What the Heck – A Hacker
It came like a bolt from the blue. I was in Bangkok on Friday and Saturday to attend the meeting of ASEAN Inter-Parliamentary Caucus on Myanmar (AIPMC) to promote democratization and national reconciliation in Burma, including the release of the world’s only Nobel Peace Prize Laureate in prison Aung San Suu Kyi and over 1,000 political detainees. I tried to blog from the Thai capital midday of the second day (24.9.05) but found that it was down.
I want to thank the monitoring Administrator for the herculean effort to get the blog back in operation some six hours later, when I was enroute on the flight back to the country.
We cannot know for certain whether it was a misguided prankster or some forces with more sinister intents. On whether it's a prank, hack by authorities or accidental damage, the monitoring Administrator rates the possibilities as 50%, 49% and 1% respectively.
Lets take the incident as a hiccup or even a sort of compliment – and move on while working on finding a more permanent and secure solution.
I wish to thank all well-wishers, supporters and advice offered. We will mull over the various suggestions made to enhance the blog security, although I must confess that I am very “green” as far as the complexities and intricacies of internet security in particular or Internet developments in general.
I was surprised, for instance, when the monitoring Administrator installed the Malaysiatopblogs ranking on this blog on Friday night and I had to be educated about this blog toy.
My instincts are against lodging a police report, just as I was against it when my friend Mack Zul blogged last week that I should “set an example to Malaysians” to lodge police report against the “criminal activity” of comments which had been deleted on my blog because they were deemed “inciteful and seditious”.
This subject deserves a fuller and more comprehensive discussion which I’ll reserve for another occasion, but let me put down some of my thoughts and reservations:
Firstly, I fully understand the reasons and the action of Mack and Peter Tan to lodge police reports for “seditious” and “hate” comments, whether on race or religion, on their blogs. I have not read the postings by “Good man” in question.
Secondly, comments on this blog have been deleted because they are offensive and not because they are seditious, which is finally a matter for the Malaysian courts to decide under the Sedition Act of the land.
Thirdly, I am very wary about the Sedition Act, both because of its over-wide and undemocratic scope and selective application. Guan Eng is a victim of such “selective justice” under the Sedition Act. I would not want another victim of selective justice in the country like Guan Eng if I can avoid it.
Fourthly, I am all in support of the commendable initiatives by Mack, Jeff Ooi and other pioneers of the Malaysian blogosphere to promote internet responsibility. They can count on my endorsement.
This is therefore not a question of “practicing double standards, reserving his police reports against political opponents only” as much more weightier issues concerning freedom of speech, democracy and eGovernance are at stake.
I want to thank the monitoring Administrator for the herculean effort to get the blog back in operation some six hours later, when I was enroute on the flight back to the country.
We cannot know for certain whether it was a misguided prankster or some forces with more sinister intents. On whether it's a prank, hack by authorities or accidental damage, the monitoring Administrator rates the possibilities as 50%, 49% and 1% respectively.
Lets take the incident as a hiccup or even a sort of compliment – and move on while working on finding a more permanent and secure solution.
I wish to thank all well-wishers, supporters and advice offered. We will mull over the various suggestions made to enhance the blog security, although I must confess that I am very “green” as far as the complexities and intricacies of internet security in particular or Internet developments in general.
I was surprised, for instance, when the monitoring Administrator installed the Malaysiatopblogs ranking on this blog on Friday night and I had to be educated about this blog toy.
My instincts are against lodging a police report, just as I was against it when my friend Mack Zul blogged last week that I should “set an example to Malaysians” to lodge police report against the “criminal activity” of comments which had been deleted on my blog because they were deemed “inciteful and seditious”.
This subject deserves a fuller and more comprehensive discussion which I’ll reserve for another occasion, but let me put down some of my thoughts and reservations:
Firstly, I fully understand the reasons and the action of Mack and Peter Tan to lodge police reports for “seditious” and “hate” comments, whether on race or religion, on their blogs. I have not read the postings by “Good man” in question.
Secondly, comments on this blog have been deleted because they are offensive and not because they are seditious, which is finally a matter for the Malaysian courts to decide under the Sedition Act of the land.
Thirdly, I am very wary about the Sedition Act, both because of its over-wide and undemocratic scope and selective application. Guan Eng is a victim of such “selective justice” under the Sedition Act. I would not want another victim of selective justice in the country like Guan Eng if I can avoid it.
Fourthly, I am all in support of the commendable initiatives by Mack, Jeff Ooi and other pioneers of the Malaysian blogosphere to promote internet responsibility. They can count on my endorsement.
This is therefore not a question of “practicing double standards, reserving his police reports against political opponents only” as much more weightier issues concerning freedom of speech, democracy and eGovernance are at stake.
<< Home