Internet has played a great role in people’s lives for the past…for how many years? Around 10 years I supposed, for those who have access to it in Malaysia. Originally, we use it to search whatever form of information that we needed, and share our little news over a form of mail known as e-mail that is slowly undermining the function of snail mail.

How many of us over here still keep in touch with friends oversea via snail mail? I dare say none, well, at least I haven’t been doing so. I no longer keep in touch with friends in oversea through snail mail. I no longer anticipate the fat letters that is full of personal touch inside my mailbox, and I no longer look at my mailbox longingly for some exotic postcards or souvenirs from my pen pals across the globe. I no longer write fast by using a pen the way I did when I was still in high school. (I can type fast, though)

Over the years, Internet has been rapidly develop, I must say. Evolving from dial up connection to broadband, and Internet is far more accessible and affordable with the competition that is going on among the service providers. The function of Internet is no longer for basic communication and a tool to search for information. It’s widely and creatively used in many areas. It’s used in commerce and banking, a place for spreading news and rumours, as well as field for politicians to spread their agenda and slam each other silly. Internet is even used to watch Asian soap dramas or new blockbuster movies online. Internet, is also pornography galore.

No one can deny that Internet has played a great role in their daily lives, be it directly or indirectly. It definitely make communication easier, cheaper and more efficient, however, there’s a worrying trend, where Internet seems to take control of human thinking and behaviour. Checking emails, online newspaper, blogs, etc. is becoming one’s cuppa tea or rather, ecstasy and cannabis. If you don’t do it in one day, you may feel agitated. Internet started to invade our personal lives, and sometimes we get into trouble with our spouses who do not share the same interest of ‘going online’ with us.

Another worrying trend is addiction not only to internet, but online games as well. Studies shown that there are many youth who are addicted to online games and gets ‘too’ involved with it until it effect their lives and and slowly undermining their academical achievements.

I was involved in an online game once, and suffice to say that I was addicted to the game. It’s called MapleStory. At first, I just play one or two hour just to stress out by beating monsters and gain satisfaction by completing quests. But slowly, the time that I spend in-game started to increase gradually as I found friends who I can relate well with. Let me be really honest with all of you, ‘Cleffairy’ is actually the name of my first in game Maple character. I got used to people calling me Clef or fairy, and when I started a blog, I just continue to use the name.

I used to spend at least 10 hours playing the bloody game. I got addicted to it to quite a dangerous extent, where I spend real money to buy in-game items, which, thinking back, it’s really not worth a single cent to spent on. You may say that I am stupid to spend on such things, but I really could not help it, and I don’t even know why.

While I was struggling with my addiction, I learn that life in-game is not much different than the real life. The society in the game are similar to our very own real life. There are dirty politics and war against one another. The chase and hunger for power is endless. Competitiveness to outdo one another’s level sometimes gets pretty insane and ridiculous, where a player sometimes are willing to sacrifice their sleep and skip meals just to get ahead of another player. Some even cheat for MC just to play game. The worst case I’ve seen must be the confession of a former nurse who quit her job so that she can play the game.

I know a person who can play at least 18 hours non-stop without doing anything else. Impossible, you say? Well, if I was not involved in that bloody game, I’d say, it’s impossible, but that is the crazy truth. It is possible for some people. Games had become part of their lives very much that it’s made possible for them to be rooted in front of the pc for such a long hours. They are convinced that games is their life. They feel accepted and powerful by doing so.

Most of them formed a society in-game and was convinced that everything that is done in-game is real. Some games even allow you to get married online, and pathetically, they think that it’s real. Every now and then, in ‘secluded’ area/map in game, I would stumble across ‘couples’ who are busy having cybersex. It’s funny, but disgusting nevertheless.

This is actually an unhealthy trend. Such addiction does not only affect teenagers who are still in school, but also working adults who want to escape reality and depression but entrapped in virtual reality where life in there is almost equally bad and does not differ much from reality. The only thing that makes a difference in game is that it’s more colourful and people(players) are much more acceptive of you as you share the same interest with them.

The addiction is almost like being addict to cigarette, you simply have to have it. It’s simply hard to kick the habit once you’re addicted to it.

Here’s 20 ways on how to recognize that you’re addicted to online games/Internet at a very unhealthy level that I know off. Please feel free to share your way to recognize Internet/Online games addiction with me.

1. Using online services everyday without fail.

2. Losing track of time after making a connection.

3. Going out for recreational purposes less and less. You even shop online for things that can be obtain offline. (Like getting a pizza to be delivered to you by logging on to the pizza restaurant site and place your orders online)

4. Spending less and less time on meals together at the dining table at home with family, instead, you opt to eat in front of the monitor.

5. Denying spending too much time on the Net, and your intercommunication skill in real life decline badly. You have the tendency to be rude too.

