I’m afraid I had to remove the chatbox. First, it’s hardly used. Second, a supposed relative left a cockamamie message. At first I answered the message. But then I realized that if I have to defend myself from every cockamamie message, then it defeats the purpose of this blog.
This blog is first and foremost, for myself. I upload some of the articles I wrote in magazines or newspapers, speeches I delivered or researches I did. I also put out my opinions on various issues.
This blog is also for those interested in Moro / Muslim issues. I hope that this blog will add to the knowledge of these issues.
And this blog is for posterity. Future generations can read what this Moro gentleman thought of in the early part of the 21st century.
And for those who will come across this blog, like the one who left the said message, and will learn that I am their relative, they should not be surprised why they had not met me yet in person. First, I am not a politician so I don’t need to meet so many relatives. But I did campaign for my relatives before.
Second, I have so many relatives all over the country. I hardly even see my brothers and sisters, let alone my first, second and third cousins in Lanao, Davao, Sulu, Cagayan de Oro, Cotabato, Gen. Santos City, etc. And for the children and grandchildren of my cousins, I simply have no idea how many they are. I have some 40 nephews and nieces, many of them have children whose names I couldn’t even remember.
And I am not even counting my Bruneian cousins, most of whom I haven’t even met; or our Yemeni cousins. I even have a niece in Tunisia and in the US and a nephew in Germany. The world may be getting smaller, but it still needs money to take a plane or even a cab or to buy gasoline.
To all my long lost relatives, I still have a fairly good idea of who you are. If I don’t know you personally, I’m sure I know or would have heard about your parents or grandparents. Just send me an email when you happen to drop by this blog.
In the olden days, families or clans gather together by the fire and tell stories. In today’s global village, everyone is just an email or a computer click away. When I was a child, I wanted my father to tell me again and again the stories of Rajah Indarapatra and Sohrab and Rustum. And I listened to my mother’s endless tales about her forebears. Today’s children prefer the TV and video games. And today’s storytellers are the bloggers.