Tags archives: August

Racial Issue & Dirty Tactic To Fame

INTRODUCTION:

Thank you to those who reads and shares my post yesterday about Cardock. My writings that was shared at Miri Community was deleted by its admin and I was removed without any prior warning. But it’s okay because it will not change anything at all and it will not stop me from voicing my opinions out based on what I think is true.

Thinking of creating my own TRibe Group. Not a fan of CLan word,.

Back to the story that I want to talk about today, it can be said that it has been a trend among Malaysian celebrities to be involved with controversy to raise their publicity. From sexy video, sexy clothes, fight, picture in a bathtub full of money and so on, it is one of the way for them to be famous. Afterall, it’s very Machiavellian: the aims of these celebrities – such as glory and survival – justifies the use of immoral means to achieve those ends.

Among Malaysian influencers, the issues that they are facing now is more unique because they are from a wider group. One of the more famous way is to trigger racial issue to gain publicity, and ultimately able to popularise their brand and sell their product.

MALAYSIA – MULTI-RACIAL COUNTRY

As we all know, Malaysia is a country that has lot of races residing in it. At Peninsular Malaysia, we have Malays (Melayu Anak Jati, Melayu Anak Dagang, Melayu Kacukan etc), Cina (generally, throughout Malaysia and has lots of dialect), India (majority is Tamils, including Telugus, Malayalees, Sikhs etc), Orang Asli group (e.g. Semang, Senoi, Proto-Malays), Papia Kristang and Kristang; at Sabah we have the majority group of Kadazan-Dusun, Murut, Rungus, Bajau, Suluk, Bugis, Iranun, Sungai, Lun Dayeh etc; in Sarawak there is Dayak Iban, Bidayuh, Orang Ulu group (cth: Kayan, Kenyah, Kajangs (e.g. Kejaman, Seping, Lahanan, Punan) Kelabit, Bisaya, Lun Bawang etc), Sarawak Malays, Melanau, Kedayan, Miriek (Bahut & Permaisuri) etc.

The list above barely covers every group in Malaysia, but it is adequate to show that Malaysia has a multi-racial citizens. As a Sarawakian, I know and I am aware about the need to be tolerate and respectful among one another because if there is something happening that triggers racial issues, it can only spell disaster.

Kenyah lady (Kayan-Kenyah are reatively similar in costume because they share a similar history.

PREVIOUS CASE – DURIAN KIMCHI (MAY 2021)

I have a belief that most Malaysians know about racial issue and how crucial it is to be aware of racial sensitivity. But it doesn’t stop Ryzal or duriankimchi to subconsciously joke to beyond the line and uploaded it in social media.

You can read its summary and watch the video in this link below:

After becoming a virla issue and caused the uproar among Iban communities and Sarawak in general, finally duriankimchi made a public apology and with Iban society, including the famous Embat Lala and Cardock, making netizen to pity him because he realised his mistakes. Now, his followers count is 1,262,223 followers in Facebook.

LATEST CASE – CARDOCK (AUGUST 2021)

About the issue that was viral recently, Cardock and his original post “Raja Kayan dan Gundik-Gundiknya”, you can read the details here in Facebook or in my other blog posts here.

Few people commented at his original post, which was taken down since then by Cardock’s page admin.

Cardock apologies, but still there is a lot of people unhappy with his apology.

Being a famous influencer, no doubt, Cardock has an immense drive to succeed and also by right has a high tolerance to jokes. But not many people can accept such racial joke. I was informed that the Kayan society and everyone who is not a fan of him was not happy with his way of apology, which seems to be insincere and therefore, it will be brought to justice as per Adet Kayan Kenyah 1994 (Kayan Kenyah Customs 1994, under Section 46: “nyelupoh” (mocking) or “panyi” (making fun of people).

Adet Kayan Kenyah 1994: Section 46 Mocking

SUMMARY OF MODUS OPERANDI

Quoting comment from famous Sarawak singer, Melissa Francis “ngaga salah, dahnya minta ampun secara terbuka. Last2 ke salah nya kena belas kasihan, nama pun viral, dahnya alu nyual produk”. In English, “make mistake, then make a public apology. Lastly, the offender earns pity from others, their name went viral and finally sell their product).

