Foul!

Haresh Says, as published in Malay Mail today.   LET’S go back to at least 25 years ago when the Internet was still in its infancy.   The term “social media” was unheard of then. The only thing social was when one attended a relative’s birthday party or hung out with friends at a nearby coffeeshop.   Conversations revolved around investors who cursed a political party’s supposed economic vehicle to boost the income of a particular race but failed to produce returns and had instead turned into a farce.   Parents complained about the merit system, claiming their children were unable to secure places in local universities despite scoring straight As.   Friends made fun of how politicians talked as jokes about leaders and their bizarre antics would leave many in stitches. It was a sure way to keep the night alive.   But such talk was either within the four walls of a living room or a coffeeshop.   Today, such socia...

Haresh Says, as published in Mailsport today. HERE’S a country that builds skyscrapers, has some of the finest facilities in the world and home to some of best fashion designers.   But there are flaws. And one of them is the inability to equip our national athletes with proper attire. There have been numerous occasions in the past where our national athletes have been spotted dressed shabbily. Prior the World Championship in Guangzhou, China last year, the national shuttlers left for Hong Kong for a training stint. Led by world No. 1 Lee Chong Wei, they were all dressed like they were about to catch a movie.   The manner in which they were in irked Youth and Sports Minister Khairy Jamaluddin who took the BA of Malaysia to task for its failure to ensure the players had donned the right outfit.   Even the newly designed national Malaysian Heroes tracksuit by Melinda Looi failed to reach the Commonwealth Games athletes in time last month as ...

  I have said my piece. What are your thoughts? And more importantly, where do we go from here? HD says: Sigh... 

US President Barack Obama's successful campaign online saw him reelected for the second term last year.   The well-thought strategy by his online team was honoured at the Annual Webby Awards presented by the International Academy of Digital Arts and Sciences on Tuesday. Malaysians will go to the polls tomorrow in what has been dubbed the social media general election as there are more than 13 million active Facebook users and over a million Twitter accounts in the country. Millions resort to information on YouTube instead of television. This has led to political parties advertising on various online platforms, from YouTube and Yahoo! to even Dictionary.com. Several of our politicians, including Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak, Umno Youth chief Khairy Jamaluddin and PKR’s de facto leader Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim, are certifi ed Twitter "addicts" as their accounts have been verified and acknowledged by Twitter.  The other politicians active o...

“Bursa Malaysia is on standby with the possibility of the market closing on Monday. “Boxes of documents from government offices are being carted away.” These are just some of the very many “messages” that have been circulating as the nation head to the polls on Sunday. The influence of social media — mainly Twitter and Facebook — and videos uploaded on YouTube are widely said to be the main influencer for the 13th general election. These messages — shared among netizens — often spill over to the local coffee shops and markets where conversations take place, opinions are bantered and most often than not a perception is made. Read more in The Malay Mail today .

It got many excited as London Olympic bronze medalist Pandelela Rinong is 'finally' on twitter. With a picture of her and her favourite nickname as her handle ( @LuluGDolphine ), one would have expected the Sarawakian lass to have stepped into the world of Twitter. However, a quick check by the author proved otherwise as evident in the exchange of SMS-es ( pic ). Harimau Muda A coach Ong Kim Swee has several 'pages' on Facebook and Twitter. He has denied having set up accounts on any social platforms. Parody accounts are common as even former Works minister and MIC president Samy Vellu is also seen on Twitter. So the next time you follow, like or request to add someone from such social networks, do some homework before blindly acknowledging. Otherwise, there could be a serious form of misrepresentation that could offend many in return. HD says: The price of being famous I guess.

The National Sports Council's (NSC) ' Pelapis ' Department may be seen as a just a molding ground for the future stars of the nation. However, their initiative and impact within the social media should not be overlooked. While most sports organisations have yet to fully embrace the power of the internet, the team at Pelapis has found itself in four important mediums within the World Wide Web. They have been on Facebook , Twitter and maintain a blog for quite sometime and do enjoy a steady following. There are videos of our young athletes on YouTube too. If one is keen to learn how to maximise publicity on the internet or would simply like to monitor the progress of our future champions, visit those sites. HD says: Credit ought to be given when due.

...most of the time they just sound darn silly. I do not know Tan Keng Liang ( pic ) personally. He is the Kedah Gerakan Youth Chief who is also apparently a lawyer. A quick Google search on him will lead you to articles such as this and this . However, Keng Liang's tweet on the Malaysia-Singapore football match certainly caught my attention. For the record Malaysia defeated Singapore 2-0 at the Shah Alam Stadium. It read; "pasukan mana agaknya disokong org DAP bila Malaysia lawan Singapura dlm perlawanan bola sepak sebentar tadi?" Was the statement warranted and on what basis was the statement made? What was Keng Liang trying to prove? Why the need to bring in political parties for an international friendly match? By the way, I'm sure our Prime Minister Najib Razak would be pleased with how Keng Liang brought in the #1Malaysia slogan in his tweet on the match. Also, I bet Najib would be even happier if Keng Liang had spelt 'loose' as lose.  ...

UPDATE: An influential weapon - From the Sidelines. ------- I was at a function over the weekend when a government official admitted he was surprised to see the huge turnout for the Bersih 3.0 rally in KL. "There was no publicity in the newspapers and yet the organisers managed to gather so many people." I smiled and said; "They don't need the newspapers anymore. Twitter, blog and Facebook is good enough to create such an impact." It's sad that as a true blue newspaper man, who still enjoy getting my fingers dirty with ink flipping through the pages of a newspaper, I have to admit that social media is where the masses especially the youths read up and disseminate information. We knew about it - even before the 2008 elections. Yet, the old-timers- till today - don't take it seriously. Prime Minister Najib Razak even made an announcement recently that candidates on Twitter more likely to be selected for the coming General Election. Ownin...