Meet Kamarul a.k.a geekinwhite, A Bruneian blogger who loves to share everything he found online to his blog(geekinwhite.com). He loves to share his thoughts on certain issues, his travel and also happenings and events around Brunei itself. And in our interview via e-mail, we will know more on his blogging history and subsequently, the Bruneian Blogsphere through his eyes.

1

How does it feel like to be one of the top 8 finalist for Borneo Top Blogger?

It was quite surreal really. Didn't think I had the chance to be selected. I feel honored to be able to represent my small country Brunei to the competition.

It has been one the most rewarding experience for me being able to network with bloggers from Borneo and also New Media experts from the Asian region.

2

Why do you prefer using Tumblr(geekinwhite.com) rather than Blogger of Wordpress to blog?

I find Tumblr to be more easy to use. Initially my blog was supposed to be an online bookmark for my own reference but eventually I decided it'll be good to share with everyone due the easy cross-posting to Facebook and Twitter. The micro-blogging suites my style as I really don't like to write so much, a paragraph at most.

What I like most about Tumblr is the ease to post. They have a feature called Bookmarklet where you can put the short-cut link on your browser and no matter which page you are, it'll detect the available media (photos/video/links) on that website.

Tumblr is quite configurable too, the template is quite easy to play with and the add-ons are growing. Plus I got it on my Android device, so it makes updating even easier when I'm away from my laptop.

3

Tell us about your blogging history, how you started blogging.

I started blogging as a challenge to myself to see how long I can maintain it hehe.. It was a personal blog and I write about everything that cross my mind. Back in 2002 blogging wasn't a big deal so traffic was mainly by my friends and people I know in real life.

It was an on & off affair, sometimes I hardly post anything in months. Back then I was active in Multiply which was one of the popular social networking site next to MySpace. It has a blogging feature so that was where I blogged most.

At around 2006 the craze about blogging boomed in Brunei. I decided to create a blog, What I Ate 2 Day (deactivated and revamp to Brunei Foodies) where I share what I eat on a daily basis. I also had some bloggers contributing to it too. Then I also invited some of them to join me at the Brunei Restaurant Review (inactive), What I Bought 2 Day (closed) and Brunei Weddings blog. I also started an english Akademi Fantasia blog - Dah Demam - which had a big traffic from Malaysia.

In 2007, Emmagoodegg (who has move to Tumblr too) did a who's who of the Brunei blogging scene photoshoot and I was choosen as the join the foodie bloggers group. From that onwards, blogging was the In thing for Bruneians. At that time, I was working for Simpur, the second Internet Service Provider in Brunei. During the revamp of theSimpur Portal, I decided to set-up a blogging directory of all the Bruneian blogs. Called the Blogging Nation, the list grew from hundreds to thousands. From there we organized the Simpur Bloggies Awards (nominees here) where the eventual winner was Kurapak, a Brunei language comedic blogger.

While working for Simpur, I also helped handled two blogs, the video gaming blog - Play and also the gadget blog Gadget,Ink where I did video reviews on the latest gadgets such as smartphones and laptops. Blogging eventually cooled down by the end of 2008, most of the blogs listed are either closed or abandoned due to the rise of Facebook and eventually Twitter. Only a few of the bloggers from the 2007 shoot and Simpur Bloggies is still around, people like Ranoadidas, Senor Pablo, AnakBrunei, Jan Shim, Spiritual Garden, Maurina and Arab Families to name a few. Despite the dominance of Facebook and Twitter now, there are some new promising blogs like Projek Brunei, Orchid Row and Bruneian Dollar which I hope will inspire more people to blog again.

I also believe blogging is here to stay. Social networking sites can be used positively to keep the traffic flowing to ones blog when done right.

4

What would your advice be to newbie bloggers?

Blog about what you like, something you have a passion for. If you want to really make money from blogging then do your homework. There tons of guides online that can guide you. But make sure to be real and connect with your readers. Don't just post blindly like a bot. It doesn't matter which platform are you on, if you want to maximize your reach, learn the many tutorial online.

When you get negative comments, don't take it to heart, simply read and delete. Say what you want and feel but be respectful and don't offend others. Take it this way, if you don't wish bad stuff said about you, then don't do it to others. It's all common sense really.

5

Finally, why did you choose the name “geekinwhite” for your blog?

Hmmm... well I've always considered myself as a geek and everyone who knows me, knows that I have an obsession with white when it comes to fashion, gadgets and so on. I also like orange colour, so that's why you see my blog has a white and orange theme.

In closing, I would like to thank Borneo Colours for the opportunity to be able to expand my reach to more bloggers in Borneo. I do hope that we Borneo bloggers can do something positive in the near future. I'm always open to ideas, so simply drop me an email and lets get it started :)

Want to know even more about him?, why not have a visit to his bcBuddy profile page, geekinwhite

Catch his latest blog updates on geekinwhite.com