A I S E H M A N . O R G

Sorry to say this but I guess it because of the demographics and level of mentality in kampung kerinci, pantai dalam itself.

You don't exactly get intelligensias staying in that area but I assure you that most of them are well versed in the latest gossips of Mawi and URTV and Mangga copies are literally flying off the shelves there.

As for Kampung Baru, its such a waste of heritage. My late grandfather used to stay there before independence and my dad grew up there. Then it was the hotbed of Malay nationalism and intelligensias.

Nowadays, its the hotbed of Mat ganjas and Rempits.

I dont think its the issue of language but more an issue of wanting to think and to use their braincells to contemplate on other important things than whose gonna win the next Akademi Fantasia and making the telco doing the sms contest laughing all the way to the bank.

I am non-bumi and I would like to read more Bahasa bloggers. I read the bahasa version of Malaysiakini and Star online and RPK's Malaysia-today.

However honestly, I have yet to read one decent web page in Bahasa much less a blog. Most Bahasa comentators are also not worth paying attention to with their zealous pro-Malay and pro-government or pro-Islam stance rather than critical thinking. All the decent writing of good Malay thinkers are in English...

Can't help agreeing with you, tron, especially about the Mawi and Mangga/URTV thing. These people can spend hundreds on those mags, stupid reality show SMSes, and even a karaoke machine (my bloody neighbour upstairs, for example, has one, and has been harassing my ears with her terrible (understatement) singing day in and day out) - but unwilling to shed the same kind of money for education, or at the very least, a bloody computer or a book!

tron.
HR's point is clear.
Change has to be effective where it matters too.
Mastery of LANGUAGE is utmost important.
Any language when and where it matters.

For the shift of paradigm, the whole nation's gotta be on the train. There will be laggards, but then even in jinjang, kerinchi, kampung baru, renggit, kampung new zealand, lenggok, kulai, prai.... there are gems of gems.

no one is born in whichever condition he is now. social culture, religion embedment, identity forming, peers and environment, tabiat cikgu sekolah.... blah blah blah.

HR has just struck the right cord with the right chord.
I am going to make a start. I have been at the Cari Forum but never commented for I always leave with a wretched feel seeing the comments by religious bigots of all kinds.

I see your point about the level of mental. BUT THEN.
Get Up. Stand Up. The Pak Lah era may just be the era where orang Malaysia wake up. He's left open spaces, let's ensure the level thinking amongst us all use them well and not let the bigots of any kind (politikus, relgionists) fill em.

As someone always announced on air, "Stay Blessed, Malaysia". Let us all ensure we shower our daily blessings too.

Just don't end up years from now blaming god. Enough is enough. Do what you can for our children's future.

Chinese saying:
"When it dies,
a tiger leaves its skin,
but a man, his name."

Kesimpulannya - adakah manusia Melayu yang menerajui kerajaan negara ini sanggup atau mahu mewujudkan satu bangsa Malaysia, tanpa dilihat dari segi kaum atau agama? Jawapannya, buat masa ini, tentunya tidak.

I'm generally more comfortable articulating myself in English. Nevertheless, H.R.'s thesis is clear. To effect change, change has to be aimed where it's needed most, in a language best understood by the target demographic.

Justeru itu, marilah kita menyahut cabaran saudara Hishamudin, dan cuba sedaya upaya meningkatkan daya penyampaian bahasa melayu kita - sungguhpun ia pasti memeningkan kepala kita yang kian lama berfikir dalam bahasa Inggeris.

Like me...

You are right ... and wrong Aisehman. I know a few malay bloggers with considerable readership like Mackzul are writing in english not because they cannot do so in malay. It is because they are writing for their readers who are more familiar with english. You need to also know that many internet savvy people are more comfortable with articulating their points in english. The Kerinchi and Kampong Baru crowd may surf the internet but are more likely to focus on 'artis melayu bogel' and the likes. It all about mentality and that is something blogs will find hard to change.

