Blogger interview – Behonce

This time I would like to introduce Behonce, Malaysian person, who doesn’t like to be called a blogger, so I will not do so, I will, however, ask questions about blogging:) here you go!

Syl: When did you start blogging and why? (Dec 2005?)

Behonce: I started blogging around December 2005 when I was around 17 years old. I’ve just graduated high school and I said to myself, “Hey, it’s a new phase in life, why not do something new?” So I started blogging, basically at first just a space for me to express myself and rant more about my life(I also wanted a share of the spotlight!)”

 

Syl: What is the main goal of your blog and why are you against calling you a blogger (‘I detest to be called a blogger. I don’t go around acting like other bloggers do. Sure, I blog but does that make me a blogger?’)

Behonce: At the beginning, my blog was just a personal space for me to express myself online. Slowly, I started to do reviews, talk about fashion, post random videos I found on youtube. I also blog about fashion, lifestyle, Asian celebrity gossip and just recent events happening around Asia, namely Malaysia. I try to showcase to my readers’ things that are unheard of or issues which are rarely discussed in public. It is a mixed bag actually. Moreover, I try to post items which are of less from what the mainstream readers in Malaysia would probably read on other Malaysian blogs such as politics and “self-absorbed bimbo blogging” (I confess, I do bimbo-blog sometimes!).
I am against being called a blogger as in Malaysia, being called a blogger is like you either rant endlessly about what you had for lunch or how you comb your hair, you know, minor stuff in my opinion, which doesn’t really matter. Or if you are a Malaysian blogger, you would talk endlessly about politics, the Malaysian government or anything the mainstream media would not publish.
Malaysia is still going through a tough time as bloggers namely political bloggers are arrested for false accusations against the Malaysian government.
Therefore, I do not want to be typecasted for blogging. I blog because I want to, not because other people are doing it. I am not trying to say that I am better than these people because I am not. I am just saying that I take a different route when it comes to blogging.

 

Syl: Your charity project Phunk – how did it start? How do you promote it?

Behonce: Project Phunk actually started out as a college assignment where we had to work with a non-governmental organisation and help them come up with a communication/charity campaign. It is a group effort of more than 30 students. Our target audience was mainly college students and also bloggers. Therefore, we used www.project-phunk.blogspot.com as a communication tool to promote our cause and invite them to join us in helping raise awareness and funds for Hospis Malaysia. Also, we had local radio stations broadcasting our campaign as a community project. We did a couple of roadshows here and there.

 

Syl: You are on Facebook. Do you use other social media, like Twitter, YouTube, Flickr?

Behonce: I do facebook (a lot), I do friendster, youtube but I guess that’s all for me currently. I prefer to have face to face conversations when it comes to socializing. In my opinion, facebooking is like a ledger I use to keep track of the people I know and how they are doing in life. I might not see them often, so I use Facebook to navigate through everybody’s busy life.

 

Syl: You don’t like to be called a blogger, but does blogging affect your everyday life?

Behonce: I am against 100% being called a blogger. My friends call me a hypocrite as I blog more and at one point of time managed more than 3 blogs, but blogging doesn’t affect my everyday life. It is something I do when I am bored or when I need to escape from reality. You could say that blogging is a form of escapism.

 

Syl: How about your friends? Are they active in social media too? Do they blog?

Behonce: Most of my friends blog and their particularly active in social media too. But the thing is my friends are divided into 2 groups, those who are active in social media, and those who do not bother with social media and most of the time, these two groups of friends mix together more often than not. You could say it’s a 50-50 kinda thing.

 

Syl: What is the current situation of blogging in Malaysia – is it popular? What is the general view on blogging?

Behonce: Blogging is rather popular in Malaysia. With bloggers being thrown into jail for defamation and what not, you could say blogging has caused quite a stir in Malaysia. As I mentioned earlier, you are either in or out of the Malaysian bloggersphere.

 

Syl: I very often post a part of the interview on my other blog Bar Mleczny, promoting Polish culture in the UK. When I say ‘Polish culture’ what are the 3 first things that come to your mind?

Behonce: Urm, I am going to be brutally honest. I only know Poland by name, I guess it snows in Poland and people speak Polish in Poland.

 

Syl: Bar Mleczny is about food and quality time (films, music, other visual arts, events). You posted about food – do you like preparing it? What is your favourite meal?

Behonce:I love preparing food. But food often doesn’t like to be prepared by me. I either burn it or turn it into a bad dish which I myself personally would not touch. But that doesn’t mean I am a bad cook. Under the watchful eye of other cooks (i.e friends and family with proper cooking skills), I can whip up a dish or two. I do not have any favourite meal actually. I prefer to eat everything that is presented on the table. Western, Asian, Malaysian, Middle Eastern, Indian, Mexican, Thai, Japanese, you name it. If it tastes great, I would love it!

 

Syl: Thanks for your questions! And good luck with Phunk!