Blogger Indonesia of the Week (92): Alia Makki
Posted on July 28, 2009
When a person calls herself Hning Swara commented in one of my post, I was impressed with the way she expresses her opinion. I was impressed even more when I visited her blog– back then in blogspot. She certainly has the talent and obviously is a good writer with an eloquent English I hardly found in an average Indonesian.
The problem with her blog, or with her to be precise, is she uses pseudonym or ghost blogging as I like to call it.
I promise to myself that once she blogs with her true name, I’ll review her blog right away.
Now the time has come.
When I visit her blog again a few days ago, I found some surprising changes: First, her URL address now using top domain with hosting still with blogger.com, something I recommend. Second, she shows her true name.
I am impressed even further to find out that she has the opinion of this true-identity thing:. In her post titled Pseudonym vs Real Name she explains why she went pseudonymous before:
Security is the obvious reason. Where I grew up, Saudi Arabia was such a small, small place. As many Ghamdis, Otaibis & Sharbatlys as you can find, everybody’s related to everybody else by marriage or education or work. And it was relatively easy to pin them out: The old money and the abroad-graduates grouped together in Northern Jeddah. The drug dealers and shady businessmen around the southern part of Jeddah. And the rest of us in between.
The groups dynamics shrunk even further if you’re a second and so-forth generation immigrant, with a surname such as Felemban, Khan or Seeni. I don’t know about you, but just like in Jhumpa Lahiri’s poetic depiction of Bengali immigrants in the US, the Asians in Jeddah cluster together, rarely opening up to the natives.
It wouldn’t be so much a big deal if giving away your identity didn’t get you in trouble. We still hear about fathers and brothers practicing (and legally protected for) honor killings in these parts of the world. The point is, it’s not always out of vanity that pseudonyms are maintained and may take a while of testing the waters until you dare leave the comforts of anonymity.
And the reason why she changes her mind to start showing her true name now:
1. Because I haven’t been living in Saudi. The inherent cyber-paranoia has slowly been replaced with a sense of “fuck if I care what the Citizenship has to say about my work”.
2. Value for my work. I tend to think that credibility is increased with real names. Not that content is defined by that. Just credibility. It is credible that the writer of this blog is a pompous self-proclaimed curmudgeon, wherever she may be seen in the cyberspace.
3. The tendency to self-destruct, which also has been the reason that I’m protecting my relatives from being affiliated to me has also been sublimated into other directions. I’m into demon sightseeing these days.
4. Besides, most people already know that Alia, Adil and Anggi Makki are related, and all three are equally passionate about their unrelated fields of work. So if anyone of us starts screwing up, we don’t directly harm each other’s professional reputation. If anybody cares, really.
5. And most folks don’t care, really, about who you are or to whom you’re related. Most people care more about what you can do for them. How you can inspire and entertain them. It’s just the way the world works, right?
I am sure, the way she makes points of argument, to agree or disagree, has impressed you. You’d find yourself impressed even further once you visit her blog yourself. She’s tough, intelligent, rebellious and, well, “wild”. Some qualities many men like to have in a girl.
Related articles:
- How to be Blogger of the Week
- Why Ghost Blogger?
- Why Ghost Blogger? (2)
- Scientific and Credible Blogger
- Anonymity and Credibility
- Why They (Expats) Blog Anonymously and We Do Not
- How Important True Identity for Blogger
- Why True Identity is Important
- Being Critical within and without
- To Blog or Not to Blog
- Part Time and Full Time Blogger
Filed Under Blogger of Week Tags: immigrants, Indonesia, saudi arabia
Subscribe Blogger Indonesia by Email through Feedburner or Feedblitz newsletter!!
Comments
What Do You Think?
102 Comments »
Blog Responses to this post:
Latest News-
-
Blogger Banner
Copy code below, insert into your frontpage blog :)
From 10 Nov 09, link exchange with this blog is no longer available. However, if you still want to put the above banner without backlink expectation, you are welcome to do so.
-
nice… keep da spirit to blog makki ^_^
True Modern women
her blog is very simplyciti.. great info….
Salam Cinta Damai dan Kasih Sayang
its about time to get out of the cupboard into the sunlight ….
no one light a lamp and then put it in a jar.
its about time to come out to the sunlight
It’s an truly an inspiring post about “a ghost blogger who turns into Human eventually.”
She is right, really.
