An Interview With Tok Rimau

He is the man behind tokrimau.tk and has been active in writing his own blog for some time now. A level headed guy with so many stories to tell, he also headed one of Malaysia largest blogging community, Geng Jurnal. Interviewed around middle of 2004

SIREH: I’m in a process of making a (fan)zine. It very much about life, people music and art. And right I’m in the process of compiling the stuff for our maiden issue. You can also read more about it here, in sireh.org latter on.

TOKRIMAU.TK: Suggestion: include sample blog entries with the interviews. Where can I buy your zine?

SIREH: how long have you been writing your own blog?

TOKRIMAU.TK: My first blog entry was written on January 11, 2001. Before that, for 2 years, I spammed mailing list with series of political jokes known as Lawak Tanpa Permit. The thrill faded off then I started blogging. Malaysian political scenario is funny, so does my own life. Expert’s advice: write about what you know best thus I write about me. Ever heard of the phrase, one day you’ll look at this event and laugh? I’m not waiting for that one day, I want to laugh now.

SIREH: can you tell us more about yourself. Your background, interest, interest, etc

TOKRIMAU.TK: Son of a retired army cum taxi driver. I was brought up in army quarters around Malaysia, Bukit Chagar Ghetto (one room flat, JB and Setanggi Squatter Village, JB.) Being not filthy rich and was slightly at low middle class then, I am cynical by nature. No regret though, I am thankful of the informal education I got from the neighborhood. Now, I am an academician. I love reading books and watching movies. One of these days, I will write my own books and make my own movies.

SIREH: what motivate you to write? Is it more like a hobby, or the thought of sharing your story with everyone else?

TOKRIMAU.TK: I write because they are people who read. If nobody is reading then I will stop blogging. What do I get out of it? Well, blogging sharpens my creativity and by writing and interpreting events make me learn a thing or two about life.

SIREH: do you think bloggers are mainly made of nerds? You know, the silent majority? People that are not that out spoken in nature and choose to write to convey or share their feeling and thoughts?

TOKRIMAU.TK: We can’t put bloggers any label. There are so many different kinds of people out there. There are sick bloggers, funny bloggers, jiwang karat bloggers, arty bloggers, techie bloggers and also geeky bloggers. Just mentioning a few. One thing similar about them is that, they love to write. Very opinionated. I would say, weblog is a good medium ifself expression.

SIREH: What do you think about the future? It is estimate that in the future, there will be less personal space. People will find comfort in technology, like hooking up to internet or put on a walkman – to escape the real world. Is this a bad thing?

TOKRIMAU.TK: The future will stay at it is now if nobody is doing any effort to shape it. Nevertheless, there are people who build things and others who take advantage of them. Technology is the real thing; those who try to run away from it or fail to keep up with it are out of tune with the real world.

SIREH: do you think majority of the bloggers out there are honest? All the events that they wrote, is it true or they make it up. Not saying there is such thing as true and false in blogging, but what the moral stand here should be here?

TOKRIMAU.TK: All media is serving the interest of its owner. Most blogs are based on true stories twisted to serve the owner interest. If everybody is doing the same thing then, that is the standard. We have to accept, some facts are better let unknown. Even Berita Bernama is being selective of the facts they want to deliver.

SIREH: how often do you blog?

TOKRIMAU.TK: Between 4 to 7 times a week. That is if I have the Internet access.

SIREH: can you suggest some spanking hot blog site out there?

TOKRIMAU.TK: I like blogs that poke fun at life:-http://www.drliew.net/http://jongkang.blogspot.com/ http://members.tripod.com/encikkhairul/khairul/khairul2.htm

SIREH: blogging is virtually new, as Pyra, the company that commercialized it all released blogger.com in 1999. Will it died eventually? What do you think?

TOKRIMAU.TK: It won’t die. It will just evolve. The future promise video blog, audio blog and mobile blog at the hand of the masses.

SIREH: thanks. Any last words?

TOKRIMAU.TK: It’s good that people promote Reading Culture but I strongly feel, it’s time for Writing Culture too. If you need content for your zine, just take any of my entries. Don’t forget to gimme credit to.

Note: from sireh dan cengkeh terpilih #1