6. Others are complaining that you spend too much time in front of the monitor.

7. Checking on your mailbox too many times a day while it’s not completely necessary to do so.

8. Thinking you have the greatest website in the world and dying to give people your URL. You also can’t help boasting on how great or pretty you are over the Internet and pine for admiration. In worst case scenario, you spend filthy amount of money just to advertise yourself on various medium so that you can gain fame and glory.

9. Logging onto the Net while already busy at work.

10. Sneaking online when spouse or family members are not at home, with a sense of relief.

11. Bad personal hygiene.

12. You started to have eating disorder as your diet is all screw up because you stop eating right.

13. You lack sleep because every now and then, you tend to lurk on the net til the wee hour.

14. You have the urge to say LOL, LMAO, OMG, WTF in your daily conversation.

15. You started to communicate and spend less time with family and friends, and they are quite unhappy with you.

16. Your eyes started to get blur, and for those who are already wearing specs and contacts, the power increases.

17. You’re no longer in shape because you are too lazy to make an effort to exercise. The only exercise you do these days are your fingers and wrists by typing on the keyboard.

18. You are armed with laptop or any other gadget that will enable you to go online where ever you go, because you simply feel that you cannot afford to loose connection with the Internet and whatever you do online.

19. You even look for hotspot and WIFI acess point when you have a drink or eat outside.

20. You proudly admit that you cannot live without Internet and you started to neglect your family because of Internet.

Addiction for Internet and online games are now considered at a serious level where it’s classified as a psychological and clinical problems in many developing countries. I know in Malaysia that this sort of addiction is also affecting a lot of people, however, no one make a fuss out of it or try to help those who are badly addicted to games until it’s affecting their daily lives.

People who are addicted to such things are labeled geek and shunned in real life just because they do not mix around well or simply too shy to make friends. While some really have no social life and turn to Internet for comfort, a good majority of others actually have a life and large social circle of friends, and yet could not get out of the addiction because no one is encouraging them to do so.

There are no support group in Malaysia for those who are struggling with Internet addiction. They wanted to stay away or reduce the time that they spend online, but simply cannot help but to login and play the online games or face the world wide web, just because they are used to login in and make contact with the people in game/Internet. Why the hell is no one in Malaysia is acknowledging that extreme addiction to Internet and online games is some sort of psychological disorder when in actual fact, the addiction is consuming and effecting people’s lives badly?

While it is easier to communicate and spill our heart’s content to unknown strangers over the net, I truly believe that real people in our life are much more important. Internet has played an huge and important role in my life, I cannot possibly deny that.

I realize that even after I stop being an addict to online games, I still cannot stop from being addicted to Internet, because in general, my life and work is quite digitalized. My bloody work is inside my pc, my contacts are even recorded inside, and even my personal pictures and journals are kept in the pc.

I am not saying that Internet is absolute evil. I have a lot of online friends, and I made them ‘real’ by meeting up with them once I get to know them very well. Some of ‘brother’ and ‘sisters’ who constantly bug me in my blog is actually from the bloody game itself. We used to play very hard, but luckily, not anymore, we only keep in touch via sms. Good things do come out from Internet, but we have to make sure that we are in control of Internet, and never allow the Internet to put a leash around our neck.

Over the weekend, I tried to keep my online activities to the minimal as I wish to spend more time with my other half and my family. I want to improve my relationship with the people around me, even though I know that Internet is the cheapest way to spend the weekend. Trying to keep away from the Internet is hard, but with the help and support of spouse and family who spend quality time with you definitely made it easier.

I know it’s not possible to cut online connection, as Internet has played a very important role in our daily lives. But what I want to say today is, try to lessen your online activities and appreciate the ones around you. They may not voice out their displeasure at whatever your online hobby is, but I am sure that they are slightly wounded when you brush them aside softly to continue doing whatever you are doing online. Start spending more time with people around you before they slowly drift apart from, and when you finally realize it, it’s already too late.

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Cleffairy: In an era where technology plays a very important role in our lives, we tend to take things for granted and totally depend on technology for whatever we do. But we must remember that by depending too much on technology, we are slowly becoming less ‘human’. It’s best not to overindulge and have balance in whatever we do. I have a question that I hope you all can answer honestly…will you be ‘paralyzed’ if you reduce the time you spend online?

AN:Scroll down for the English version. Since this is an open letter to Tuanku, I feel that it’s more proper to be written in national language. For those who could not read or understand Malay language, I wrote the English version for your reading pleasure.

Ke bawah Duli Yang Maha Mulia Tuanku,

Ampun Tuanku, beribu-ribu ampun. Patik dengan ikhlasnya mempersembahkan salam dan mendoakan kesejahteraan Tuanku. Patik dikenali sebagai Cleffairy oleh kenalan-kenalan patik. Tuanku tidak mengenali patik, tetapi patik adalah rakyat Tuanku yang berasal dari golongan kebanyakan. Patik menulis warkah ini kerana patik tidak tahu bagaimana patik boleh meluahkan isi hati patik kepada Tuanku. Patik cuma tahu yang Tuanku mendiami Istana Negara, dan sesungguhnya, patik tidak pasti sama ada protokol di-raja membenarkan warkah seorang rakyat yang berasal dari golongan kebanyakan, di persembahkan kepada Tuanku untuk tatapan lanjut. Oleh itu, patik membuat keputusan untuk menulis warkah ini di dalam laman blog patik, dan semoga dengan keizinan Tuhan, suatu hari nanti, Tuanku akan terlihat warkah ini dan meluangkan masa Tuanku yang amat berharga untuk membacanya.

