Lolcows: The Biggest Source of Internet Cringe

         When you surfed on the Internet for an extended period of time, you probably will encounter several internet personalities or celebrities who are famous for plethora of things, whether their personality, their likeability, or their sense of humor. Some of them are also known to be the biggest laughingstock of the world wide web, they themselves being totally oblivious of the fact. These types of people are easily discoverable on every corner of the web, mostly on social medias, and people can't help but to witness their degeneracy as the means of boosting internet clout. 

 

            There is a term that would describe these people perfectly, and the term in question is "lolcows". It borrows its own term from "cow", which is a farmstock animal typically raised for the milk to be harvested. And from this definition, a lolcow is a type of person on the internet who is gullible and highly exploitative, typically trolled in regular basis with the means of producing cringeworthy content or to divulge embarrassing information to be weaponized against them just for fun without them realizing it for one bit. In short, lolcows are more or less like a "cash cow", but instead of monetary revenue, the internet is spoiled with funny, mostly cringe content generated by some people who are unaware that they are being manipulated, often extensively. 

 

            There is a big rift when it comes to lolcows and those who are presented as a legitimate comedian on the web. Comedians tend to plan their contents carefully, accounting for their viewer base, and are doing it willingly. Lolcows on the other hand, are trying to present themselves as a serious creator, but inexplicably ended up producing content that are instead perceived to be unintentionally hilarious, despite the creator's initial direction.

 

            When it comes to the world-renowned lolcows, Chris Chan immediately sprung up to mind. Since he is the most documented person on the internet, if not the world, every move he did is meticulously recorded, including his (mis)adventures of finding his true love, even if it means that he must post videos or contents with compromising materials, or his full-blown delusions about the animated dimension and the real world being merged together. From the discovery of his Sonichu comics to his arrest and subsequent incarceration for incest, everything and anything that he has ever done was meant to be on a serious note, but alas, the internet never gave its two cents, and instead presented him as the biggest buffoon ever lived. When it comes to the epitome of a lolcow, Chandler is the first person come into mind.

 

            Lolcows of this caliber tend to perceive everything according to their viewpoints only and dismissing what the outside world said about them. This then, created a perfect recipe for internet disaster, as more people inevitable came to their contact, and ended up getting trolled relentlessly. One particular person who also fits this category other than Chris Chan, is the man named Chance Wilkins, or Cyrax as known to the Internet. To say that Cyrax and Chandler is alike if not one of the same is an understatement. While Chandler is autistic and has a big obsession of becoming a comic book artist, Cyrax on the other hand, is deluded enough to think that he is a famous rapper, while in reality, he is a 30-ish year old, 5 feet (1.52 meters) tall, rage-filled man-child known as a plagiarist, sexual assaulter, a pedophile, and a narcissist. Why a plagiarist? Well, his own music catalogue, even his own stage name is nothing but stolen materials from other artists. His obsession with fame in the music industry is the main reason why this man is known as the lolcow of the year after Chandler's incarceration. Trolls use this to enable his fantasies and manipulating him extensively. His appearance on its own is more likely a result of several physical deformities, like progeria. It is also rumored that he may have a condition called cleidocranial dysplasia, where certain bones in the body don't develop. He is also born with one kidney and developed lung issues. These deformities, either physically or mentally, are mainly stemmed by his parents, specifically his mother's alcohol addiction by the time of Cyrax's conception. Some might say that both of his parents are intellectually disabled. 

 

            I don't know how others would react, but the mukbang genre of YouTube can also produce gold when it comes to a lolcow being loose on the Internet. Case in point, the big, fat, ugly mess that is Nikocado Avocado. For years, hundreds and thousands of eyes watched the evolution (in this case, an evolution going in reverse) of this former vegan and a skilled violinist from a relatively healthy man to an obese degenerate who does nothing but gorging himself on fast food in large quantities and screaming and wailing like a middle-aged woman with a midlife crisis. Watching his mukbang videos is bizarre enough, and the fact that he also operates an OnlyFans account doesn't help his case. Some lolcows that fit this description are also known for their love-hate relationship with fans and trolls alike. Just look at Amberlynn Reid. What this lady have done is starting a YouTube channel to document her weight loss journey, but quickly devolved into a mukbang channel, plus all the stuff that she did that incurred the wrath of the Internet. It seems like there is a cycle of some sort when it comes to this woman's whole content. She started by promising to try a new diet plan, then subsequently abandon it, and when confronted, she spewed lies after lies to present herself as the victim of her own laziness. What makes her a lolcow in this sense is the presence of enablers-who are her own friends and girlfriends-further stroking her planetary-sized ego (and body).

 

            Egotism, it seems can contribute to someone being labeled on the Internet as a lolcow, as their strong sense of entitlement trumps all of their strong points, making them susceptible for trolling and online harassment. Some of the can be outright creepy. One instance of this is someone by the name of Daniel Larson. This Denver, Colorado native is actually a schizophrenic man known for his TikTok escapade, as well as his rather unusual behavior, particularly towards underage girls on the platform. Hell, he once had a ridiculous amount of underage smut material, and nonchalantly confess it to the internet. Talk about being bold and outright dumb at the same time. As with Cyrax, Larson is also highly delusional about being a famous musician, always convinced that he is a big-time celebrity, but in reality, the trolls only engage with him to enable his fantasies and ultimately humiliate himself without him even realize it for one bit.

