As if we've not already got not enough time...

The latest earthquake in Chile has cut our day down by another 1.26 millionth of a second.

image courtesy of NASA Earth Observatory

According to a report on National Geographic, the impact of the earthquake rocked the earth so hard that it shifted slightly on its axis, causing the shortening of the day.

I'm not a scientist, so I won't bother with the calculations. What bothers me is that the days are getting shorter. Time to focus on the most important things!

No, tweeting isn't the end of journalism

So a couple of days ago, MPs went head-to-head with each other on Twitter during the Parliament sitting on Tuesday where Bukit Gantang MP Nizar Jamaluddin got kicked out.

Interestingly, a journalist mused whether this would spell the end of journalism on the competition MPs (and brands, companies, individuals) who could go directly to readers on a mass-distributed platform such as Twitter would bring to journalists in breaking news.

I'd add: would this actually mean the end of journalism as a profession? Well, actually - no.

In fact, I don't think there's ever been a time where the journalism profession has ever been so important. Yes, I could hear what Lim Kit Siang or Khairy has to say, straight from the horses mouth, on Twitter; but I also want to hear a 3rd party with an unbiased viewpoint provide a report of the proceedings.

As uppercaise so kindly points out: breaking news is just one aspect of journalism.

I'd want to hear a 3rd party commentary from someone who's trusted as non-partisan, non-biased and with my best interests at heart. That's what a journalist is (at least, that's how I was sold when I went to journalism school) and that's why people will keep reading news - whether on paper or online.

"Journalists serve as the main purveyors of information and opinion in contemporary society" (source: Wikipedia). They aren't the source

So it's sometimes funny how I hear social media is killing journalism. Journalism is a profession that isn't tied to its medium. People will still want to read gadget reviews from an expert, whether its on a blog or in a magazine. People will still want to read good political commentary.

What's changing is how a journalist does his / her job. Mind you, there can be no generalisation here - not every journalist needs to get a Twitter account. Rather, the journalist can reach his / her audience in the most relevant way possible. Even if that's handwriting news on papyrus. But new and social media are opening up new vectors to receive and disseminate news, and the best journalists will always be the ones who can get their news out in the most timely and relevant fashion.

And that could be tweeting.

Note: I've updated and edited this post to more accurately reflect Uppercaise' views.

Everyone's a wee bit political

Wow. Really wow.

I got into some conversations these past few days with random different people I know and it really dawned upon me that perhaps Malaysians do take politics seriously. You know, the general feel and consensus is that Malaysians -especially Malaysians my age - are apathetic about the politic of Malaysia.

Well, we're not. I was speaking to a mild-mannered chinese lady whom you thought was all urban and just enjoying life as it was, but the moment we swung the conversation about the petrol prices *potential* increase due to Najib's recent front-pager in The Star, she was all passionate about the issue.

Then there was Chua Soi Lek's announcement yesterday. It was amazing to suddenly have so many people looking me up on MSN and starting conversations on what his indiscretion meant for Chinese politics and MCA.

I'm not going to share the discussions here or viewpoints - those are our private conversations and thoughts, but what I'd like to observe here for a moment is that people are actually caring about our country. And as long as people care, then there's some hope.

Here's where I share a little silly anecdote:

Back when I was in secondary school, I spent a lot of time frequenting mamak stalls around Bangsar with my good pal Willie Wong. It got to a point when we went to different mamak stalls every night and got to know some of the mamak store owners very well.

One night, Willie and I were having a conversation (bear in mind these are two 15-year-old kids) about politics and how we should both run in the elections as independent candidates. The strategy was, since we both knew so many mamaks around, we would go from mamak stall to mamak stall to get stall owners to vote for us.

For the entrance fee - which was I think RM 2,000 to the election commission - we thought we could easily make that back if we secured the 5% vote necessary. The plan was, we would be 21 in the next elections and could actually stand for elections at that age. We would represent the voice of the youth. The most important bits of improvement to the Bangsar / Lembah Maju constituency, according to us, at that time were:

1. Re-laying the Copper Wiring - so we could get faster internet speeds (even if it was dial-up)
2. Developing a section of Bangsar for good food (because the both of us kept going out every night to look for the best food around Bangsar - like Tomyam :)
3. Upgrade Bangsar Sports Complex (we swam a lot at that pool and it was green in colour. Nuff said)
4. And some other stuff too controversial to list here. It's really funny stuff, but also a bit controversial.

On hindsight, it's probably best I never started my political career. Might have ended up not so nice after all.

Today's Front Page News: Chua Soi Lek

It's on your front page today: Chua Soi Lek admits he is the politician shown in the sex DVD circulating around Johor.

You can read about it in The Star or New Straits Times and get the facts there!

But whilst all the furore is focused on the man's affair, which by any measure is WRONG, there seems to be little issue made beyond a passing mention that the videos were taken by CCTV's in the hotel room including one over the bed. Isn't that wrong?

Wow...I'd like to know which hotel this was and why were there CCTV's in the room at all. Are Malaysian hotels allowed to install CCTV's in their rooms for "security purposes"? It's more than a bit scary given that many people do private things in hotel rooms.

Personally, I think a bit more investigation is due here.

True Malaysian Hero

Okay, so I'm three days late. But it's never too late to honor a true Malaysian hero.

To the left is the late Mr. Tan Chee Wai, a 31 year old man who was stabbed to death whilst preventing thieves from stealing a car in Kajang, 7am on Saturday morning.

Read the full story here and take a moment of silence.