She’s speaking the truth. It is sad to see some fanatics attack her comment though simply because they can’t accept that their idol is doing wrong.

What she mentioned was straight to the point. Final aim of becoming famous is a priority and racial sensitivity that was being safeguarded all this while in total care is not important anymore, as if our racial dignity doesn’t mean anything.

In short, the steps are as follows:

1). Make mistakes, better racial-related to trigger certain group
2). Viral and became the talk of the web (town)
3). Make a public apology, better if you do it in groups to gain their followers too.
4). Netizen pities you.
5). Rise in reputation.

WHY WE NEED TO CARE ABOUT RACIAL SENSITIVITY?

As what I mentioned above, racial sensitivity is important because it will safeguard in a country. Just imagine if our country has a racial issue just like what USA and South African had once upon a time. That was only the impact from 2 main groups. We haven’t include the countless beyond phalanx like what we have in Malaysia or Sarawak specifically.

Every races in Malaysia, from Bukit Kayu Hitam in Perlis to Simpang Mengayau in Sabah deserves to be respected and not to be made fun off. Dignity of a race is not something that you can trample upon like a rag. Our 5th National Principle (Rukun Negara) also mentioned “Kesopanan dan Kesusilaan”, which means Courtesy and Morality. We have to watch out for our words because indirectly, we are the ambassador of our own race to the others.

For example, when Race A’s member created a problem with Race B. Until the end of time the peoples of Race B will remember that Race A is the bad guy, because first impression lasts forever, even though the offender is only an individual from Race A and it doesn’t represent Race A as a whole. That’s what we call bias. That person’s mistake already shapes the worldview of Race B and it is difficult to correct and fix that first impression.

That’s why, best if we avoid any racial issues at all cost. If there is a mistake done however, for us Malaysians upholding our National Principles, we should apologise.

INFLUENCER’S SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY

Once upon a time, there is a lot of youngsters who wants to be a teacher, soldiers, government officials or even doctors because those occupations has a good reputation in the eye of the soeciry and it is considered glamourous.

But today, the answer from Gen Z is more inclined towards influencers path, Youtuber, Gamer, and recently, Tik-Tokers where their lives revolve around social media platforms.

Who doesn’t like if we have millions of followers and everytime we do a Facebook / Instagram / Tik-Tok LIVE, we will have thousands of followers. Each tweet will be liked and retweeted by thousands of our fans. YouTube video views are more than a million. Enticing, isn’t it?

But the reality is, the more followers you have in social media, the heavier is the social burden that you have to shoulder. This is because, your followers are going to resonate with whatever values that you are projecting. Most of these peoples are youths and Gen Z that look highly upon you.

Parents are striving to give the best to their kids, toiling day in and day out be it at the village or at the city, and even offshore or frontlines. Most of them doesn’t even bother about the current trend because they are committed to their works and to provide for the family. The once, so cool lad is now a boring dad. The education of their kids comes first, their hobby later. It’s okay if my phone has many buttons as long as I am not taking loans here and there for my kids to further their studies. Those might be the unspoken words of a parent.

Back to these influencers, best if they became the positive vibe generators and not toxic or negative vibe because whatever that they are doing, it will have a tremendous impact to the social group that follows them, their followers.

For those who followed me since the beginning, you will realise that I am trying to use as much as proper Malay language even in my FB Live and in my posts. Even if I am using English also, I will use a proper English. When I was in school and even in university, I was always ridiculed because I prefer to speak in proper Malay than to use mixed, street language which is quite famous now. My principle is, “Bahasa Jiwa Bangsa” (language is the soul of the race/people). If we are not taking care of the values of our race, who else will? Do we want to see that our kids want to put aside our national language to put forth something more “in” or viral, and our national language is not relevant anymore?

EPILOGUE:

Rise and fall of our nation lies at the hand of the current generations. People outside of our nation are racing to send people to the stars using a cheaper cost, while us here are still busy quarreling.

Kerana Pulut, Santan Binasa,
Kerana Mulut, Badan Binasa;
Terlajak perahu, boleh diundur.
Terlajak kata, buruk padahnya.

