The price we will not pay

February 2, 2012 Current Affairs, Faith One comment
Dietrich Bonhoeffer

I was reminded yesterday of Dietrich Bonhoeffer. A German Lutheran priest, he spoke out against the Nazi party from the start and he paid for it with his life.

There are too many champagne nationalists these days, I think. They talk about or campaign for things all from the safety and comfort of their homes or cafes. But big things require big sacrifices. And I’m not so sure the people who start all these armchair activism endeavours are prepared to give up more than the price of a latte.

What would I give up? Would I have the courage of Bonhoeffer to speak the truth, even if it would mean I could ultimately lose my life?

I’d like to think so but part of me wonders if I would, in the end, give in to my own cowardice.

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Sub-editor adventures: sobriety optional

January 30, 2012 The Job No comments

Disclaimer: Some parts are exaggerated because I try too hard to be funny. So colleagues, please try not to be offended. Really, try.

English: Kevin on Toshiba Laptop

Image totally inaccurate as I usually sub in bed. (Image via Wikipedia)

So it’s been a month since I’ve started. It’s taking some getting used to, especially the getting up really early bits. A typical morning shift goes thus-ly:

6.45am: First alarm clock rings. Grunt and roll over.

6.50am: Second alarm clock rings. Roll over and grab laptop from side of bed. Commence Hunt-for-the-Mouse-Glasses-Power Cable.

6.55-7.00am: Boot laptop. Greet lead sub of the day, find out when it’s my turn to HOLD THE RABID COMMENTERS BACK.

7-8am: Rush to update all my sections. Open up CMS/Newswires/email and fire up Word, TextEdit and image editor.

Hope to God there’s no more than one Bahasa Malaysia piece to sub/upload.

Because if that happens: think a world of pain.

No one should have to translate a lot of copy at 7am in the freaking morning. It is far too early to have to deal with things like “big mess” translated as “kotoran dasyat”. (True and hilarious story)

Start translations by: hitting head many times with a heavy object, preferably a dictionary. It numbs you to the pain.

Convert newswires to house style. Find pretty pictures, resize them and try not to go over 17-18kb a picture. Without the pictures looking like the ones you take drunk in the club with your mobile phone.

8-12pm: Remain cautiously optimistic and mostly sane. Play new game: Upload Hottest Wirepieces of the Day before Chief Editor Beats You to It. If Chief tells you to post something you personally don’t find newsworthy (but we already ran a piece on dancing seals! Last week!), quell your inner annoying pedant and upload it anyway.

SOMETIME, SOMEHOW: Break for lunch. Though the first thing I usually do is put down my laptop and roll over for a quick 5-10 min nap. Staring at computer screens for long periods can cause major eye fatigue/strain. If brother/boyfriend/BFF is around: bully them into buying you food/taking you out for lunch.

1pm: Start on reader’s comments. Lose faith in humanity (again). Wonder at commenters’ insistence of WRITING ALL IN CAPS, not speling rite and ignore of grammer rule.

2-4pm: Keep an eye on the inbox and wires, peep at what other sites are doing when you have time (not often). In last few minutes, let chief sub know if there’s anything of note the next batch of subs. Don’t bother letting them know some of our commenters are evil, evil people. They know that already.

4pm: End of shift, hallelujah. Put down laptop. Roll over. For another nap.

I love my job.

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The disease of “Someday I’ll”

January 16, 2012 Musings, Personal No comments

I think we all know that person or persons who constantly regale you with great deeds done…in progress.

They talk about their great novel.
Or breakthrough album.
Or trip to the Amazon.
Or leaving that job they hate so, so much.

But dreamers and doers are often not the same person.

It’s easy to fantasise but realities like mortgages, children and the like often put paid to lofty ambitions.

It’s all right to consciously bid goodbye to dreams and decide you want to prioritise your family or career.

But some people let their thwarted hopes eat them alive. I watched my mother let her bitterness poison her marriage and household. I grew up believing that marriage was nothing more than a stifling cage and my mother the best example of a clipped bird that in anger turned on its own brood.

Forgive yourself for letting some things pass you by.

Forgive the people who you sacrificed your dreams for, whether they be your spouse, children or parents.

The simple truth is that you must live with your choices and that in the end, you have no one but yourself to answer to. Of course the religionists will bring God into the equation but to thine own self, be true as Shakespeare says.

Either wait for the right time to chase your dreams, or be willing to accomodate a little time in your current schedule for them. If you can’t see yourself doing either then let your dreams go. Maybe with a little sadness or wistfulness but own your choices. Life is too short for regrets.

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The problem with allowing comments

January 13, 2012 Personal No comments

…is that it breeds the anonymous trolls.

The Job’s comments policy is very clear, IMHO:

Please refrain from comments of a racist, sexist, personal, vulgar or derogatory nature and note that comments can be edited, rewritten for clarity or to avoid questionable issues. We also reserve the right to delete off-topic comments.