 

            In short, lolcows are those type of people who are oblivious to the fact that their presence on the internet is nothing more than a subject of amusement for trolls to indulge. They might present themselves as serious and factual, but all the trolls see is jokes and pranks written all over them. These people would still engage themselves on the internet, sometimes to the point of being terminally online, just to be played and manipulated upon by the other, not-so-friendly internet users. For those of you who are writing this, let's assess your life, take a break from the internet, and please, for the love of God, socialize outside more. It helps yourself and your mental wellbeing.

Amos Yee: From Activist to a Total Creep

 (Warning: Distressing references ahead)

 

            Here I am, on the last 10 days of the holy month of Ramadan as per time of writing, writing about some Singaporean guy who ran his mouth so bad, he caused multiple headaches across two different countries. You see, as per my stance across multiple pieces of article, freedom of speech is an essential part of a functioning society. Without freedom of speech, any discourse would simply be obsolete, as the top majorities be it big government or big tech that would dictate the society's school of thought. But I must iterate something here. While freedom of speech is encouraged, it doesn't shield you from the consequences that it may cause. We've seen how it would turn out with those LGBT discourses being slammed and condemned due to its main target audiences, i.e., underage kids.

 

            When it comes to the region of Southeast Asia, the region I proudly call home, the notion of freedom of speech is quite grey to say the least, as some countries have varying degrees of control of speech. In Singapore, these rights are restricted to some degree as Singaporeans are not protected against government-sanctioned surveillance and varying constrictions of credible opposition parties' growth in terms of freedom of expression, assembly, and association, while also guaranteeing the rights of peaceful assembly without arms. 

 

            And from this country too, came a former child actor turned social commentator turned online creep named Amos Yee. He was born Amos Yee Pang Sang, on the 31st of October 1998, just two years younger than yours truly. He was initially raised a Catholic, but then turned to Atheism after he was kicked out of his congregation. Back then, he was known as a child actor with esteemed accolades, as evidenced with his award-winning short film Jan, which is a "self-written, self-directed film" he made when he was 13 years of age. The film was so successful, Singaporean filmmaker Jack Neo took Yee under his wing and offered him an internship, as well as an audition offer to Neo's film, We Not Naughty, which revolved around juvenile delinquency. And from his foray with Neo, young Amos Yee continued to the path of satirical comedy, or as we call it in Indonesia, "Cliff-edge comedy" (komedi tepi jurang). Hell, prior to his first scandal, he already uploaded several videos on his YouTube channel detailing various subjects, most notably abut Singapore's ban on same homosexuality and his decision to drop out of school to focus on his YouTube career. 

 

            And in 2015, Amos Yee's first entanglement with law happened on 28 March. To better explain the context, five days prior, Singapore lost its first Prime Minister Lee Kwan Yew after a bout against severe pneumonia. Naturally, the entire city-state mourned the departure of the esteemed statesman, who was the first ever Prime Minister along with Yusof bin Ishak acting as the first President after Singapore's involuntary independence from Malaysia in 1965. Everyone was saddened by the news, everyone except Amos Yee. The jack-butt had the audacity to post a nine-minute video tarnishing LKY's legacy, calling him a "horrible person", an "awful leader" and the most heinous of all, a "dictator but managed to fool most of the world to think he was democratic". He even challenged Mr. Lee's son and current Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong. The video itself resulted in more than 30 police calls, and even after that, Yee doubled down by producing and publishing a picture depicting Prime Minister Lee doing an intimate act on former British Prime Minister Margaret "The Iron Lady" Thatcher. He was arrested and charged with three counts of harassment, based on his video essays and his obscene picture. He was initially released on bail with condition of he must not post any content while the case is still ongoing which he breached by posting two blog posts. From this case, he was sentenced to 4 weeks imprisonment and the bail was set at SG$ 10.000.

 

            His second case was a blasphemy case. It all started on 27 November 2015 when he addressed Businessman Alvin Cheng's comments about terrorism and proceeded to mock the religion of Islam. This resulted in another arrest and another incarceration, this time for six weeks. While serving his jail time, he was visited by US-based Singaporean activist Melissa Chin and by her own admission, provided Yee with documents needed for Amos to flee the country to the States. In December 2016, Amos Yee fled to the United States via Chicago O'Hare Airport to seek political asylum. Shortly after his arrival, he was detained by the Immigration and spent his 9 months pending his asylum status in two places, those being McHenry County Jail in Illinois and Dodge County Detention Facility in Wisconsin. By doing this, he also breached another Singaporean law, this time about compulsory military service for Singaporean men when he turned 18 years of age. Singapore is one of few countries like the two countries in the Korean Peninsula, as well as Finland to have mandatory military conscription for their citizens over the age of 18. 