#i’ve read it. keep writing in english
Ganbatte ne!
Ayu nemen
I prefer to have my name in my profile so that nobody ask whose blog it this. I am proud of my name of course. My grandmother give my name as soon as she came from Mecca.
Great article Fatih. I like it.
Thank you.
congrats for those girls who wins the indonesian best blogger, i hope all of human in indonesia can live in harmony, and always now about development technology
Wah, selamat neh, menjadi blogger of the week. Kita kapan neh mas fatih?
kapan yah bisa kaya gitu? …
yup… the real meong…
Congratulatin !
I have just visit the hning dot asia, it’s cool blog, minimalis design with about 186 article had posted since 2005. Very great blog ….
i wanna say congratulation of her
I agree that Alia Makki is great blogger..!
Hi,
I like your article and all the great tips that are mentioned on it, it has really helped out. Thanks for share the information.
I hope you can visit my blog and give me suggestion.
Thanks again.
Nice info So good friend’s
Asalamualaikum,boleh kenalan kan mas..senang ya kalau punya blog yang hebat..boleh ikut belajar kan? terima kasih
I agree that Alia Makki is great blogger..!
Pagi mas, Cuman mo tanya knp blog sy blm dapet back link? Padahal pemasangan linknya semua sudah sesuai prosedur dari sampeyan. Apa ad yg salah dengan blog sy? Mohon bantuannya
Salam kenal mas….
Pagi mas fatih.. tambah sukses aja nich, mohon tips suksesnya dong mas. bagi2 ilmunya ya..
What is seen less well when using fictitious name?
Terimakasih Mas Fatih telah mampir ke blog saya.
hoho…ternyata di blogspher banyak bertebaran wanita2 yang mengagumkan. nice sharing
Unfortunately, I aggree with all the reason of being a ghost blogger. Keep blogging, as long as you throw useful things on the internet, they’ll never care who you are.
selamat untuk Alia Makki
nice keep post
gooddell blogger…
nice post.. please write in english
We have to immitate her on using ture name..
Salam Cinta Damai dan Kasih Sayang ‘tuk sahabatku terchayank
I LOVE U VULLLLLL
Waaaah.. kapan ya bisa di bilang blogger Indonesia.. mimpi kali yaaaaaa..
Salam Sayang
Still dreaming, when I’ll be in this blog as Blogger Indonesia of the week.
Hmm, Another Senior Blogger.
Have a lot of nice article. Great shared…
Thank’s.
Regradss…
Thanks for inspiring me…
Numpang tanya mas,
Saya lihat di project wonderful visitornys sekitar 1000an orang sehari kok Alexa rankingnya bisa tinggi gitu ya? project wonderful yang salah atau alexa yang salah ? atau apa memang ada triknya?
thanks ya
#blog ini sedang mengalami penurunan traffic (asalnya alexa rank 32.000) krn. webhostingnya gak bagus. jadi projectwonderful gak salah.
saya lagi rencana pindah hosting luar negeri. lebih uptime
oh begitu. thanks ya mas. kalo ada waktu berkunjung ke blog aku ya. lagi dipermak sih sekarang, setelah terabaikan agak lama juga.
kok sekarang blog ini jarang di update yach mas, pa sekarang lagi kerjakan proyek laen
I wanna be a like her, congrats…
kepengen bangets bisa posting pake bahasa Inggris.*kagum sama Mas Fatih
hmm… For this time, the blogger is woman. good on her!
keep up the good work, mate!
congratulation to her!
a beautiful blogger
. congrats to her tough-
Hning Swara? that`s really cool name with deep meaning
good to know she use costume domain. Her site need more touch so it looks professional.
Nice posting about blogger of the week. It`s already in week #92? it mean there are 92 blogger that inspire us. good job, fatih!
SELAMAT HARI ULANG TAHUN KEMERDEKAAN KE 64 TAHUN DARI SAUDARA SERUMPUN BANGSA
MERDEKA…..MERDEKA…MERDEKA……
Saya mengucapkan SELAMAT menjalankan PUASA RAMADHAN.. sekaligus Mohon Maaf Lahir dan Bathin jika ada kata kata maupun omongan dan pendapat yang telah menyinggung atau melukai perasaan para sahabat dan saudaraku yang kucinta dan kusayangi.. semoga bulan puasa ini menjadi momentum yang baik dalam melangkah dan menghampiriNYA.. dan menjadikan kita manusia seutuhnya meliputi lahir dan bathin.. meraih kesadaran diri manusia utuh.. meraih Fitrah Diri dalam Jiwa Jiwa yang Tenang
Salam Cinta Damai dan Kasih Sayang ‘tuk Sahabat Sahabatku terchayaaaaaank
I Love U fullllllllllllllllllllllllllllllll
Hi,
I like your article and all the great tips that are mentioned on it, it has really helped out. Thanks for share the information.
