127 Hatemails

We just got back from Yogya when our secretary reported to us: the Indonesia Anonymus email address was flooded with hatemail.
We know this would happen eventually. Part of the risk of blogging, really. So we are fine with it. But not our secretary, who had to clear the mailbox without accidently deleting the legitimate emails we receive from you, our beloved readers.

How could this happen, one colleague wonders. We use gmail and gmail blocks spam really well. How did this junks got through?

Apparently the answer is simple: he/she/they sent the emails manually. Yes folks. One by one, using various free-email addresses. One hundred twenty seven emails.
The subject is gibberish (but never the same), the content is also of the gibberish variation followed by some 'overly-sweet' message.
Oh, how flattering.

This shows that someone with determination, incredible patience, hardwork, and some degree of lunacy can always beat any spam-blocking technology known to man.

So what was the message? Well, here it is. All translated (roughly though, we are not a pro translator), for your entertainment. We also give some response here and there, just in case the sender(s) of the emails is(are) reading this too.

"Hey. You cowards.
Why are you defending the P magazine? (naming one controversial magazine, you know what). And why being such a coward using anonymous name?"

Well, well, well. So this is about one blog we wrote a while back. This one. We suggest you (our beloved reader) to read it first if you haven't read it yet.

"And why did you write your blog in english? So arrogant. You are Indonesians. Write in Bahasa Indonesia. Be patriotic. And why did you insult *** in your blog? (naming one organization frequently described as militant/hardliners). I am not a member of ***, but I will not let you ridicule them."

You are not a member? Really? Well, maybe you should sign up. You certainly have what it takes.

We write in english because this is the internet. The blog can be opened by anybody, in any part of the world. We just thought it would be nice if anybody who open our blog can read it and understand it. After all, that's the main reason why one blogs, no? To be read?

"All we are doing is defending our country from bad influence coming from America. P magazine is pornographic, no matter how they disguise it. And if the government will not do anything to stop it, we will, in any way possible.
Why are you defending the magazine? Does it mean you are also against the anti-pornography legislation? Do you want to see our younger generations become immoral?"

Right. Who are 'we' in this case? Didn't you say you are not one of them?
But anyway. About the magazine: We never buy the magazine.
We don't support it. We support the rule of law. This is what we think: If the magazine breaks the law, bring it to court. Prosecute. But if not, leave it alone.

Those who break the law should be prosecuted, and those who obey the law should be protected. It's that simple.

That brings us to the anti-pornography law. Are we against it? We never said that in our blog. But this is what we think: Just because we have some law passed doesn't mean our problems will be solved magically. Want example? Look at Indonesia's drug abuse problem. We have all the law we need.
Tough one too: Illicit drug trafficking is punishable by death.
Does it mean our drug-abuse problem is decreasing?
No. It continuously goes UP [1]. What does that tell you?

"You are useless. We at least fight for what we believe. We go to the street. We have demonstrations. We pressure the government to pass the law because we believe the law is good for the country."

Right. Good for you. Now think about this: while you were out there, on the street, protesting, demonstrating, etc. Do you know what your kids are doing at home?
Are you sure they are not logging into the internet and downloading the Paris Hilton video?
We do what we can: we have our career, we pay our taxes, and we do our best to educate our children. We teach them to respect different opinions, different cultures, different values. Underline the word 'respect'. We cannot force other people to accept our values, or vice versa. But we can learn to respect one another.

"You should apologize for what you wrote on your blog. Defending the P magazine and ridiculing *** is not acceptable. We demand you to write an apology on your blog, and delete the posting. Do you think by being anonymous we cannot find you?"
... and the mail went on about some scary stuff they will do to us if (or when) they find us. Couldn't really translate them.

Apologize? For what? We did not do anything wrong.
You are going to harm us?
Well, this is what we've got to say: bring it on.

In closing, the email wrote:
May you burn in hell.

Well, well, well. We think hatemail senders will go to hell too, you know.
So if you happened to be there before us, do us a favor: don't wait up.

(we don't think you'll have much of a posthumous gloating either...)

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Note to our readers:
We refuse to write the name of the magazine nor the name of the militant organization for one simple reason: writing them too often will make our blog popped out more frequently when people 'google' those keywords. We don't need that, do we?

Source:
[1] Sinar Harapan - Pengguna Narkoba Meningkat