Away From the Internet

Words by Matthew Chiam

It was a beautiful Sunday morning. The birds were chirping, sparkling rays of the sun shining through the windows with a glimmer of hope for the nation. The day was in fact, Malaysia's 13th general election. (Read more here). I woke up, got ready for church, and scampered off downstairs to get a better Wi-Fi signal for my phone. Eager to digest all election related comments and posts, I toggled on Wi-Fi and opened up Facebook. However, the familiar news feed was replaced by a message popup, saying "No Internet Connection". I shrugged, and checked the modem and found that the last two LED indicators were not lit. A problem with the telephone line, I thought and subsequently ignored, thinking it was only a temporary issue.

On Blogging

Here's a quick little post for those of you who are getting impatient for our next updates. (More specifically, one person - you know who you are.)

Of all the things I'm confident I can do (not many), writing is by far the oldest. I came into the blogging scene relatively late though (2009) and, frankly, it was a poor representation of what I could write. Dig up this site's old archives and you'll get what I mean. 

Actually, no, please don't. It's terribly embarrassing.

Say Hi to Our New Writer

For a long time, I've said that I wanted Suburban KID to expand.

I didn't want to have only one person writing the articles; I felt it would be more enjoyable for Suburban KID to be a collaborative work - our mission statement, after all, is to showcase how teens can do quality writing, and writing that isn't limited to youngsters for reading.

This is the first step, and I am pleased to welcome Matthew Chiam to Suburban KID.

May 6: Aftermath

I admit, initially I was disappointed too.

I was disappointed that we didn't manage to make that leap of faith, into the unknown and a probably drastically different future. It was such a chance to change things for the better.

Now, the People's Alliance/Pakatan Rakyat not only failed to take government, they lost a state too, and did not manage to retake Perak which they did win last election (although complicated matters followed...). A bad, bad day for the opposition and its supporters, then?

No. Not really.

May 5: Approaching the Crossroads of a Nation

My name is Terence Wang, a 17 year old Malaysian.

Usually, I refuse to write political posts on this site, primarily because I wanted to avoid being affiliated with any organisation or ideology. However, recent trends mean that, for once, I must break my own rules.

Tomorrow, 13.3 million voters will set out to decide the outcome on what is arguably the most contested general election Malaysia has ever had. For the first time ever, polls and surveys conducted by various institutions have decided that the race is "too close to call". In other words, these voters will be ultimately deciding the fate of what Malaysia is to become in the near and distant future.

As the heat rises by the hour, I'm taking a look back at my own journey these past few years, growing up alongside the great journey that the nation has walked over the decade, leading up to where we are today.