I hope you can visit my blog and give me suggestion.
Thanks again.
Hi week has started and my routine blog walk has started…stay in touch….cheers…
Thanks for sharing this nice post.keep it up…
what kind criteria to become blogger of the week? thx..
#1. blog in english. 2. original content. 3. you’re indonesian. that’s all
nice blogger of the month
wah, jadi kepingin neh jadi blogger of the week. Ada kriterianya gak ya mas fatih?
Ough..No. My comment is caughted by your blog spam filter, please, sign it as not a spam
Thanks for reviewing the blog this week.
Wah kredit plus kalo bisa direview sama Bapak blog Indonesia nih. Kapan ya dapet giliran? harus siap dulu kali ya? Good review Mas, kita bisa belajar ngereview juga. Many thanks
Nice to know someone with such extraordinary insight..I did pay a visit to her simply-designed blog. Looks like the blog emphasizes more on the content quality and depth of thought than an overly-glaring theme, animations, a series of not-really-required widgets, just like what I sometimes find on some blogs.I myself love simplicity.
But I think I have to disagree when Makki says:
“And most folks don’t care, really, about who you are or to whom you’re related. Most people care more about what you can do for them. How you can inspire and entertain them. It’s just the way the world works, right?”
Sometimes, this world doesn’t work that way.Some unlucky, guiltless people are doomed/socially exiled just because they happen to have familial relation with terrorist suspects, political detainees (G30SPKI,for instance)…
This information can inspire everyone including me. People have potential talents which will be useful for their lives. To become success through the blogging activities, someone has to know whether he or she will be able to compete with the other bloggers. There is always a way for everybody who continues learning good things.
Congratulations for the successful bloggers.
very nice post…………
blogger sejati,,
Nice blogger…but I hope, she can to make a encourage to others bloggers like U, mas fatih….
Great post! No more to say.
The great post, I hope next time my blog will be reviewed
Sorry, I use my blogspot URL now. Because my TLD can be accessed, the registrar has makes it to be dormant.
Newbie jadi pingin nulis pake bahasa inggris :d…
Silahkan datang di blog bahasa inggris yang pertama saya buat (klik saja nama saya)
salam,
Nice blog…
keep spirit bro
backlink juga ya di http://kujum.wordpress.com
nice blog bro …
Nice articel…, thanks…
congratulation….
good job maki
keren postingannya mas
Good article. keep in touch visit my site too, i hope so
numpang lewat mas……..!!!!!!!!!1
askum..slamt gabng ja smua….
all the best….
like this…
Assalamualaikum.. salam kenal salam sukses untuk semuanya
o ya satu lagi… semoga kita dapat senantiasa bersilaturahim selalu
salam kenal semuanya…
this is my first comment ,and first time come to yours blog,nice blog,simpple ..i will back again …read another article .thanks
information-about-vitamin-a
great women.. ^_^
Congratulations for makki..
kata-kata lucu yang bagus mas….
selamat buat makki…..
congrat to makki
setuju banget ane gan!!!!!
I have visited her blog. Quality stuff!
salam kenal untuk sobat indonesia dan untuk semua pengunjung blog anda yang oke saya seorang blogger pemula kalau mau boleh kunjungi blog aku di about business and marketing dan Indonesia blog smoga sukses ntuk semuanya….
wah ngiri gue, nulis pake bhs inggris itu meskipun uda gue coba brlatih terus tetep aja ngga kuat. Mslh bakat kali ya…
namanya bagus euy
Beautiful name beautiful done. Congrats to her
Selamat buat senior blog. Keep up the good work.
Whew…Keren. Saya musti banyak belajar dari anda anda semua trims
Wah! Tidak ada salahnya buat ngefans… Im comingg…
Mang patut diacungkan jempol. Selamat dan salam sukses
Semoga kedepan saya bisa masuk dalam top blogger Indonesia dan ditulis diblog ini. Amin.