pictures holding some items that was planted in his bag. The guards called police who later continued the abuse in the police station.

In the police patrol car, one of the policemen insulted me by saying:
1. “ India keling you apa 08 punya orangkah “ ( I seriously don't know how to translate this one)

2. “ I can let you go, then shot and dump you anywhere"

Then he took my staff ID from my wallet and threw it out of the patrol car though I pledged not to. He said "You definitely going inside the lock up, you will lose your job. so there is no need for the ID. This is Islamic country, why are you here? If you wanna steal, you can go back to India."

A class action on behalf of Malaysian Indians has filed at The Royal Courts of Justice London on 30th August 2007 to sue the UK Government for bringing in Indians as indentured laborers into Malaya & exploiting them for 150 years & thereafter failing to protect the minority Indians rights in The Federal constitution when independence was granted, Hence making Malaysian Indians a permanently colonialized society until today.

A petition with 100,000 signatures to be presented to her Royal Highness the Queen of England to appoint her Majesty's Queen Counsels to represent the poor, underclass, oppressed and suppressed Malaysian Indians would be presented at the British High
Commission as follow:

Date : 25th November 2007 ( Sunday)
Time: 9 am
Venue: British High Commission 185,
Jalan Ampang, 50450, Kuala Lumpur.

Democratic minded citizens of all races are urged to attend and show the British Government we are united & serious with our demands for Justice & protection as subject of Commonwealth

Photo taken of BERSIH rally calling for fair election in Malaysia - 10.11.07 (Source)

so, stop questioning my citizenship!

XX : hi. h r u?
me : hie. im fine thanks.
XX : wr u frm?
me : malaysia n u?
XX : india.
XX : r u stdyng?
me : no. working. im a researcher.
XX : wt ur hobbie
me : i blog. u came frm thr rite?
XX : ya

--after a while ---

XX : ur proper?
me : proper? :S
XX : native place?
me : oh okie okie.
im a malaysian.
XX : but u look indian??????
me : well, its a long story.
anyway, im born here.
guess tht hs summarized all.
XX : u no tamil?
me : i do speak tamil.
XX : u got indian name
u speak tamil but u don't want to be indian
r u shame?
me : huh?
shame for wht?
XX : u r shame to be called indian
me : (WTF!) :O no la. look... my ancestors came to malaya about 100 years ago
and they settled here.
we r the 4th generation in malaysia.
i got no idea where exactly my greatgrandparents actually came from
i can nvr call india my home.

-- after a while --

XX : have u visited india
me : no. not yet.
XX : y
me : the time is not here yet.
when we wanna visit, we surely will do.
XX : don't bullshit
u don't love india
u not even coming back
me : dude.. listen.. im being v patient here
u not even coming back <-- coming back is not the right word here
i can only visit india as a tourist
i hold malaysian passport la :|
XX : stop bitch!
u r shame to india
me :#@$#*% (edited)

I'm crazy about Vishal, a South Indian actor after all...

Online buddies never fail to amaze me. Whenever I post something, the comments never stop pouring in. In fact, I do receive some crap which could not be published. An usual post in tulipspeaks will be greeted with a moderate number of hits and a fair number of comments. But sadly, whenever I post sensitive issues like my previous post, which I really need everyone's feedback and co-operation in making it 'big' enough to attract relevant authorities' attention, nothing came out of it. To be fair, yes.. there are caring and sensitive souls out there who share my grief, but the majority remains silent. It is not that no one reading it - my hits shoot up like no one's business when I published the post. So, why the silence? This is something I noticed even in other blogs such as Bolehland & Kav's Kollage. Why no one is speaking up? Afraid? Oh come on! Bloggers are not timid creatures!! Bloggers advocate free speech, and that's what I expect of everyone here.

I'm sorry if I'm putting high expectation, and I am aware that it's readers' rights to comment or not. But at the same time, I would like to see some sort of feedback and awareness among the community. Guess that is not too much to ask for this Deepavali.


Okie okie.. Forgive me for nagging you guys.. back to my Deepavali mood.. I did two wallpapers for Deepavali, which I used as e-comment & e-card as well. Here they are:

Download: 1024*768





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[UPDATE]

You may find related posts here:

Poobalan - Post 1 & Post 2

Mahen

Kavilan

Lulu

Raaja - Post 1 & Post 2

I always have respect for women who stood up for other women. Marina Mahathir is one of such person I admire, regardless what some have to say about her. This morning I came across an interview transcript of hers. Here is one of a remarkable answer of hers and read the rest of the interview in Malaysia Today.

Q: Let's delve into the topic of feminism. You seem to advocate western liberal feminism. Is that suitable in the Malaysian context?

Marina Mahathir: I don’t know why wanting to have equality between men and women should be exclusively western. As if only Western women deserve it and we don’t.