quoth the raven...

it's been while since i've made any real (malaysian) social commentary here. it'll probably stay that way. why? because i don't have the heart for it. not anymore.

when I first started this blog, I made it a point to follow the goings-on in malaysia, and would share my thoughts on all sorts of stuff: the morality police, "safety last" attitude, the ridiculous handling of the Noritta Samsudin murder, even the seeming lack of one sen coins!

But over the years (this blog is slightly over 3 years old! w00t!), I let go of Malaysia, of keeping in touch with its goings-on. Partly because my life was in the U.S., and partly also because the news from "home" was just the same ol bleak picture of ridiculous politicians. I'd get my occasional update through Jeff Ooi, Maverick, Aisehman, but frankly, my visits have been few and far between because what they highlight is just so depressing I'd rather concentrate on other stuff, like my Sim City, or pottery, or my novel writing, or my book reading. On one hand, fluff, but on the other hand, it's stuff that appeals to me, and brings me *up*.

I was jolted out of my apathy earlier this year by the Lina Joy case, and wrote a scathing piece, which unfortunately rests in draft form, probably never to see the light of your screen. Why? Call me paranoid, but I don't trust that it won't come back and bite me in the ass. Politicians are calling Malaysian bloggers enemies of the state, for heavens' sake! Utter morons, they are. And unfortunately, some local bloggers have already suffered from the scrutiny of folks over at the ironically-named Hill of Peace (Bukit Aman laa). No worries, I have no delusions of grandeur. I am small fry, I merely intend to stay that way.

I recently did do the rounds of the Malaysian political / observation blogs. Same old story. There was this big hoo-hah about the first Malaysian astronaut, when all he was was a space tourist, really. I don't know how much money was thrown at the Russians to bring the dude up into space with them. They threw in some experiments to make the trip legit (at least they scrapped activities like spinning the gasing, or making teh tarik!), but the bottom line is, he was just a space tourist. It is not an indication of the technological achievement of the country. How different it would be if half the crew had been Malaysian, or even half the ground crew, y'know? Awww heck, there I've gone an hopped on my soapbox. Grrrr. *hops back down* But I did find out recently that Anwar Ibrahim has a blog now. I added to my blogroll if you want to visit. Like Uncle Kit's site, however, it's on my blogroll but rarely, if ever visited. Like I said, I've no heart lah anymore.

But what triggered this post? Having Pak Lah equated with Hitler, what's what. Disturbing, to say the least. Very very very disturbing, on so many levels, I can't even begin to describe how I feel at this sight.

A sign that things are really on a downward slide over at Bolehland, don't ya think?

Which reinforces my avoidance of all news Malaysian.

And on that downer note...

Ciao!