 

            You may think that Amos Yee's shenanigans in his home country is dangerous enough, but in the US, he became something more sinister: an advocate for pedophilia. In November 2017, he uploaded three videos on YouTube, all discussing his views in favor of grown adults initiating intimate advances on minors. This time, the banhammer was swift, those videos eventually got all of his social media accounts banned and his Harvard invitation rescinded. And to put a cherry on top of this filth-infested cake, he was arrested in Illinois in October 2020 on state charges of solicitation and possession of child pornography after an allegation of him exchanging risqué contents and messages with a 14-year-old Texas girl. He was denied internet access during custody and his bail was set on US$ 1 Million. He initially plead not guilty to the charges in November 2020, he eventually accepted a plea deal in late 2021 in exchange of a six-year incarceration, with the implication of deportation, denied future entries to the US and ultimately denied of naturalization as a U.S. citizen. If he would be deported, he still has to face the charge of draft evasion by fleeing to America, and in turn, failed to report for enlistment in the first place, a crime that carries up to 3 years in prison and a SG$10.000 fine under Singaporean law. 

 

            When it comes to someone like Amos Yee, this is the case of someone testing the limits of freedom of speech and its implications, while at the same time, toying with the notion that nothing is off limits, even if it means that some parts of their statement might be detrimental to their own well-being as well as others surrounding them. Yes, freedom of speech is highly encouraged in this day and age, but as like other forms of expression, every statement has its consequences. And by guaranteeing freedom of speech doesn't guarantee freedom of consequences either. For Amos Yee, for all of the stuff that you've done, I hope you find peace for yourself.

Jeffrey Marsh: "Trans" Groomer on the Loose

 (Warning: Strong languages, sexually explicit and distressing references ahead)

 

            I can't believe I have to write this. For weeks I tried to steer clear from this man and this subject. But now, people from the left and the right side of the political spectrum are made aware of this man's online presence. And believe me when I say that aside of what he identifies himself with, child grooming is a heinous form of child exploitation. But then again, I lost pretty much all respect I have for most of the members of the LGBTQ community, particularly those who want to shove this gender ideology bullshit to others with differing opinions, as well as silencing those who are opposing the narrative, whether they are on their side or not. Ever since the puberty blocker debacle, and the fact that people like Dylan Mulvaney is roaming around unchecked appropriating womanhood (Yes, this is what I call gender appropriation), today's political landscape has become a free-for-all, as the (in)tolerant left press on to instill their deranged version of inclusivity. 

 

            I believe I've written something about sketchy individuals and people with a tendency of predatorial behavior, but what I'm about to dive into not only is a creep, but also acknowledge himself as one, and people actually support him. Let's begin by dissecting who are we dealing with. The one in question is Jeffrey Marsh, born in York, Pennsylvania, USA, on the 7th of July 1977. He claimed to have been misunderstood during his so-called "rough childhood". Not much information regarding his education history, but he attended the University of the Arts in Philadelphia, earning himself the Bachelor of Fine Arts in musical theater. Before his internet infamy, he moved to New York City to pursuit a career in cabaret performance. 

 

            After this, Marsh turned to social media, with his first platform being the now defunct Vine, creating contents around self-affirming and self-empowering, usually presented with a pep-talk, song, or dance. Nowadays, he has a TikTok account (which we'll be getting into later on), Instagram, Facebook, even a YouTube channel. Lately, he also set up a Patreon account. Outside of his social media activities, he is a regular contributor to The Huffington Post, arguably one if not the most woke publication ever existed beside BuzzFeed. In 2016, he even released a book entitled How to Be You, supposedly inspired by his time growing up. He identifies himself as "non-binary" (which is, again, pretty much an undeniable sign that you are a total idiot) and is of Buddhism faith. For one, I might get branded as a blasphemous little bastard, but Buddha himself would laugh at your fucking ass.

 

            Now, let's address the elephant in the room. Marsh is currently the biggest LGBT influencer on TikTok, amassing 682.000 followers. Most of the time, the contents are not really that harmful, except that those same videos contain an intro SPECIFICALLY aimed towards children. Hell, he begins his videos with "hi kids" or some variation of that phrase. Now, we all know where this is going. We've seen too many true crime videos to not noticing straight away that this intro, more or less, is a MAJOR RED FLAG FOR CHILD GROOMING. These particular offenders are trying to establish communication to children by isolating them from their parents. And as I learned first-hand, parents are the strongest defense mechanism against these abusive tactics. 

 

            The second thing that I want to address is the contents themselves. Recently, Marsh's content is revolving around teaching those same kids on how to go no contact from their parents. Again, isolate them for your own benefit later on, and once the trust has been established, then the groomer can do whatever to the kids as they pleased, often for a long period of time. Or, if the audience is equally as demented as he is, they might be onboard as well. Then, to make things worse, his Patreon page contains videos containing OUTRIGHT SEXUAL TOPICS! AND THIS IS AIMED TO CHILDREN! For fuck's sake, this man has too many free times on his hands. And to drive this thing home, the left actually supports him, as he kept roaming around the Internet unchecked, while differing opinions are constantly shut down.

