Give Us a Break, Rehman!

So, What's Your Rectum?
A blog sister who goes by the name of Acciaccatura describes herself as "just a housewife, no, not desperate". Cute, I thought.
In between housework and her family -- home-making is a full-time job, thank you very much -- this talented musician finds time to log on her PC, opens her blog "Acciaccatura" and gives her 2 cents worth on things that affect her and her family.
I believe, like many other men and women in this country and beyond, she gets a great deal of satisfaction, just tapping away on the keys of her faithful computer.
Another blog sister who calls herself Ibu is a working mother who writes about her family in her blog, Cerita Ibu.
When she learnt of the contentious remarks by Tourism Minister Tengku Adnan on women bloggers, this gentlewoman, gave the minister a good dressing-down.
She said:
-- "Kepada bapak-bapak di atas sana, jangan sampai kerana pulut santan binasa.
Ingat panas sentiasa sampai ke petang ke?
Kalau ringan sangat mulut nak quote statistics on women blogging, cuba lah study our nation's latest demographics. Nanti esok kalau hujan renyai2 turun ditengahari, baru la sibuk nak memancing women bloggers punya undi?
The future voters are conceived, brought to this world, raised, nurtured and easily influenced by the "hands that rock the cradle". Don't put us down and take us for granted - employed or unemployed alike, as we still do sing to our children to sleep, since even before they were born - and if the picture you paint of us is nothing but petty, those songs we whisper to them (your future voters), ain't gonna be lullaby-baby no more.
Remember wahai Pak Menteri, behind every great man, there is a great woman. Behind every great nation, there are great women that help sustain the powers-that-be.
Ingat sebelum terlambat.
To my boys .... I don't know what the future holds. I will ask Ayah to backup all my entries externally, just in case one day in the future, we wake up only to be rudely greeted by a message on the pop up screen which says; "Opppssss! Citizen of blogosphere, sorry... talian anda tidak dapat diteruskan lagi, for the sake of national unity" --

How about that?

And another sister, Elviza runs her "Write Away" blog. She is a lawyer and she enjoys blogging, sharing her views on freedom of expression, the country's education system because it will affect a little son, Luqman, stories about her reunion with her classmates, her anxiety and enthusiasm in planning her son's birthday party and, oh...this, that and the other.
Another lawyer who goes by the nick Typhoon Sue has a blog, "Tattlerama". Sue finds time to talk about her work, her life, her family, movies and hobbies.
She will not hesitate to give her take on serious issues as well such as the segment of TV3's "Sensasi"which featured the controversial remarks by artiste Rosnah Mat Aris.
And then, of course, my dear friend, Zaharah Othman or Kak Teh of Choc-a-Blog who talks about life in general, war-time stories (which I believe she is documenting), love stories, her "sayang mama" (that's her son) and a variety of things.
Her endearing style has made her so popular and well-read. She touches everyone.
Yet, Zaharah a journalist and author, will not hesitate to give a quick take on issues for which she feels strongly about -- gender equality, for instance.
And since I lost two sisters to breast cancer, I am now tuned to Raden Galoh, a breast cancer survivor. Her blog is Onebreastbouncing.
My blog brothers include Anon fm.Miri who gives us poems, stories about his grandson, about Miri in his blog, Clemfour.
I also enjoy Zewt who is provocative, funny, hilarious, serious and very Malaysian. And Zewt is very successfully and gainfully employed.
What about Clark Gable of Pulau Duyong? I just can't seem to get enough of him.
And trust me -- he has a very good, very steady job.

This is blogosphere and I am talking about bloggers -- a subject Rehman Rashid decided to take on in his column in the NST (Tuesday, March 8).
I know Rehman. I still think I do.
But when I asked why he had made such unfair, generalised, stupid, mean and nasty remarks, I was given a "you mean you don't know Rehman?".
Here's what Rehman said of Acciaccatura, Ibu, Kak Teh, Sue, Elviza, Raden, Anon, Zewt and Clark Gable :

"The local blogosphere is the domain of life-challenged grumblestiltskins and disenfranchised pundits whose asinine maunderings only show why they should never have had day jobs in the first place.
"Rumour, inuendo, half-truths and damned lies are their stock-in-trade, and previously sacrosanct standards, principles and ethics are now laughable.
"Are they not entitled to their opinion? Of course they are, as much as everyone is entitled to ignore them. I would venture, however, that everyone has an opinion and a rectum, and not that many seem capable of telling one from the other."

But could he have meant Rocky, Jeff Ooi, Raja Petra, Sheih, Zahrin Yasin "Sang Kelembai", Ruhanie Ahmad, A Kadir Jasin, M Bakri Musa, Zorro or Tony Pua?
Oh, you know bloggers who are a pain in some people's backside?
Then again, was he directing those remarks at me, Nuraina? Perhaps, Susan Loone, Elizabeth Wong or Marina Mahathir?

All of us?
Then, I'd like to know -- really, why, Rehman?

So, Rehman, I know that it is your column. And NST encourages freedom of speech and expression. But shouldn't you be more specific? Say who you mean, brother. Simple.
It's like this -- Not all Muslims are terrorists. Not all Americans are stupid. Not all Malaysians are nice.

But, as someone said: That's just my rectum.