It got me thinking.
I got a call today from RTM and was asked if i mind being interviewed on my thoughts about what happened to a blogger recently, and my thoughts on why this is happening and what can be done to put a halt to this.
The first question I asked myself was this. What was my reaction when I first read about it?
Let me put it this way. I love my dad. He passed away at 65 and the one thing I regret most to this day was when I left my job at Malaysia Airlines. Not because I wanted to stay but mainly because I found out later from a friend whom he had confided in, that the years that I had spent travelling with him and my mom were the best that could have happened to them as a couple.
I guess you must be thinking now that I am way off tangent. On the contrary, in the months after he passed on, I was given the task to attend to an official letter from the police addressed to my father. In it was a request that he presented himself for questioning due to a police report that a few people had made against him.
In the dark, and having never heard about this before, I realised that he must have kept this away from us so that it would not worry the family. Eventually, after speaking to the officer in charge, he assured me that my father who acted as the sales agent himself was duped by the developer.
The point is this, if I come across a blog today that spewed vile and dirt about my dad, I would be furious, but what can I do about it? Apart from lodging a complaint to MCMC what are my options?
Legal?
So let's analyse this shall we?
A blog is basically a personal web log using the best web 2.0 has to offer.
Which also means that these days, anybody and almost everybody can...blog.
Which also means that its just that person's opinion. Nothing more, nothing less.
So is a Doctor wants to blog about the cases he attends to whilst blanking out his patient's names, then it becomes more credible.
If some retired teacher wants to take on the role as the country's saviour, then so be it. Its something he or she chooses to do.
Take it one step further and start to s[read lies and rumours whilst making it look credible, throw in a few quotes here and there from unidentified witnesses, wallah! you get a highly readable story.
I did not see the postings of that blogger, for I myself have stopped blogging generally not because of brain drain but because there are so many readers out there like you who do not see the need to look for credible sources.
Ever noticed, its always a friend of a friend who quotes and by the time you meet that friend of the friend, it is always another friend?
The Allah issue? I can't ever remember Allah being used as another word to refer to the almighty in my church. But in recent years I have heard it over and over again.
Here, the point is it has crept into the vocabulary of the church in recent years (perhaps due to the advocacy of a few, I am guessing here), but why the need to the point of fanning the winds of hate?
Rightfully, and thankfully the majority of Malaysians have withstood the challenge it brought.
There is no conspiracy, just look at those who were arrested.
Drivers, Despatch riders, and clerks, who have the time to sit around and listen to whatever is being told to them by their likeminded teh tarik mates. There were just 16 of them responsible for these dastardly acts in our nation of 28 million people.
I do not mean to put the rest of drivers, despatch riders and clerks in the same boat as those responsible, but if any one of them did actually analyse and asked that all important question, then they would have realised that it is simply best to leave it to those responsible for it, in this case the courts.
If each of us take on that role of being the negotiator and counselor, then simply, we wouldn't have this problem.
However, more often than not, we become the instigator, the 'fire starter' and most often the 'should have' coach!
Think about it. If we stopped each other from fanning the fire of hate, than perhaps we can go back to having a more unified nation in this country we all love.
