11 comments

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  Nicholas.C

  10 months ago

  I think the proper response to this blogger would have been "Please unplug your anus"
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  aronil

  10 months ago

  sigh what can ya do..... just leave the person be is all i can say
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  Fikri

  10 months ago

  You can say that sort of stuff to people who understand that you don't mean it in that way, but it's naive to think that you won't get that kind of reaction any time to put that kind of stuff in the public domain. It's like me telling my friend's not to be so Chinese because they just think of money all the time. Or for them not to be so Indian because they just want to fight all the time. My friends will know that I don't mean it in that way, but if I put on my blog... :)
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  aronil

  10 months ago

  Even still Fikri, I know that there are tons of people out there in the public domain, but I hold to the fact that I do not think the person read the article in it's context. I think that is very unfair to make such an accusation. Furthermore, when in this sense I was poking fun at my ownself.. so how can you actually say that I was being racist... I suppose in that way, one will say that I was being discriminative to my ownself then... But I do understand what you mean. I gather this person ain't a 'friend' of mine :P
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  Fikri

  10 months ago

  I wasn't saying that you're wrong, or that he's right, I'm just saying that you shouldn't be surprised at the sort of reaction you might get. If you really believed in what you had wrote, then why did you change the title? You should probably have just kept it. And as it so happens...I think there are other, better, and less offensive words than Jakun.
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  aronil

  10 months ago

  I would but i do not want there for some weird bad mouthing going around for the production. If the person wants to diss whatever it is he can do so here on my own personal blog not at the expense of the production. It doesn't need bad publicity... Probably once Ismail is over I will put it back.. Unfortunately he finds this one terribly terribly offensive :S
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  izzat

  10 months ago

  for me its just misunderstanding of what u're trying to say.. i don't think it such a big deal.. and for me, for the one who read the post/comment from others should try to understand carefully what the commentetor trying to say.. that's it. not just simply make the conclusion that. bla bla bla... just my 2 cents.
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  Thinesh

  9 months ago

  Hello Aronil. Firstly I would like to apologise profusely if my comment seemed to have implied that you are a racist. It did not, and I never believed you were, how could I when I dont know you? Neither did I bear any ill-wish at all to the play and its success...indeed, the reason that I was on your site in the first place was because I wanted to read up about it, wanted it to do well, to be proud of all the people taking part in it, because I considered its protagonist an important Malaysian and a role model. I also cringe now at how reactionary I was in my response, I would certainly have worded it differently if I had the chance to write it again.
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  Thinesh

  9 months ago

  However none of the above detracts from the fact that yours was an inappropriate comment. I would tell my friends off for the using the word, and why not? Racial derogatory words, however widespread they are and however innocent they may be, are not jokes, and if you understood the baggage behind the word you used, you would know why. The Orang Asli community in Malaysia remains utterly marginalised, disrespected and irrelevant to the majority of this country. The least we can do as citizens is to stop calling them names, and accord them the dignity they deserve. Using the term 'Jakun' demeans them regardless of your purpose, because the common usage of this term means most Malaysians will only ever know the Jakun in this context...never as human beings like others. A man once went public on Oprah to say that when he called people niggers, he wasnt referring to 'black people' only, but anyone with the characteristics which he associated with the word 'nigger!' Does this make the word any less offensive? It is still demeaning to African-Americans, and so is Jakun, likewise the word 'keling' to me, an Indian Malaysian.
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  Thinesh

  9 months ago

  I only wished to convey the lack of respect and responsibility shown by you to a people who have suffered long enough, and need to have positive support, not perpetuation of old cultural associations. Please do not reinstate the title of your article. Forgive me for my anger, and congratulations on putting on a good show. Being unable to see it, I am pleased its reviews were good.
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  aronil

  9 months ago

  Thinesh, I would like to say I appreciate the apology very much and I didn't think that the person who commented would've come back to say something. I don't blame you actually for stating your peace on the word 'jakun', but it just didn't bode very well on the main site of Ismail. I'll accept the lesson learnt but I can't say I take the responsibility then, as I didn't know of the actual meaning. And being in a society, that is multiracial, I'd think that one was not taught to know these terms as 'crude'. Probably that is the fault of our own culture. There are tons of racial jokes, and you can't help but laugh at them. But sure I'll stop using the word, since i now know of it's meanings. Thanks for the apology and the encouragement, that you hoped for the show :) .
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