The Malaysian Insider

OCT 8 — First and foremost I would like to wish everyone out there Selamat Hari Raya Aildilfitri and Maaf Zahir Batin if any of my articles offended you in any way. Now that we have done the obligatory greeting and apology, let’s start offending each other again and repeat the whole process next year.

If you noticed, the title is actually a word play (captain obvious) and it is a combination of two words, which are “Facebook” and “Bukakke”. Facebook is an online social network website which is hugely popular on the Internet these days. Many Malaysians have begun ditching the old social sites like friendster and myspace of late and migrating to Facebook. Politicians, celebrities and even your mother have Facebook accounts these days, so kids think twice before you tag someone’s sexy picture on Facebook. Who knows they might be using them in the next by-election. Then of course there’s the word Bukakke, which is a foreign word, and I think many of you are wondering that it means? It sounds a bit like Kelantanese (which is very foreign) but it is actually a Japanese word.

Bukakke is used to describe an act of “splashing on” or “splashing at” something, which usually involves some kind of liquid. For example, “I made this painting by bukakkeing my water colour onto this sheet of paper.” Bukakke can also be used to describe dishes made by pouring broth over, like bukakkesoba (a Japanese noodle), bukakkelaksa or roticanaibukakke. So when I combine these two words into “Facebookakke” what I am trying to point out is how these days Facebook has become a propaganda tool or machinery to spread certain agendas. Back then Facebook was used as a tool for social network (and has worked quite brilliantly for me) and marketing, now it has become this place where unwanted propaganda and opinions are literally splashed right into my face. Yes, these days I feel that I am being bukakked by Facebook, although no actual liquid is involved here.

Okay so I admit, I am somewhat guilty of posting some political stuff. In case you haven’t noticed I am a very opinionated person, hence I sometimes post things on my status or make snide comments. Look I can’t help it when I see a rabid PR fanboy (who is usually a friend) post on his status “Selamat Hari Malaysia to all, sadly it’s not a public holiday cause BN government don’t really care about our east coast brothers.” I can’t help but comment: “Aren’t you forgetting that a drama queen has conned us into becoming a prime minister with enough seats from Parliament? Oh wait maybe he actually got it from Ikea.” That’s just too bloody obvious for me to let it pass. If Tian Chua expects me not to say anything upon writing on his status “16 September Selamat Hari Malaysia”, he must think that we Malaysians have very short-term memories. I would like to know what happened to his karaoke session in Taiwan! Some say he sang “Lompat si katak lompat”. Others say he sang “I’m the great Pretender” but I personally think he opted for Greenday’s “Wake me up when September ends”.

To me it’s quite okay I guess. I do it with my friends and they do it to me. It’s not political all the time. But what is wrong is some people create accounts simply for the sake of adding random people and posting angry things. It’s quite hard to filter them at first as one might think that these are long-lost primary school friends or co-workers, hence it wouldn’t be nice to block them. Turns out it is some random cyber trooper with weird names like Suara Rakyat or Reniv Yoong who spends most of his time spewing out anger instead of going outside and getting some exercise.

Let’s not forget people who keep posting things like “Want to know how to make money by just sitting in front of the computer and scratch your scrotum all day long? PM me!” or tag you on a picture of him posing in front of a Mercedes wearing an oversized suit with gaudy-coloured tie with a caption like “(Name brand of an MLM) has changed my life, it can change yours too!” OK fine, congratulations you have made it there but I personally wouldn’t want financial freedom if it means that I have to succumb to horrible fashion sense.

Then there is of course the status updates that goes on every five minutes. Look, I am interested in what is going on in your life, but not to the extent of finding out that your kid farted for the very first time at 1.26pm today. Wee bit too much info don’t you think? The worst one I had was when a friend updated a minute-by-minute account on what was happening in the Perak assembly with a dramatic commentary, apparently because some friends overseas wanted to know what was happening. So I asked “Ahh so you’re there?” and it turns out she just copied and pasted from online news portals. I guess her friends couldn’t read the news online without the dramatic commentary. It’s like watching the All England without Hasbullah Awang. By all means my fellow netizens, if you feel the need to tell the whole world what you did today on an hourly basis then use Twitter! I mean Khairy Jamaluddin brags about MU there so you might as well join the yuppies.

Hence my fellow readers, that is how I got Facebookakked, and received propaganda and cheap marketing right in my face. Though I am ranting about how Facebook is misused or being screwed around, I have to admit this stands true for everything in the Internet. From funny mindless Internet news portals to even blogging, Malaysians are so hyped up in their own reality and moral headlights that some of us can't seem to understand that other people have different views than us. Some of us have that astute belief that if we barrage them with massive amount of articles, ceramahs or quirky posters they would see the light yet not realise perhaps it is they who have tunnel vision. Sadly though, like our politics, Facebook is becoming a battleground for perception instead of being a tool for networking, exchanging ideas or just plain old keeping in touch with friends. I have no problems with Facebook, just only a small number of Facebook users who happen to be my fellow countrymen. Thank you for reading.

P/S: If this article gets into the most-read section of TMI, that means that many out there face the same predicament as well. Either that or most TMI readers are male.

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