Bloggers, Bloggers, Bloggers?
What is Malaysia’s constant facination with bloggers? What’s with blogging that is new anyways? It is just another publishing platform for the web. Before the actual “blogging” phenomenon caught on, plenty of people already had their own websites anyways. How does it even make a difference? Why the bad press? Here we’ve got our information minister commenting about bloggers (source: http://thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2007/5/6/nation/17648170&sec=nation):
Malaysia has to classify bloggers as professionals and non-professionals as a mechanism to prevent the misuse of blog sites, Information Minister Datuk Seri Zainuddin Maidin said.
Do we really? Cause AFAIK, no other countries classifies their bloggers. And what do they mean by professionals anyway? How do you define professionals? What about personal blogs? I guess it just goes to show his complete ignorance to blogging.
He said he believed that professional bloggers were those who were more responsible in ensuring that their web content was based on truth and not mere rumours.
“This classification will also facilitate any action to be taken against those found to have violated the country’s laws,” he told a press conference at the Putra World Trade Centre here yesterday.
He believed. Our country HAS to implement a law based on HIS belief. HIS belief. Not based on some research. But based purely on his belief. And what does he know about blogging anyways? Not alot from what he just said above. So how true is HIS belief? I don’t exactly know what to say about this. I think I can say it better with a sledge hammer though… Just smash him over the head, kill another idiot, and evolution takes another step forward 
“We have to control this. It is feared that these (blog sites) will be misused by those who have an agenda to spread slander.
“By right, there should be a mechanism to control this phenomenon, including classifying bloggers as professionals and non-professionals,” he added.
Why do we have to control this and why by right there should be a mechanism to control this? What about the right to free speech? Or is the government who for too long now enjoyed the comfort of a tightly controlled media threatened by something it can’t control? Hmm…
Zainuddin said this was important in enabling the people to determine whether they could trust a certain matter and whether the blog content was the truth or a rumour that could cause discomfort or undermine unity.
Or is it more important for the people to learn to decide what to believe and what not to believe? There are a gazillion web pages out there, how is anyone going to censor everything?
Again, his statements clearly reflects his complete lack of knowledge with regards to technology. Actually, I would say that it clearly reflects his own stupidity and inability to see beyond his own nose (Aha! Maybe that’s why he needs to classify bloggers. He must be thinking: hmmm, if a smart guy like me who can be the information minister isn’t smart enough to tell the difference between reliable/unreliable content on the web, what chance does the public have? I better start classifying bloggers.)
Sadly, he IS Malaysia’s information minister 