Patik sentiasa menghormati dan menyanjungi institusi diraja dari dulu sehinggalah sekarang, dan tiada apa yang akan mampu mengubah pandangan patik terhadap institusi diraja, walaupun ada pihak-pihak tertentu yang menganggap institusi diraja adalah sekadar simbol yang menaungi negara Malaysia yang tercinta dan tidak patut mencampuri urusan-urusan politik negara. Pada pendapat patik yang serba hina dan kekurangan ini, institusi diraja adalah tempat mengadu rakyat di waktu yang penuh dengan kegusaran ini.

Tuanku, sesungguhnya patik berasa amat tertekan dengan keadaan politik semasa yang bagaikan dilanda tsunami dan ribut taufan yang tidak henti-henti. Patik tidak lagi boleh menonton berita dengan tenang tanpa memaki-hamun sendirian apabila melihat telatah dan gelagat ahli-ahli politik yang pada pendapat patik, adakalanya kurang sopan dan tidak beradap. Patik amat tersinggung apabila melihat rakyat jelata merana dalam kemiskinan. Kebajikan rakyat tidak lagi menjadi isu yang dipentingkan dan dibincangkan oleh ahli-ahli politik semasa. Orang yang kaya menjadi semakin kaya dan berkuasa, manakala rakyat yang miskin, menjadi semakin miskin dan tertindas. Ahli-ahli politik semasa seolah-olah membutakan mata dan memekakkan telinga terhadap rintihan rakyat jelata.

Kami, rakyat jelata berhempas-pulas untuk memulihkan keadaaan kami tanpa bantuan pihak kerajaan serta pembangkang yang membohongi rakyat bahawa mereka berjuang dan berusaha keras untuk kepentingan kami. Kadang-kadang, kita boleh mendengar kritikan mereka-mereka yang berkuasa bahawa kami, rakyat jelata tidak tahu-menahu tentang apapun dan hanya tahu mengkritik tanpa berusaha untuk memulihkan keadaan. Tetapi, patik harus menekankan bahawa kami perlukan pemangkin yang memungkinkan kami berusaha untuk memulihkan keadaan kami. Pemangkin yang paling baik adalah keutuhan dan kestabilan ekonomi. Malang sekali bagi kami, kerana kestabilan dan keutuhan ekonomi dengan keadaan politik semasa yang baik adalah bagai isi dan kuku. Jika keadaan politik semasa tidak menggalakkan, maka ekonomi juga akan terjejas.

Ampunkan patik kerana menyuarakan, namun adakalanya menonton sesi parlimen bersidang adalah menjengkelkan. Ini kerana ahli-ahli parlimen lebih cenderung berbahas dan melontarkan kata-kata kesat sesama sendiri daripada membincangkan isu-isu yang dianggap penting dengan tenang and bertatasusila. Perbincangan mereka jarang membuahkan hasil. Patik amat kecewa apabila melihat keadaan ini.

Ahli-ahli politik kini dahagakan kuasa, dan dalam perjuangan mereka untuk memperolehi mandat untuk memerintah, mereka seolah-olah tidak sedar bahawa keadaan ekonomi semakin meruncing. Patik amat gusar dengan keadaan ini. Andai keadaan ini berterusan, mungkin pelabur-pelabur asing tidak lagi berminat untuk melabur di Malaysia. Patik tidak berani untuk membayangkan akibatnya terhadap ekonomi negara yang semakin hari, semakin rapuh sekiranya pelabur-pelabur asing bertindak untuk tidak lagi melabur di Malaysia.

Patik juga amat risau akan keselamatan dalam negeri. Belalulah sudah masa dimana kami, rakyat jelata boleh keluar beriadah di hujung minggu dengan aman kerana adakalanya demonstrasi jalanan atas pelbagai tujuan dan sebab dicetuskan oleh pelbagai pihak yang sama ada mewakili parti-parti politik tertentu ataupun pertubuhan bukan kerajaan. Dahulu, semasa zaman Tun Dr. Mahathir masih lagi menjadi Perdana Menteri Malaysia, jarang kita lihat tercetusnya keadaan sedemikian. Mungkin rakyat kini merasakan bahawa dengan mendemonstrasi, itulah satu-satunya jalan untuk menyuarakan pendapat mereka. Rakyat tidak lagi mempercayai media-media massa untuk mewakili suara mereka yang berbaur ketidakpuasan terhadap keadaan semasa.

