ILuvBlogss.BlogSpot.Com Featured Blog No. 003: Belacans.BlogSpot.Com

Welcome to the third part of our new series on blogs we have found to our liking because they are informative, creative, innovative, practical or just "nice". Here's another blog we like:

ILuvBlogss.BlogSpot.Com Featured Blog No. 003: Belacans.BlogSpot.Com

• Name of Blog: Belacan Times
• Name of Blogger: Belacans aka Buaya69
• Location: Kuala Lumpur (Malaysia)
• Blog URL: http://belacans.blogspot.com
• Alternative URL: http://www.belacans.blogspot.com
• About The Blog: Lately it has been largely about Belacans, his wife and kids. Can't write about work - all private and confidential, hardly write about sociopolitics - will leave that to Jeff and Mack. Occasionally, some naughty Buaya posts will appear again. hehehe.
• About The Blogger: Mid 30s, Chinese male, working in KL. A Certified Public Accountant working for an extremely large group of companies i.e. more headache!

In order to understand the blog and the flesh & blood blogger behind it, as usual, we have arranged for an interview with Belacans aka Buaya69 himself. Belacans is very helpful and most enthusiastic. Eventhough now is a peak period for his work, he has agreed to meet me at The Beach, along Jalan P. Ramlee (hehe, we "minum" and "cucimata" together until almost forgot to talk about the interview) for the approximately 1.5-hour interview. Belacans came right on the dot at exactly the appointed time ... in suit and tie (I almost pengsan). After some casual chat, we got down to business of discussing his points of view of what he thinks of blogs, blogging, bloggers and the blogosphere in general. For your information, Belacans is a man of very mature and enlightening insights. But he is also definite, straight to the point and at times, very very funny .. just like Paul Tan ... hehe :)

MataKecil: "Why do you blog?"
Belacans: "Started out as an experiment when ChiQ told me she started blogging. I knew ChiQ from the KVPUG forum days. My first blog was Buaya69.blogspot.com - saucy posts there, heh! But one day, my buaya69 blog was found by some powerful people, and to avert a career disaster, I closed it down.

Now, in belacans.blogspot.com, it's largely about my family and my experiences that i want to log for memory sakes."

MataKecil: "Which are the blog/s you normally read and why?"
Belacans: "For information: Jeff Ooi, Mack Zulkifli, AlwaysWow and Paul Tan. oh, and also Malaysia Today.

For laughs: Dr Liew, Kenny Sia, Simon Talks, Viewtru, Wingz, Ah-Pek, Michael Ooi, TV Smith, The Hustler, Pok Ku, JulyFishtail.

Family blogs: Chan Lilian, Loopymeals, PapiMami, Mama22Beas, Twinsmom, Mumsgather, Sexymum.

For lenglui's: Minishorts, Oliviasy, Skay, Kimberlycun, FireAngel, Jolene/Jayelle.

For hensem youngman: Jason Mumbles, Buangmasa, Bujang Lapuk.

Except for the "information" blogs, the rest i read more to "relax and kaka-caucau", bwahahaha! There are more blogs that i read but these are my daily diet."

MataKecil: "What do you think of blogs, blogging and bloggers?"
Belacans: "Blogs allow bloggers to e-publish whatever they want, even promoting one's body as art! Like in all medium, there's the good, the bad and the ugly.

Blogging is addictive, i must say. It allows us to exercise our "artisitic" language and thoughts online, something which the print media would not be able to do without censorship.

Bloggers? I think they are a bunch of brave (or clueless) people who dares type out their inner thoughts for the whole www to read, scrutinise, flame you and even possibly getting visits from our uniform brothers."

MataKecil: "How do you feel about the current blogosphere in general?"
Belacans: "I have only been blogging for 2 short years. For me, blogging was quite fun then. Now? because i am made aware of certain issues, i got a little bit nostalgic for the "ol'times" whereby when you read a blog, you kinda grow and feel for the blogger coz the posts were written from the heart.

These days i see more and more "cut & paste blogs for adsense" coming out of the closet. nothing wrong, but it's a sign of the times. i call it Blog Mutation, hehehe.

But i also see new blogs every month, so that must be something good, right?"

MataKecil: "What do you think needs to be done to increase the conversation conservation efforts of the leatherback turtle?"
Belacans: *very calm* "Huh? WTH?!!! Yao Mou Kao Chor (u sure)? I thought Chan Lilian already kautim (taken care of) this one already right?!!!" *smacks forehead*

MataKecil: *panic* "Oops, sorry. Wrong question." *blush* "I mean, What is your point of view on the future of blogging?"
Belacans: *secretly gloating* "There will be more commercialised or "themed" blogs, but personal blogs would still be more than the former. The latest are "cut & paste" bloggers trying to catch google adsense but i think the serious ones will eventually evolve into pro-bloggers putting original/semi-original content on their blogs to attract recurrent visitors rather than just getting hits."


MataKecil: "What do you want or hope to see in the near future (when it comes to blogs, blogging, bloggers and the blogosphere in general)?"
Belacans: "I hope to see more Malaysian blog icons." ;)

MataKecil: "Does your spouse, girlfriend / boyfriend, parents, or family know about your blog? What about your boss or colleagues? Your friends?"
Belacans: "Midway thru buaya69.blogspot.com, i told my wife about that blog. now she is quite a blog surfer herself, kekeke. Only my childhood friends and a few ex-colleagues know about my blog."

MataKecil: "If 'Yes', did you tell them yourself or did they find out by accident? What do they think or feel about your blog/s? Do they come and read your blog often?"
Belacans: "Naturally my wife reads my blog everyday, ahem. but i don't think my childhood friends and ex-colleagues read my blog. until now, tarak komen pun! bwahahahaha!"

MataKecil: "If 'No', why? Do you intentionally 'hide' your blog from them?
Belacans: "As best as I could, i hide from my bosses. I still think that employers frown upon people freely publishing over the net i.e. blogging.

As I hold a senior management position, and by virtue of that have access to very sensitive information and also VVIP people, i'm afraid my blogging may be construed as giving out classified info. Hence I make an effort not to do any post related to my work or industry or profession, lest i be accussed of being a spy! well, corporare politics at my level is very.... cloak and dagger type."

MataKecil: "Ok, one last question. What have you to say (share a few words) with other fellow bloggers and/or readers?"
Belacans: "Thank you for giving me alternative sources of information, enhancing my general knowledge and best of all, becoming my on-line friends. I am touched to find that the general warmness (Dr Liew would call it "kamtungness") among bloggers is really genuine. I guess that happens when you post from the heart.

To the new bloggers, do make more friends than enemies. bwahahahaha!"

Well, hehe ... there you have it. I told you Belacan is very "professional" hehe :)

Anyway, we actually talked much more about blogs and blogging. The above is only a fraction of what we have talked about. :)

MataKecil : A very down-to-earth online journal and diary indeed. About a senior business executive, his wife and children. A family man. But sometime can be a bit "yok mar" (goosebumps) when he blog about sweet nothings to his wife such as poems of love and all the stuff ... hehe. Oh yes, a damn buaya man like any other normal man too ... hehe :)

CityHunterGatherer: The overall layout is simple just like most standard BlogSpot.Com layout lah, so simple and NICE.

cheers,
matakecil.