Besides the current world affairs that I am upset with, I am currently peeved at a (new) local blogger. He has spammed several known bloggers’ tagboards, by telling people he put up pictures of an accident. Actually, he had the gall to tell people he had pictures of the victims who perished in the accident.

He has taken down that post, to which I am grateful for. However, he has confirmed on his tagboard that it was because of an e-mail that made him do so. Not the comments I left on his tagboard. I will not link him, I do not wish to ever link him. I do not wish to be associated with someone so insensitive.

I have to admit, I am very sensitive in regards to this. There was once the video of the deceased Bruneian couple in Limbang floating around, in which I refuse to watch or even listen to people talk about it. I do not appreciate people passing these kinds of things around. I do not appreciate people disregarding these things, like, “Oh, they’re just pictures and videos.”

No, they’re not just pictures and videos. They’re pictures and videos of someone else’s late sons, daughters, fathers, mothers, uncles, or aunts. People are grieving over their deaths, and you take it lightly and post them up on your blog, saying people have a right to view them. What right do you have to look into the faces of the deceased who might have, in the past, been someone else’s loved ones?  Tell me: WHAT RIGHT DO YOU HAVE?

If it were your parents who perished in a fire, and someone irresponsible took pictures of the remains of your parents’ bodies, would you want it published on someone’s blog for the whole world to see? Imagine if it were you? If you died horribly in a car crash, would you want pictures of the scene be viewed by the public? Is that the way you want to be remembered?

This is a reminder to all those who wish to open up blogs, whether to create controversy or be famous (as can be viewed in the cretin’s most recent post), have respect for the deceased.

If you are wondering why I’m so defensive about it, it’s really personal. My dad was involved in a car accident where he was a front-seat passenger who suffered internal injuries. Thankfully, he did not die on the spot, he lived on for forty more days before he passed away. Even myself, who, thankfully, did not lose someone I love in an accident, feel very taken aback and offended on the things that Bruneians would do for a piece of gossip or simply ’something to talk about’.

And you know what’s stupid? The news of the accident was not ‘hidden’, it was all in the news. Everyone knew about it. In fact, I believe it was in one of the major local blogs somewhere. Depicting whatever was necessary, like the building or rescue workers, was enough as it is, there is no need to publish photos of the deceased.

Have respect for both the living and the dead. People are mourning for loss of lives everywhere. You don’t need to make them feel worse. I, myself, am still mourning over the loss of my dad, and I take it very seriously that you take in and understand all this. You are not ‘criticising’ nor ‘commenting’ on the matter, you are simply being disrespectful.