Prompted by reading The Star Online’s “Top 10 stories of 2012” where they set out their 10 most viewed stories in 2012 — and which contained some fairly vacuous stories — Lord Bobo’s Masthead minions (also known as “those crazy people who manage the blawg for no pay”) wondered what the list of the top 10 most viewed stories of 2012 on this most awesome blawg in the universe would look like.
So here it is.
1. We are Malay Muslims, We Are Entitled (Syahredzan Johan, 1 August 2012)
Well this isn’t going to help much from keeping our most beloved poyo Syahredzan Johan‘s head from swelling even more than it usually does, but yes, his post was the most read post on LoyarBurok in 2012! Right from the teasing standfirst “are Malay-Muslims entitled to better rights than others?” readers were hooked and very quick to share and retweet (and hopefully read) a (as usual) very thought-provoking article from Syah.
LoyarBurokker (and LoyarBurok SuperCurator) Shanmuga K thought that the article’s popularity was predictable: “Aiyah, fasting month, article is about rights of Malays and Muslims, sure people will click lah!” Jangan jeles, Shan.
2. [Porn Week]? What the Fuck? (June Low, 17 May 2011)
Yes, this post was published in 2011 but continued to attract clicks (if not readers) in 2012 — perhaps the word “porn” might have something to do with it. A spirited defence of the “Porn Week” she curated on the blawg, June Low (as usual) held no punches here.
Porn Week resulted in Masthead getting a lot of criticism (“How dare you allow such filth on LoyarBurok?!”) but hey, as we said then and will say again now — we believe in freedom of expression; perhaps Malaysians could use a bit more of that so they’d get used to it. Or perhaps June put it best:
On a more serious note, I think if everyone in Malaysia just grew the fuck up and went off to generate positive energy (e.g. contribute to Porn Week) instead of caring about the latest propaganda the government is spewing to tear us apart, it would have no effect on us, and we’d have more interesting/constructive things to talk about.
3. Images from the Book Deemed “Too Obscene” for Malaysia (LoyarBurokkers, 21 February 2012)
A decades-old children’s book banned for being “too obscene” for Malaysians?
Yup, this was one of those “only in Malaysia” stories, and LoyarBurokker (and LoyarBurok SuperCurator) Justine was quick to snap some photos of a copy she had at home.
Naturally, Malaysians were curious to have a look. Perhaps all of them were offended by the images. Or perhaps most of them weren’t as holy and virtuous as UMNO Youth and Khairun Aseh.
4. Bersih: The Perfect Assembly, Almost (Marcus van Geyzel, 30 April 2012)
Bersih 3.0 was obviously one of the biggest topics of 2012 for Malaysians, and there were many, many, many good articles written about it on LoyarBurok. But this one, by SuperCurator Marcus van Geyzel was the most popular one on the blawg by far.
Perhaps it was the descriptions of makan and minum. Perhaps it was the novelty of two lawyers heading to a rally on a kapchai and scaling the side of an overhead bridge (“Take LRT lah!” was a frequently-heard comment after that). Who knows. But whatever it is, it defied Shan’s contention that no one would bother reading a post that’s more than 2,000 words long — and without having to have “Malay”, “Muslim”, or “Fuck” in the title too (ahem!).
5. Halal Fuck Buddies #LoyarBerkasih (Dina Zaman, 14 February 2012)
It’s always nice to have a famous writer like Dina Zaman on the blawg, and Lord Bobo hopes we can somehow mind control her to write for us more.
As part of the ever-popular LoyarBerkasih week (which we hope to see again this year… ahem?), Dina’s look at Islamic marriages was widely read and shared.
More please, Dina!
6. Rare Earths and Us (Jonathan Fun, 25 February 2012)
Another red-hot topic in 2012, Jonathan Fun’s simple list of hard facts on rare earths was very widely shared ahead of the Perhimpunan Hijau on 26 February 2012.
The anti-Lynas movement has really grown so much since then. Let’s hope that they will experience some measure of success soon.
7. The Country in My Blood (Alvin Teoh, 2 February 2012)
One of Lord Bobo’s favourite posts of the year was this feel-good, proud-to-be-Malaysian piece by Alvin Teoh. An obviously gifted writer his recollection of his childhood really hit home for many Malaysians. Even re-reading it now makes us want to rush out and get some manna from heaven — thosai! Let’s hope that Alvin’s message gets through to all of us:
My plea to all who’re reading this is that we may stand together and deny these small-minded and irresponsible people as well as their goal of dividing to conquer us. If this spirit of bigotry is in us to some degree because we’ve been contaminated by their sickness, let’s cast it out. It’s never too late. Don’t let their darkness overcome our light.
I say to all Malays, Indians, Sikhs, Chinese, Eurasians, Bananas, Orang Asli and Orang Asal, DLLs, Muslims, Hindus, Christians, Buddhists, Atheists and Agnostics: we’re all beautiful. We’re all unique. We’re all special. We’ve so much to share with each other. Don’t let a bunch of idiots rob us of who we truly are or perverse the Malaysian in us. Don’t let them steal the blessing of being a rojak culture. Let us fight to keep Malaysia beautiful. So that when our time here on Earth comes to an end, we can go knowing that our children – and their children – will experience the kind of Malaysia we experienced as a child. The Malaysia in our blood.
8. Another Marina Mahathir Column Banned by The Star (Marina Mahathir, 24 April 2012)
It’s quite apt that Marina’s column that was spiked by The Star makes it into this list — which was inspired by reading The Star Online’s Top 10 of 2012. It’s not really much of a secret that mainstream media (this is not just limited to The Star, of course) is heavily government controlled, and that any claim to “media freedom” in Malaysia is obviously some cruel joke. The most shocking thing about reading this column that was spiked by The Star is that it doesn’t seem to be at all controversial! Who knows what the editors were thinking; probably cowering in fear of a phone call from their political masters. Anyway, readers got to read it on Marina’s blog, and on this blawg (welcome to the new media freedom).
Rest assured that the Masthead minions have never, and will never, spike any column (come on, we had Porn Week for Bobo’s sake!), and do not fear phone calls from anyone. Now that’s freedom of expression.
9. JPA Scholarships: A Billion Ringgit Throwaway? (Hafidzi Razali, 7 April 2012)
Lord Bobo always loves hearing from our youth/students, especially on issues that (for obvious reasons) will not see the light of day in the mainstream media. This piece by Hafidzi Razali was part of a wider conversation on our Malaysian education system that rumbled on throughout 2012.
Education is such an important part of nation-building, and Malaysia’s future depends on our education system much more than some of the other issues that are spun over and over again by politicians from both sides of the divide. Let’s continue to press for serious reforms of all parts of our education system in 2013.
10. KL’s Soulless Hipsters (LoyarBurokkers, 10 August 2012)
Well well well, now this was an interesting one. Originally published in the Selangor Times, its republication on LoyarBurok really set this article by Lee Lian Kong on fire.
Drawing the ire of irritated hipsters, it allegedly led to her losing her position as a columnist at the Selangor Times. Now that the dust has settled, let’s all agree to put an end to hating hipsters, shall we?
So those were your Top 10 most viewed posts on LoyarBurok in 2012. Write for us, and maybe you will make our 2013 list. We publish all views, uncensored. Sign up here and Free Your Mind!
I have not heard or read of any of Justice (Rtd) Datuk N H Chan for quite sometime now. How is he? Do you all know ?
I am asking because I enjoyed his articles/analysis very much and I notice he wrote through your blog.
Nice!