Ouch. I practically damaged my retinas reading the tags on my tagboard, particularly a few that were written with such a harsh, splenetic tone that I had to side-glance at them, squinting, with my head and eyes at an angle to the monitor. Even that wasn’t enough. I had to put on a pair of shades to prevent it from stinging my eyes and a tin-foil helmet so that the malice emanating from those words would not affect my mind. Oh, I forgot, I also had garlic, a cross and a wooden stake by my side just in case an evil vampire leaps out from the panel and attacks me. Luckily, I didn’t have to ask Buffy for help. So I’m current safe and sound here, thank you for your care and concern.

Courtesy dictates that I give an open reply to the cogent argument that was presented to me by anonymous, and thus here it is. But then again, please keep in mind that these entries here a re written by a flibbertigibbet who writes and talks nothing but cock. Thus the title you see.

I want to start by making this clear: I don’t think anonymous is an Internet troll out to disrupt the harmony of the Internet community. She was perhaps too infuriated that her school came under the fire of the media, I do not know. Also, my dear reader, this post is not a personal attack on either anonymous or CHIJ; and neither was the previous entry. Perhaps my intentions have been misinterpreted. But one thing’s for sure – I certainly have no reason to launch an attack on CHIJ.

Blogging is a knock-about sport that many engage in. Blogs reach a tremendous audience, and many bloggers have shot to fame ranting and raving about various things. We all hold the power to transmit and broadcast our thoughts to other people around the globe with a few keystrokes, and inevitably, opposing views will clash. In this case, anonymous, I have chosen to park my being in the journalists’ camp, and you have, out of loyalty and love for your school, chosen to pitch your tent on the other side of the fence.

My take on the situation has caused much anger, I do not deny that. I am also perfectly sure that I am not from CHIJ, but I am unable to agree that I have no right to take a stand in this matter. I am commenting from a third-person perspective here, and whether you agree to my comments, or disagree is your choice, and I do not wish to influence your decision. I am just unswervingly committed to the position that journalists have a right to report everything, be it scandals in a tabloid or matters of national importance in a broadsheet. I believe that in the particular article in question, the writers have only chosen to amplify an apocryphal stereotype that exists in Singapore’s society. It is unfortunate that it has caused much anger within your institution. I am interested to see how the Straits Times responds to the forum letter, and I am sure you are too.

My contrasting view on this definition has inflamed you so much so as to cause you to launch an attack on me, or in net-speak, flame me. I accept the concrete fact that you have an entirely converse belief, and that you have probably misconstrued my comments. I did not write that post with malicious intent, and neither have I written it to take square-aim at CHIJ, or to the extent of insulting the 150 year old legacy of it

I deeply regret the fact that you have chosen to think that I am attacking the campers in your side of the fence, and I reiterate my stand that this is an untruth. I understand your desire to attack me because of my stand, but please refrain from attacking the teacher(s) and the Board that I serve. The views, posts, comments and opinions expressed here are solely mine, and they do not represent that of any party.

I agree with you that it is absolutely revolting to see young men who wear their pants so low that their underwear is revealed to any unfortunate pair of eyes. As for the matter of short skirts, I confirm my stand that short skirts create a negative impression on this largely conservative society, and thus may be the reason for their allegation.

My eyes certainly can see that other school-going girls are wearing their belts slung low. I am not blind to this fact. It is only unfortunate that CHIJ has the most number of girls’ schools and thus the greatest number of girls wearing the all-familiar blue-white uniform. Even if a small percentage of your total number of girls wear their belts low, it will dwarf the number from another school, and hence this image.

Well, the Straits Times has ruffled quite a few feathers, and indeed, if my school was attacked, feathers will be ruffled. However, I strongly believe that my school community will reflect on why we were subjected to the attack, pin-point the problem and remedy it. Self-discipline and restrain are two things that have been ingrained in us, and most of my schoolmates will not go on a flaming spree on blogs. Respecting the views of others is also something that is repeatedly emphasized, and I am sure they are rational enough. Of course, certain elements will do the irrational things, and I will not deny that.

I don’t believe myself to be a goody-two-shoes, on the issue of vulgarities, it is just my stand that these profane words should not be uttered in a public domain. I am sure that we use vulgarities too, but as for the intensity and amount, I know no one in my school who use vulgarities very often. Even if he did, corrective action would have been already taken. I know I am no Saint, and I have never said that I don’t use the magic four-letter profanity.

I am not acting intellectual, and as a matter of fact, I despise intellectuals who do nothing but mull over things. I don’t see any large or difficult words in this entry. All the words were either taught before, or I have come across them during my own reading. The onus is on us to improve our standard of the lingua franca of the world. Whether you choose to do it however, is another matter. I am also sure that I have not bitten off more than what I can chew.

Also, I have never doubted the IJ spirit. It was tremendously vibrant and alive the last time I heard it, and I believe you are one example of that, although the method you chose to employ was a little unconventional. Zx’s school had a petition for their principal to step down, and this received scrutiny from The New Paper. They got flak for it.

Anonymous, I don’t know how you look like, I don’t know how old you are, or pretty much everything about you. Let’s not bandy words around thoroughly or maliciously – there’s enough of it in this world. After all, at the end of the day, we’re not so different, you and I.

Except that our tents are pitched on different sides of the fence.