This has no connection with the Asia Blog Awards of which I am one of 20 judges. The blogs I'll be reading are in English and those in the running were/are given here.If you're wondering what's going on, who 'won' and stuff like that, the organiser, Chris in Shanghai, wrote the following:
----- Original Message -----
On 8/19/06, Jakartass wrote:
Hi Chris.
Did anyone vote in the Indonesian section of the Asia Blog Awards? Not that anyone's actually asking, you understand, but if they do .....
Cheers.
J
From: Asia Pundit
To: Jakartass
Sent: Monday, August 28, 2006 10:52 AM
Subject: Re: Indonesia Blog Awards
Hi Jakartass;
Things were delayed by a database error, bizzare outbreak of social obligations and fine weather. Things are fixed now, my social calendar has returned to its normal empty status and Shanghai is again in perpetual smog. I hope to get time to fix things up this week.
Best,
Chris
Well, there's been nothing yet and it doesn't really matter, does it? Although it peeves a few, such as A. Fatih Syuhud, that many of us blog behind pseudonyms, presumably uninterested in the fame and fortune that being number one would bring us. I don't believe anonymity affects our credibility, and we have our reasons, which Muli in Yogya articulates succinctly.
Quite rightly, Fatih praises Indonesians who write openly.
I am proud that Indonesian bloggers blog bravely; expressing their critique frankly and showing their identities at the same time to tell the one or institution they criticise that they are willing to take the risk and responsibility, if any, of whatever they are saying.
However, Fatih is a student in India, so I doubt that he personally knows any of those he praises. Perhaps they do indeed mask their identities behind pen names. Furthermore, both he and I have come across few blogs by Indonesians which overtly criticise individuals or institutions. Few bloggers have the open courage to or have not yet lost the 'culture' of deference.
That said, this situation will change, if only because blogging does offer the freedom to express one's opinions without too much fear.
That there is now a contest to find the Indonesian Blog of the Year (in bahasa Indonesia) is an indication of the growing maturity of that sector of the local blogosphere. This is encouraging as, in reading the efforts of these pioneers, other generations will be braver in espousing their concerns similarly with an awareness of the possibilities inherent in such communication.
