Starting on two sombre notes..

Again, my greatest wish for 2007 to Awe my dear EsteemedReaders is:
HAVE A PEACEFUL and PROGRESSIVE NU'E YEAR.

Desi spells "new" as nu'e for a reason ~~ it can also stand for "nude".
Every year dawns with a clean slate akin to a babe on his first cries -- full of innocence and not knowing the meaning of being nude and totally and utterly dependent on his/her mum.
So also we humans on starting a new year we are again laid bare -- not so innocent, cos the scars of past years have left their toll plus immediate increased tolls for some folks now paying 20%-60% more on using indecent profit-making highways in the Klang Valley.

So Desiu starts 2007 on a few sombre notes. And while I remain basically optimistic, certain external forces beyong our ken and control will impose lots of encumbrances and hurdles as we, an infant democracy, strives to attain maturity in more ways than a growing child.

SombreNote1:

From The NST, Jan 1, 2007, page 8:

2 die as blasts
rock Bangkok

BANGKOK: At least six small
bombs exploded here yesterday, killing
two people, wounding more than 20 and
shocking the Tahi capital into cancelling
New Year countdown celebrations.


DESIDERATA: Help build up NST circulation so that the MSM can breathe a new lease of life, spend RM1.20 to read the fool AC. Oops, "full account", not the dwindling ringgit&sen in the company's annual profit statement.:)
What is of concern is that NegaraKu's immediate neighbour is going to be threatened by such acts of terror as long as it does not overcome the problem in its restive South. Malaysia inherits its neighbours' problems whether in percentage or in full or as fool's paradise should any nation forget it is NOW A BORDERLESS WORLD>

"Prosper thy neighbour" philosopy is in greatest need and of greatest import in this new millennium as demonstrated by these two sombre notes.




SombreNote2:

I borrow the observation of mGf@mei0305.blogspot.com ending 2006 on a caring thought for another neighbour~~


"Why the cry of Burma has yet to be cared for
whereas cry of Iraq continues"


I did not access into internet for two days when i was in Zurich. When i came back to Basel and read news online, Saddam Hussein whose death sentence had been on extensive discussion was reported to have been "executed".

I do not have any feeling towards Saddam Hussein's execution although he was said to be a tyrant and had killed many innocents during his rule of Iraq. I believe my indifference was caused by the unjust invasion by US of Iraq.

If the US invaded Iraq for the building of Iraq's democracy, why did the US not take mount a similar action on Burma?

posted by Liew Hui Mei at 6:41 AM on Dec 31 2006


desiderata said...

HI Mei:

Wishing YOU (Person of the Year voted by TIME!) a Peaceful & Progressive Nu'e Year!

As far as US is concerned, it has arrogated upon itself te role of international policeman, butt sometimes it has poor judgement like our ex-PM Dr Mahathir in picking his succesor.

In invading Iraq under the pretext of looking for WMD, the US has "resurrected" the spectre of Vietnam and more and more YOung soldiers would die abroad. As for Burma, it's a case of
"Don't Cry For Me, USA!"

Recalling te famous 60s anthem
of WHERE HAVE ALL THE FLOWERS GONE:

Where have all the soldiers gone?
Gone to graveyards everyone.
When will they ever learn?
When will they ever learn?

January 01, 2007 1:21 AM


PS: News one year olde, but nevertheless of importance because it refers to those who maketh it to Time's Cover for year-end issue, yes YOU ~~ PERSON OF THE YEAR!

Have some of the flowers gone overseas?




Bloggers rising to the fore in Malaysian politics


By Carolyn Hong, Malaysia Correspondent
Dec 31, 2006
The Straits Times

KUALA LUMPUR - MR NIK Nazmi Ahmad was a 19-year-old student in London when he began keeping a daily blog.
Nothing much different from other diarist-teenagers except that Mr Nik Nazmi was super keen on politics at an age when his peers would have been hard pressed to name more than two Cabinet ministers.

His blog comprised mostly commentaries on political and social issues in Malaysia and Britain, and it morphed into a widely read current affairs website.


Today, he gets a respectable 700 to 800 visitors daily.

His is one of the saner news blogs that have mushroomed in the last few years, to feed the hunger for the news behind the news.

Said the 24-year-old: 'For a long time, Malaysians have known that what they read in newspapers can be one-sided, and they have learnt to read between the lines. I think people go to blogs for an alternative viewpoint.'

His most recent entry delves into the sensitive topic of emigration, where he wrote about how capable Malays are increasingly looking to leave Malaysia.

