Yea! Tun Mahathir, blogger elite!

Malaysiakini carried the report that Tun Mahathir has launch his own blog "Dr. Mahathir Mohamad" (www.chedet.com) and what does his first posting talk about? The Appointment of Judges.

"Adakah suruhanjaya ini akan melantik sendiri hakim-hakim atau adakah ia hanya mencadangkan nama-nama untuk persetujuan PM, atau adakah suruhanjaya itu mencadangkan (nama-nama) terus kepada (Yang di-Pertuan) Agong supaya baginda dapat menggunakan kuasa istimewanya (melantik hakim)?" katanya.

"Atau perlukah Agong menunggu perkenan Majlis Raja-raja Melayu? Atau Majlis Raja-raja hanya memberi nasihat seperti amalan sekarang?

"Atau Raja-raja berhak menolak calon (hakim), dan meminta calon-calon baru atau menamakan calon baru yang menjadi pilihan mereka?"

Source: Malaysiakini

So will we see Pak Lah starting his own blog?

It's truly amazing that a year ago, bloggers were rebels with a cause. We were misfits, demonized in main-stream-media, called liars, goblok by one senior politician and threaten with all sorts of funny rules like registration of blogs and even censorship. What a world of difference one general election can bring about.

Now, having a blog is the in-thing among politicians. It cool to have a blog. It looks great to have it imprinted on your name-card and probably a great thing to brag about. Folks, lets see how long this will last because starting a blog and keeping it fresh are two different things.

Honestly, I think Tun M will have the perseverance to keep his blog fresh and updated because he has a willing audience and enough stories to tell us. Furthermore, he doesn't have to comply to anyone's whims. He is free to speak whatever he wants and he will get away with it.

Take the other big-wigs, MM Taib, Ali Rustam or Khir Toyo. Yes, they can blog but can they keep it up since whatever they post would receive equal amount of flames from party members and party critics. Do they command enough credibility to survive the backlash from their own postings? I don't think they will survive as long as Tun M would. There's just so much love that can be passed around and I think a lot of it would go Tun M's way. Besides that, Tun M has enough spunk to argue in your face about what he posts. That alone will make interesting reading.

I had my fair share of flames, I've been called a m*****f*****, my father's been called a dog and some angry racist dude keeps hogging my comments and all that within this month alone. I have been cautioned on allowing these comments to appear as they are on this blog but I believe that to each their own. We are all responsible for our words and eventually we all have to answer to a higher power.

So I welcome Tun M into the circle of Malaysian bloggers, I've been blogging since 2003 and it is great to see such an influential figure in the Malaysian blogging scene. Besides RPK, Tun M is now that blogger to watch.

It'll be great to see the two of them talk about freedom of speech or the relevance of new media in nation building. For once, I think the two would have a lot to agree on.

Cheers!

Friday, May 2, 2008