think, before you write.

interesting article and could be used as a gentle reminder to us "writers"

JAN 17 — Are you one of those people who spends hours at the computer, trawling the Net for all sorts of information? Participating in forums?

Sharing your point of view and even getting into arguments with other people?

You are? Well, I guess you like your news here and now. And more importantly, you want people to know what you think.

These days we get our news moments after it happens and we can react to it almost just as fast.

In the not so distant past, people wrote letters to the editor (of newspapers)... not email, mind. Real letters.

I imagine the writers of those letters read something in the paper and after thinking about it for a few hours or so, put pen to paper to agree, protest and/or even suggest.

Yes, there is something oddly old-fashioned about letters to the editor. It speaks of a time when people gathered their thoughts and composed their arguments before writing.

I used to think the people who wrote those letters were all retired civil servants (and indeed many of them were) but I found out later that all sorts of people are moved to write. Students, housewives, etc.

While many were allowed to use pseudonyms, they all had to include their real names and very often phone numbers in the letters. And very often, the Op-Ed (opinions-editorial page) editor called them up to verify who they said they were before printing the letters.

But things have changed. Now people read something online and immediately hit the comment box to type out their thoughts. I don’t know about other websites but very often the comments we see here are incoherent and just downright rude.

Some are nothing more than rants, while others are well... personal attacks. I have often wondered why that is so. Maybe after so many years of not being “allowed” to voice out their feelings and opinions, Malaysians have found a way to do so now.

I guess some people treat comments as a “pressure release valve.” They are “just saying only lah”... they don’t really want so-and-so to die. Frankly, if those making comments met the Prime Minister or whoever they are angry with at that point face-to-face, would they repeat what they wrote? To his/her face? In the same vulgar manner?

Maybe I am naive in thinking they won’t. It’s the perceived cloak of anonymity that gives people this sense of bravado, I think. They hide behind it and write all sorts of obscenities and other petty hurtful things.

(By the way, there is this thing called Internet Protocol and really... nobody is that anonymous. If the authorities wanted to, they can find you.)

There is something to be said about taking the time to think of a story or comment... and then writing about it. It’s like this bit of advice an older friend gave me when I told her about my argument with another friend.

“Don’t say something in anger. You will regret it. Give yourself some distance and cool down... then think about what you want to say to her.”

Wise words, those. Maybe that is what we need to do when next we are thinking of writing something.

*The views written here are the personal opinion of the columnist.

By Joan Lau. (click here for the actual article)