Why do so many blogs focus on food?

Malaysian bloggers are obsessed about two things: themselves and food. The majority of blogs here focus either on the blogger's personal life or on food. I'm not saying there's anything wrong with this, it's just an observation I've made.

Is our love affair with food so passionate that we see fit to come back and write a review about the fantastic dinner we've just had? Are we so proud of a simple achievement like making nasi goreng that we just HAVE to take a picture and share it with the rest of the blogging world? Me, I can cook up some pretty decent fare, and am proud of my culinary efforts, but I'm not going to painstakingly type out the recipe for sotong sambal, snap some pics, and post it up for you guys to marvel at.

Now, before you get your hackles up, let me reiterate, if the rest of you want to do it, fine. Sometimes I do enjoy reading food-related posts, but most of the time, I'm really not interested in knowing if the garlic bread at Pizza Hut is garlicky enough, or how many chocolate chips should go into each cookie to make it perfect.

Then there are the navel-gazing bloggers, who think others would be interested in knowing the exact number of nose hairs they have, or that the strap of their watch broke and they had to go to Petaling Street to get a new watch, and on the way, their taxi stopped to pick up a pregnant woman who turned out to be a robber and robbed all of them at knife point, and so they had no money left to buy a watch, or pay the taxi driver, who abandoned them in some lonely place somewhere and they had to trudge all the way back home in the rain, and now not only do they need a new watch, they need new shoes too.

Me, I'm in the second category of course. After all, I am an average Malaysian, and I'm as stereotypical as they get. Although sometimes I do break out of the mould and surprise people.

Which brings me to the point of this whole post: why are there so few different blogs? Why can we not focus on something besides ourselves and food? Why are there no blogs focusing on DIY plumbing, for example, or gardening, or even the art of dating, Malaysian-style? Maybe there are, I haven't explored every Malaysian blog yet, so please tell me if I am wrong. I know there are some focusing on IT, politics and religion, but don't know of any other popular topic.

I guess because we are so passionate about food, it's only natural that this is a favourite to blog about. But surely there are talented craftspeople out there who can share their knowledge with us? "Yes, Kucing," I hear you say, "Their knowledge is readily available in what is known as a website, and you can find it by using something called a search engine." True, but I want a personal touch to it, for example someone tried to fix a leaking toilet and ended up bursting a major pipe, resulting in their whole house being flooded and having to call in a plumber to fix the damage. At least if someone blogged about this, we'd have a good laugh, offer our sympathies, then make a mental note of which major pipe to avoid. Amusing AND educational, a great combination. You may be able to point me to a number of blogs that highlight these kinds of things, but I'm willing to bet it will be part of someone's blog, something that happened one day in their lives, and not the general theme of the blog itself.

"Kucing, you're missing the whole point of blogging. A blog is like an online journal, where a person can share details of his/her personal life," you may argue. No, this is limiting the definition of a blog. You can do anything you want, make your blog stand out. It can be your personal diary, but it can also be a powerful tool to make companies and governments sit up and take notice, for example, Jeff Ooi's Screenshots.

"If you don't like it, don't read it," you may huff. True, but like I said, I'm not attacking any blog individually, I'm just making general observations, and giving my unsolicited opinion.

"So Kucing, you hypocrite, what are you doing to improve the Malaysian blogosphere?" you may ask. Well, I am trying to turn my blog into an agony aunt column, hoping to help others with their relationship/general problems, despite not being a psychologist/ psychiatrist (so please take my advice with a pinch of salt, and if you're really in a pickle, see a doctor/therapist). Apart from that, I am just another average Malaysian blogger, sharing details of my life with the rest of the world. I have no plumbing/gardening/ sewing/movie-making skills whatsoever so I really have nothing specific to awe you with. I have excellent movie-watching skills though, and that I can readily share with you, but then, you've probably already read a hundred posts about Batman Begins and War of the Worlds so I have nothing new to add.

If I have been totally off the mark, and there are some outstanding Malaysian blogs you know of (besides those focusing on politics/religion/IT), please let me know.

Till next time, this is Kucing Gatal signing out with a Monday-morning Meow.