Somehow I feel the English language can convey my thoughts better: saya bermimpi dalam bahasa inggeris, menyumpah, memaki, bahkan bersenggama dalam bahasa inggeris. Walaubagamanapun, saya cuma menganggap kebolehan berbahasa inggeris sebagai satu kemahiran yang boleh dimiliki oleh semua orang - gila mawi atau tidak - kerana bahasa adalah kebolehan semulajadi manusia.

Memang, jika kita ingin mendekati Melayu, kebolehan menguasai bahasa Melayu amat penting. Lee Kuan Yew fasih berbahasa Melayu dan bahasa Indonesia. Begitu juga Chin Peng (Chin who?).

saya amatlah tidak bersetuju dengan saudari Aishah. Kita tidak boleh memperagakan idea-idea bobrok dengan mengatakan bahawa masyarakat Kerinchi dan Kampung Baru lebih tertumpu dengan artis melayu bogel. Saya yang telah lapuk bertahun-tahun di laman maya ini masih dan telah tercari-cari blog-blog melayu yg cuba untuk mengubah mentaliti orang-orang melayu seperti Mat Jeff. Jika tidak disajikan dengan makanan yang lazat maka masyarakat akan mencari sampah sarap (artis melayu bogel). Adalah janggal utk saudara Aishah untuk menyatakan bahawa Makzul menulis Bahasa Inggeris kerana pembaca-pembaca akan canggung dengan Bahasa Melayu? Ini kerana dasar pendidikan yang telah menerap kemestian penguasaan bahasa Melayu telah gagal? Ini sebenarnya adalah persoalan hendak atau tidak. Oh, saya masih boleh menulis dan memahami Bahasa Melayu dengan baik . Berikan saja saya bahan-bahan blog bahasa melayu pasti akan dicernakan dengan baik. Aisehman, kenapa tanya mengapa tiada Matt Jeff, tapi mana Mat Aiseh?

Yes Aishah

But there are diligent Malay eyeballs at cariforum for instance - lacking intelligible topics they flow back to bickerism. When the going gets tough, everyone hides behind the shield of religion making further banter 'sensitive' or inflaming more.

The confusion of malay=muslim adds to it. Whenever you talk about something malay then religion props itself up and thus... Non-Malays will be able to converse at ease on Malay issues if without the overhanging cloud of religion.

(Side track a bit:
Just when I typed non-Malays, it struck me about 'Malays' who leaves Islam - what race will they become? Surely they don't lose their keMelayuan. That's extremely cruel to say they do. If UMNO just focus on the Malay aspect without religion qualifications, I am sure by and far the qualified members will be humungous and global. Then no need to import 'Melayu' celup from Pakistan and elsewhere. And then this beautiful race will shineforth again. A smiling race. An enduring face. Unburdened by political religionism.)

Let me start by saying that we could certainly don't need Mat Jeffs. For Jeff Ooi isn't exactly the role model one should strive to emulate.

We need to accept the fact that not everyone is interested in politics, especially among the young generation. This is true not only in Malaysia but elsewhere as well.But that does not make our youths any less intelligent or patriotic. People like HR should not claim to intelectual high ground just because he is interested in politics and reform and look down on others who don't.

But that does not mean that intelligent and passionate discussion in BM does not happen in the web. Go visit forums such as Gempur Wira and some of the auto sites, you will see pretty interesting & knowledgeable discussions going on. Some of the discussion in Gempur Wira for example involves topics such as economics, international politics,etc.

i'm sure once upon a time, before the "blogging revolution" the english speaking internet savvy crowd was mainly looking "pamela anderson tommy lee video". Wait, "tammy nyp" was only like last month?

I don't think HR was expecting the whole of kg baru/kerinchi to all of a sudden become enlightened beings. But as long as we can sedarkan a makhluk or two, isn't that something?

Anyhows, HR wasn't saying that we write in Bahasa because it is convenient for them and hopefully they would read and understang.