Kebelakangan ini, ada pihak-pihak tertentu yang melontarkan kata-kata yang berbaur perkauman, menyebabkan rasa tidak senang dan benci diantara satu sama lain. Pada pendapat patik, perkara ini tidak seharusnya berlaku kerana kita semua adalah sama. Kita rakyat Malaysia dan seharuskan mengamal sikap bertolak-ansur dan hidup dalam keadaan yang harmoni. Apa yang sensitif tidak seharusnya disuarakan dengan lantang dan bongkak sekali. Bukankah kita semua adalah anak bangsa Malaysia? Patik merayu Tuanku untuk betitah dan menegur mereka-mereka yang degil dan keras kepala ini dan seterusnya memulihkan keadaan.

Patik juga runsing dan tidak keruan apabila melihat akta-akta tertentu digunakan untuk menakut-nakutkan rakyat jelata. Adakalanya patik rasa kami telah kehilangan ‘suara’ kami. Dalam bidang kewartawanan dan berita, laporan yang bersifat neutral tidak lagi dapat dilihat. Apa yang diwarta dan dilaporkan adalah kebenaran yang terpilih dan telah ditapis, baik dalam media cetak ataupun elektronik. Bidang penulisan dan berita adalah langkah pertama untuk mecorak sejarah. Patik tidak tahu sejarah yang bagaimanakah yang akan kita catatkan dengan berita-berita yang penuh dengan skandal yang amat memalukan. Apakah yang wajar kita sampaikan kepada generasi seterusnya dengan apa yang telah dicatatkan sekiranya perkara-perkara seperti ini berterusan? Patik rasa seolah-olah telah ditampar di pipi apabila sahabat-sahabat warga asing mentertawakan apa yang berlaku di Malaysia apabila mereka terbaca berita yang dipaparkan. Mereka memperlekehkan negara kita kerana semakin lama, ahli-ahli politik yang terdiri dari pihak kerajaan serta pembangkang semakin berlagak dan kurang waras di dalam perjuangan mereka mengejar kuasa.

Patik cintakan Malaysia kerana sesungguhnya Malaysia adalah tanah tumpahnya darah patik. Patik benci apabila melihat kita diperlekehkan. Jika boleh, patik mahu semua ini dihentikan, tetapi apakan daya, patik cuma rakyat dari golongan kebanyakan yang langsung tidak mempunyai kuasa untuk berbuat apa-apa.

Semua ini wajar dihentikan segera, Tuanku. Kami, rakyat jelata tiada lagi tempat mengadu. Tuanku adalah harapan terakhir kami. Patik merayu dan memohon tuanku bertitah agar ahli-ahli politik berhenti bermain permainan politik serta psikologi dan mula berkhidmat untuk rakyat. Semoga dengan titah tuanku, mereka-mereka yang terlibat akan sedar dan seterusnya kesejahteraan serta kegemilangan Malaysia dapat di pulihkan.

Sebelum patik mengundurkan diri, izinkan patik memohon ampun sekiranya patik terkasar bahasa dan warkah ini menganggu fikiran Tuanku. Patik menjunjung kasih tuanku kerana sudi meluangkan masa membaca apa yang patik penakan. Akhir kata, izinkanlah patik mempersembahkan Tuanku dengan pantun empat kerat.

Batu permata berkilau-kilauan,

Menaikkan seri si anak raja,

Bila rakyat hilang pedoman,

Rakyat dan raja berpisah tiada.

*************************************

Berjalan-jalan di taman bunga,

Ternampak pula merpati sejoli,

Bila rakyat memendam rasa,

Tuanku jua menenteram kami.

*************************************

Yang benar,

Cleffairy

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Dear Tuanku,

I am a Malaysian citizen known as Cleffairy. You may not know who I am, but I am your citizen. I am humbly writing this because I do not have any possible way to reach you, Tuanku. I know that you live in the National Palace, but I am not sure if I were to write a snail mail to you, the letter would reach you safely. I am not sure if it’s allowed by the royal protocol for you to receive a letter by a mere citizen who is nobody . So I decided to write this open letter in my blog, and silently hope that somehow, with God’s grace, one day, you would stumble upon it and spare some of your precious time to read what I have to say.

I have always respect Royal institution, and I feel that in the time of chaos and unrest, it’s the royal institution that I should seek for solace and assurance. I have always feel that Kings and Queens in Malaysia plays a greater role in Malaysian politics than just being a mere symbol for citizen to look up to, even though there are people who think otherwise.

I am really depressed with the political weather in Malaysia and it comes to the point where I can no longer watch news on national TV without feeling angry at the way politicians been conducting themselves. I feel that the citizens are being neglected, where our welfare and well beings are no longer being taken care of. The rich are getting richer and seems to spare no thoughts about the poor, the old and the needy.

