sixthseal.com 3rd Birthday!

sixthseal.com has been leading the wild into the ways of the man for three years and counting! 🙂

This blog has been around for nearly 1/3 of a decade. Oh, and
doesn’t switching the chronological measurement units make it sound all
the more impressive? 😉 I’m in this for the long run…tomorrow will be
the premier of the fourth season of sixthseal.com – a big thank you
goes out to everyone who has been with me for the past three years!
Hola!

The words of encouragement and support despite my numerous
shortcomings and constant relapses means a lot to me…it shows me that
no matter how bad I fuck up, there will still be friends there to help
me. People like you make me think that maybe the world is not that bad
after all. I know I don’t reply my emails as often as I should but I
want everyone to know that I read every single one of them and it’s
nice to know that you care. I love you all.

I have been blogging for three years now, and it always brings me
down a nostalgic memory lane to see what I’ve been doing for the past
few years. I was a university student in Melbourne, Australia when I
started sixthseal.com. I worked as a programmer with XM Malaysia in KL
after I graduated, and I arrived in Kuching to be the system engineer
for Huygens Asia after that. I’m still with Huygens Asia, and have been
since I moved from KL to Kuching.

The past year of sixthseal.com has been interesting…the blog
started receiving a lot of publicity, and that has resulted in many
situations where people stopped me in town and asked if I’m the
“sixthseal.com guy”. It’s nice to be able to meet new people from
different walks of life through an online weblog…I’m glad I managed
to bump into readers outside – it brings a more personal touch to
blogging. 🙂

It seems to be a strange coincidence that sixthseal.com happens to
change a different digicam each year – my trusty Nikon 5700 was
replaced by the more compact 7.1 MP Nikon 7900
[sixthseal.com]. The mobile solutions for updating anytime and anywhere
in the world have also been realized this year, with the purchase of a
capable notebook equipped with Wi-Fi and CAT-5 network sockets. The
connectivity has depended on mainly GSM cell phone GPRS/EDGE networks
using IrDA or Bluetooth.

The purchase of an iPAQ hx4700 also allowed Wi-Fi, Bluetooth and
IrDA connectivity modes, with ample dual memory slots (SD-Card and
CF-Card). The Pocket PC running Windows Mobile 2003 Second Edition
ensures that sixthseal.com is just a fingertip away and allows the
replying of comments without lugging around a notebook. The pocket able
iPAQ has been very useful in comment management. The connectivity is
provided by a SE K700i with Bluetooth and IrDA ports [sixthseal.com].

This year also witnessed several sixthseal.com expansion and
diversification efforts. There was a supernova in the sixthseal.com
universe which resulted in an aggressive push in domain name
acquisition. LimTeh.com
[limteh.com] was registered on the 1st of February 2005 to be used as
the “official” sixthseal.com forum. It has been planned out to be a
self sustaining operation and thanks to the help of the moderators team
– BIG D, Vertigo, PatrickISU, Swedish-Chef, Lainie, kisps, deadbill, sweety, justine, Astrum, Dear Sergio, shanks, chemist_tip, simplicity, *Limo*, Skwermy and jadephoenix;
the LimTeh.com forum has been running smoothly. Let’s hear a big one
for the LimTeh.com moderator team for helping out! Cheers!

The sixhseal.com conglomeration of sites also added two new domains to the family – tiuniama.com [tiuniama.com] and tiuniamachowhai.com
[tiuniamachowhai.com] on the 29th of March 2005. The two mirror domains
are meant as a sociological experimental catch-all for trolls. The
other domain acquisitions made this year includes sixthseal.info and
louisalee.info, which would not be used to avoid diluting the main
blog’s name. Another little known fact is that the LimTeh.com forum is
also associated with limteh.net, limteh.org and limteh.biz domains,
although it’s not recommended for use or book marking as I only plan to
maintain the .com domain.

The “Holy Trinity” of .com, .net and .org was also acquired for
sixthseal.com – it all redirects to the main premium sixthseal.com
blog. The .net and .org domains was registered on the 9th of April,
2005. The domain name MalaysianBlogs.com
[malaysianblogs.com] was also registered on the same date – it’s going
to be a portal of Malaysian based or owned blogs, a directory of sorts.
I haven’t gotten that project up and running yet, but it’s going to be
fully automated – so bloggers can just add their own sites into the
relevant categories. SarawakBlog.com and SarawakBlogs.com was also
registered on the same date but those two are going to remain dormant
till I find an application for it.

The sixthseal.com group of sites also witnessed a downsizing exercise, with castitas.com
[castitas.com] shut down for good on the 17th of September, 2004.
castitas.com will no longer be updated. However, the domain name is
still going to be maintained and all the previous posts will be kept as
a historical archive. The first drug blog in Malaysia has been forced
to be discontinued due to various reasons. If veritas decides to post
again, it will be at sixthseal.com, not at castitas.com – future
castitas.com content will be absorbed into the main sixthseal.com blog
from now on.

