Malaysian Blogs

Hello, it's me again. Because I have nothing better to do with my life (for now), I thought I would get around to remind you that while this site may be dead, I am not. I've just been a bit busy, that's all.

In case you missed the memo, I'm currently quite pre-occupied with college (you know, A Levels and all that stuff). I'm also busying myself with editing Wikipedia and preparing for the SAT Subject tests. Oh, don't worry. I'll throw you a bone, too: the long-promised site redesign is well underway. The ugly current design has lasted far longer than I thought it ever would, and I finally have something easier on the eyes prepared. My main problem now is with the forums, although I'm making some headway there as well. I'm also hoping to install an RSS feed so you no longer have to logon to the site to find out what's not new.

Anyway, since I went to all the bother of logging on to post something, I might as well empty the recycling bin in my brain and dump its contents here. I recently went on a stroll through Technorati and Google, and turned up blogs linking to this Wikipedia article. (Which I happened to help write.)

A couple of bloggers which caught my eye are this guy who asks "Have I only just seen the light?" and this Sarawakian. I also somehow stumbled on this unrelated rant from yet another Sarawakian. "KTemoc" didn't comment, but boy, he sure blogs a lot about Sarawak.

Now, the obvious question which I am going to consider here is not the one about Malay special rights, because this has been done to death, and I have made my position clear (summarised in one sentence: economic privileges and affirmative action, yes, ketuanan Melayu and the "social contract", no). Instead, I will ask: What are all these bloody Sarawakians doing in the blogosphere? Now, this isn't a negative remark. My issue with this is that there is a clear dearth of Peninsular Malaysians writing on serious issues. There are some Penangites out there, but that's just it. From the much-vaunted "Multimedia Supercorridor", where are the serious bloggers? It's hard to think of any. Jeff Ooi and Mack Zulkifli are more about reporting than provoking discussion (which Jeff particularly seems to constantly fail at -- his comments section reads like a litany of idiocy). The __earthinc is good, but irregular. James Wong is rather partisan, as is Politics 101 Malaysia. desiderata-ylchong isn't exactly what I have in mind (no offense meant, desi). And in case it isn't clear already, where are the Malay bloggers? The only serious ones I've found are Bakri Musa, who is now well off in California, and MENJ, an Islamist (who rarely writes anything interesting anyhow).

One (probably logical) theory I've heard is that East Malaysia was fortunate in that it had a ten year respite from the implementation of Malay as the national language there. Maybe. I don't know. But it's a bit annoying, if only for the lack of symmetry. We need more serious bloggers from the Klang Valley and Peninsular Malaysia in general.

On one final note, an interesting piece was written by "Anuar Mohd Nor" (h/p number: 012-6544762), entitled Tanah Melayu, Ketuanan Cina. The blog itself is entitled Arah Kita, with the subtitle: "Selamat datang ke Arah Kita. Kita hadir untuk membincangkan perkara - perkara yang ada hubungkait dengan ARAH bangsa kita". Food for thought, eh? I myself will merely repeat what KTemoc has to say: "How long are we Malaysians going to have these arrangements that divide us in different beings keeping us apart, making some of us foreigners in some parts of our own nation, that prevent the evolution of an equitable Bangsa Malaysia, where affirmative actions would only be on the basis of needs rather than race or a particular State?"