Writer of the Harry Potter books J.K. Rowling was subjected to “vitriolic online abuse” for disagreeing with the political agenda of Scottish National Party supporters.
“A stream of vicious comments on Twitter” called her, among other nasty names – a “traitor to Scotland”, “Blairite scum” and “an arch-unionist propagandist, feeding a river of hatred”.
Rowling was also accused of having “spewed venom” and being a piece of “shite’.
Source: JK Rowling speaks out over Twitter abuse that crossed ‘personal line’ (The Guardian, 9 May 2015)
J-Star says: “Hate-spewing, divisive, race-obsessed ignoramuses”
In Malaysia, we know the supporters of WHICH political party it is that make the most vitriolic, vicious, vituperative comments in cyberspace. They are also the Malaysian Firsters.
Meanwhile, people who are not Malaysian Firsters are called “hate-spewing, divisive, race-obsessed ignoramuses” by the J-Star editorials. The EvangeliSTARs are the Malaysian First mouthpiece.
Their favourite words and phrases such as “spewing venom” – of which they accuse others as guilty of, when it is really they themselves who need to look in the mirror – is quite characteristic of the abusive and aggressive bullying personality type.
Can they ever be at peace with Islam?
Other favourite labels they like to stick on others are “bigots” and “haters”.
Again, when these Malaysian Firsters accuse other people (usually Perkasa and Isma are targetted), these self-righteous bunch should check if three fingers are pointing back at themselves when they accuse others of bigotry and hate.
“A classic example of ‘Cakap tak Serupa Bikin….’ After all, Malaysia Firsters are known for their hypocrisy. They wear the hijab, but inside them they hate Islam“.
It’s time for the besieged victims to stand up to the Malaysian Firster bullies. Say ‘No’ to cyberbullying.
Helen Ang 
I was able to read the full report (“Rowling stands up to online bullies”) from The Guardian that was published in the Singapore Straits Times today.
Rowling was the target of “a stream of vicious comments on Twitter…” with choice epithets such as “traitor to Scotland”, “Blairite scum” and “an arch-unionist propagandist, feeding a river of hatred”.
In a series of responses, she included the following: ” This week, though, my personal line has been crossed with being called traitor… I feel no responsibility to hush up that kind of behaviour to protect the image of any political party. It isn’t always fun being a famous woman on Twitter and I believe in standing up to bullies.”
“Standing up to bullies” – does that strike a chord? Like, for example, with Hannah Yeoh, Wong Chun Wai, the “Dapsters” and the “evangelistas” who have been the targets of vicious comments and repeated vilifications in this and other rightwing blogs.
And if they “stand up to online bullies”, as Rowling has done, are they wrong? Why should bullies be tolerated just because they come from the right side of the political divide or because they have other intrinsic factors in their favour?
I suggest you take the time to read the full Guardian report and think on how Rowling responded to her online critics, instead of picking and choosing the bits that suit your agenda.
re: “I was able to read the full report (‘Rowling stands up to online bullies’) from The Guardian that was published in the Singapore Straits Times today.”
Well, even my readers who don’t live in S’pore could have read it direct from The Guardian. The link is included in my copy above.
re: “Rowling was the target of “a stream of vicious comments on Twitter…” with choice epithets such as ‘traitor to Scotland’, ‘Blairite scum’ and ‘an arch-unionist propagandist, feeding a river of hatred’.” / “In a series of responses, she included the following: ” This week, though, my personal line has been crossed with being called traitor… I feel no responsibility to hush up that kind of behaviour to protect the image of any political party. It isn’t always fun being a famous woman on Twitter and I believe in standing up to bullies.”
So the British have their Dapsters too.
re: “‘Standing up to bullies’ – does that strike a chord?”
Hell ya. Look how’s the DAP SuperCyber Bully? Imagine people holding the top political offices in their state bullying ppor reporters. I’ve got other screenshots of Hannah bullying other reporters from other papers too.
re: “Like, for example, with Hannah Yeoh, Wong Chun Wai, the “Dapsters” and the “evangelistas” who have been the targets of vicious comments and repeated vilifications in this and other rightwing blogs.”
Oh really. Is there anyone here who calls Hannah Yeoh a “bitch” like her fan club calls me in other blogs (you know which ones). Is there anyone here who has ever used the ‘f’ word on Hannah like her fan club uses most liberally on me in blogsphere.
Has anyone ever told a lie about Hannah in my blog? If anyone did, she’s be very quick to sue or make a police report. After all, she even threatened to make a police report against anyone innocently mistaking her for a Muslim convert.
As for Wong Chun Wai, look up his column archives and see how he calls people “idiots” and “pathetic lot” who accept “gibberish” to be shoved down their throat. See, https://helenang.wordpress.com/2014/08/04/is-wong-chun-wai-attacking-isma-again/
The Sunday Star has got a readership of 1,175,000. Guan Eng has got dozens of Special Officers and Hannah has got her many Personal Assistants who job it is to respond to the bad press that their bosses are getting.
