Whether my proposed change of direction can be successful depends on your level of participation. Allow me to explain.
1. As I’ve stated previously and from the very beginning, I do not have a Twitter account. Neither do I interact publicly nor publish any writings through Facebook.
Both these social media tools have a very wide reach. Nonetheless I’m not using them. Thus the next move is this: If Mohammed will not go to the mountain, the mountain must come to Mohammed.
So I shall instead try to makeover this blog into a social media channel.
2. Some Yeopies have taunted that I’ve been giving Hannah Yeoh much airplay because in a reverse kind of way, I need her to win the seat or else I wouldn’t have anything to write about.
Well, she’s getting too boring and nowadays doesn’t go tweet-tweet-tweet-tweet-tweet “Good morning Malaysia” like she used to. Too busy with babies.
I’m aware that what I’ve written about Hannah has been recycled by some anti-Pakatan or anti-DAP websites. Oftentimes portions of my writings – both in Malay and English – have been reproduced without the copypasters crediting me as the original author.
Note: For the many other bloggers who have credited and redirected traffic to my blog, I thank you all.
As for those BN partisans who have not given any acknowledgment for borrowing my writings, that’s okay. It matters more to me that the ideas I’ve expressed – e.g. on Mama Dapster, Jerusubang, Anak Bangsar Malaysia, etc – are disseminated as widely as possible rather than to see my byline given in their portals.
4. However, I’m bringing this up FYI because not only are my postings proper extracted by them but sometimes what I write in response in our Comments section is copied as well. These jottings are reproduced in toto and verbatim elsewhere without the copiers indicating that it’s not their work but mine.
I’m not taking issue over this plagiarization for several reasons. One is because it’s not a creative masterpiece, i.e. a poem or a prize-winning fiction.
Secondly, since I write for political purposes, I do like to see my ideas spread around.
Meaning for example, if I’ve managed to effectively frame that Hannah is a Hypocrite and a dozen other bloggers liked the way I’ve put it and they copypaste chunks and chunks in their own websites without crediting me, I’ll let the copyright issue pass for the sake of achieving my political ends.
5. Nonetheless, it’s necessary at this juncture to highlight the unauthorized lifting of material from my blog without any acknowledgement due to the fact that even my regular readers have had their high-quality comments lifted and plagiarized (incorporated into the material rehashed by other blogs).
Just putting this on record so that everyone is aware.
6. On another track, I’ve been reliably informed that The Star monitors my blog 24/7 — it makes sense that they should. Komtar cybertroopers do too.
Yeopies pop in occasionally to spew their venom. I’ve got some Umno politician readers and was recently informed that Chua Soi Lek’s office follows my blog too. I don’t know when they first noticed me but they couldn’t have missed the faux magazine cover I uploaded under the title ‘Malaysia’s sexiest man — photos‘.
7. Which brings us to the present development. I believe that we’ve attained the critical mass to evolve into a forum.
My blog stats:
- This blog has passed 1 million hits (I’ve got 1.27 million page views to date), so alpha status lah
- I’ve moderated more than 20,000 comments submitted here
- Alexa, which measures international web traffic, puts this blog in the region of the top 1,000 to 2,000 most popularly visited websites in Malaysia. (Note: Alexa ranking, like stock market quotations, moves up and down daily.)
- Since my material is popularly lifted, it’s fair to consider this blog an opinion leader in sopo cyberspace.
8. Najib has labelled GE13 as “Malaysia’s first social media election”.
The folks manning the BN war room should make a note of the following Star article (screenshot below). The MCA-owned newspaper had promoted some of its favourite MPs and state assemblymen who use social media.
Twitter personalities recommended by The Star to be worth your time are ALL Pakatan politicians. There is not a single BN man in the Star list.
9. You may have noticed that in the last couple of days I’ve incorporated output from other blogs – Ellese’s blog, Amri Yunos’s blog – instead of featuring my own original writing which is the usual practice.
I shall also be putting up the remarks by ‘Conrad’ and Anon sourced from this blog’s own Comment section, coming up next.
10. I’m tired. I want my time back.
Therefore, I’m inviting you all to play in the sandbox as you guys have actually got a greater variety of discourse to get out into the public domain.
Hence this is a notice that good reader comments will be regarded as contributions to be shared and anyone wishing to spotlight particular issues can drop me a line in the Comments.
