Our Disturbing Fascination With MENJ

Now that we have concluded with the pomp and ceremony of the “Jaguh Kampung Of The Month”, we would like to focus our attention to this disturbing fascination we harbour towards the mental aptitude and inner workings of MENJ. MENJ is a full-time blogger (read: unemployable) who claims to be “dedicated to the study of comparative religions”. He hopes the “comparative religions” credential will give him an air of scholarly authority. This infantile aspiration, however, is immediately crushed once we read his articles, which is essentially an emotional bash-and-rant against other religions and cultures. Fellow Muslims who do not share his views are conveniently labelled as “heretics”. Anyone who raises issues concerning Islam are immediately condemned as “Islamophobes”, in much the same way as anyone criticising Israel are denounced as ‘Anti-Semitic’ by Jewish zealots.

You need only be mildly intelligent to appreciate that MENJ is in fact, the mirror image of hardline Zionists, right-wing American evangelists and the ignoramus Dutch MP he so self-righteously criticised. Although we tend to laugh off his irrational and imbecilic posts as some twisted form of comedy, the sad fact is that MENJ represents a cross-section of Malaysian youths who desperately need help. Coming from a low socioeconomic background, possessing minimal education and wholly unattractive to the workforce, these youths are disenfranchised from mainstream society and are unable to respond and interact with the modern world. Their narrow-minded mentality, disguised as “Islamic” should come as no surprise, because their upbringing and environment have denied them the opportunity to reach their full potential.

Although his face might suggest otherwise, MENJ is not born an idiot. He grew up into one. Although we occasionally have a laugh at his expense, and unfairly chastise him as “hodoh lagi bodoh”, we sincerely feel sorry for his predicament.

MENJ – Jaguh Kampung of The Month

Baru-baru ini, MENJ, dalam kemarahannya di atas komen seorang bebal dari Belanda yang menghina umat Islam, telah mengugut untuk membelasah si bebal itu dengan tumbukan di mukanya. Pada pendapat kami, kejahilan orang Belanda itu tidak sepatutnya dibalas dengan keganasan. Bukankah lebih bermakna sekiranya diadakan dialog supaya orang Islam dan bukan Islam saling memahami dan menghormati satu sama lain?

Apa yang mencuitkan hati kami ialah keyakinan MENJ terhadap kekuatan fizikal badannya. Ada hati Si MENJ kita ni, yang badan sekeping akibat tak cukup disuap makan, nak berlagak menjadi samseng? Nak tergelak aku dibuatnya! Kalau setakat nak ugut belasah muka orang dalam laman web sendiri, baik tak payah. Seperti lirik sebuah lagu Melayu, “lupakan sajalah hasratmu”.

“Jaguh Kampung Of The Month” julung-julung dianugerahkan kepada Hishamuddin Hussein Onn pada bulan November di atas insiden melontar-lentir kerisnya. Sejak itu, tidak ada calon yang dirasakan layak dianugerahkan kehormatan ini. Calon “Jaguh Kampung” harus menunjukkan tahap kepintaran yang amat rendah, dan setelah dua bulan menunggu, kami yakin MENJ memenuhi ciri utama ini. Syabas, MENJ!

Emotionally Unstable Malaysian Bloggers Seek Counselling

Recently, there has been a growing number of Malaysian bloggers, such as MENJ who, visibly upset over negative remarks posted by visitors, have demanded silence from them, or to simply “GET LOST”. This ‘if you don’t like it get out’ idea, and its close relative the ‘if you write negative comments I won’t publish it’ mentality, is a concept that is totally alien to the ideals of free speech and democracy, and is perhaps a reflection of the level of iron-fist dictatorship which Malaysians have been subjected to over the past two decades.

When a blogger chooses to publicly post his or her article on the Internet, he has to understand that there will be readers who may not agree with his views, and they are entitled to voice their disapproval, before they “get lost”, just as he has the right to leave comments on websites that he visits. If he is able to accept praises and adulation from admirers, he should be just as able to accept negative feedback. You cannot have it both ways. When a person publishes articles in public, he is ‘fair game’ to comments, be they roses or brickbats. If he is unable to comply, then he should perhaps retrieve to the private life.

Some other bloggers pretend to be fair and declare they have no problem with “constructive criticism”. “Constructive criticism” is a deceptive phrase usually employed by people who are otherwise unable to accept negative comments, in an effort to appear rational. In actual fact, these “constructive criticisms” are opinions they themselves more or less agree with. It is not that difficult to accept “constructive criticisms” if you agree with them in the first place. When a visitor posts critical feedback on their websites, the reply by these mob of emotionally unstable bloggers is usually riddled with expletives and generous use of multiple exclamation marks, a practice we suspect they adopt from 12 year old spoilt brats suffering from ADD.

MENJ is not the only one suffering from anger management issues. There are numerous websites out there, dedicated to bashing the government, bashing God, bashing atheists, bashing cross-dressing transsexuals, bashing the fly-infested mee goreng at Seksyen 19, that display overtly emotional language.

Why then, do we unfairly target MENJ, when there are many other Malaysian bloggers out there, who either due to a lack of vocabulary, a traumatic childhood or unresolved issues,resort to employing course language and a ridiculous number of exclamation marks? Why do we concentrate on him, when there are many other bloggers who are more educated, more intelligent and are far better equipped at defending themselves without looking like an infantile fool? The main reason is because, as stated by MENJ, he simply does not care. From the tone of his language, it is clear that criticisms have upset him, and we suspect there have been numerous. Although we at kampunghouse pride ourselves at being irresponsible and irreverent, we sincerely believe further distressing MENJ  on his website will aggravate his already serious emotional instability (even though that hasn’t stopped us in the past), and after having to endure more than 20 years of authoritarian rule by an emotionally disturbed Prime Minister, we understand the severe implications and acknowledge that this is no laughing matter.

To MENJ, and all the other angry and emotionally unstable bloggers, we wish them a speedy recovery