Independent bloggers are all alone with no support, no resources and the blog is their only platform. We don’t have any mainstream media channels. This is a great power imbalance. Who is bullying whom? Mind you, the Dapsters are online virtual ‘gangsters’ and the evangelistas are fanatics.
re: “And if they ‘stand up to online bullies’, as Rowling has done, are they wrong?”
They evangelistas are the biggest bullies in Malaysia.
re: “Why should bullies be tolerated just because they come from the right side of the political divide or because they have other intrinsic factors in their favour?”
Why do you think the Malays feel besieged and their religion to be under siege? It’s because the evangelistas are bullies.
re: “I suggest you take the time to read the full Guardian report and think on how Rowling responded to her online critics, instead of picking and choosing the bits that suit your agenda.”
Rowling’s critics accused her of spewing venom. It’s like a thief pointing his finger at another fella and accusing “thief’.
The people who do that best in Malaysia are the evangelistas. They accuse others of being “racists”, “extremists”, “bigots” and “haters” when it is they themselves who are guilty of racism, extremism, bigotry and hate.
“They(sic) evangelists are the biggest bullies in Malaysia”.
Really?
“Freedom of religion” and “freedom to propagate your faith” are abhorrently alien concepts to you, it seems.
Unilateral conversions are kosher? Among other things.
And if people push back against the above, they are “racists”, “extremists”, “bigots” and “haters”?
That’s a warped argument any which way you look at it.
re: ” ‘Freedom of religion’ and ‘freedom to propagate your faith’ are abhorrently alien concepts to you, it seems.”
The law does not allow Christians to propagate their faith to Muslims. If this prohibition is abhorrent to you, then change the law. Pakatan has a 4/5 majority in Selangor and more than 2/3 in Penang. So why don’t the Pakatan Aduns amend or abolish the S’gor and Pg enactments that restrict proselytization?
You voted for Pakatan who promised you freedom of this and that. So what are they doing about it? Instead it is the Bible Society that was compelled to relocate their office from Petaling Jaya to KL b’cos the FT does not have that same prohibition.
re: “Unilateral conversions are kosher?”
Whether Muslims are allowed to leave their faith is up for debate – you have to read Islam’s own eminent jurists.
Christianity underwent Reformation / Renaissance. If you desire Islam to relax its fundamentalism, then what are your people – the tudung-wearing Hannah Yeohs, the “Insya Allah”-invoking Ong Kian Mings, the Occupy Masjid DAP evangelistas – who camp in the mosques and suraus (for opportunity to stir empty pots for photo ops) doing about it to nudge Muslims in the ‘freedom’ direction that you’re clamouring for?
re: “And if people push back against the above, they are “racists”, “extremists”, “bigots” and “haters”?”
It is the evangelistas who call the Malays “racists” and “extremists” and call the Muslims “bigots” and “haters”. Yes, really and indeed – I do think that it is the evangelical Christians in Malaysia who are bullying the Malays and Muslims.
re: “That’s a warped argument any which way you look at it.”
The warped argument comes from your side of the divide – Bak Kut Teh is not pork and Alvin Tan did not mean to offend but was trying to build bridges for racial harmony. That’s the way the evangelistas look at it.
Laws are man-made, not divinely inspired.
It’s a brave person who claims that he or she knows the heart and mind of God and is privy to His thoughts.
“My thoughts are not your thoughts, my ways are not your ways”..that ring a bell?
Let’s not even talk about “inferiority complexes” and a permanent sense of “victimization”. Something that ISIS/IS manipulates very cleverly.
Since you’re clamouring for equal opportunity in preaching and converting lost souls, then you have to change the law. The man-made Selangor Non-Islamic Religions (Control of Propagation Among Muslims) Enactment 1988 has to be amended.
Pakatan has 4/5 majority in the Selangor legislature and not to mention that the assembly is presided over by a notorious evangelista. Just do it lah.
That’s a convenient attempt to pass the buck.
Has Malaysia signed and ratified the UN Declaration of Human Rights, which, among other things, specifies “freedom of religion” as a universal human right?
I could pass the buck back to you and ask why doesn’t the Federal government do the necessary, including amending the relevant parts of the Constitution?
After all, isn’t that what a parliamentary democracy is all about?
But it won’t happen because there will be the mother of all backlashes!
You should read the text of Singapore PM Lee Hsien Loong’s speech yesterday to the Singapore Inter-Religious Organisation.
The Muslims are BN voters while the Christians are Pakatan voters.