We, the citizens are actually suffering, and struggling to end our suffering without any assistance from the government or the opposition who claimed that they are working very hard to improve our lives. Every now and then we can hear people retort that we, the citizens know nothing and only knows how to complain, and do nothing to improve our lives, I must say that even though we try as hard as we might to improve our lives, we still need a catalyst to help us improve. Good and stable economy would be a good catalyst. Unfortunately stable economy comes hand in hand with stable politics environment.

I am truly sorry, but I really have to say that watching parliament session at times brings me so much hatred, because everyone seems to be bickering all day long, but no actual result comes out as the fruit of their discussion.

In the tug war of power, the politicians seems to be oblivious towards the plundering economy and the spiraling price of essential goods. I’m seriously worried that sooner or later, foreign investor would soon lost interest in investing in Malaysia. I shudder to imagine the consequences towards Malaysian economy if foreign investors are no longer interested to invest in Malaysia.

I am also deeply concern about citizen’s security. Gone are the time of peace where one can go out during weekends without worrying that there will be street demonstration conducted by various political parties/NGOs. While some of these demonstration appeared to be peaceful, but I truly believe that all of this it’s tainting the image of our beloved Malaysia. Malaysia used to be free from such display of expression during Tun Dr. M’s government, but now, street demonstration for various purpose can be seen at a rather alarming rate. Perhaps, people demonstrate because they felt that they no longer can trust the national media to represent their thoughts and unpleasant complaints.

Then there’s racial tension stoked by various individuals to provoke the sensitivity of one another. I felt that this ought to be stop once and for all, as we are living under one country. We should live in harmony, and we should not allow anyone to belittle one another. Are we all not the children of Malaysia? Please Tuanku, I beg of you to address this matter before it’s too late.

I am also concern about the abuse of power on certain act in order to instill terror among the citizen. I felt that somehow, we have lost our voice. Un-bias reporting could no longer be practice. Selected truth in journalism, be it print or electronic are practiced instead. Journalism is the first step to dictating history. I wonder what kind of history we are going to tell the next generation if these nonsense are allowed to continued further. Our newspapers and electronic medium are full of scandals. I felt like being slapped in the face by foreigner friends when they laugh at our country for being absurd. I love Malaysia, because I have no other country to call home. I do not wish to see Malaysia being ridicule further by foreigners.

All of this should be change, Tuanku. We, the citizens have no where else to turn to. Power thirsty and politicians who turn blind eyes towards our concerns and fear are everywhere.You are our last resort. I beg your royal intervention to put a stop to all of those nonsense our politicians are cooking up once and for all. Please, I humbly beg you to do anything in your power to return peace, security, assurance and access to truth to us.

I should put down my pen now. However, please accept my humble apology if there’s anything in my letter that displease you. Thank you, Tuanku, for lending your grace and reading what I have to say.

Yours truly,

Cleffairy

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Cleffairy: DAULAT TUANKU! DAULAT TUANKU! DAULAT TUANKU!

The pantun is inspired by Sinatra_Z. His blog entry reminds me the art of pantun. I have long forgotten about it…the last time I wrote pantun is probably when I was in high school.

I was having my usual cuppa tea this morning, and came across a person on a wheelchair. I watched him struggle as he tried to move his wheelchair to the coffee house. My other half and I would have offered our help if it’s not because I saw his escort, a little girl who is probably his relative or daughter helped him to push the wheelchair and settle down. I was touched by the display of filial piety.

Seeing that old man maneuvering around in his wheelchair amused me to no end, and got me wondering on how he cope with his daily chores. As I took a sip of my tea, I tried to imagine myself being handicapped like him, but I couldn’t get a good vision on how I lead my life because the things that I imagined are not pleasant.

I could not imagine being handicapped in any ways, because in Malaysia, handicaps are automatically stigmatized that they are ‘useless’, not worth to hire as an employee because they are immobilized in many ways. They are automatically labeled as not efficient and dumb by many employer despite of their great achievement in the field of academic. They are not given easy chance to earn their living, and yet they are expected not to make a fuss out of it. People prefer to give chance to those who are air headed, sexy and yet could not figure out on how to operate a simple machine for 9-5 office job instead of hiring a handicap who is capable of clearing piles and loads of paperwork in office effectively.

The handicaps and disabled are generally expected to be financially independent by the society, but pray tell, how are they supposed to be financially independent when they are not given much chance to earn a living? Are they expected to belong to a wealthy family who can support them financially and emotionally? Or are they expected to go on the street, begging for money for a meal or two? I’m well aware that a lot of handicaps excelled in many fields, and yet, their achievements and skills could not be contributed because of the harsh perception on them.

Honestly, if I owned a company and needs an effective employee to help me with office work, I’ll chose a disabled individual if indeed proven that the person is capable of doing office work any day over a normal person who is a complete bloke and hopeless, even after intensive training is given. It’s a bonus too that the handicaps are usually very loyal to your company and appreciate their job very well due to the lack of chance given to them.

