Now everyone is blogging

Blogs and bloggers have always been a subject of interest for many. Some say bloggers hide behind the mask of anonymity when criticising or condemning people, organisations or policies. Others say bloggers are irresponsible cowboys who "shoot" randomly at people. Others meanwhile want to regulate blogs. There are also those who called bloggers "goblok."

However, it is interesting to note that blogs started off as an alternative means to relay information and disseminate news from a different perspective - usually from the man-on-the-street's point of view. Most definitely, blogging has gained momentum in its popularity, so much so that it is now no longer considered to be an "alternative" or "underground" media, but instead it is regarded as "mainstream."

Certain quarters here fail to acknowledge this until the political Tsunami that hit Malaysia on the March 8th general election. Now, it seems everyone is blogging. Of course, a number of politicians (mainly from the opposition) have started blogging a long time ago. Lim Kit Siang for instance is one of the earliest, if not the earliest, to do so. Then there's Jeff Ooi with his famed Screenshots blog, although he started blogging way before he joined active politics. And there's also Tony Pua who blogs from Parliament. From PAS, the one that I am aware of that has a blog is Husam Musa. Then there is PKR's Che Gu Bard - who took on and lost to Khairy Jamaludin Abu Bakar - in Rembau in the general elections. And of course, the list wouldn't be complete without mentioning Anwar Ibrahim's blog.

Those from the Barisan Nasional government has also joined in the fray, although I must say that I wish they had done so much earlier. Former Selangor Menteri Besar, Dr. Mohd Khir Toyo has started blogging after BN lost in Selangor. Perhaps he now has a lot more free time to spare in the blogosphere. The Ketua Menteri of Melaka, Mohd Ali Rustam has also started blogging. Perhaps the earliest of the BN leaders to blog is the maverick politician, Shahrir Samad, who is now a minister in the current federal cabinet.

Retired politicians also have their blogs these days. One of the earliest retired politicians to blog is Ruhanie Ahmad. And don't forget the latest kid on the blog - Tun Dr. Mahathir Mohamad!

While Tun Mahathir may be new to the blogging world, his outspoken daughter is not. Marina Mahathir's ranting is as spicy as ever as her articles in The Star. And most certainly, there are many many more political blogs around. We are actually spoilt for choice. The only thing that I wish to state is that, it is best that we don't take what is written at face value without counterchecking the facts. What is presented may be one person's point of view. As with many things in this world, there are many views as there are people.

It is good to see that freedom of speech is alive and well in the blogosphere at least. While freedom of speech is much cherished, equally important is the wisdom that has to be coupled with the freedom. Wisdom must exist on the part of bloggers as well as blog-visitors. Nonetheless, it goes without saying that everyone is indeed blogging these days...

...including Amitabh Bachchan!