In the aftermath of the TNB going after Hassan Skodeng for what to me is the lamest of excuses, there are calls by some people to unite the bloggers once more.
Some people sense that this is just the beginning as the Government bodies responsible for controlling online content is feeling its way into regulating the whole anarchic mess.
Honestly, I have never believed that it was possible to unite or control bloggers. Anyone can have a blog. Anyone. And that means millions, if not billions of different values, viewpoints, orientations and politics.
And if I am being truthful, I do not believe that it should be so. I do not believe that bloggers should be united under one body. Precisely for the same reason as preserving the said diversity.
What I do believe can, and should be done, is to unite some people who wish to do so, for some separate causes.
You put your foot where your mouth is la. Foot in mouth. Haha. Joke. Geddit? Maybe TNB didn't.
What I mean is, instead of just saying how things should be done, bloggers should go and do it. Fuck the politicians. Fuck the political parties. We know how that goes down. This side or that side, we're all screwed anyway.
It's our country, man. For now. It's our home. For now. We should go and shape it however we wish to.
And fuck just bloggers. You need numbers for this. You need the Twitter people, you need the Facebook people, you need the forumers, you need the armchair pundits AND the trolls.
Using social media, you can start lots of grassroot movements.
For what?
I don't know. Eradicate poverty. How? Exactly. Our politicians, even those who actually try, have very little idea.
Deal with the looming AIDS epidemic. How? You tell me.
Start a few things. Start small.
Collect used books, and some funds for Ikea shelves. Take a weekend, get those books and shelves to an orphanage.
You go back to your hometown or village during Raya. List down what's wrong with it, and come back and try to set it right. Figure it out.
My village, for example, has very little economic opportunities. People don't have jobs. They have land, and they have skills and strength. What they need, perhaps, is better management.
A co-op like in India which collects milk from a few hundred million cows.
If everyone plants papayas, and somebody approaches Kuantan hotels and promise to supply X amount after Y period, and when Y - 2 weeks is approaching, that person needs a one-tonne lorry to collect all the papayas.
If Proton or Perodua or Modenas or Naza needs to start up service centers, what they can do is hold a 10-day course in Kuantan, for people who have nothing and want to learn how to fix cars. With a pilot programme and on-the-job training, you can perhaps feed several families within a year.
Help the good ones set up franchises. Small workshops here and there. And let them teach the next generation. Have a share in their business. have a stake. maybe some need monitoring. I don't know.
Actually, I do know. I have been waiting to do all this for the past 10 years, but I don't have the money to make myself financially free.
Renewable sources of income, man. Set things up, let them fly. Or fall flat to the ground. And set up other shit.
Tourism. I can get you dozens of tourist guides who will take you on an adventure of a lifetime in Kuantan's swamps and jungles. It's pretty tough, motherfucker. Photography trips. Epicunerean tours - food tasting tours.
Kuantan has everything - hotels, chalets, paint-ball, hunting excursions, shooting ranges, beaches, extreme sports, cave spelunking, you name it.
I'm sure, if you look real hard, you'll find that your hometowns would have all these things anyway.
People always blame education, which to me is a cheap cop-out. How do you think these people are going to get edeucated and pull themselves out of poverty, if they go hungry? Can you study for an exam if you're hungry? Can you think straight, while you're fasting? And you expect these people, some of whom make RM400 a month for eight people, to make life-changing decisions, be cool about things and make 10 times what they earn and pull themselves out of poverty?
Fuck you!
They need education, yes, but they need the funds to actually benefit from education. They need fucking food, motherfucker.
I am not an advocate of giving these people money. That's just water off a duck's back. I believe that if we create jobs, employment and a means to make money, it would make all these other programmes and existing ones easier to achieve their targets.
I got off the top of my head, more than 30 different things I want to try out. Even if I do get to it, when I'm a fucking millionaire, most will fail. I know that. But if out of 10, one person makes something out of it legitimately, I would consider it a success.
Ah, but I digress. Strayed from my earlier point. Which is social media people.
Everyone who is on social media has money. Maybe not money to burn, but they are educated enough to wear a shirt and get out of the house and go to a cyber cafe or some shit. And fucking pay for Internet. They also have ideas. They have time. And they know rich people.
The resources that everyone can muster would be astounding. It is untapped, because most people only think about how they can manipulate these other people for their own agendas.
Here's my agenda:
I want to create a platform where normal, everyday people like me - well, I'm a genius, but to pretend to be humble, I'll let this go just once - can start taking care of our own backyards.
Fuck the politicians, fuck the NGOs. Fuck the political parties. Fuck the political parties disguised as NGOs. They all want to do things to look good. And get more money for themselves. And look where we at? Fuck you!
With a system in place, with a platform where people are free to either do shit, laze around or destroy everything, a natural anarchic order will rise. Our people can then choose to either be apathetic all the time, or when the moment comes, actually do something about their environment.
This is my revolution. This was.
Cause one day, I will die. And if I leave anything behind, I wanted it to be something like this. Applicable anarchy. No leaders. No politics. Just pure action. Cut the bullshit. Fuck the politicians.
In short, I do not believe an organisation of bloggers is the answer. Have never believed that, but will always support it. You never know.
I believe that a more encompassing, all-inclusive set-up which gets people to interact, with some seeds thrown in, can actually help.
But no one ever listens to me.
Oh well.
I'm gonna go and get my RM2 million. I'll retire, and then I'll show you how it's done. Properly.
