Blogging In Malaysia

Ever since the conclusion of Malaysia’s 12th General Election, a lot of attention was placed on bloggers. The government partly blamed the bloggers for disseminating incorrect information which led to their reduced majority. Many less informed,misinformed or ignorant politicians, group all bloggers together, as if all bloggers are the same! Some even have the audacity to call for censor or banning blog sites. Some times you really wonder whether you should laugh or not.

No wonder the politicians lost ground. If they have tried to pay attention and understand what do bloggers really do, then they would not make statements that reflect their ignorance. Mind you, public statements define your thoughts and view point. So if it doesn’t make sense, you will lose respect and credibility because people can see that you don’t understand what you are talking about.

Bloggers blog about their happiness, frustrations, their ups and downs and also their passion. Some people blog to share their view point. Some blog to share their experience in certain matters such as making money online etc. One thing is certain though, each post is a potential debatable topic, depending on your readers.

After the election, many politicians started to blog. Of course its better to be late than never but do they really understand what’s a blog? Blogging can be used as a good political tool but are they capable of share issues HONESTLY with the people? Can they take criticism hurled at their face? Or will it be censored because the feedback was deemed too sensitive?

Blog readers are only interested in content and when the publisher is honest and sincere in their posts and contribution. If the post is cold and politically right, then the blog will lose its readers very fast because they might as well read the newspaper. What readers are interested are your thoughts, your experience and your feels towards something. If politicians have to be politically right and censor their posts and reader’s comments frequently, then I’m sure its going to fail.

Political blogs are filled with no holds barred discussion and debate on issues relating to the country. So if the politicians have to tow the party’s line and are not engaged in discussions, then its better not to start one. An interesting example, Lim Kit Siang made a public statement for Perak’s DAP to boycott the swearing in ceremony of the state chief minister. Immediately, his blog received angry responds from his loyal readers about his foolish statement. These comments were not deleted or censored.

Can Barisan’s politician handle such criticism and openly discuss issues pertaining to the country? Or will they pull out their Ace and claim that its sensitive issue, not subject to discussion. Ha ha…its like an ostrich hiding its head in the sand when they sense danger.

Good luck to the politicians in the dangerous jungle of the world wide web.