I'm actually not in much of a mood as I write this because my dog, my ol' pal died yesterday and I'm still very much in the blues. But I guess Malaysian Chat is in a more severe case of the blues as I notice that other veteran MYChat members (you know who you are) are taking a hiatus/leaving the forum and those fun, santai (casual) topics being replaced by unhappy, dull news articles and of course, spam.

Being a veteran MYChat member I've seen the good days and would very much like to bring em back. Yes politics is important but is that all there is to Malaysia? There are a lot of interesting happenings here to y'know so I don't see why we should be so reluctant to indulge in that. It's okay to let our hair down once in a while.

I propose we make MYChat a kind of virtual Information Centre where Malaysians and non-Malaysians alike can get infos on what's up and about in Malaysia from all angles - politically, economically, socially and of course, this being Malaysia, gastronomically...

Basically here's an overview of what I'd like MYChat to look like. Sorry if it seems too structured as I tend to be that kind of person. If y'all got better ideas why not chip in.


Malaysian Food Scene
A topic on good food to eat in Malaysia, good makan (eating) places both for local and foreign cuisines
* I know there have been at least two main topics for Malaysian food, but everytime they're revived they only last a short while so I guess it'll be good to make a new topic for a fresh start

Holidaying in Malaysia
There's already a topic by that name, but I wonder if there should be more specific topics, like say, 'Malaysian Travel Spots and Beyond' for tourist spots and off the beaten paths.

Malaysian Arts & Entertainment Scene
Where we can post infos and pics on the M'sian A&E Scene. As some of you may know I've posted pics I took of the Rainforest World Music Festival 2009 in the Holidaying in Malaysia topic, but I think it's not getting enough exposure. Which I feel is important as we do have music festivals which are becoming an increasingly major player in the M'sian tourism and lifestyle industry. For example we have the Penang World Music Festival (though as a proud Sarawakian I feel that it's a rip-off of our RWMF ) and the Miri International Jazz Festival... so how come they're not featured in MYChat? Come on guys!

Of course, we should also continue the Malaysian Cinema: To night program that Aeroforce started. It's a good topic on not only M'sian films but also SEA Cinema as a whole. I wonder if I can use that as an avenue to review the Australian movies that you sent me as well, Ralf? Since we have a whole lot of Malaysians & Singaporeans in Australia, I would say it's the closest (for lack of a better word) Western-ised society to this region so it'll be good to post up some worthy movies from there as well.


That's all I can think of at the moment. I really wish the MYChat old-timers can come back, but with the dreary topics around I doubt we'll be attracting that many to our forum anyway. Of course to give credit where credit is due, terima kasih HangPC2 kerana masih nekad menyumbang kepada topik-topik dalam MYChat.

And to new members of MYChat, you're more than welcome to make this forum a better place.

--

About trolls/flamers.

I'm sorry SChong54, galvatron and DrGiel, but as long as you guys refuse to actively participate in discussing the articles you posted and are only bent on being negative about Malaysia, you will stay put in the Malaysian Hall of Shame. Being pessimistic does not equate to being realistic, mind you. But of course, if you'd like to engage more positively in the future and show that you are sincerely concerned about the country's development, you are very much welcome to participate.


About spammers.

Where in the cosmos are the mods?!

First of all, I would like to express my condolence for Miss CD dog. We are so sorry upon hearing that. I'm sure Miss CD must have many memories with him.... I am totally agree with Miss CD suggestions... I'm sick of negativity and racism things. Why not we introduce our lifestyle here and providing important information about our country? HangPC2 contribution is appreciated because he's still patient, I have also lost patience when I stay away from Malaysian Chat when people put flamings here because I'm so bored.

Why don't you start? I'll join in. I'd like to learn more about Malaysia, I'm planning to visit maybe the next couple of years.

Sorry to hear about the death of your faithful pet dog.

I agree that Malaysian Chat has slightly lost its sparkle, but as long as pro-active contributors like you are still here we can give it some structure and make it relevant to people searching the internet.
I think we need to strike a good balance between new random "organic" growth of the forum topics, and structured well-maintained existing topics.
To pin certain topics permanently to the top of the page is one solution for maintaining information, but most importantly we need regular updates in those pertinent topics.
For example, the Malaysian Cinema topic should be easy to maintain with regular updates about Malaysian films plus various relevant influences from the larger Asian scene.
The way this topic started was great. The topic is not exactly dead, but it has dropped because we do not have an "insider".
What I mean by "insider" is an individual or group of people, who work in the film/arts/entertainment/literature/communications media sector, and post their inside knowledge in our forum.
Having an "insider" such as Furansizuka has worked perfectly for the Indonesian Movies topic.
We need someone with similar commitment and knowledge to maintain our Malaysian Cinema topic.
The same goes for a few of our other favourite Malaysian topics.
We don't neccessarily need daily updates, but even just weekly contributions of quality content would be great.
This would balance out the one hit wonder topics with some structured quality content.

Thank you for the condolences. I'm coping well now, miss him of course but everything has to move on. : )

Yes, I'm sick of the negativity too. I understand la that the Internet is where we can voice out our dissatisfactions more freely, but it seems that certain people here are only keen on complaining complaining complaining without offering constructive opinions themselves. If we had MYChat members as mods we would see certain people go already. Not to say that we want to censor opinions, but these people appear to have no interest at all in doing anything else than inciting negativity.




Yes would like to start very soon. Have to put many plans on hold at the moment though as I have a commission and some assignments to settle. And hey, you guys can also start it first if you'd like.




Thanks Ralf for your suggestions, there's a lot of practical truths in there. Yea we do not have an insider in the entertainment industry joining MYChat, so I guess at the moment our interest in this area is the next best catalyst we have. At the moment let's keep our fingers crossed for a gradual transformation... might take some time but it is my hope that MYChat can move on from the stagnant backwater it has become with all the negativity going around. And to do so we can definitely do with participation from non-MYChat members such as you and flipcombatmedic, as well as other interested members.

Good idea. It would be great to have these kinds of threads in Korean Chat too.

BTW, you can resurrect your dog with the power of the Dark Side. Still not interested?

Yea, why not?



No, unfortunately with the Dark Side that would mean resurrection as a zombie. Therefore, not interested.