Even education are not made easy for people on wheelchair, as tertiary education classes are not situated on ground floors, and again, the lack of facilities for handicap students in educational institute. It’s not that they are not smart. In fact, some of them are even smarter and definitely more competitive than the normal people who tends to take things for granted. Again and again they are branded as useless just because the lack of facilities provided.

Malaysia does not facilitate handicaps and disabled well, that’s a fact that could not be change anytime soon, because Malaysian in general hardly give a thought about their difficulties. The government included. *snicker* Malaysian government are turning blind eyes towards the welfare of the disable, and obviously someone ought to tell those cabinet creeps to stop talking about ‘ME, ME, ME, IT’S ALL ABOUT ME‘ and start improving the lives of the handicap, disabled and the poor instead.

Let me ask you, how many shopping complexes are handicaps friendly? Racks that placed goods are usually designed for normal people, and placed at heights that is unreachable by people on the wheelchair. They have no choice but to ask for assistance when they shop for goods that they could not reach.

They are indeed incapable of running errands effectively the way normal people do, this I don’t deny. But to be fair, this is because the facilities provided in most shopping complexes are not handicap and disabled friendly. They need to depend on others to get their chores done. They are actually being immobilized by the lack of facilities, and yet people are labeling them useless. This is definitely injustice. It’s unfair to accuse them for being dependent on others because of the facilities that the normal people failed to provide them with.

Even answering nature’s call is a problem to them when they are outside. It’s a common knowledge that a lot of premise failed to provide a handicap stall. They are somehow forced to coup up at home simply because their home is more handicap friendly and more convenient for them, and yet, the society accused them for not socializing and being negative. Maybe they are negative in some ways if they lost their mobility due to sickness or accidents, but when they try to move on and be positive about their weakness, the environment and the society simply push them back down.

How many traffic lights includes alarm in order to assist the ones who are visually handicapped to cross the road? One may as them to use the pedestrian walkover instead, but how many are there out there? The blind, as you all probably know depends on the sense of noise and touch very much to get them around, but things are not made easier for them too.

Communication between the deaf and vocally disabled are not made easy too, because of the refusal of the normal to learn sign language. Our society simply are not interested in mingling with them, hence the refusal to learn their language. As parents, we prefer to let our children learn foreign and exotic language instead of learning simple sign language, why is this thing happening? Why are we outcasting the disable when they too are God’s creation? We force them to mingle around with their own kind instead of being closer to them and understanding their difficulties.

The society has made their lives harder by not providing proper facilities to them and made them live like an outcast by stigmatizing them. Don’t you guys think it’s time to put a stop to their misery? We may not have the power to change their lives overnight by turning our country into a handicap paradise by providing them the facilities, but we definitely start to make their lives easier by not stigmatizing and labeling them as useless creature. Start giving them a chance and mix around with them when they approach us, because in truth they are human, just like us.

Cleffairy: We’ll never know if one day misfortune are to befall us and takes away one of our senses. I know and convinced that I would not like to live like an outcast I were to be blind, deaf, mute or forced to move around on the wheelchair. Would you like to live like an outcast if such misfortune were to befall you?

PS: After writing this post, it reminds me to a certain asshole known as Ech3lon who had strongly voiced out his opinions against allocating more facilities for the disabled last month by saying “Why should we suffer and waste money building stuff for people who are ‘minority’ and useless to boot?”

Well, I do hope God damned you to live as a disable for a few days, and I’ll be looking forward to hear you complain your ass out. But then again, why would I be looking forward to your complains then, because you are strongly supporting censorship and against people who are voicing up their opinions and discomfort? If you are reading this and wanted to comment, would you like me to censor your words and unapproved your comment? I think you’ll enjoy being ‘shut up’. *snicker*

Last weekend, I happened to follow my other half to Low Yat Plaza for some window shopping on those geeky and techie stuff. Usually I don’t mind going there and window shop with him, but last week was quite a disaster. The place is more happening and more crowded than usual, as there’s many ongoing tech-related competition and promotion in collaboration of the mid-autumn festival. I must say that I was quite agitated and annoyed by the crowd and the ongoing events.

On the ground floor of Low Yat Plaza, there’s this company called PDA Expert, and they are doing promotion for their latests PDA (not Public Display of Affection, but Personal Digital Assitant). Doing promotion and advertising their latest products is fine with me, but the way they do it somehow strike my nerve and annoyed me to no end. It’s way too revealing and fancy to my taste. The promotion event itself promotes nothing but their staff’s sexuality.

Sales girls are dressed up in sheer and transparent short dress where the skirt is way above their knees, and generous amount of cleavage can be seen. These salesgirls are hot, and I daresay they are qualified to be a Playmate model. These girls are apparently well trained in seducing men to buy PDA Expert’s product…well, I’m not sure whether they are trained to do so or they already have that particular talent before they are hired to promote and sell PDA Expert’s product.

