My Response To James.

[roninriot]

Now I have always respected you as a moderator James
From way back then, and you know this to be true.
I have also contributed MANY postings on serious issues, and many genuine discussions were generated, just like many SOFTies here.

I am simply bringing up an issue of sorts. In NONE of my posts did I say he was doing anything wrong. I was simply saying "I find this to be wrong"
Read my later responses and you will see.

And if anything,
Just because you don't TALK about something, doesn't mean people are not thinking it.
When people voice out their opinions, it is because they are already thinking about it.

The point I'm trying to make is this:
If people think musicians cannot study, cannot get a job, cannot make money, they will CONTINUE to think about us in this way unless we prove them wrong. We don't just shut them off and say "Don't talk bad about me, it's wrong!"

There are situations where we are victims to circumstances.
We are victims of prejudices and stereotypes, all of us.
Does this mean we don't TALK about it and pretend it is not there?

I choose to disagree. I think ignoring it, oppressing an opinion, will FUEL the stereotype even more, because there is nobody to stand up for it

When I brought in the discussion, it was an OPEN discussion, meaning anyone was able to defend him, anyone was able to stand up against it. In fact, within the post itself, I APPLAUDED HIS EFFORTS while sustaining my own point of view as well.

Aren't YOU guilty of stereotyping as well, within your very own post and your reason to close the thread?
You have stereotyped that just because I disagree with what you may feel about something, that is equals to bullying. Yet some of my responses have been FAR LESS HARSH and stereotypical than most. I emphasis again, I even applauded his efforts for standing up for what he believed in.

Think about it.

As for my blog,
My blog is my blog. This is an open forum, this is open for discussion, this is a genuine topic, and anyone and everyone is free to agree or disagree. My blog is a persona I created, it was for myself, it also ridiculed myself largely, and it has NOTHING to do with this discussion whatsoever. And if you cannot separate the two from each other, then I guess you are the one who 'doesn't know what he is talking about'.

AND JUST BECAUSE
My points differ for yours
Does this mean you shut them down? Is that what a moderator does? A moderator moderates. You can easily moderate the posts if they are too harsh. Read the post again. I wasn't trying to lean the discussion not in the direction of ridicule. Yes, I cited silly examples to illustrate the point, but the point I was trying to make wasn't a biased one.

I have been a SOFTie for years.
I have express MANY opinions on many things. I have also contributed many topics over the years just like many others here.

Are we supposed to pretend to agree with everything just because disagreeing with it is supposed to be, gasp, 'unacceptable'?

And I am appalled at how you are forcing us to agree with yours just because you disagree with what some have said.

 

[Aki S. Ian]

umm, Mr Ronin. seriously you must jest?
can we just let matter slide?
plus if im not mistaken, it IS an offence.
though not a criminal one, more to civil.

Mr James just wants SOFT to be clean thats all.
It already quite tiring and stressing for him to keep maintainence of SOFT.

 

[dir]

hahaha btw you were backpedaling a lot in the trans thread
honestly are you willing to be a champion for crossdressers' rights?
yes/no/maybe

 

[roninriot]

So if you get angry at people saying musicians are lazy, uneducated, what do you do? Do you get angry and slap them in the face? That is kind of like what shutting down the post is like, isn't it?

Wouldn't it be better, instead of getting angry, to find avenues around how to prove them wrong? Explore various ideas to outdo the stereotypes, generate new forms of revenue for bands to earn a constant cash flow, or maybe stimulate growth of the scene by using the media as a utility? If we sit there and simply say "I do not agree with you. Shut up!" that is doing nothing to proving that we are educated.

We have been fighting this fight together for years. And you have been the forefront of supporting the scene, and I have ALWAYS applauded that for years. But it seems that these days, just because you disagree with something, you think that sweeping it under the carpet will make it go away. It won't go away until we face it for what it is.

So whatever it is, cosplaying, stereotypes, etc, it applies to everything.

Do read the post again. And then see what I was really trying to say, instead of making a grand sweeping statement. Apart from my light-hearted stapler post, I have been a stable and analytical contributor to this forum for years. And you know this to be true as well. My description may seem to be light hearted, but I did raise many valid points within the post on Cosplaying.

And for anyone else reading this, the original thread is here
http://soft.com.sg/forum/music-kopi-tiam/65460-omg-wtf.html


And yes, if I was really into cosplaying and I believed it to be true with all my heart, I would try to champion it. Unfortunately I am not, but this fella in the blog seems to be. That is why I said I found it weird, BUT i still find it admirable that he tries. I said this in the thread already.

 

[a_poets_guitar]

freedom of speech is what alternate voices need.

oppression is what leaders use to prevent conflicts.



grey line really.

was he preventing a possibly (or already) sticky situation or was he plugging the throats of those with alternate voices?

same difference to me



THIS IS A FORUM! THIS IS A FORUM! THIS IS A FORUM! THIS IS A FORUM!

 

[soft]

roninriot, I do respect that you have made a big fan fare with your previous band and trying every way to uplift the local music scene. That is very cool of you.

Like you, I am trying to promote the music making community. There are certain things that I believe a healthy community should be based on. Yes, forum are for discussions. But we focus on positive things. Things that will compel us to improve and get things done.

By focusing on negative, we will be negative. This is proven. This will NOT help the community at all!

You are in the media industry, you should know better than how media can affect people. And in this INSTANT ON age, we have to be very careful not to steer into the dark water.

We have to build culture, a positive culture where everyone is responsible and want to grow our community.

 

[dir]

you also said you 'found it to be wrong'
make up your mind already!

