InVinoVeritas

Thank you for your concerns, JC3 (http://britishexpats.com/forum/malay...-alert-879223/), and to all those who have been in contact with me. I didn’t foresee that some people might believe my absence from this forum might be connected with my medical emergency a few weeks ago - I am, touch wood, fully recovered now.

I will try and respond to this thread within the constraints of Rule 15. I am not a great fan of this rule, everyone is anonymous here and it is unhelpful if such a rule is used to suppress criticism. This forum exists for its members and I don’t mean that as a generality but that each and every member is important to us. A member who is in dire straits should expect support, a member who is abusive and offends should expect restraint. We are not just a community, we are a country of British expats, separated by distance but not by indifference.

I fear the power of governance sometimes trumps the views of members. This is perhaps a good day to make this point as it is for this very reason that the UK has voted to leave the EU. The opportunity for us to express our views is a fundamental right and BE Rule 15 goes somewhat against that.

As most of you will know, I have been an active contributor and continued to be so after putting on the moderator hat. This is a difficult balancing act when one sees other moderators putting the act of moderating before the need to contribute. It actually means contributing to any thread as a moderator can change the tone of the thread - this is called the Observer Effect (see Wiki for an explanation). I have not hidden my view that I think BE is over-moderated and I have tried to keep my moderator actions to those designed to help the member experience. Sanctioning members for each and every step outside the BE rules is not a sport with a medal for whoever cracks their whip the most. If it is done, it should be done in a way to minimise the effect on the individual member with a PM or karma to explain, what is probably, an unwelcome intervention.

It is no secret that the popularity of BE, as a whole, has been falling and the suggestion is that this is due to competition from social networks and a reduction in emigration/immigration. I don’t buy into either of those reasons; social networks are for instant and broadbase communication, this forum is a reference work for a small, but potentially growing, community. As for reduced interest in emigration/immigration, the Brexit vote today puts the status of many expats into flux and emiration/immigration is likely to be THE hot topic for at least the next 2 years.

My personal view is that the BE’s popularity depends entirely on the member-experience. If this is not pleasant and welcoming then those thousands who view our forums every day will prefer to lurk rather than post and BE will diminish as a result.

If this post survives moderation then I will come back as a contributor and add my limited but, hopefully, useful knowledge to that of the many other BE members in order to help our compatriots around this ever-changing world.

++IVV

owned

I totally understand your position and offer my full support on whatever you decide for your future.

xxx.

Pulaski

Hi IVV,

I hadn't realised that you had had a medical emergency, but I am pleased to hear that you've recovered well.

I also hadn't noticed that you had "gone" anywhere - our paths only cross occasionally, usually in the 5WAS or TaHL threads, but I am glad that you haven't gone and/or are back again.

I hope you will stay as it is always sad to lose along term BEer.

Regards,

Pulaski

montakute

Excellent post, IVV. I'm very happy to read your clarification above and that you're in good health.

This seems an opportune time for me to share some news that in three months I'm actually moving from Toronto (where I've lived my whole life) with my MM2H to Malaysia! And the thing is, I'd never have reached this milestone without the BE Malaysia subforum and the old my2home site, the valuable information, supportive community, and excellent moderators and contributors. And I can't have imagined it without you.

Hope you stick around, but bottom line, I want to echo my appreciation for what you've done and my support for what you do

JC3

I agree. An excellent post IVV.

I am trying to read between the lines, but get a distinct feeling that those who used to volunteer at BE are being very cautious about what they say. That's a problem in itself - no freedom of speech at BE?

Certainly there's a great deal of truth in what you say. I hope "the powers that be" are listening.

JC3

JC3

That's great news Montakute. Congratulations!
Penang, KL, Malacca? Where will you be?

JC3

Pulaski

I can understand why we shouldn't be washing our dirty laundry in public, but we are a close enough knit community that it is obvious when something has gone wrong, and it is unfortunate when we are left with nothing but rumours, gossip, and innuendo to fill the vacuum.

ex reg

I've always thought the mods do a great job on here, never saw a problem.

btw I see that bb is still listed as a mod.

I frequent 4 other forums and over modding and heavy handed modding is the norm on them all so much so that my most regular forum has decreased in size by 90% over the last two years and is now dying.

Another forum which I read but seldom post gives me a warning every time I start a thread for posting in the wrong forum and I always spend time trying to work out which forum to post in.

And the forum which is probably the largest in the UK, that's MSE btw, has nowadays got so many clever dicks on it that asking a question there is useless.

I take on board what IVV says about BE but it surprises me a lot.

I don't use Facebook or Twitter.

montakute

Thanks, I'm going here

bakedbean

I have never been a Mod and do not wish to. I don't have the mentality that's just a glitch in the system that has always been there.

I am no longer a Conc and no idea why it is not being changed. I've just done a crude DIY job to help out.

I am still here and posting. Just been on holiday

ex reg

Glad you're still posting bb.

BEVS

I have been waiting for you to return from your hols is all my pal . You have mail.

bakedbean