The pengsan.com
[pengsan.com] assignment outsourcing service has also ceased to operate
due to logistical and human resource issues and the associated pengsan.com twin blog
[pengsan.com] about substance use problems is going be suspended
indefinitely. The decision is aimed at streamlining the sixthseal.com
universe to allow more time to be spent on the main blog. The past year
has also been hard on a personal basis due to escalating substance
dependency issues, in regards to excessive and dangerous
methamphetamine binges. My struggle with methamphetamine use will
hopefully be contained before the 5th anniversary of the blog comes by.
🙂

There were six main events during the third year of sixthseal.com
that were directly responsible for creating greater awareness about
this blog:

1. The MAC Red Ribbon Media Awards (RRMA ’04) held at Mandarin Oriental, KL

I was honored when Ely Azyze from MAC informed me that my entry on Guide to HIV Testing in Malaysia
[sixthseal.com] won the main award for creating HIV awareness in the
new category of Non-Traditional Media (Blogs). It was an all expenses
paid trip, including the stay at Mandarin Oriental, courtesy of
DaimlerChrysler.

I was actually flabbergasted that I got the main award coz if you
remember, the post has a link to another post regarding methamphetamine
in castitas.com and the Red Ribbon Gala Dinner 2004
[sixthseal.com] had the Prime Minister of Malaysia YAB Dato Seri
Abdullah Haji Ahmad Badawi, the ex-Prime Minister Dr. Mahathir and MAC
president and daughter of Dr. Mahathir, Datin Paduka Marina Mahathir in
attendance.

Thanks to Ely Azyze and the staff at MAC who made this happen! 🙂

2. sixthseal.com in The Sunday Times, Singapore

The biggest newspaper in Singapore, The Straits Times, came out with
a front page blurb with another full page pull-out inner insert bearing
the title “Drug dealers with stethoscopes?” on the Sunday issue of
their publication – The Sunday Times, on the 20th of June, 2004.

This is the only newspaper in Singapore – the other one is
considered a tabloid. Thus, I was surprised when one of my readers in
Singapore emailed me to inform me that sixthseal.com has been mentioned
in a drug related article of their national newspaper.

The full page printed paper and online article talks about doctor
shopping and the moral and professional judgments GPs have to make on a
patient-by-patient basis on whether benzodiazepine therapy can be
justified in patients fitting the monograph indication and also goes
into the exploits (I prefer the term “working the system” ;)) of doctor
shoppers such as myself. It paints a picture of a Singapore that seems
to portray doctors apparently forcing benzos on their patients and
mentions that:

“But the practice continues, and not just in Singapore. There
are Internet chatrooms – like weblog sixthseal.com – where addicts
share their favourite drug recipes and experiences.”

I think this is the first time the blog made it into a foreign paper.

I remember writing a long rebuttal letter to the author to let our
side (doctor shoppers) explain and raised the issue of sensationalism
by getting a stereotypical “junkie” like “Micheal” (if he even exists),
instead of attempting to maintain journalistic integrity and interview
a more realistic representation of the substance users of today –
young, well-paid professionals with respected careers.

…and I’m not even going to go into the offensive and derogatory
ending phrase “It would not only cut down on addiction, but also
shoplifting and other crimes that go hand-in-hand with drug abuse.”

I’m not even going to look up, it’s only going to throw me into a
righteous rage. The last statement is a logical fallacy and is just
there to create anti-drug use sentiments and spread FUD. It’s like
making the statement “a couple of journalists make up characters for
their articles to fit the story, therefore every single journalist uses fictional characters”. Logical. Fallacy.

That said, I understand that the columnist had articles to write,
deadlines to meet, and may not be aware of the more intelligent
recreational drug users choosing to enter altered states of mind to
seek more life experiences. I’m glad the columnist was kind enough to
get Singapore Press Holdings Publications to mail a complimentary copy
of The Sunday Times to me. Thank you!

P/S – Thank you, Salma, for mentioning my blog. 😉

It made traffic jump by an unpreceded 16 fold. The article helped me
reach the average Singapore family unit by mentioning sixthseal.com as
a place where “where addicts share their favorite drug recipes and
experiences” to pique paper reader interest into the online world.
Spoken like a marketing spin doctor, I only need to retain the interest
of *pulls number out of ass* 3.5% of the original paper inspired
visitors to sustain my readership for several years, with an estimated
*again from the place where the sun don’t shine* 0.1% of those telling
acquaintances and co-workers about the blog, which in effect creates a
grassroots viral marketing campaign.

Okay, I’ll stop now. 🙂

I’m not pissed off at all about being mentioned in the paper.
sixthseal.com is a firm believer of the truism that goes “any publicity
is good publicity”. 😉

3. City, state and nationwide newspaper coverage

The third catalyst that is responsible for either directly or
indirectly leading dead tree media readers to the sixthseal.com blog is
the coverage that’s divided into three sections:

4. Personal

These include personal appearances on the papers e.g. like in the Jolin Tsai concert.