Not brain science, right?

Tell that to the many readers who think it is OK to go against the comment policy. Let’s not get started on the likes who write like this:

“PARTI XXXX ARE #&#&#&#&# AND @*#*#*#*# EH BLOODY POLITICIAN A YOU ARE A %*$*$*$*#(( ”

Moderating comments is soul-destroying.

Bad language.

Bad grammar.

Bad taste. In humour.

And pretty much every single commenter considers it his/her “right” to be published on the site. Am mystified. And also thinking I need to stock up on a lot of mindnumbing substances.

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Crawling out of the comfort zone

January 11, 2012 Personal No comments

Why, yes, it’s the new job post.

Anything worth doing is worth doing well. But the path towards “doing well” isn’t always easy.

It’s been about a week relearning the subeditor routine. Working, for me, requires a rhythm, a structure and a routine that is flexible while also being familiar.

There’s been a lot to get used to. Shifts, for instance. On morning shifts, I wake up at 6.45am and finish up work at 4pm. Afternoons mean 4pm to 12am manning the subsdesk.

The multitasking is a bit of a headache. Scanning the newswires and emails for things to put up, and in the morning it’s a mad rush to update all the sections. I admit the first half hour after waking up my mind is still hazy but it gets better as the day goes on.

Until I get to moderating the site’s comments. By the 20th comment, I usually feel like slashing my wrists. Anonymous commenters do not hesitate to unleash the vitriol. I just wish they would, oh, spell better.

So I’ve been learning things the hard way – silly mistakes, cluelessness as to the daily work routine, muddled communications. But the people I’ve been working with have been the patient, kind and professional sort. So I’ve nothing to complain about in that regard.

I hope I’ll get into the groove by the end of the month and become less of a liability. Setting small goals, making baby steps. By the end of the month, may this post remind me how far I’ve come since I wrote this.

Crossed fingers!

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So much for less writing…

January 10, 2012 Current Affairs, Journalism, Writing No comments

The thing about being in the Malaysian media…it rarely gets boring.

Found time to write two “Side Views” pieces for TMI. “Side Views” is for viewpoints and opinion pieces outside TMI’s “Opinion” pages. The latter is usually reserved for TMI’s regular columnists.

Despite being one of the aforementioned regular columnists, there were some things that made more sense expressing on TMI than just, say, on the blog.

One was the embarrassing gaffe by the Ministry of Defence. What riled me was that some tried to defend the mistake. You do not “defend” something as laughable as the page was.

When you can’t defend the Ministry of Defence

Then the surprising Anwar Sodomy II acquittal happened. Wasn’t planning on writing about it but my super said, “Why not?” I concurred.

901: A day for cautious optimism

In other news, am amazed people still read my opinionated blather. I try.

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Gotta be standing for something

January 6, 2012 Current Affairs, Personal No comments

It can be hard dealing with pigheaded people. But someone stubbornly set on an opinion is still better than someone who’s wishy-washy. You have to stand for something and figure out what you’re for and what you’re against.

Sometimes what angers you is a good clue about what makes you feel alive. And I figured out that it riles me up when people make excuses for poor use of language in the public sphere.

Use all the bad grammar you want on your blog or at home, but I have no patience for people justifying it on government websites. Have some standards for pity’s sake, Malaysia.

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Still tired

January 5, 2012 Personal No comments

Fatigued at moment. Likely due to sleep debt. Hope it resolves soon.

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Survived the first day!

January 4, 2012 Personal No comments

Will blog about it once my braincells have recovered from moderating TMI’s comments. AIEEEEEE.

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I can haz new job?

January 3, 2012 Personal No comments
icanhazjob

It’s my first day sub-editing for The Malaysian Insider. The only real change is that instead of working in pyjamas from 8am to 6pm, I’m working (still in pyjamas) from 7am to 4pm or 4pm to 12am.

I wrote this blogpost last night but scheduled it for  9am today SO NO I R NOT SLACKING AND BLOGGING AT WORK REALLY REALLY.

Though am slightly sad Goreng.my didn’t work out the way we envisioned it, but I learned a lot about  managing a “proper” website. Lesson No.1: to make a lot of money with a site, you actually have to put in a lot of money and have sponsors lined up before even launching.

Am looking forward to subbing for TMI as the experience will be quite different from, say, my last stint subbing at Malaysiakini. Not going to talk badly about my previous employers as that is not classy. What I like about my current employers is that I can work from home, I don’t need to come into the office except for the odd meeting or to prove that it is me subbing and not my cat, Wally.

That means: being able to play loud music and dance like a crazy hyena in-between uploading stories. The blog will probably be continually updated about life as a sub-editor, tricky style guides and how to resist the temptation to illustrate political stories with random pictures of kittens.

 

 

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