 

[a_poets_guitar]

its an expression of his personal opinion there. 'I found it to be wrong'

if he said IT IS WRONG, he is imposing his opinions on the rest of the community.

 

[Aki S. Ian]

i do know the matter that you speak of ronin,
i paid attentioned all the way since the beginning of the thread.
but one major factor was that fellow softies left insulting tags on his blogs.
which may very well be the reason as to why james is upset.
the only nice tag was from 2 person whos name i shant mention.

and personally i do think that "the tongue cuts deeper than a knive"
the kid could be emotionally hurt.

and in reference to that, According to SPF, causing hurt doesnt necessarily mean physical. It is an offense.

that aside. I do understand at what your coming from.
but sometimes we have to swallow our pride and not bite the hand that feeds.

james has given us soft. it will do us well not to abuse the 'incentive' we're given.

 

[Freeflowclass]

gossip/ badmouthing/ bitching creates conversations. i dont find it wrong to post your own opinions online. i mean if roninriot actually told someone about this face to face, the exact same way that he did when he posted the thread, i actually doubt people would say anything about it. it might actually create a good conversation starter.

roninriot does crossdress actually btw. well i only saw it once but hey that shows he isnt totally against it right. and i actually saw the thread and did not see any flamming to roninriot.

so the person who posted his video on youtube wasn't asking for flamming? and honestly by posting this, yes maybe roninriot might be welcoming flamming and people bitching about him, but please la, if he really cared about that he wouldn't have posted this thread up right.

and dont make it seem like this is actually the first time someone disagreed with what james said. just because we dont agree to your thinking and do not react to the same situation like how you do, we get lectured about that? so isnt that stereotyping as well?

dont bring in personal issues that has nothing to do with the thread and judge how a person is based on what they posted. thats just plain nonsense.

 

[Vaiyen]

I didn't see any point in that thread, other than to poke fun at the fella.

 

[soft]

As it is, the Internet is already filled with lots of negative things. We should prevent SOFT from going that way.

If I just want to make SOFT the No. 1 website, we can easily start posting mindlessly, talk about BGR, complain about government .. things that alot of people consider "Freedom of Speech". But what is the purpose? What is the goal of SOFT? Just to be a forum? A website?

We are more than that.

As the person who started this site, I have a goal. In order to achieve the goal, I have already spend 10 years, countless hours and will continue to do so until I pass on. I pride SOFT as the music site to go to in Singapore. We are up on par with big big site run by big big company who has much much more resources.

 

[Freeflowclass]

to sum everything, basically dont take things so hard.
must hurt to think about every single thing that might actually just be a good laugh.

 

[vickomaniac]

but a laugh at other's expense..?

think about that guys.

 

[Aki S. Ian]

wow ronin does cross dress?

anyways the crossdress issues is over and done with.
lets not get sidetracked.
its more of ronin not quite content with the thread being closed.
and his addressing his issues here.

one thing though. i thought soft was a place for music related issues?
not fashion right?

 

[Freeflowclass]

if anyone can just safely say they have never laughed at anyone's expense, ever, well i'll actually be surprised.

and this is the kopitiam section, basically anything can be said. if we can talk about mas selamat, im wondering why we cant talk about what roninriot did

 

[Aki S. Ian]

ah and yes. vicko got a point.

yes i do admit we all do laugh at other people's expense.
but thats a subjective matter.

its normal to laugh at friends, or bloopers, or 'failed' incidents.

but to make a mockery of this kid is just wrong.
yes you may laugh and all. but then again why do you choose to leave absurd comments, even at his 'sanctuary'.

 

[Vaiyen]

CyberBullying Can Kill: Some Children Commit Suicide Because of Electronic Bullying


much as you might disagree with Chris' choice of apparel, i'm sure we all don't want to see that happen, even if it's an off-chance.
It wouldn't be worth your fleeting moments of mirth.

So be responsible, don't take the chance, and don't join the mindless herd.

It's easy to mock; it's harder to think and be responsible.

 

[Aki S. Ian]

ah you see, we can talk about mas selamat mainly because it affects everyone's life.
but who's life does this kid affect? anyone here? i don't think so..

one of my philosophy in life.
"Just as long as it doesn't bother my ricebowl, I'm fine with it"

 

[nirvana1234]

Everybody has a laugh at other people's expenses many times. I laugh at alot of people too amongst my friends. I get laughed at, like for example, i posted my band on youtube and people say "Hey that fat guy looks damn ugly lah haha". Nothing to do with the music but just laughing at me. But hey, that is normal. I laughed at people, i accept being laughed at.

But I think its another issue of making it a public affair. Just give you a simple example. How many times you did not zip up in public and your friends around saw it and just laughed at you. How did you feel? You do not feel good but hey its still ok, its just a small group of people. BUT, how would you feel if your friend decided to ANNOUNCE it to the whole MRT train and shout "Hey THIS GUY here did not ZIP and we can see his POLLY POCKETS UNDIE!" You dun feel good, do you? You feel small. You feel awkward. You feel that the whole train of people will look at you with looks of whether you are stupid or what. Your friends have every right to publicise that you did not zip up but was it nice?

Now that is a light hearted way to put it. I do not deny that sometimes when I look at some cross dressers or cosplay, I laughed at them amongst my small of frens but I have never go onto a forum or whatever public to mock them. It is within my right to do so, but is it nice?

Again, Roninriot has every right to do it and lets not take the higher ground of morality and point fingers at him with a holier than thou attitude. He is expressing his views. But James is also expressing his views as a moderator of this forum. We always should agree to disagree and if we are able to do so, we will be able to move on from this thread.