5. Work-related

These are the news releases that are work related and involve the company.

6. Site-related

This is the direct publicity and reference to site(s) in the
sixthseal.com conglomerate. This one involves a magazine featuring
castitas.com.

Here’s a review of the more notable posts featured in sixthseal.com from 19/4/2004 – 19/4/2005:

Note: (V) denotes that the post contains a relevant downloadable video clip.

May 03, 2004
The Devil’s Kiss
Home baked Devil’s food cake with Hershey’s Kisses write-up. The entire process, from mixing the batter to baking is documented. (V)

May 07, 2004
Kuching bloggers meet @ Hot Seat
This historical event marked the first time a large scale Kuching bloggers meet has been organized.

May 18, 2004
Kapak (axe) brandi (brandy)
The Kapak brandy local distilled liquor is sampled and reviewed in this post. (V)

June 05, 2004
Download my nosebleed video while it’s still fresh! 😉
This post is another one that contains potentially disturbing material. (V)

June 12, 2004
Jolin Tsai Promo Tour Malaysia – Kuching Concert
Jolin Tsai is the young Taiwanese actress/artist that starred
in a few TV series and has a string of albums to her name. She came to
Kuching, Sarawak to perform for the first time. (V)

July 12, 2004
Mild Seven PITPARTY 2004
It has F1 racing cars, girls, beer, and more girls. What more can a guy want? 😉 (V)

July 19, 2004
The Definitive 7th Mile Teh C Peng
The Teh C Peng at 7th Mile (Kota Sentosa) is a local favorite –
families drive up from Kuching just to drink the three layered teh c
peng. This post features the original outlet.

July 31, 2004
Meth Dragon Video Download
The controversial video which features me smoking crystal meth. (V)

August 02, 2004
Kuching Festival 2004
This is the annual August Kuching festival which marks off a
month of celebration with fireworks, boat processions and a converted
gigantic outdoor food court. It’s a popular event with the locals and a
must-see for tourists. (V)

August 07, 2004
Ice Sculpture Exhibition
The famed ice sculptures from Harbin, China comes to Kuching to
show their legendary ice carving skills by creating various monoliths,
including a complete palace made out of ice with an ice slide. The ice
sculpture exhibition was held in Kuching for a month in a -8 Celsius
temperature controlled enclosure. (V)

September 21, 2004
Red Ribbon Gala 2004
The Malaysia AIDS Council biannual gala dinner and Red Ribbon
Media Awards ceremony that was attended by the Prime Minister of
Malaysia. I managed to win the Main Award for Non-Traditional Media
(Blogs) which was recognized with a large engraved pewter bowl and RM
2,500. The Red Ribbon Gala 2004 is the crowning glory of my blogging
career to date. (V)

October 06, 2004
“I don’t want to feel” – Videos of me cutting myself
Self-inflicted wounds made with a balisong (butterfly knife)
during a period of depression. This is not a suicide attempt or a plea
for help, but just one of the things you do just coz you haven’t done
it before. I want to experience the feeling of holding a knife, knowing
exactly when and where you’re going to start slicing yourself. The
feeling of having full control towards the pain mechanism provides a
totally different scenario in an uncontrolled environment e.g. a fight.
It’s novel. (V)

October 12, 2004
Magenta, Kuching
Magenta is an excellent art deco concept restaurant in Kuching with great service and excellent food.

October 26, 2004
Louisa’s 23rd @ TGI FRIDAY’S, 1 UTAMA
TGI Friday’s at 1U in PJ is where we celebrated Louisa’s 23rd birthday. Happy birthday! 🙂

January 14, 2005
Carvery Restaurant Review
The best restaurant for meat lovers in Kuching.

April 02, 2005
Guide to rolling a concealable cigarette joint
How to make smoking cannabis look legitimate. 😉 (V)

April 05, 2005
It’s my birthday today, but don’t wish me a Happy Birthday
Methamphetamine IV use videos…on my birthday. (V)

April 11, 2005
Slash and Burn – The compulsion to self-inflict pain and leave scars
We have our ups and we have our downs. 🙂 (V)

There will be constant changes and improvements to enhance the
sixthseal.com universe and feedback from readers is always welcome.
This year saw the introduction of heavy bandwidth utilization content
such as video files and movie clips. There are no plans to cease this
practice as video clips have managed to complement text and photos to
provide a more satisfying and media rich experience. There will be a
server migration planned in the third quarter of 2005 to manage the
increasing demands on the current server.

The visitor stats have also shown tangible growth in readership
numbers over the years, and I thank each and every one of you for
taking the time to drop by and share. 🙂

The first anniversary of sixthseal.com can be viewed here [sixthseal.com].

The second anniversary of sixthseal.com can be viewed here [sixthseal.com].

Much love to all the readers out there!

Long live sixthseal.com! 🙂