They Cyber Bullied An Uncle – Me.

I read with interest the series of reports about cyber bullying on The Sunday Paper, 3 November 2013, page 3-6.

I was interested because I, too, was a victim of cyber bullying. Perhaps, I should say that I could have been a potential victim.

The perpetuators wanted to hurt me. However, I was not that easily beaten.

Furthermore, our Creator has always sent His angels to protect me. I did not and will not take this blessing lightly and for granted.

I have to admit that while I normally do not look for troubles, I have unwittingly invited them into my life.

In my experience with the wild wild web, I have joined online discussions without checking out the people who were involved in it. Neither did I do any deep research on what the site was all about.

I had all the good intentions to share my opinions and was open to be corrected. In good faith, I wanted to contribute to the group and help fine-tune the ideas and proposed solutions.

Yes, I was and is still an idealist and continues to believe in the goodness of humankind. However, I will have to learn how to ring fence myself and ensure that I can bring about positive outcomes from my forays on the Net.

If not, I should just log out. Period.

During some of the discussions, I would put up a point of view that is contradictory to the acceptable views of the group. The reactions range from rudeness to receiving some of the most toxic words.

These words were meant to abuse me, insult me, tear me apart, threaten me, or in some cases, drive me to death.

I can understand why some of the victims resorted to ending their lives as a result of the cyber bullying. Some netizens can be vicious and vindictive and the problem is, you will never know where they are lurking behind the clicks, links, and likes on cyberspace.

Beware! There are people out there who believe they are O07. In other words, they think they have a licence to kill.

In my case, it oftentimes start mildly. They would call me names.

Then, they would check me out and hope to find information to embarrass or humiliate me. Fortunately, I have lived a reasonably good life.

I was actually hoping that they could find out some downsides. I could use the feedback to improve myself.

There are people who told me with lots of %#*€#%*<€£¥ that I was not using my real name. To them, I could not be known as Liew Patrick.

Funny enough, most of these people chose to be either anonymous or use a false name and image. I had to tell them that my surname, according to my identity card and passport, was placed in front of my Chinese and Christian names.

If I was not hurt, they might threaten to embarrass me in public. I offered to help them because, according to my daughters, I was quite used to embarrassing myself. Lol!

If that didn’t work, they might gang up to cause me physical harm. If they were more creative, they would come out with more ‘frightening’ abuses and violence.

I hate to say it but as an old man, I was oftentimes amused by them. Instead of returning evil for evil, I chose to love them, send them some of my inspirational stories and words, and pray for them.

Unintentionally, that might make them even angrier. It might drive them to increase their negative reaction.

Looking back, it was not really worth it to engage them in the first place. This old man was foolish – yes, foolish is the right word – enough to continue the discussion.

In the end, I didn’t think any of them were wiser, healthier, happier or in any way, better. However, I did benefit by learning my lessons again.

There are strange people out there promoting base instincts and the worst of hatred, anger, and all kinds of negativities. They are only interested in promoting lies, half truths, and misinformation.

Their motives, means, and ends are not meant to be positive. If anything, they are designed to produce negative outcomes.

I should stay away from them and I hope you will do the same. The best way to prevent trouble is to avoid it completely.

Take  a leaf from the above-mentioned reports and good advice from Ms Sylvia Ang, senior counsellor with the Singapore’s Children Society and Mr Chong Ee Jay, assistant manager at Touch Cyber Wellness.

You can go to the setting feature and block the bullies from your site. In addition, you can seek counsel and comfort from people who are specialists in this area.

You can also do a photo grab of the comments or save them on your hard disks and other devices. If the situation becomes life-threatening, lodge a report at the nearest police station.

If you need help, go to www.planetcrush.org or call Touch Cyber Wellness at 1800-377-2252 and seek help from a counsellor.

Enter cyberspace at your own risk and be prepared to protect yourself.

Go4It!

I hope this message will find a place in your heart.

By the way, I have also recorded other reflections.

Visit my Inspiration blog at http://liewinspiration.wordpress.com/

For my opinions on social affairs, please visit my Transformation blog at http://hsrpatrickliew.wordpress.com/

Please visit my website, www.patrickliew.net

Please read my reflections and continue to teach me.

Life is FUNtastic!