BN controls the federal government while Pakatan controls Penang and Selangor. Since the unhappy Christians are in Penang and Selangor, then it is the state governments of these two Pakatan-controlled states that ought to be proactive and do the necessary.
Federal versus State. That should be an interesting constitutional conundrum.
I wonder how it can be resolved.
“Is there anyone here who calls Hannah Yeoh a “bitch” like her fan club calls me in other blogs (you know which ones). Is there anyone here who has ever used the ‘f’ word on Hannah like her fan club uses most liberally on me in blogsphere.”
Probably not literally, but there has been many unsavoury comments and remarks made in this blog, both by you and your readers. Not to mention your still-incomprehensible near 24/7 coverage of Hannah.
“They evangelistas are the biggest bullies in Malaysia.”
Nonsense. They do not have the state apparatus at their disposal. Rather, we see certain fanatics such as Isma and Perkasa trying to force their religious and racial supremacist ideologies down the throats of everyone, believers and non-believers alike.
“Independent bloggers are all alone with no support, no resources and the blog is their only platform. We don’t have any mainstream media channels. This is a great power imbalance”
Well, you seem to be quite pro-Barisan Nasional, which happens to be the party currently in power. They have strong control of the mainstream media, including The Star newspaper who is tasked with portraying a moderate face of Barisan Nasional.
re: “Probably not literally …”
Of course not. We jaga standard here – my blog is not profanity-laced.
re: “Not to mention your still-incomprehensible near 24/7 coverage of Hannah.”
Mama Dapster is the face of the evangelistas.
re: “They evangelistas are the biggest bullies in Malaysia.” / “Nonsense. They do not have the state apparatus at their disposal.”
But you and I are agreed that the BN is incompetent and the DAP is almost in total control of new media. To quote your own words, “Millions and millions of ringgit spent on an army of ineffectual bloggers.”
re: “Rather, we see certain fanatics such as Isma and Perkasa trying to force their religious and racial supremacist ideologies down the throats of everyone, believers and non-believers alike.”
Perkasa was only formed after the 2008 election results. Isma came to prominence only in the last couple of years. Both are reactions to the evangelist extremists.
re: “Well, you seem to be quite pro-Barisan Nasional, which happens to be the party currently in power.”
BN is the underdog and sinking like a rock. Like the Tuns (M & Daim), I also fear that BN will lose the next general election.
re: “They have strong control of the mainstream media, including The Star newspaper who is tasked with portraying a moderate face of Barisan Nasional.”
Sokongan membawa rebah, Gunting dalam lipatan, Musang berbulu ayam, Api dalam sekam, Duri dalam daging.
I suggest that you also peruse the AFP report “Iran signals new approach to control the news” (published in the Singapore Straits Times today).
According to the report, Iran’s culture minister Ali Jannati said that “the Internet and the proliferation of satellite technology mean Iran can no longer control foreign news and television broadcasts…”. He told police commanders that “new delivery systems ignore borders, making censorship measures redundant”.
In his words, as reported: “In the past, through pressuring the media or guiding the information, we could direct public news and take control of it….But today the scene has changed dramatically. Controlling the media is no longer possible technically or geographically.”
The report noted that “Iran is a technologically wired country with a youthful population, more than half of whom are under the age of 30. Smartphone use is very high and millions of homes have satellite dishes and receivers that capture and decode signals from foreign news and entertainment channels.”
The culture minister said “that with 4,500 satellite channels received in Iran, the authorities needed to adopt a new approach based not on censorship, but on production to get their message across”.
In his words again: “The news moves quickly and there is no way anyone can stop or control it…it cannot be governed….”
And as the report noted: “Social networks such as Twitter and Facebook remain banned in Iran and thousands of websites are filtered by the authorities. However, millions of Iranians reach such sites using relatively inexpensive and easily available illegal software”.
See the parallels with Malaysia? A young population, a technologically wired country with the spread of broadband Internet access, very high use of smartphones and an increasingly social media-savvy generation, with the corresponding decline of traditional mainstream media.
The Opposition has cottoned on to this pretty quickly. The government, on the other hand, seems to be stuck with a predilection to censorship (Jakim, Puspal etc) and moral policing which is simply not working.
Agree with you about the opposition dominating social media and cyberspace. That’s why they’re able to be such bullies.
The BN supporters in the rural areas, Felda settlers and those living in the interior. Not so wired and not so sophisticated (sneaky) in Internet polemics.
So, are you agreeing with the Iran Culture Minister in this area?
As for the rural folks, the Felda settlers and those living in the interior of Sabah and Sarawak being on the losing side of the “digital divide” – whose fault is it?
The Alliance/BN federal governments that have been in power since 1957? Clueless ministers and bureaucrats? A failure to keep up with developments in the cyber world?