Literal translation:

Because of glutinous rice, coconut milk perishes
Because of the mouth, the body perishes
Overshot boat can be reversed
Accidentally speaking bad words spells disaster.

Words are very powerful, it can be constructive, and it also can be destructive. So, speak wisely. I sincerely hope that after this, there are no other parties who tries to stir any racial issues in Malaysia.

Tukang Rantek,
Claudius

Nota: “Tukang Rantek” bermaksud jurugambar di dalam bahasa Bidayuh.

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Life Is Not A Race

1 year ago

Tabi basa and greetings everyone! How was your day? I hope you are doing fine despite the ever-increasing case of COVID-19 now, especially when you are residing at Peninsular Malaysia. For Malaysians, that is always the struggle that we will not be able to get away from anytime soon. Let’s call it our war (Boku no Senshou). As of 11 Aug 2021, there is a huge number of COVID cases in Malaysia. At 1.3 million, it is approximately 4.0%, a figure that’s quite high, even higher than India’s case in terms of COVID-19 percentage. That is scary. Even worse, there are some local “treasonists” who has the balls to sell fake COVID-19 certificate to Malaysian citizens. Their business idea seems to be out of this world, risking general’s health in order to gain extra money. For as low as RM200 (47 USD), you put aside your integrity and gave others a false sense of security? That’s lunatic.

This is madness. Insider can help to adjust MySejahtera status for as low as RM200. Way to go, Treasonist.

Setting aside COVID-19 case in Malaysia, one of the thing that I want to talk about today is regarding life’s philosophy, where I always find it fascinating to be able to hear more inspirational words from other authors, especially that talks about improving lives.

One of it is definitely the notion that “Life Is Not A Race”.

Life Is Not a Race

One of the thing that I commonly see among my circle is that they are constantly thinking that life is a race. I find it sad to see man/woman with high potential for the future but jeopardise their potential by not doing what’s required. Most of the youngsters are trend-hoppers, jumping from one trend to another. I am guilty of this as well, because like it or not, peer pressure is always there.

But in my silence (I’m doing silent retreat), I realised that if we are not happy with what we are now, we cannot be happy with whatever we posses.

If we are not happy with our present, we’ll never find happiness in the future.

But why is this happening?

It could be probably due to the accumulation of disappointment that we receive up until now, as of the past is still haunting us. Call it a joke, it happens to some bloke. To be able to handle disappointment would be a superpower for many of us. We are not well-equipped to handle rejection, at least that’s what our brain wants to hear.

A lot of our problem stems from our inability to be still, mentally. You can be sitting quietly in an empty room for hours, but if your brain is still erratic, you can’t find peace.

It all boils down to your ability to the harsh reality of life, and not being overly optimistic because down along the line something undesirable will definitely happen.

According to the famous Murphy’s Law, “Anything that can go wrong, will go wrong”.

Anything that can go wrong, will go wrong.
CAPT ED MURPHY

The law’s namesake was Capt. Ed Murphy, a development engineer from Wright Field Aircraft Lab (Source: Bloch, Arthur (1980 edition). Murphy’s Law, and Other Reasons Why Things Go WRONG,).

Because of this, things might happen no matter how good we are in preparing to avoid it. As long as there is percentage of probability, no matter how small, it might happen.

But so is happiness. But, then again, why is it so difficult to improve our lives?

For me, one of the way to improve lives is through Stoicism philosophy.

What is Stoic?

According to Merriam-Webster, the definition of stoic are as follows:
1. Capitalized : a member of a school of philosophy founded by Zeno of Citium about 300 b.c. holding that the wise man should be free from passion, unmoved by joy or grief, and submissive to natural law.
2. one apparently or professedly indifferent to pleasure or pain

Synonyms: forbearing, long-suffering, patient, tolerant, uncomplaining
Antonyms: complaining, fed up, impatient, kvetching, kvetchy, protesting

I first heard about this philosophy from Eric Kim, a photographer from America. You can read more about his view of stoicism here.

Why Stoic?