But I must say, they are good at what they are doing, because as I stood in a small corner and observe the whole area, I noticed that most of the male population over there went goo-goo-ga-ga on these sexy salesgirls. And as these guys goes goo-goo-ga-ga on them, they took advantage by asking the men to buy PDAs in their sweet saccharine voice. And as expected, most men succumbed to the seduction and bought the PDA. I snickered and thought to myself; these guys probably already own a PDA and yet, just because the girls made them feel ‘good’ the bought the PDA anyway, regardless of whether they need it or not.

I was actually interested in getting my hubby a PDA, so, I approached a saleslady reluctantly, and try to gain information on those PDAs that they are promoting. I was asking about the model, the function and the warranty of the PDA she’s holding, but I was left speechless when I discovered that she knew almost nothing about the PDA. She only told me that it’s the latest product and it’s thin.

What the fuck? Am I somewhat brainless or blind that she give me this sort of answer? Of course the bloody thing is a the latest gadget they have, otherwise why would they be promoting the PDA in the first place? I don’t give a damn on how chic and fashionable that bloody thing look, I’m more interested in investing on PDA’s functionality and also, if I’m buying this sort of thing, I would want a good after sales service.

After awhile, she tried to encourage me to buy it because it’s a hot stuff and very chic. Then she have the cheek to tell me that the PDA would look good on me and make me look sexier. I know I conveniently forget to mention that I would like to buy it for my husband…but PDA can make me look sexier? I know sheer lingerie and teddies can make me look sexier, but damn, have I been somewhat off in another planet or something that PDA is now an accessory that can make a woman look sexier? Am I missing something or PDA also can function as a dildo these days?

I sighed and warily ignore her jutting breasts as I mentally note that she’s not wearing any bra, but a stick on instead. Damn… I wouldn’t even dare to wear any of those bloody sheer and sexy undergarment in public. I must say…it’s very, very distracting, even for me, as a straight woman. I would have been tempted to grope her if I was a lesbian. I could not possibly comprehend anything that’s coming out of her mouth with all the distraction that she’s bundled with, so I cleared my throat and excused myself from her and went to look for my husband.

I spotted him talking to some guy from the PDA Expert booth, apparently drilling the guy with questions about PDAs, the same way I did to the sexy girl, only with a more professional and knowledgeable way. He was asking the guy on what OS the PDA was using, if I’m not mistaken, and I tugged on his sleeve to make known my presence, and from the way I see, he’s also not satisfied with the explanation given by PDA Expert personnel. I was right about his dissatisfaction, as he grumbled and complain on how poorly trained they are. After awhile, we heard some commotion in the centre stage of the promotional area.

Apparently, the deejay is hosting a quiz and there are mystery gifts and freebies to be given away. Here, I’d like to comment on the way the deejay conducted the entire quiz. He was quite unprofessional, as he was rude towards the male contestants, and seems to be in a rush to end the entire quiz with lame questions.

One of the question that I could remember was, ‘How many PDA Expert girls are there around here? ‘And then there’s ‘how many lanterns are hanging around this area’. Honestly, if I’m the one who hired him to conduct the promotional event, I would have fired him immediately. As far as I’m concern, he’s supposed to quiz the contestants about PDAs, not how many sexy girls with sheer clothes and jutting nipples are walking around in that area.

After getting rid of the contestant, the deejay gleefully announced the grand finale of the bloody event. A performance by Amanda. Curious on what it’s all about, we decided to stay and watch the show. But I was aghast when ‘Amanda’ came out from the backstage. She wore a black dress that I would easily pass as a lingerie designed for nothing, nothing but seduction alone. It highlighted her curve, the skirt way above knees with panties naughtily trying to peek out when she moves, as well as her jiggly breasts threatening to spill from the silky material when she bend down. One tug of those material she’s wearing, I dare bet my wages that she’ll be completely exposed.

My other half, who was standing beside me, clears his throat, trying to tug me away from the show. He’s always been a perfect gentleman, and wouldn’t do anything that he thought that would make me feel inferior, uncomfortable or in this case, pissed off, but I refused to budge from the place I stood as I watched ‘Amanda’ performed her dance routine. The routine resembles a strip tease very much, with sexy maneuvering as well as those coy ‘off with my blouse’ act. She then wriggled around as if she aroused and was begging for someone to touch her breasts and fondle her womanhood. I half expected that she would take off her panties and swing it to the crowds. But much to my disappointment, she didn’t. I would have been a great end to the performance if she did.

To be honest, I did not know how I felt watching such performance live. I was quite stunned that the organizer hosted such performance in an IT promotion and advertising event. Were they so desperate to sell off their item that they exploited women’s sexual appeal to do the marketing? Did they do this because their PDAs can only be passed as junks, and they feel that they have the need to use sexy women to lure and seduce men to buy their product?

This is a perfect example where business owners exploited women to market and advertise their product by using sexual appeals and attraction. But from the bottom of my heart, I could not blame the business owners for conducting such things, because in business, you have to do what you must to gain profit. Be it in a good way or dirty way. To be fair, I can’t really blame them for exploiting women’s sexual appeal either, because firstly, sex sells. Secondly why would they not use sexual appeal when there are girls who are willing to dress up half naked and parade around for them to sell their item?