He's just trying to say that as long as we all discuss higher ideas/ideals in english, don't expect the majority to follow you.

Whether they are plain dumb or arrogant or silly or shallow is another question altogether.

Sadly, the people that actually hold the power to change (rempit/kgbaru/kerinchi/felda/guamusang) are shackled by sms/mawi/af/umno/mastika/mangga.

That's the problem.

Politicians everywhere know the value of playing to the gallery. That should explain the keris-waving stunt pulled by the leader of educators and education not too long ago. So long as those in the middle of the bell curve allow themselves be titilated by the antics of self-serving politicos who have mastered the art of feeding the masses what they want, the status quo will remain ... with blogsters and those on the sidelines doing what they do best - preach to the converted

FACT:why wud any decently educated malay chose to rather express him/herself in an english medium?

cos if u want to be heard this is where the bucks stop. msians tune to people like jeff or aisehmen or johan (allahyarham) for their daily doses of msian reality (or to escape this sad reality for that matter)

HR's Musings: So why not another Mat Jeff??

The one that makes THE DIFFERENCE. Rather than dwelling upon the "why" - lets start the ball rolling - probably this is what HR is trying to point out - get with the program!! Yeah point taken - but malay-related chauvinism notwithstading- if we can't shatter the bahasa melayu barrier for the sake of some true-to-the-heart honest-to-goodness true blue bonafide in malay blogging expression - then its back to STATUS QUO!!

We have to start somewhere and thanks to HR we dont have reinvent the wheel - just a bandwagon to jump on

Finally, the sorry state of bahasa melayu as it is used across the net - smacks of bigotry, fanaticism, keris waving chauvinism, self-serving agenda and where bahasa msia "creative writing" concerns u cud check most free classfied ads - chock full of lame-ass "pasar" version of our beloved bahasa kebangsaan in all its glory

(mostly abt those ridiculusly stupid RM3K-a-day earning skim-cepat-kaya postings anyway).

Wanna make a difference??

we shud now be sick n tired of being in the company of the same sick and tired

BM is being used everywhere and by every race. without the usage of BM how can the other races survive if they don't have a common language? it is just sad to note that politicians don't realize its the language that unites the people. as some of our readers have commented here, our official language that is being used by the mainstream media smacks of bigotry and racism at times. but as far as i am concern the usage of BM for everyday use among the non-malay community is a great thing especially with the chinese and indians. go to your typical mamak or indian restaurant and see how the other races communicate with the people working there. everyone uses BM. it's weird to hear english being spoken in these places when it comes to ordering your foodstuff. :P

juz my 2 senz worth

and that's why radiq radio, malaysia's first online community radio is largely in malay although run by former journalists in the english medium. mahu ceburi? mahu jadi wartawan bebas untuk masyarakat/komuniti anda? rujuk www.radiq.org

Hey I write in Malay! Wah I'm so proud of suddenly jadi one of the intelligensias... but I guess I'm not lah, since I've never heard of such word before. Lol anyways, I won't be reporting anything bout Kampung Baru lah.. though their nasik air siam is still as good as it was when I was a kid.....

mungkin tidak terlalu lambat utk memberi komen.

revolusi blog dalam bahasa melayu sebenarnya sudah pun bermula di malaysia. mungkin mereka yang bertikam lidah dan menuduh perkembangannya masih di tahap infansi, tidak cukup luas menelaah medium siber ini lagi.

janganlah sinonimkan Kampung Kerinchi & Pantai Dalam dengan kejumudan. mereka yang tinggal di situ bukannya penduduk tetap. ramai darinya pengembara yang singgah sementara, untuk belajar atau bekerja. ia bukan situasi sebenar.

usaha perlu lebih lagi untuk memajukan diri. tapi mereka yang pandai memberi komen di sini ada kah buat keringat untuk membantu? kalau cakap lebih dari aksi, sendiri mau ingatlah kan.