I was involved in a program that brought the pro-government cyber writers together last weekend. As a ‘veteran’ cyber-warrior, it was so sweet to be able to meet up with those of the same category. Meeting old friends is a thing that you would never want to miss. It also brought back the nostalgia of the time when I first got involved in this cyber political writings.
Way back in 1998, there were only a few of us who would fight off the lies and slanders thrown at our leadership by the oppositions. Of these few, many of us were not involved in politics in any way at all but were pulled into the cyber-world by our love for the nation.
Efforts were made to contact each other and we finally got together and become friends. With the courage and wisdom of namely, Bapak3, Pang5husin, Kuntakinte and Azhar Ahmad and the help from a few others like Kak Long, Tengkudinnn .. we decided to form a Kelab Maya UMNO (KMU) in 1999 which is dedicated to provide assistance for UMNO in the cyberworld.
The idea was presented to Tun Mahathir and received his blessings. An official launching was held in the year 2000 and from there onwards, the team grows and become stronger and more organized.
Like all organizations, the leaders and the members of the club come and go as years go by. The club is now led by Jebon who has taken it to a much higher step. The name too, has changed but the objective remains the same.
Today, we see so many eager young dedicated warriors doing what we did back then. (I admit that I’ve lost that eagerness). Many of them started off in KMU and are still very much attached to it while some are not. Whichever, they are all better equipped than we were, in every way. Good for them, I must say. This also means that UMNO has finally come to its senses by acknowledging the importance of the internet.
During the 3 day program, I was asked once too often on why I stopped writing (on politics, in the papers and the net, they mean). Well friends, I don’t.
I am still writing about politics - elsewhere, not in this blog - but as a ghost. Don’t ask me why.
This blog is personal and I don’t promote it to the world. As I said, this blog only meant to help me clear my head from all the political issues that I have to deal with every day whether I like it or not because it’s my job. But apart from it, I have a life and I tend to live before I die. This blog keeps me close to who I really am. I’m not born for politics. In fact, I think I was born for show-business but unfortunately, came out in the wrong side of the world at the wrong time. ....haha..
Yes, I have had haters and I have had loyal readers. At one time, a lady went through so much trouble to find out where I work and finally got me on the phone but immediately lost her enthusiasm once she heard a woman’s voice at the end of the line. What can I say… “sorry, I’m a lady?”
And those emails that referred to me as ‘saudara, abang, pak cik, tuan’ etc…. aahh..that’s just funny.
Yeap, I was thought to be a man because of my ‘merciless’ writings and my masculine name. I guess, name does make a difference in a person’s character. And this character of mine is what drags me into controversies and problems ever since my schooldays.
Everywhere I go, I have always been the one breaking the rules. But, I broke the rules politely. I was taught good manners by my family. I never talk back to teachers and I never use bad language as I didn’t know any. And as a convent-school girl, manners even matters much more to me. In convent, the nuns taught us manners in ‘civic’ class after assembly, on top of the official ‘tatarakyat’ class. So, even though I was naughty, I was also polite.
Sorry to bore you with my background.
But, if you noticed, there have been many writings in this blog about courtesy and manners and the Malay’s mentality. And I just can’t stop thinking and write about it especially after that three day program with the cyber community. I’ve witness with my own eyes how in a few years, people can change to the better… or worse and how they thought of themselves the other way around.
The three-day program got me thinking hard about how chronic this issue on manners have become in our society. It seems that today, not having good manners is considered ‘hebat’ or ‘taiko’ and ‘respected’. Some are even proud to show how ‘bad’ they are or they can be..as if it gives them status and a certain class or something.
Malays are said to have a very chronic inferiority complex and I believe this is true. That’s why most Malays revert to working with the government, or better still as teachers.
You go to a kampung and you can bet that the majority of the graduates from that kampung choose ‘teaching’ as a career. Why? Because they get to work half-day and not compete with other races and don’t have to deal with real pressure of working in private sectors. The fast-moving world and the need to look and act professional are too much for them to handle. They may be graduates but they have never read a single book in their life except those required for their studies and maybe some love novels and religious books. And there is this issue of poor English, besides terrible social skills.
Of course they can socialize, but only among the same races of the same social category. All these make them feel inferior.
It is normal for humans to dream to become someone and crave for status, glamour or some kind acknowledgment, somehow, somewhere. The problem with this, in the Malays is that they often want to get there the easy way. They don’t want to improve themselves by working hard and compete in the real world with others. They don’t want to do extra reading or thinking. They want to live as complacently as ever but at the same time they want to be somebody too. So, they become ‘complexly inferior’.
Therefore, when they managed to get somewhere, they start to think of themselves like they are Goh Chok Tong or Ananda Krishnan or may be Donald Trump and act like they own the world. The irony is that the real Malay tycoon, like Syed Mokhtar Albukhari, is such a humble gentleman.
The Malays are impatient. Not only they want to get there easily, they want it fast too and as a result they put their standard as low as possible so they can get there faster.
Look at our movies, some shoot for only 2 weeks and the scripts are prepared overnight and the producers, directors, actors and crews already think that they have given their best. Look at our singers, one song is enough to call themselves artists or divas or celebrities. For some bloggers, ‘high alexa ranking’ can make them feel at the top of the world already. For some politicians, titles are taken as license to act arrogantly. For the ordinaries, luxurious house and cars change them into snobbish. And on top of all those, second wife is taken as the symbol of status.
You know, glass will always be glass no matter if it’s carved into a diamond-like shape. A diamond will always be diamond even if it fell into the cow’s poo.
I’m not trying to put anybody down but I just want to stress that you don’t get to be younger just by having a facelift. If your heart is young, you are young no matter how people look at you.
So, does status. You don’t lift your status just by having money and glamour and numbers of wives. In fact, you might just lower it because everybody knows that most women who agree to be the second or third or fourth are either desperate, or materialistic bimbos, or simply dumb. Of course not all of them fall into these three categories. Some may have their own exceptional reasons but face it, most of them become your added responsibility not because they love you or you love them.
The point is that, the Malays should get over this inferiority complex. You don’t have to crave for status. Just be who you are and you’ll be fine and respected anyway. If you are well behaved, have good manners and an honest work, be wise and smart and carry yourself like a true professional, then you will surely be looked up upon as someone of a high status.
Bear in mind that a truly respectable man doesn’t have to brag about how he is being, or should be respected. If you have to brag about it, then you must have known deep inside that you don’t deserve it.
With that, I just want to record my highest respect to my fellow long time cyber-warrior friends, especially the pioneers and the dedicated hard-cores that I mentioned above. You all have made history – remember that.
And thank you for the friendship….