While I’m aware that exploiting women’s sexual appeal in ad/promo campaign is a very common practice among business owners, I do hope that they have enough wits to host an event or campaign that have relevance to their product. What does an IT gadget got to do with strip tease dance and sexy girls? I just don’t get it, it’s not as if they are trying to sell off some sex toy or condoms. I can see the relationship between sex toys and strip tease, but not electronic gadget that is supposed to be used with your power suit or to assist you in your office chores.

The picture above is ‘Amanda’, at the end of her performance. Her face has been censored to protect yours truly from getting sued for using her picture without permission.

Cleffairy: Using sex appeals to sell me stuff would never work on me or my other half, because we’re quite stingy when it comes to spending. However, if we’re fed with good infos by well informed personnel, THAT might work.

GOSSIP EVENT, CHECK IT OUT

Women are beautiful and delicate creature, originally born to be loved, respected and honoured. And yet, how many times have we heard, or seen women being degraded, violated and insulted just because they are weaker sex?

The news of women being violated can be seen every day on any form of communication medium, be it in the print or electronic. We see news of women from all age and skin colour getting raped by people that they trust, or people that they know every day. We also see wives being violated by their husbands just because they are women and their male counterpart had a mindset that women supposed to be submissive to their husbands.

Women are not slaves, and yet we cannot seems to erased the thinking that women nothing but a creature created by God to be used by men strictly for their pleasure in bed, for handling domestic chores as well as a punching bags when men are not satisfied with whatever went wrong in their daily lives and have the need to hit their women to release stress. Some man feels good and more masculine after hitting and violating the weaker sex over and over again, but the question here is, is this right? When a woman says no to being abused and violated, why is it her voices are deliberately ignored? Why can’t what the women said be heard? What is actually suppressing women’s voice all over the world?

In many part of the world, women are treated like a property. A property of men. When they are a child, they are the property of their father or any male relative if her father is already dead. Then they grew up and become an adolescent and when their family think that their age is right to be send away as someone’s wife, women get married and became the property of their husbands. When her husband died, she became a property of her son(s) or any living male relative’s property and she is expected to submit to their wimps just because she is of a weaker sex. Is this right, dear readers? Is this a right way to treat a women?

In some religion and society, women are taught not to express their pleasure in bed during their conjugal union(sex lah, people *roll eyes*). Women are expected to timidly lie down, and accept whatever her husband or partner wants to do to her and stare at the ceiling until it’s over. And so comes this question…is a woman made of flesh and blood and have feelings or she’s made of a log and wigs that she is expected not to express any feelings during her sexual intercourse?

In some countries, even Malaysia, girls who usually belongs to a Muslim families are expected not to express pleasure in bed when they grow up and become someone’s wife too. Yours truly said this because it’s a fact then when most of a Muslim baby girls are born, they are taken to a midwife who is experienced in performing the removal of clitoris and snip that part away. Some families may wait until the girl grew up to be three or four years of age to mutilate their genital. All of this are done because they believed that by doing so, the girl will not be able to achieve orgasms during her sexual intercourse. It signify ultimate control of men in bed over the woman in question.

And yet in truth, God apparently created the clitoris for the sole purpose of generating pleasure. It has no other purpose. There is no instructions in the Holy Quran or in the writings of the Prophet Muhammad which require that the clitoris be surgically modified. God must have approve of its presence. It should not be removed or reduced in size or function.The Quran promotes the concept of a wife being given pleasure by her husband during sexual intercourse. Mutilated genitalia reduces or eliminates a women’s pleasure during the act. So why the hell men are violating the rights of a woman by disallowing and denying her pleasure in bed? Does this make men more macho and masculine?

Women’s rights and women’s voice are being taken away from them ever since they are a child in most society. It is men who actually suppressed women’s voice everywhere by silencing them when they are still a child. This should be change, shouldn’t it? Women are actually your mother, your grandmother, your wife, your sister, your daughter. They are the people who play very important role in your lives. Without them, you will not be here reading this article. They are your family, and family members should be protected and not abused. Their voice should be heard, and not silenced! Respect and honour your mother, love and cherish your wife, protect your daughters and sisters. Let their voice be heard by listening to them. Say no to abuse and violence against women.

In the modern society, women not only play a role as your family member or your caregiver, they also play very important role in nation building. Modern women are quite liberated and capable in doing whatever men do. (heck, even our bank governor is a woman, without her signature on our ringgit, do you honestly think that the money you have in your wallet have any value?)They have career and contribute large sum of money to the country through income tax. By this fact alone, the society should start recognizing women’s contribution to the country and pay some respect to us women, and yet, everyday, we hear women being abused and violated as well as exploited. Stop violence against women. We are not living a a dark age anymore, so why should we continue to treat women as if we are living in that era?

Cleffairy: The hands that rocks the cradle, may shape the world.