 

            And why is Jeffrey Marsh is allowed to do this? Isn't sexual topics towards children is heavily frown upon? Unfortunately, no. As the British Muslim comedian Shumirun Nessa found out firsthand. She initially made a series of videos on TikTok calling Marsh's contents into question, on how these types of videos is allowed to be viewed by minors. All she did was criticize his content, not for what he is, a "non-binary" man. But what did she get? Jeers and angry comments from his supporters and "trans activists" that extend as far as literal threats. Just two days ago, Indonesian time zone, she was doxed by some unknown perpetrators with emails containing her daily routines, her daughters' school details, and her residence address. She also had her car vandalized prior to those threats. I mean, we are on an uncharted territory here, consider that Marsh is that type of guy who is willing to do the most heinous shit not even the crazed GG Allin would think of, and that is saying something. 

 

            If this is what "inclusivity", "tolerance", and "loving community" are about, I'm jumping off the fucking train. I'd rather be labeled as a "bigot" for standing up to traditional values, that men are born with a penis and a set of testicles, and women are born with a vagina and a uterus. I'd rather be called a "backwards redneck" for sticking to my religious values, which Shumirun and I both share wholeheartedly. I'd rather be called an "ignorant jackass" for standing up for those who are fed up with this gender ideology bullshit. In short, Jeffrey Marsh is a creep, a jackass, an offender, and a total idiot. Parents, if you are reading this, keep your children safe. Question everything. Don't let this creep into your children's life. The consequences are both devastating and irreversible. Now if you excuse me, I'm off to lock myself in my room playing Hogwarts Legacy, the most "transphobe" game made in association with the most "transphobe" a. k. a. the most badass woman in the (wizarding) world, Joanne Kathleen Rowling.

GG Allin: Violent, Barbaric, and Disgusting

(Warning: Gross material ahead)

 

            This is probably the grossest piece I've ever written. While being invested to rock music in general, the punk section is barely touched by me during the most of my life, aside from bands like My Chemical Romance, Simple Plan, Blink 182, you know, those 2000s Pop Punk bands. Recently, I started to listen some of the heavier punk bands, those like The Misfits who mainly touched by their more metal influenced sound. From what I've read and researched, punk rockers have a certain knack for controversy, And the subject of this story inevitably raised the bar so high, no punk rockers since have duplicated that level of infamy.

 

            What we are looking at here is probably the most infamous punk/shock rocker ever lived, and his name was GG Allin. His real name was Kevin Michael Allin, but thanks to his ultra-religious, abusive monster of a father, he was born named Jesus Christ Allin, believing that young Allin was the child of prophecy after claiming that Jesus visited him in his dream. He was born in Lancaster, New Hampshire, USA on the 29th of August 1956. And as predicted, his parents Merle Allin Sr. and Arleta Gunther, along with his younger brother Merle Jr. lived in a log cabin with no running water and electricity, and to top it all off, Merle Sr. was the type of man that was known to be "unstable" to put it mildly. This trait inevitably passed on to young GG, who was put into a special education class and severely bullied due to his nonconformity stance. Only after their parents' divorce, Allin's legal name was changed by his mother to Kevin Michael Allin, but his other name, "Jeje" as his brother pronounced, was kept as his nickname, ultimately evolved to GG.

 

            And this effectively turned Allin into the man that he was, but I'll save that for later. Allin had always had fascination for rock music, especially due to his musical influences being mostly British Invasion bands from the 1960s. He also idolized the country music star Hank Williams, but not until one Alice Cooper arrived and cemented his influence on Allin's overall sound. Surprisingly enough, Allin didn't start as a vocalist, rather as a drummer. He did this while forming his first band with his brother Merle no less named Little Sister's Date, but that band only lasted a little over a year. From then on, Allin went on to join (and founded) several bands, like The Jabbers, Scumfucs, and the last one at the time of his death, The Murder Junkies. At this point, his main instrument was his vocals. He was not interested in breaking out to the mainstream, as he became the household name in the underground hardcore punk scene.

 

            Perhaps his prime era was also considered as his most violent era, as during the mid 1980s, he practically abused anything and everything everyone threw at him. On top of that, he held a strong misanthropist, anti-authoritarian, non-conformist, and anarchist stance. On one occasion, he proclaimed himself as "the last true rock n' roller", as per his stance that rock music in general is a personification or rebellious attitude. Let's do a breakdown about a typical GG Allin live show. Allin's choice of attire (or lack thereof) is a white jockstrap, a leather jacket, and sometimes accompanied with a pair of sunglasses. Hell, most of the time he would show up buck naked. It started normally for one or two songs, once the show reached the third or fourth song, all hell would break loose, partly because of Allin's tendency to go out of control and start punching his own fans and in some extend, himself (he hit his head repeatedly with a microphone until he bleeds out of his head), but mostly for his drunken state and his nasty habit of SHITTING HIMSELF IN FRONT OF HIS OWN AUDIENCE. Not only that, but the sick bastard also went as far as either (don't read this while eating) eating his own discharge, or threw them to the concertgoers, with all of those INCREDIBELY NASTY SMELL. The way he did this is to ingest a copious amount of laxative before he entered the stage. Other crazy antics he did also including shoving things (mostly his microphone) up his ass and causing millions of US Dollars in damages.