So, it is not about being “sneaky”, but making the best use of the tools at your disposal.
re: “As for the rural folks, the Felda settlers and those living in the interior of Sabah and Sarawak being on the losing side of the “digital divide” – whose fault is it?”
If you will read the First and Second Malaya Plans, you will realise that immediately post-Independence, the majority of the Malays were still farmers and fishermen and small holders (planting of cash crops).
They were also not town dwellers and the country was largely an agrarian economy aside from the plantation sector which gave profits to the British big rubber estate owners. Our country has progressed by leaps and bounds in the last five decades. Malaysia is a great success story in terms of dragging the indigenous population into the modern economy.
And Felda was a good scheme for the landless.
As for “being on the losing side of the digital divide”, it depends on the individual’s priorities in life, something which the city slicker or Singapore worshipper may not comprehend. Do they really want to be tweeting idiocies 24/7 like Madame Speaker.
BELOW: Hannah Yeoh on Facebook checking her Twitter when the S’gor assembly was in session
re: “The Alliance/BN federal governments that have been in power since 1957? Clueless ministers and bureaucrats? A failure to keep up with developments in the cyber world?”
The BN people are simply not as ruthless, vicious and sneaky as the DAP and PKR people. That’s all.
re: “So, it is not about being ‘sneaky’, but making the best use of the tools at your disposal.”
Ultra kiasu – just like what the Dapsters’ Public Enemy No.1 said.
Good excuses, but what a condescending attitude you display.
Are you implying that rural folk, Felda dwellers etc should be permanently consigned to the “information underclass”, because that’s better left to the “city slickers”?
Sorry, but that excuse just doesn’t cut it.
And you don’t agree about there being “clueless ministers and bureaucrats”? I would have thought that the competitiveness rankings say it all.
Unless you are in denial, that is.
What’s so great about being in the information loop if the manifestation is something like Dandy, who stalks my blog 24/7? He should get a life.
I don’t have Twitter and I shut down my Facebook last year. No loss. And those you call “the information underclass” are better off, unless the person has a strong political agenda to want to engage in hostilities in cyberspace.
Dapsters and evangelistas evidently do, as they want to topple the regime and take over power.
The pro-establishment people are not so motivated to defend the regime so there is no reason for them to be fanatical Netizens like the Dapsters and evangelistas are.
In other words, the pro-establishment people are digital Neanderthals or troglodytes?
That seems to be obvious, given the prevalence of the “under tempurung” syndrome in the country.
You may have the luxury of boycotting or ignoring the Internet, cyberspace and the social media. That’s your call.
But don’t fault others for latching on to the Internet and social media bandwagons.
Including those in the government who are desperately trying to promote the country as investor-friendly with state-of-the-art infrastructure.
re: “But don’t fault others for latching on to the Internet and social media bandwagons.”
I’m not faulting Pakatan for controlling the Internet and social media. I’m blaming the BN for allowing it (the gross imbalance) to happen. Pakatan’s dominance and the lopsidedness of the current engagement by political players and operatives has allowed the DAP to become Super CyberBullies.
The “incompetence” of the apparatchiks?
I suppose they will be equally clueless about cyber security, data analytics, big data, the “Internet of things” and suchlike.
Maybe our much-vaunted education system is to blame?
And it is largely the fault of Barisan Nasional for allowing the alternative media and the opposition to dominate cyberspace. The Barisan Nasional rubbished the internet as a source of alternative viewpoints and news, continuing to rely upon traditional newspapers, radio, and television to spread its propaganda. Their entrance into cyberspace was only done after the 2008 general election. Even then, it has been greatly flawed. Millions and millions of ringgit spent on an army of ineffectual bloggers.
Of course, even a good cyber media and social media machine oiled by millions cannot cover up bad policies and ideologies.
re: “And it is largely the fault of Barisan Nasional for allowing the alternative media and the opposition to dominate cyberspace.”
Let them lose GE14 – deservedly – if they still refuse to buck up. Ambik lah ko.
“What’s so great about being in the information loop if the manifestation is something like Dandy, who stalks my blog 24/7? He should get a life.”
Then, do not complain when others make headway in that space while you stagnate. Say for instance, I decide that my company should not adopt information technology and modernise to achieve more efficient business processes. After all, what is the use of investing in IT when you have employees sending chain emails of cute cat photographs or diet tips? I should not whinge when my competitors plough ahead of me instead.
re: “cute cat photographs”
Hahaha.
BN should give the Dapster evangelistas a fight. But they’re too tidak apa.
Never mind. When they get kicked out of Putrajaya, then padan muka! (because it is the BN’s own fault for allowing the DAP to take control).
I mean my blog is harassed by cybertroopers (no, I don’t think you or Rithmatist are but I believe Dandy and the Alphabet Soup Man to be and which office they’re attached to). But pro-Pakatan blogs are not harassed by Umno/MCA cybertroopers.