I may be one of the later bloggers to post about this, but somehow it seems like an empty threat. I mean, please… How many of us could be bothered to make comments about politics in this country? The worst most of us do is make some passing remarks about the average Bruneian government worker and his/her gazillion coffee breaks a day, or the fact that this country thrives on extensive protocol, favouritism, and nepotism.

You know it, I know it, everybody knows it. And when everyone knows it so well that it becomes an unspoken national pastime (kinda like jay-walking), trying to hide it by being “politically correct” is just the lowest and most desperate form of denial.

I understand the need to promote religious and public morality and all that. Every country wants that. (Although I’m not so sure about the racial harmony thing… We seem to be doing all right. Nope, no racial riots around here). It almost seems like the so-called “relevant authorities” simply want to jump on the blogger-bashing bandwagon and censor expression that poses no real threat. The worst blogs I’ve seen are just teenagers screaming at each other and verbally abusing someone they hate in school.

It’s all about freedom of expression, isn’t it? Blogs serve as a means of expression where we can speak our minds. And let’s face it– not many of us have politics on our minds. We think about work, about school, about our everyday lives. About the gorgeous pasta we had for lunch, or the new toy we just got.

In this country, most are content to live under a rule of benevolence, so what is there to censor? A teenage tirade? Someone’s annoyed remark about how some Ministry isn’t doing this or doing that the right way? I highly doubt remarks like that will cause racial chaos or a deterioration of public morality.

This isn’t so much an attack on these authorities as it is an agreement with another blogger’s sentiment against lackadaisical journalism and overall reporter sloppiness.

Sheesh. Tabloid, indeed.