What I dislike most is when bloggers get authoritarian with their posts. No matter, they have their own good reasons, I suppose, especially when you consider the larger contexts in which they operate. Jeff Ooi’s recent post about the use of technology over here(post1) sounds like an apologia of his previous post about bare-naked Chinese women in lockups, which you can find here (post2). In any case, it is a poorly thought-out defense, if at all. He notes that readers have not made the connection between the use of technology and empowering citizens to bring the government to task in his post about said naked lady.


Now, if you examine post2, you will be hard-pressed to find any general or abstract references to citizen participation in forcing accountability, except the general conclusion that he apparently wants us to draw from the substance of the event itself. No one is disputing this, but really, to then express disappointment in post1 about the uses of technology seems to be a desperate attempt to deflect the possible perception that he’s allowed criticisms based on, among other things, race and ethinicity. In fact, he’s gone so far as to ban one such commenter.

I’ve never, ever liked Jeff Ooi’s brusque manner in dealing with commenters who appear to ’step out of line’, and have even thought such actions more reflective of a kind of frenzy and/or paranoia that infects crazies, who spend days upon days spouting conspiracy theories. But maybe it really is an attempt to distance himself from the views of his commenters. I suppose this is what evokes such vitriolic responses to commenters who tend to discuss race and ethnicity in their comments.

And should we blame him? Have we already forgotten this from the Committee to Protect Bloggers:

MALAYSIAN BLOGGER JEFF OOI QUESTIONED BY POLICE
by Curt at 08:22AM (PST) on February 28, 2005 | Permanent Link | Cosmos

Malaysian Blogger Jeff Ooi was hauled in for questioning today by the police who are investigating an allegedly-contentious comment posted months ago on his weblog, Screenshots, regarding “civilization Islam” (or Islam Hadhari), an approach to the religion currently being heavily promoted by Malaysian Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi.

I’ve previously blogged about this here , as well.

Whatever he may choose to say about the matter, I do believe he hasn’t forgotten it… and we all should do well to remember it. If you’ll take a look at the site linked above, you will see that there are a grand total of 4 names from Malaysia, out of 29 threatened bloggers; almost 15% from around the world (which have been identified). However, I’m not trying to suggest that Jeff Ooi “cops out” out of fear, real or imagined; I’m saying we should be circumspect about what we write, what all of us bloggers write.

That aside, we shouldn’t, in my opinion, be too quick to dismiss his insistent call for us to view this recent controversy as a human rights issue, because if we examine the situation objectively, without the (my) baggage of racial undertones in everything Malaysian, the truth of the matter is the situation is one in which a person with vested authority is abusing said authority by humiliating and dehumanizing another person.

I speculated over here (I’ll admit, it’s half-fucked) that the Police may have lost the basic grounds for respect as they have been party to sanctions, against potentially innocent members of the public, under an unjust law. I think we should, instead, look into all branches of the public service. Maybe the arrogance, and the lack of respect for the rule of law, stems from a shared something (entitlement? power? the sense of being above question?) that finds its terminus with the incumbent.

And one of the natural consequences of which is the abuse of human rights, with no recourse to the government (if the assume the government as being, overtly or otherwise, the root cause of such flagrant disregard for either law or human rights).

The advantage of such a line of thought, and I’m sure there are more cogent analyses, is that it’s completely race-free. The only agenda in question is a legitimate agenda which has legitimacy in both the domestic and international arena, and has the weight of public opinion behind it, no matter your race or creed.

I hope in the following weeks we start to think about the abuse of “Lokapgal” in such terms, something I’ll be forcing myself to do from now on (kick me if I forget, hor).