When it comes to Stoicism, this person comes to mind – Ryan Holiday. He is the writer of Daily Stoic. You can follow him here (personal Instagram) or at his famous Daily Stoic Instagram account. From Daily Stoic page, you can get your daily dose of Stoicism where for me, it is a good daily reminder and it provides me with something to think about for the rest of the day.

In short, Stoicism teaches us that, before we try to control events, we have to control ourselves first.

Yes, that’s right. Often we think that we are not in control of our lives, and we are living in an autopilot mode. That is actually not true. We are holding the flight stick of our life. Sometimes, we forgot, due to various reasons.

Our life is dynamic, and we are living in a turbulence. Our reality and our ideals are not aligned to one another. If we can calibrate our expectations to meet our reality, then we will be much happier with our lives. Sadly, that is not the case to most of us.

Our brain are wired to accept only the best but forgot that we are not a perfect being ourselves. It’s like boys expecting a perfect, Barbie-like spouse when they are not even close to look like Ken.

Having a passion in our life is important because we need to have a locus in our life. We need to identify it as early as we can so that we can leverage on time that we have. We can’t play short term gain because like Malcolm Gladwell said, we need to have at least spent 10,000hours of intensive practice to be a good in something, whatever it is. 10,000 hours, divided into 8 hours per day, is equivalent to 3.5 years. Or maybe more, depending on your commitment level. Some are better than the other, but that is dependent on their physical advantage. People will always use the word “talent” to someone who is better than the other, but little did we know, most of the time, it is down to their effort, or how bad they want it.

One of the most profound thing that I heard is “You can’t fix internal issues with external accomplishments”, a quote by Ryan Holiday, the writer of Daily Stoic. You can follow him at Instagram for more inspirational quotes.

Don’t Take Things Personally

Your value does not decrease just because someone’s unable to see your worth.

Usually we take things personally because of our ego and our desire to be right. Our brain is not wired to accept the fact that it is lacking in so many ways.

To deal with these, we need to look at their intention and try to understand where they are coming from, for example, deep down, they want to be right, or have something in mind for the whole day.

Improvement-wise, our negative beliefs, we take things personally because we know that we have some truth in it. Our childhood has an effect on this.

The account that engages the most with our limbic brain will have the most following. Don’t believe me? Have a look at those popular images at Tik Tok or Instagram. They are eerily having the same pattern. In social media, previously it was chronologically-arranged, and now it is done by using algorithm. Usually the minorities are being left out. That is why, if you want to pioneer something for a long run, don’t put your base in Social Media, It’s like building with sand as its foundation.

For your own good, learn to walk away when you think you are not being appreciated much. I wish I knew this when I was younger. 20s was a decade of experiment, and 30s is when you know what you want in life.

The Wise and Foolish Builder

²⁴“Therefore everyone who hears these words of mine and puts them into practice is like a wise man who built his house on the rock. ²⁵The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house; yet it did not fall, because it had its foundation on the rock. ²⁶But everyone who hears these words of mine and does not put them into practice is like a foolish man who built his house on sand. ²⁷The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell with a great crash.”
Matthew 7:24-27

If you want whatever that you are building last, do it on a solid foundation. Not temporary trend like Tik Tok or Vine, or even Facebook and Twitter. These things will evolve, and new form of platform will take place.

The best time to be invested is in something that will give you a return in the long term. Public speaking, writing ability, guitar-playing, singing, photography mastery – those are the things that will pay in the long run. Don’t play short term. Aim for long term. I had my time experimenting on mobile games such as Mobile Legend: Bang Bang and League of Legends: Wild Rift just to find out that those things are not suit for me. Firstly, they consume a lot of time, and with the right community, you are hooked by its promise of endless dopamine surge. But what does it cost you? Time, sleep, energy, death of a dream et cetera. Even the 15 seconds video of TikTok actually took a lot of time to prepare, don’t underestimate it.

In essence, time is gold.

Epilogue

From the stories that I have written here, from Life Is Not A Race, to Stoicism and finally Not Taking Things Personally, I hope I have given to you something to ponder upon and ultimately, improving your life.

Tukang Rantek,
Claudius

Note: “Tukang Rantek” means photographer in Bidayuh language.

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