 

            Allin was also have a knack with suicide threats. It all started somewhere in 1989, where Allin stated that he would commit suicide during one of his shows at Halloween, but the plan never came to fruition, as he would end up arrested instead. Hell, one of those arrests even landed him in prison in late 1989 for "assault with intent to do great bodily harm less than murder" of a female acquaintance in Ann Arbor, Michigan, but later reduced to a felony assault charge after a plea deal. He was imprisoned from Christmas Day of 1989 to 26 March 1991. But instead of reporting to parole, he went straight back to touring. And during his imprisonment, he wrote his essay titled The GG Allin Manifesto.

 

            This punk rocker arrived with a bang, and he departed with a bang. The day was 27th June 1993. The place where it all happened was a small club called The Gas Station at 194 East 2nd Street in Manhattan, New York. It was a typical GG Allin and the Murder Junkies show, with all of those chaotic antics by the shock rocker. After just three songs, the show ended in a chaotic fashion when a brawl broke out, and a totally intoxicated Allin then went out leading his fans into the neighborhood. He then crashed into his friend Johnny Puke's apartment and continued to party along with everyone else. During that time, Allin ingested a heavy dose of heroin. It was too much that he overdosed on it and fell unconscious. On 28 June, when morning came, and Puke noticed Allin's body still in his apartment, already dead due to his overdose the night prior. He was 36 years of age. His funeral became something of a low-level party, as mourners gather around with alcohol and various audio devices, blasting his songs while Allin's bloating corpse was lying in a casket, unwashed and still reeking of human turd. GG Allin was finally laid to rest on 3rd July 1993, in Littleton, New Hampshire. Even still, Allin's gravesite had become something of a pilgrimage site of all hardcore punk aficionados, with his gravestone desecrated on a daily basis as an act of "respect" like GG himself would have wanted it.

 

            In short, Kevin Michael "GG" Allin was a punk rocker like no other. Musicians of his caliber might not be famous for his sound quality, or his poetic lyrics, but one thing is for sure, that he shaped the landscape of hardcore rock n' roll to be the thing that it is today, even though all it took to get to this point was someone flinging shit onto each other while at the same time punching others in the face. GG Allin was a wild man, and he demanded us to remember him that way.

Ricers: The Black sheep of Petrol heads

 Car culture, just another thing that I follow alongside motorsport in general. Me being a car fan in the first place actually stems from motorsport. When you talk motorsports, you talk about the cars or bikes that race each other at speeds of over 320kph (200mph). You might talk about advanced engineering, technology, aerodynamics, safety, handling, and the sheer brutality of those machineries. It's the adrenaline that hooked me up with this culture. The sensation of driving as fast as humanly possible, while still have to maintain a level head going at those speeds. 

 

            Consequently, as a result of a thriving car culture, car owners resorted to modify their cars to a specific purpose, depending on its usage on the road. And these modifications are done with three things in mind: practicality, usage, and purpose. Take a look at the differences when building either an off-road car or a drag racing car. For the former, you want high ground clearance, four-wheel drive, good set of suspension kits, and precise handling. For the latter however, all you need is raw power and fast accelerations down the line. Every build is tailor-made and none of those builds are one and the same. Each and every car is meticulously tuned and adjusted to the preferences of its driver.

 

            But there are some of them who are also part of the culture who don't modify their cars to suit all of the above, instead focusing only on exterior appearances of their cars, and those guys are called "ricers". The term "RICE" in relation to the car modification culture is actually an acronym for "Race Inspired Cosmetic Enhancements". As the name suggests, these guys are modifying their cars for the purpose of making that car to look like a race car, but in reality, it's more like anything but one. The polar opposite of this particular build is the one called a "sleeper". These cars are high performance cars with unassuming looks. It is possible that a sleeper could take its form of a sedan, or even an estate car or a minivan of some sort. Those who are labeled as a 'ricer' is that one guy who puts so much aftermarket parts to the point of rendering his own car unrecognizable. Think about a Honda Civic EK9 fitted with a massive exhaust and cheap aftermarket body kit made of plastic.

 

            It's fairly easy to spot a ricer in a crowd of car enthusiasts. They are mostly drive Japanese cars, mostly either a Honda, a Mitsubishi, a Toyota, and a Nissan, with most of the vehicles being either a front-wheel drive, a car with automatic transmission, or the combination of both. But these days, even European or American manufacturers are not spared from a ricer's treatment. As per what I said, it's easy to find a ricer by looking out for a car that has flashy paint job, stickers plastered all over the place, big aftermarket body kits, hood scoop bigger than it should be, lots or fake air vents which mostly done with chicken wires, big spoilers or rear wings that serves no purpose at all, a pair of Lamborghini-esque scissor doors, big and loud "fart can" exhausts, lowered suspension kits to the point of the actual body kit to touch the ground, and an extreme amount of negative cambers, not to mention other cosmetics like a full sound system designed to put everyone within the radius of a kilometer on permanent deafness. Seems like these guys got their influence by watching The Fast and The Furious movies too many times than they can recall. These cars are designed as the "all show, no go" cars with emphasis of flashy exteriors.

