Positive News : Top Web Sites and World Heritage Sites

Malaysiakini is No 1 news site
Alexa ranked the paid news site Malaysiakini recently. This is a positive development not only for Malaysiakini itself, but on the other fact : Malaysian netizens are plausibly more aware of socio-political developments in the nation post-PRU12.

Perhaps, with news reporting which is done on a fairer measure than mainstream media, inclusion of Malaysian blogrolls, publications of letters from readers and exclusive videos on various happenings across the nation make this a must-visit site.

Other news websites to make it into the top 50 are The Star (16), Utusan Malaysia (18), Berita Harian (30), Malaysia Today (31), Harian Metro (34) and Harakah Daily (36).

I am not too happy that Malaysia Today ( http://www.malaysia-today.net/ ) only made it at no 31. I expected it to be higher in the list (meaning more visitors). However, for an independent site that runs on limited funding, it is a high achievement by itself. I have been a follower since its inception. Congratulations to Raja Petra and Malaysia Today commenters for making it happen. News coupled with public opinion does matter.

Personally, I do not really like politics, similar with many Malaysians but I feel it is unavoidable. Where there is human, there is politics. One can be ignorant if one is not affected by politics. Judging by the current situation the nation is in, the national political situation must be paid attention. It is at a critical stage where economy and livelihood of Malaysians are affected. By being knowledgeable of what is happening in the country, one can educate people who are less aware.

Note : Anyone wondering where NST stands ? Goodness gracious, I shouldn't have asked.

Youtube is no 4 and Blogger is no 5 (most visited sites)
Having an opinion is one thing but it is only through education and pro-active actions, the national situation may improve. Perhaps, that is why Blogger ranked no 5. Blogging is a form of pro-active action although it is not necessarily enough to turn things around.

Lately, The Sun reported : Abdullah hits out at slander and lies spread in cyberspace. It is not necessar to waste time to make too much out of what he said. There is nothing really significant or nothing that has never been said before. An excerpt from the words of All Blogs president Ahirudin Attan of Rocky's Bru ( http://rockybru.blogspot.com/ ) explains it all ...

In an immediate reaction, National Bloggers Alliance pro tem president and National Press Club adviser Ahirudin Attan, who blogs as Rocky's Bru, urged Abdullah and other leaders to look at the positive side of blogging.

"Labelling blogs as something negative is going back to the stone-age, because we have been through this before," he said.

Indeed .. and indeed Youtube is no 4 and Blogger is no 5 in the World Wide Web of the Information age by Malaysian standards. Further, on negative perceptions ....

Ahirudin said the government should not accuse bloggers of attempting to create negative perceptions through their postings, but should instead act on slanderous and defamatory accusations.

“Just like there are good cops and bad cops, good politicians and bad politicians, there are good blogs and bad blogs,” said Ahirudin.

Ahiruddin, the former editor of the Malay Mail, said that politicians were to blame as well “because they are the ones who give out statements”.

A blog is just a medium for discussing issues affecting the people, adding that the traditional media were also reporting the same thing, said Ahirudin ....

Georgetown, Malacca win world heritage status
Finally, after all these years.

Did anyone care to notice there are some unique similarities?

These towns are the result of the elements of pluralism. Multi-cultural, multi-religious, multi-ethnic. It is hard for one to find places in the world that house Islamic Mosques of Malay-Pakistani-Indian designs, Christian/Catholic churches, Buddhist-Taoist-Confucian/Siamese/Burmese based temples, Hindu temples very near to each other.

In Malacca, one can see designs of Malay, Chinese, Indian, Dutch, Portuguese, English and Nyonya buildings in one place. People of different faith and religion live in various settlements and make their living peacefully in the town.

How could that be achievable? That is a question Malaysians should ask themselves. I can think of one for now.... Mutual respect. It's time to celebrate.