CALLING IT QUITS

It has been more than 45 days since I made my last posting. A lot of water has gone under the bridge since then especially where my country of birth, Malaysia, is concerned. The BERSIH rally of 10 November, the violent HINDRAF rally and the subsequent circus of arrest, release, rearrest, claims, counter-claims and of course the incessant talk but no action from our very own Prime Minister. Maybe Pak Lah has his own reason for doing what he's doing or rather not doing. After all how could a mere mortal like me be made privy to all the higher machinations of governance of a sovereign nation.

When I first put up this blog, I had an ulterior motive actually. Yes, it was meant to record my views about life in general, specifically the country that I am living in now. However I had this grandiose idea that my views no matter how scatter-brained, could spark discussions on the state of affairs in this country which in turn would lead to an about turn in the mindset of the thinking population. And soon this will ultimately brings us to an Utopian Malaysia. But then again, do Shangri-La really exist or is it just a figment of the imagination.

Can blogs really helped to shape the destiny of the masses or at the very least offer a differing view points to the ordinary layman on the street? This is the question that I have been asking myself of late. Or are blogs just an ego trip for the blogger? What is the rate of internet penetration, of IT literacy in Malaysia today. What is the ratio of urban to rural population and how pervasive is the internet usage i.e. reading of blogs in the rural areas. Why is the rural population important? Because this is where the BN controlled government gets its' majority to run this country. Therefore if blogs are meant to offer alternative views with the hope of altering the mindsets of the population but are not available to the majority of the voting public, what is the use of blogging then? Get my drift?

Even if every single citizen has access to the internet, do you think they will bother to read the blogs. According to a recently done authoritive survey, Malaysians read only a page of written material a year. One page a year! and you expect Malaysians to read the blogs. Dream on. Just visit any cyber cafe. What are they doing there? Reading the blogs, gathering knowledge from the World Wide Web or just playing games.

Can 1 man makes a difference. The prophet Mohammad p.b.h. maybe but surely not me. I have tried, honest to Allah s.n.w., I have tried, both in my official and personal life. I have been throwing ideas, views, left, right, center, up and down but to no avail. Where Malaysians are concern whether the educated or the uneducated ones, the words of Hendrik Willem van Loon, a Dutch-American journalist and lecturer (1882-1944) rings true.

"Any frontal attack on ignorance is bound to fail because the masses

are always ready to defend their most precious possession - their ignorance"

If a lawyer like Uttayar Kumar does not understand the meaning of ethnic cleansing, what can you expect of simple kampong folks.

I am seriously thinking of closing down this blog. The very least I will leave it in limbo. Neither here or there. I dunno, let time decide.