 

            Ricers have a nasty habit of overestimating their own ricemobile's performance capabilities. And this is reflected by their tendencies to boast about all of their sense of styling (or lack thereof) and claiming that their cars would actually beat a top of the range supercar. And they sure love the attention they get, even in the expense of their own unrecognizable turd box of a car, or their severe ignorance on how to properly modify a car in the first place. The reality of the matter is these "ricers" are nothing more than a disgrace of the car community.

 

            To put things into perspective, tuners modify their cars to enhance the performance, and usually prefer little to no exterior modification, aside for aerodynamic purposes. Most tuners would maximize the horsepower, handling capabilities, and safety features to suit their purposes of creating a high-performance vehicle. Ricers on the other hand, are deluded to thinking that by slapping some stickers and some aftermarket logos would make their mule-powered rickshaw faster with only standard engine and parts. Tuners also take weight-saving seriously, as excessive weight inside a car can only lead to reduced performance. Ricers don't see this as a problem, by putting massive subwoofers and audio systems, which in turn, slow their cars even more. Hell, a mere sticker when being put on a car could cause the car to gain even a milligram of weight. If you watch any car meet videos or have been to one yourself, there are some demonstrations of some stunts like burnouts, drifts, quarter mile drag race, and the like. These are done by specially trained drivers on closed roads. While ricers, due to their attention complex, always down to do those dangerous stunts on open parking spaces, even open roads. And the results are sometimes either comedic or catastrophic. Doing an excessive burnout on a front-wheel drive car with its nose on the wall? Congratulations, you have blown your engine. You want to test your luck on a drag strip? that soapbox must have been so slow, a snail would beat you to the line. You want to test your drifting skill with that stock wheels with excessive weight? You'll just turning around in circles. 

 

            In short, ricers are nothing but deluded individuals who think that by putting on excessive stickers, cheap aftermarket body parts, a larger-than-life exhaust, and big audio system would actually enhance their car's performance features, when in reality, they are turning their daily drives into a big pile of brick wall with the pace of an old snail. It's not going to go any faster, nor it would be the safest vessel of transportation. In the end, these ricers instead built a deathtrap with excessive weight on it. 

A Complicated Story about Police Officers Killing Each Other

 (Warning: References of violence ahead)

 

            Police brutality. Quite frankly, this topic is already a common discussion among the people who are at least quite aware of the problems plaguing the law enforcement institution. But most of the time, especially in recent times, every instance of police brutality always involving police-on-civilians violence. This sentiment, in several countries like the United States, are amplified as part of the progressive movement demanding that the police institution should be abolished altogether. But what I'm about to tell you in this piece will turn your perspectives about this matter upside down.

 

            Many of you, until this very day are quite unfamiliar with police-on-police violence when it comes to cases of this caliber. But believe it or not, the Indonesian Police Force were shocked to its core when this case was unearthed. It all starts on the 8th of July 2022, at Duren Tiga, South Jakarta, when the public was shocked by the death of Police Brigadier Noviansyah Joshua Hutabarat, where his cause death at the time was gunshot wounds due to a shootout. Brigadier Hutabarat was the aide/bodyguard for the then Head of Internal Affairs of The Indonesian Police Force, Inspector General Ferdy Sambo. The address in question was Sambo's work residence. The suspects, by the time of the revelation, were Second Patrolman Richard Eliezer Pudihang Lumiu, and Brigadier Ricky Rizal, both of which were also aide of Sambo's. 

 

            The story at the time, at least by Sambo's perspective, was triggered by an alleged sexual harassment done by the late Brigadier Joshua towards Sambo's wife. That incident caught the attention of Second Patrolman Eliezer. By the time the suspect reached the source of the incident, Joshua allegedly opened fire, triggering a shootout. It has been said that Joshua was killed during said shootout. At first, this story was amplified as part of the narration that Sambo was forced to kill his own aide for self-defense and to preserve his family honor. But there are some irregularities in those statements, particularly those said by people inside Sambo's circle, like his personal driver Kuat Ma'aruf, his own wife Putri Candrawathi, and Brigadier Rizal. Suspicions arose when Patrolman Eliezer, said to have several wounds of his own, came to public bearing no wounds at all. The family of the late Brigadier Joshua also notice some irregularities, particularly towards the deceased's body, full of several wounds, both gunshot and some knife and defensive wounds. The family then, with the aid of Kamaruddin Simanjuntak, their lawyer filed a report alleging that the case was in fact a premeditated murder. This then prompted The Police Chief General Listyo Sigit Prabowo to form an investigation team due to these irregularities. 

 

            By this point, Eliezer was the sole suspect for the murder. But when you look inside the hierarchy of the Police Force itself, there are several discrepancies when it comes to rankings within the force. First of all, Sambo, being the Inspector General, is considered to be one of several high-ranking officers with substantial amount of power of influence. Brigadiers like the late Joshua and Rizal sits somewhere at the middle, both obtained their rankings via regional police schools. Eliezer, on the other hand, sits at the lowest ranking possible, being Second Patrolman. As a result, whenever someone of higher ranking needs him to do whatever, he has to oblige, no questions asked. 

