Don't be sour grapes!

We are told that responding to stupid remarks on our online posts is not worth the effort. It is a known fact that most of the people who make these nonsensical rants are a minority but are loud enough to cause embarrassment. In real life, they would be too timid to say anything 'on your face' but gain Dutch courage through the cloak of anonymity and bang away their keyboards with impunity. While most of their shenanigans do not amount to much more than a storm in a teacup, it does excite the feeble-minded, which may describe the majority. Then there are paid trolls who kick dirt to keep a topic alive or plainly bully. 

When the Malaysian Sport and Youth Minister was caught posing with the Olympic Badminton Silver Medallist, she was chided as being unpatriotic. The Silver Medal winner, a Thai player, had earlier defeated our player. So, to pose for a photograph, praise his game and label herself as his fangirl was, in the troll's opinion, bad taste and adding insult to injury. This went on for a few days without any rebuttal from the Minister. I was waiting patiently for her to reply.

Her comeback statement was killer. It turned the tables to paint the Minister as a true patriot, which took me by surprise. She reiterated that as a Sports Minister and a Youth Minister, she had a moral obligation to show the true meaning of sportsmanship. One should not be a sore loser but respect his opponent for his talent and tenacity. Admiring the opponent's skill does not make one less patriotic.

Still on the topic of the Olympics and our national badminton team, our ladies' pair of Pearly Tan and Thina gave a sterling performance despite their eventual falter to the World No. 1 pair from China. Instead of commenting on their never-say-die fighting spirit and the insanely long rallies that never seem to end, a netizen thought it was brilliant of her to highlight the pair's un-Shariah-compliant attires. That is the trouble with the democratisation of thoughts. An idiot has that 2-minute fame in the limelight to garner everyone's attention for all the wrong reasons. We do not know how many other cretins will join the foray and think their nonsensical self-centred ideas indeed need scrutiny! We should not be entertaining these nut cases. 

Engaging with these wackos would prove fatal, as influencer Esha found out the hard way.

The story of Arshad Nadeem and Neeraj Chopra comes to mind when discussing sportsmanship and how sports transcend borders. It is said that even though Nadeem popularised javelin in Pakistan after his 5th place in the Tokyo Olympics, funds were scarce for him. When his old javelin needed replacement, he tried to crowdsource it. Although rivals on the field (and through politics), Chopra thought it would be wise to retweet the word around and even send a copy to sponsors and the Government of Pakistan. So when Nadeem won the gold medal in the 2024 Paris Olympics and broke the 118-year-old Olympic record at 92.97m, both mothers sang praises of not their respective sons but both winners. The mothers are now trending as poster girls of sportsmanship and world peace!

Chopra(IND) and Nadeem(PAK)

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Real courage is in living!

Sajini Shinde ka Viral Video (Sajni Shinde's Viral Video, Hindi; 2023)
Written & Directed by: Mikhil Musale

People who profess that humanity is very much alive have not been trolled on social media before. Just because they are behind the cloak of anonymity, perhaps with a fictitious name or a fake account, they have the fortitude to bait users into a vicious argument with the intent of causing hurt to an intended person or parties. It is a cyberbullying. The problem is sometimes it is self-made. We put too much information on our social media; sometimes, we need to think. Not everyone out there is going to laugh with us with our goofiness. Many create mountains out of molehills. And not everyone is going to handle criticism kindly.

Pew Research Center reported in a 2022 survey that 46 % of U.S. teens aged 13 to 17 have experienced some form of cyberbullying, which may include trolling. Amongst adults, what goes online is scrutinised by others and made a big deal, and soon, netizens will deem it inappropriate. Soon, the unthinking public, with the might of numbers, like sheep, would demand punitive actions without applying rational thinking or mindfulness.

Adult behaviour outside working hours is no longer his private affair but is scrutinised with a fine-toothed comb to be judged and given exemplary punishments. Only some have the tenacity to withstand all these pressures. Before due process is complete, netizens ripe with cancel culture go full-throttle to crucify the accused. First, people exhibit their pictures to share their joy. Next, these same pictures bring them misery. How ironic.

In this movie, a teacher had her partying picture online. It was her birthday, her friends got her inebriated, and she started dancing on the bar top. Her picture was taken by someone who inadvertently made it online and went viral. The administrators of her school, parents of her students, her parents and her fiance were livid. It was out of character. The school board wants to terminate her services. Then, she goes missing after writing a suicide note online. 

Life is a challenge. It just became more complicated with connectivity. It was meant to make people more informed with information at their fingertips. Still, nobody thought it would be like this - causing anxiety, depression, risk of being manipulated by business moguls and being a pawn in geopolitical wranglings.

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.