phantom superbloggers
In blogging, there is a fine line between genuine concern over current global affairs and being resplendant in self-glorification in needing to make your voice heard.I say this because i've been browsing through various local blogs and every now and then, the i'm-a-crusader-against-terrorism entry woven within one of the london bombing news articles will surface. Frankly speaking, it pisses me off more than i want it to. It's a different thing altogether when one's intentions are pure: like Huichieh, who gives his readers a deeper insight into the news he 'broadcasts', people who are indirectly affected because they have friends/relatives in London or those who mentioned it briefly to increase general awareness in people like me who has not flipped a newspaper in ages. And that is all good.
But i'm talking about those who usually write about some mindless i-went-to-zoo-and-fed-monkeys stuff, and all of a sudden they are launching into lengthy posts about the london bombings, the end of hope for the mankind, irrelevant personal experiences (hands up, if you have been terrorised before) and more ramblings spoken in the same apocalyptic tone. I understand that blog entries have to be 'entertaining' or it's the Alt-F4 before you even finish the 2nd sentence, but sheesh i'd rather be entertained by something that's actually funny. These people seek to potray some kind of wisdom and ardent emotional sensitivity through sensationalising issues that they secretly don't give a hoot about. Pretentiousness smells so acrid, you can sniff it on someone a mile away.
They are ordinary Singaporeans like you and i, but when calamity befalls, even though its not even remotely close to home - voila! They strip off their clothes and reveal the big red S underneath. They fight terrorism with a red-hot passion never known to anyone but them. They are not a bird, not a plane...they are the phantom Superblogger!
I'm certainly not desensitised nor am i an apathetic Singaporean youth, but if i were to search in my heart of hearts, honestly i didn't try to ponder about it after the initial shock wore off in an hour or so. My thought-provokers are things like my Mum battling with breast cancer, friends who grew up in single-parent families, were physically abused by violent stepfathers, my encounters with the less fortunate and so on. These things are more real to me than anything else. Anyway if you can observe a minute of silence for the events in London, i'm sure you'll do the same for every calamity happening in Africa, China, the thirdworld countries in SEA and so on right? I mean, there's no difference between one tragedy with another, what. Well i guess in that case you can remain silent forever.
Labels: life lessons