 

            It seems like Private Eliezer was going to be the scapegoat for the case, as several of the statements placed him as the one who fired the fatal blow to his higher-ranked senior. But with the help of his legal team, as well as the cooperation with the Investigation Team, Eliezer singlehandedly turned the tables on its head, revealing key evidences that not only would be proven beneficial come the trial stages, but also sealed Sambo, and his circle's fates down the line. What he did was putting out statements completely opposite to that of Sambo's by saying that instead of a shootout, late Brigadier Joshua was executed by Sambo and his entourage. With this fact unearthed, Sambo and his team scrambled to change the narrative, by again playing the sexual harassment card, saying that Putri was molested by the late brigadier, which triggered Sambo's anger and then placed the burden of executing him to Eliezer. All statements by Sambo were proven false after a lengthy investigation, as Eliezer's recounts are proven to be the most accurate. As a result, he was stripped of his position and was ordered a dishonorable discharge by the Internal Affairs Court. At that point, Ferdy Sambo, Putri Candrawathi, and Kuat Ma'aruf were all pronounced as suspects for the murder, along with Eliezer and Rizal.

 

            What really happened was all aides are ordered to be present at Duren Tiga. The plot to kill Joshua was prepared by Sambo and his team since even before that day, with Sambo promising several rewards like money, new smartphones, and legal immunity. Initially, Sambo gave the kill order to Eliezer, who proceeded to fire several shots towards Joshua after being tortured first. Noticing his faint movement, Sambo then took it upon himself to administer the killing blow to the back of Joshua's head. Then they would cook up the story of a fake shootout to amass sympathy to the public. This involved Sambo firing at random locations to perceive the crime scene as the place where a shootout took place. The case itself was not revealed until three days later, giving them a window to produce such narratives. The oddities didn't stop there, in fact, the CCTVs inside Sambo's residence were all damaged, suggesting that there is an attempt of tampering/damaging the evidence. Lastly, everybody's statements conflict with each other.

 

            With the evidence finally complete, the case proceeded to the trial stages. While Eliezer kept his composure as he explained the recount of the incident word-by word, Sambo, Putri, Rizal and Kuat Ma'aruf gave conflicting, blabbering and nonsensical statements. More twists and turns unearthed, and finally, Eliezer's fate was sealed as his plea deal to be included as a justice collaborator was granted by the court. In the end, 5 people had their lives changed forever, one of them for the worst. Eliezer was given a 1 year and 6 months jail sentence, lighter than the prosecutor's charge of 12 years. Brigadier Ricky Rizal was given a 13-year incarceration, while Kuat Ma'aruf and Putri Candrawathi got 15 years and 20 years respectively. All of which is heavier than the prosecutor's charge. But in the end, Ferdy Sambo took the heaviest punishment of all. Initially being charged with a life imprisonment, he was instead given the death sentence, owning to the fact that all 5 parties involved participated in a conspiracy to commit a premeditated murder, with Sambo also found guilty of obstruction of justice by tampering the evidence and alleged cover up of the murder, not to mention their attempted defaming of the late Brigadier by producing the sexual harassment claim, which only to be found false due to the lack of evidence.

 

            Since the 2004 Munir case and the Kanjuruhan Stadium Stampede, this is the latest high-profile case that gripped the entire nation, as well as a sour reminder that since the fall of Soeharto and the New Order, the Indonesian police force is still a bit untrustworthy at times. This case not only served as a reminder that humans can go as low as they can be to achieve power and influence, but also sobering fact that even fellow police officers are not safe from their own peers. 

Scambaiting: Online Vigilantism Done Right

                 I have to admit, almost all of my true crime stories posted in this blog are about some of the grisliest cases the humanity has ever seen. Some are real tearjerkers; others make the readers go seething mad. But what makes those stories common are it focuses on particular individuals doing what the others describe as the most depraved behavior a human being can commit. And in this one, for the first time ever, I am not focusing on a certain case or an individual, but a country and a series of organized criminal activity that is so common it became an industry in and on itself.

 

            First of all, what are the first thing that come across your mind when I mention the country of India? For movie maniacs, Bollywood sprung up to mind, as this industry is basically India's pride and joy. Many actors, actresses, and celebrities we all came to know, and love came from this Indian equivalent of Hollywood, California. Some might say their cuisine, which is perhaps the most rich and vibrant cuisine in the world. I can't resist a good plate of curry when I see one. In fact, I recently came across an Indian restaurant here in Jakarta, and they serve the best butter chicken in town. 

 

            Unfortunately, those two are not what this piece is about. This one is about an underground industry, probably the biggest one in India, which specialize themselves as online call center scams. Yes. For the first time ever, I'm writing a true crime story about a fraud case of some sort. This one is about taking advantage of others posing as a tech support officer for major companies. But why online scams are heavily connected to India? Other countries could be on the same shady industry as this one, right? The reality is most of these scams involving someone with an Indian accent, and thanks to India's outsourcing boom during the early 2000s, most of us associate Indian workforce, or at least most of them, as those who are typically employed at some call centers for major companies, mostly for tech support. When the outsourcing market began to shift outside India, some who still in the business began setting up several call centers, real or fake as the means of extension for their companies. And this is where the online scam industry began to prosper in places such as Gurgaon, Calcutta, Bangalore, or even the country's capital of New Delhi. 