Such 'citizen journalism' blogs are highly visible in Malaysia although they are greatly out-numbered by the diary-type of blogs.

According to a recent survey by Microsoft MSN, two-thirds of Malaysian bloggers are women aged below 25, and their blogs are primarily about themselves.

Only 3 per cent of the respondents are involved in 'citizen journalism'. But this tiny percentage is highly visible because these blogs, while rational, and temperate in their language, dare to go where no mainstream media will.

They have become so trusted that on more than one occasion, the blogs have broken news stories that were later picked up by the mainstream newspapers.

The Deepavali greeting fiasco was one. When the Islamic insurance company Takaful's manager sent staff an e-mail message prohibiting Muslims from extending Deepavali greetings, this was quickly picked up by the blogs.

The media followed up, and the resultant pressure forced Takaful to apologise after Prime Minister Abdullah Badawi and several muftis jumped in.

The controversy over Malay ownership of corporate equity also first started in blogosphere which publicised a think-tank report disputing the official data.

This later moved into the mainstream, forcing the government to publicly defend its position.

These were perhaps some of the defining moments of blogging when blogs made the switch from mere ramblings to credible news sources. They, however, remain rare.

'Most blogs don't break news but they are opinion leaders because they provide a different perspective on the spin by the media on the facts,' says a popular blogger who did not want to be named.

Blogs received a boost in their profile this year when well-known names such as former New Straits Times editor Datuk Kadir Jasin, leading human rights lawyer Malik Imtiaz Sarwar and Datin Paduka Marina Mahathir, the outspoken daughter of former prime minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad, began blogging.

Datin Paduka Marina's most-read entry was one where she gave a first-hand account of the meeting between her father and his one-time enemy, American billionaire George Soros.

Because of the popularity and perceived credibility of such blogs, bloggers now find themselves courted by politicians, including Tun Dr Mahathir.

He was instrumental in pushing Internet usage in Malaysia and is astutely aware of the impact of the Net, having been on the receiving end during the Anwar Ibrahim saga.

Bloggers now sit side by side journalists at his press conferences as he includes them in his media mailing list. Sometimes, bloggers are even the first to be informed of his latest statements in his attacks on PM Abdullah, leaving the traditional media to pick up stories later.

The opposition Democratic Action Party (DAP), which has IT-savvy leaders, has also been quick to tap this phenomenon.

It recently organised a forum on the three-year record of PM Abdullah's administration. Every speaker was a blogger, save one, and the audience, too, were mostly bloggers. This was seen as a concrete demonstration that bloggers have become a new voice of the political discourse, and perhaps an even more important voice than the regular media.

DAP central executive committee member Ronnie Liu said: 'These people improve the level of political debate. You can see it in the way they argue out things, the quality of their views.'

The DAP has gone one step further, and is wooing some of them to become active politicians.

The Star recently reported that Mr Jeff Ooi, 45, a pioneer in citizen journalism blogging, is being courted as a new talent for DAP, although he was quoted as saying he was neither willing nor ready.

Mr Ooi runs one of the best-read Malaysian blogs, and is fearless in tackling the issues of the day from the Mahathir-Abdullah clash to a close look at PM Abdullah's track record.

The DAP is also eyeing Mr Tony Pua, 34, an Oxford graduate working in a Singapore public-listed company, who writes a well-argued blog on educational issues in Malaysia. He is a Malaysian, and is the CEO of a Singapore company based in Kuala Lumpur.

As for Mr Nik Nazmi, he has joined Parti Keadilan Rakyat, and is a special assistant to Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim.

'Bloggers are important to us, and we do keep track of blogs,' he said.

This trend has forced the government to take notice of blogs, and of late, it has issued repeated warnings that it will crack down on divisive sites. It is also considering compulsory registration Zwith the Information Ministry.

Information Minister Zainuddin Maidin recently said some online news postings were unethical because they spread malicious rumours about the government.

But so far, it has been all talk, partly because there is a sense that these blogs are seen as a safety valve for the urban middle class.

'My assumption is that the government is trying to look tough to make bloggers wary.

'But I don't know if they will really enforce it,' says Mr Nik Nazmi.

carolynh@sph.com.sg

DESI: Bloggers are a recogniised force. With some faces. Wonder if my marketing/PR mAnAgAers have got the 20mil bid for Desi's PLace on eBoy!? Sweets, Helen, FA -- please report Pronto!:):):)