Only please don’t accuse Datuk X or Tan Sri Y of corruption unless you can furnish proof, in which case you should contact the MACC. But otherwise, some of the stuff that regular commenters have pointed out – thoughtfully and most articulately – should indeed be highlighted.
I encourage those who are able to, to write in Malay, as you will enjoy a bigger readership. Nonetheless English is fine too.
Thanks all.
Helen Ang 
Dear Helen,
Even-though I prefer to read your postings rather than putting comment (sometime I did), reformatting your blog may be a good way to share the truth.
Don’t worry. The commenters are high quality and the points they’ve raised thought-provoking.
Taking this path will enable everyone to access a wider cross-section of views – e.g. I hate N’Sync and Fakin’ Fake Calvin chatting about car prices and public transport – than just reading my opinions.
Anyway, those still wishing to read my stuff can always trawl through the archives. Plenty of old postings.
I think you can ADD a Reader’s Inbox or separate page rather than giving up the flow on your regular postings. The draw to this blog is your perspectives and opinions. We are just the ocassional coffee shop chatters. That way, your comment section can remain brief while those with tendencies to vomit gallons of rants can fill up the bytes in a different section. Just hope that it won’t be an echo chamber.
I have actually hopped around a few blogs recently to try and find DAP infested online waterholes (chinese or english), but I am not keen on registrations. Do what you think best and those who would like to organize their thoughts into a coherent piece can engage each other further in a separate page. Afterall, the point is about tapping into the larger network of netizens.
Let’s give this forum idea a try. I’ll just add on with visuals or photos.
Which are the DAP infested online waterholes (aside from the news portals)? Do tell! :)
http://www.themalaysianinsider.com/malaysia/article/bns-tengku-adnan-admits-pakatan-leading-social-media-battle
Scoured them via blog-tals. Since the days when the blogosphere fractured along linguistic lines (as well as so-pol – non-so-pol divide), the majority are still private journals, mostly.
Perhaps a section where readers can start a thread with a proper subject heading. As such visitors can drop by to read Helen’s “rants” & at the same time join in whatever thread that tickles their fancy. I believe moderation is still necessary though, to ensure the discourse stays on track & to cut out any crass comments that adds nothing of value.
Readers who wish to start a thread or a topic can leave a comment as per normal, stating such. Then up to me whether to move the request up to the main posting platform if it’s of sufficient interest.
Even if it stays in comments, you guys can still have your side discussion, like you did with I-hate-N’Sync on Cars.
As for format, I’d prefer going along the line of single narrative (main posting which appears in my blog RSS as subscribed by other blogs that carry my live feed, e.g. Rocky’s) rather double-tracking, i.e. my ‘rants’ and a separate section for readers.
Reason for this development is that I really want to take a step back. It is too tiring to rant.
So many radar monitoring you, I guess its a honour or burden?
I’ve also been dropped from some ‘quasi govt’ (read: political operative) blogrolls, probably due to my recent calling MCA “dinosaurs” and “extinct”. So I’m no longer perceived as being BN-friendly enough.
But at least the BN side, despite my current negativity on them (MCA mostly), don’t personally attack me unlike the pro-Pakatan apparatchiks.
because they know it’s true Helen.. as much as they hate to admit it, MCA has done nothing to save themselves and if you, as a political observer can make such observation, what else is there left to say?
Y’see, there’s so much and extend that these quasi govt blogrolls can help to repair the MCA’s image but if they, themselves not doing much, i assume they think that MCA is not eager or keen to redeem themselves.
Do whatever you want with this blog of yours, its your prerogative and right, and I am not bothered the least.
Only refrain from raising the ire of the Soldiers of Allah with that underhanded demeaning reference to our Holy Prophet (pbuh and Hf) in (1) above. The same type peddled by anti-Muslim scumbags.Otherwise, the consequences could be dire indeed.
Kak Helen… Keep up the excellent job… :)
Thanks.
Helen, actually I share your sentiment towards the STAR regarding their endless not-so-subtle ‘promotion’ of DAP politicians in their papers.
I am also as perplexed as you as to why the MCA owned main stream media seemingly has not tried hard enough to promote MCA own leader(s). The irony is, Dapsters cybertroopers endlessly thrash the STAR for being the mouthpiece of MCA and BN.
Well, I am not surprised that the STAR editors are following your blog. Good for you!
Helen it will be great if you can open a forum for what we would like to see from BN manifesto….
What kind of forum you’d like bro, or maybe you can elaborate more of your political leanings, please feel welcome in this blog to express.