 

            These call center scammers have their own modus of operandi, but they basically have the same premises, by posing as tech support officers in order to scam as many people as they can. And their victimology (sorry for the Criminal Minds reference there) is what makes my blood boil. They typically target overseas victims, mostly in either United States, Great Britain, or Australia, and predominately targets either senior citizen (age 65 and up. Sometimes, the scammer would hit a jackpot if the victim in question is suffering from a debilitating condition like dementia) or those who are technologically gullible. The way the scam is run is by posting fake ads, fake notifications or send bogus emails to the target, posing it as an official email from either Microsoft, Amazon, Norton, or other similar companies. The victim is required to call a tech support contact number inside those emails (which turns out to be the scammers'), and once connected, they are required by the scammers to install a remote sharing software (like AnyDesk or TeamViewer). This is one way for the scammers to gain access to their victim's computer and all the data stored inside it. 

 

            And from here, the story varies depending on the scammer's mode. It can be for a refund request, subscription cancellation, tech support, or purchases. Many of which involves the scammers promising refunds to the victims and gaining their trust, only for the victims to give all of their sensitive information, like credit card numbers, social security numbers, or even their bank access. From here, the scammers would guide their victims for their "refund" only to discover that the victim had put the wrong amount (in fact, it was the scammers who did this by taking control of their computers in the first place) and had to transfer the excess back to the scammers. The truth is, there is no such thing as excess refund, and the victims are tricked to believe it. And for the magnum opus, the victims are offered to pay the scammers using three ways: Ask them (read: force them) to withdraw cash from the nearest ATM and send the money to a specific address, wire online transfer or gift cards. For cash deliveries, those address the scammer claimed as the "support offices" is actually an address to a money mule planted somewhere around the country, be it US or UK. When the money mule receives the money, they took 20% off the scam money and ship the rest back to India.

 

            It is estimated that this industry averages around US$ 1.000.000 to a whopping 18.000.000 a year. And all of this is achieved by draining unsuspecting victims' bank account, sometimes in the long run. The data extracted from the victims can be used by scammers to illegally purchase things that would benefit themselves and costing the victims more as it goes on. And by the time the victims realized that they are being scammed, it was all a second too late. And believe it or not, there are hierarchies to this business too. For starters, inside a call center scams, the call is received by an initiator, who by themselves alone, could make as big as US$ 7.000 a day. Once trust had been established, then the call is transferred to the "closer" who will "guide" the victims through the process of actually draining their savings without them noticing one bit. If the money is being transferred via a money mule, the mule would take 20% off the money that they fraudulently acquired and send the rest to their boss in India. 

 

            Despite the efforts to shut down these illegal activities, scam call centers continue to prosper due to corruption and the subsequent neglect by the Indian authorities, which is why, there is a phenomenon on the Internet, about some people who dedicated themselves to stop scammers with the art of scambaiting. As the name suggests, these people posed themselves as a potential victim, and proceed to wreak havoc on the scammers themselves. A lot of these scam baiters uses softwares like spoof bank accounts, virtual computers, voice changers, as well as the scammers' own techniques to deceive the scammers. Often times, making them susceptible to embarrassing information. Other scam baiters used their connection to the scammers to hack into the system and proceeded to expose them online by streaming their activities. This is typically accompanied with the deletion of the scammer's files, and in some extreme cases, planted the scammer's computer, and sometimes the entire server system with computer viruses or malwares, practically destroyed their system. If the scammer in question has a money mule, they would go and intercept the packages with the help of the freight couriers and law enforcements and confront the money mule face to face. 

 

            But this is not the limitations when it comes to scam baiters roaming around online. By tapping into the scammer's database, as shown on several YouTube channels like Scammer Payback or Trilogy Media, the baiters are able to intercept the calls from the victims to the scammers and redirected them to the baiters instead. Once the connection is established, the baiters then explain the situation to the victim and warn them for the potential scam should they go ahead with the scammer. Others, like a Northern Irishman who goes by the name of "Jim Browning" went as far as hacking into some scam call centers' security systems and spying on them, while doing what he does best, exposing and shutting down scam calls after scam calls. One of such instances, while collaborating with fellow YouTube personality, India-based Kiwi Karl Rock, with the aid of BBC's documentary program Panorama, resulted in a police raid and multiple arrests of one of the call centers Browning was spying on. Their channels, aside from providing us with quality content, could also serve as an education on online safety and how to recognize a potential online fraud. 

 

            In the end, no one wished that they would get scammed. I don't want to wish it to my worst enemies either. But what these people have done is robbing the victims of their savings, and consequently, their will to live. These scam baiters are doing everything they can to put a stop to this fraud, although temporarily. But as time goes on, the scammers might shut down for good. And for that reason and that reason only, scambaiting is the online vigilantism that I endorse wholeheartedly.