Sajakkini

Elizabeth Wong : 13th Floor

You want the whole world to know of your silent suffering in the hands of the ex-boyfriend, girlfriend, hamster or employer.

You want your relatives to bear witness to your holiday photographic skills because your mother refuses to hang them in the living room.

You want to make friends and swap files with those who secretly fancy Buttercup.

You want to be Belle de Jour and get that publishing contract even if rejection letter #362 is staring at your face. Or maybe you just want to tell everyone how upset you were when you were forced to abandon your bacon sandwich five kilometres away from the school compound.

What do you do?

You blog.

Organised community

Blogging has been a global rage for a few years now and there are thousands of them in Malaysia alone (and many more voyeurs). Naturally, not everyone is in the class of Screenshots’ Jeff Ooi.

As unfair as the parallel may be, he’s turned into a cyber-‘Michael Chong’, minus the titillating innuendoes.

The ‘gangsters’ that he has targeted over the past years have been monopoly industries, media tycoons, incompetent bureaucrats and politicians. And we know this man has an aversion to Maxis’ chocolates.

So when Jalan Riong (1) decides to shift its anti-Screenshots campaign into high gear, denizens of the United Federation of Bloggers-Malaysia (UFB-M) were taken aback.

When bumbling politicians took the bait in exchange for their five minutes of fame, UFB-M rumbled. But when the Internal Security Act was thrown into the ring, UFB-M got very very angry.

Jalan Riong may not have realised this but UFB-M is an extensive, tightly-knit, highly intelligent and fairly organised community. Above all, they cherish a very fundamental value – freedom of expression – at least in blogosphere, that is. Trolls and flamers included.

ELIZABETH WONG has been involved in human rights since her student days in Sydney. She is currently the secretary-general of the National Human Rights Society (Hakam), a member of the Suaram secretariat and was a human rights fellow of Carnegie Council for Ethics and International Affairs (2002-03). ‘13th Floor‘ will attempt to look into the paradoxes and intricacies of democracy and politics. In her spare time, she revives her search for Dante (the lost cat). She is still leaving the option of playing guitar in a loud band open.

In a matter of days, an online petition was organised, bloggers were posting comments on their blogs and little ‘free Jeff’ graphics and blue ribbons were passed around - all these before seasoned activists even knew what was going on. In a matter of days, Screenshots rose in stature and became the ‘most influential’ blog in the country.

Unmasking of ‘Anwar’

While the powers-that-be may seem to have backed off for the moment and the fiasco has gone quiet, some prickly matters are still outstanding.

The fact the ‘Anwar’ has been hunted down by Mimos should be cause for concern. We have allowed this incident to snowball into a witch-hunt. As the latest events indicated, ‘Anwar’ may soon be charged with ‘incitement’.

The fundamental question is - ‘incitement’ of what and to what end?

The current logic of Jalan Riong, and subsequently the Minister of Energy, Water and Communications is this: No critique will be tolerated on the ruling government’s latest political product known as Islam Hadhari.

In the past, we have been used to merely labeling the competing interests as Umno’s Islam vs PAS’ Islam. Give it a catchy name, throw in some heavy marketing and overnight an Umno merchandise will rise to be part of the sacred and the profound.

No one can claim ignorance of the power and class differentials in the country. A ruling party politician makes a very public and racist speech with the protection (and approval) of the state.

An articulate and opinionated citizen who deletes an impolite opinion on his blog gets threatened with detention without trial. A blog commentator who colourfully illustrates the contradictions of a political party which is ridden with money politics - and yet propagates Islam Hadhari - may be behind bars.

The state claims to possess the sole right to interpretation in our private and public spheres - what we see, what we hear, how we interact and how we conduct ourselves even in our most private moments. What issue would then be considered ‘taboo’ or ‘sensitive’ now and in the future? Who decides and interprets online content?

Most importantly, what has happened to the Malaysian Internet version of the Bill of Rights aka MSC Bill of Guarantees which promised no censorship?

Today, if we allow ‘Anwar’ to be prosecuted without protest, which one of us will be next? Tomorrow could be Malaysians who blog in secret of their sexual experiences and relationships.

Next could be ‘Sultan Muzaffar’ because someone may decide that cross-gender interaction and singing together are terribly haram activities.

When the space for public opinion and participation lies stagnant in a cesspool, the desire and means to express oneself will increase and manifest in various forms such as blogs and graffiti.

This is perhaps one crucial area of debate that will go on for some time in blogosphere, even as it is increasing evident that our e-mail, blog comments and SMS-es are no longer private and confidential.

State of fear

Like it or not, freedom of expression ends when censorship begins, even if it’s self-censorship. No self-respecting blogger should have to tolerate having to mind their P’s and Q’s when it comes to fair comment.

When we start worrying whether the state will read our blogs or comments, when we begin contemplating having to use anonymizers or mask our IP addresses, we are no longer in a democracy but in a state of fear.

In the meantime, Jalan Riong could consider putting up their own blog. But oh dear … that’s already been taken up! Tough luck.

Here’s food for thought from Aizuddinanian.com before anyone considers coming down on another blogger:

“Why Malaysian Bloggers are Dangerous

1. Bloggers can spell ‘Jalan Riong’
2. Bloggers have opinions…
3. …and bloggers don’t really care who they upset
4. Bloggers are under no editorial control
5. It’s a wee bit difficult to ‘switch off’ the Internet
6. Bloggers are not paid a salary
7. Bloggers move in packs - mess with one and you end up messing with them all
8. Bloggers can (and often do) use ‘hyperlinks’
9. Bloggers don’t have to wait for tomorrow to report today’s news
10. There are almost 10 million Internet users in Malaysia and nearly 1 billion users worldwide

Now, that’s an audience.”

Bloggers … Live long and prosper!

Note:

Jalan Riong in Bangsar is the location of the New Straits Times group of companies, the publishers of New Straits Times and Berita Harian, among others.

Bloggers 1, Jalan Riong 0