ALAY culture; we were all alays once
I just looked back at my early blog entries and realized how disgustingly (?) creepy my blogging and writing style was. In 2007, I was what indonesian teenagers call 'alay'. So very much. But then again, alay was never a word back then. The concept of alay hasn't been introduced. What we think is alay now wasn't alay at all several years ago. And being alay was even considered cool. Look how different the youth culture has become in just 5 years time. The society changes rapidly. Before we know it, what was cool then isn't so cool anymore now. Amazing, isn't it?
It affects the teenagers in today's time as well. From my point of view, teenagers these days grow up too fast. They're old before time. Or to put it simply, they act like adults, but mostly fail so bad because no matter what they're teenagers at heart.
back to my alay years:
I don't know whether I should delete my old blog entries since they were so embarassing or just let them be since they were proofs of me growing up.
:/
Leaving my confusion behind, something dawned on me just now:
- most indonesian people (who were in their teens around 2000 or so) have gone through alay stage some time in their life. Remember when friendster was so popular? English words were written 'lyK TiZ' and so do indonesian words. Nobody complains, nobody minds, nobody cares. Society doesn't give a shit. 'Thiz wAs s0 cOoL, ryt?'
So don't be embarassed to acknowledge the fact that you used to be very alay. Most people were. They just don't want to admit it. Or hate to remember it. (Yes, I do too. I keep thinking why the heck did I do that.)
That fact I stated above brings me to my next question(s):
What triggers the 'say no to alay' culture? How did the word ALAY emerge? Who invented it?
It's unfortunate that I don't remember the time when the word alay came up, widespread, and became so well known. Was it last year? Or 2 years ago? All I know suddenly people don't write and type 'lYk tHiS' anymore. People who do will be bashed and mocked. They are labelled as 'alayers'.
Then the concept of alay widened. It's not only about words and how we type them, it's also about our behaviors in the society. Any act of exaggeration will be considered alay.
I think alay itself is a unique phenomenon that happens in indonesia only. I don't know how long the term alay will be used before it is replaced with other words. But for now, alay will stick by. :)
Ps: alay stands for anak layangan. Look it up on wikipedia to understand its meaning. I, myself, don't know the right way to desribe this term. Each person somehow perceive it quite differently though basically the same. What is alay and what is not exactly? Where's the line? (Oh, I bring up another set of questions. Forgive me. It's purely my curiosity talking. Lol)
Pps: it will be a good idea if someone develop an online indonesian slangs dictionary. There are many english slangs dictionaries around, why can't we make one? The way I see it, We have a lot of slangs as well. Anyone interested to create one? ;)
It affects the teenagers in today's time as well. From my point of view, teenagers these days grow up too fast. They're old before time. Or to put it simply, they act like adults, but mostly fail so bad because no matter what they're teenagers at heart.
back to my alay years:
I don't know whether I should delete my old blog entries since they were so embarassing or just let them be since they were proofs of me growing up.
:/
Leaving my confusion behind, something dawned on me just now:
- most indonesian people (who were in their teens around 2000 or so) have gone through alay stage some time in their life. Remember when friendster was so popular? English words were written 'lyK TiZ' and so do indonesian words. Nobody complains, nobody minds, nobody cares. Society doesn't give a shit. 'Thiz wAs s0 cOoL, ryt?'
So don't be embarassed to acknowledge the fact that you used to be very alay. Most people were. They just don't want to admit it. Or hate to remember it. (Yes, I do too. I keep thinking why the heck did I do that.)
That fact I stated above brings me to my next question(s):
What triggers the 'say no to alay' culture? How did the word ALAY emerge? Who invented it?
It's unfortunate that I don't remember the time when the word alay came up, widespread, and became so well known. Was it last year? Or 2 years ago? All I know suddenly people don't write and type 'lYk tHiS' anymore. People who do will be bashed and mocked. They are labelled as 'alayers'.
Then the concept of alay widened. It's not only about words and how we type them, it's also about our behaviors in the society. Any act of exaggeration will be considered alay.
I think alay itself is a unique phenomenon that happens in indonesia only. I don't know how long the term alay will be used before it is replaced with other words. But for now, alay will stick by. :)
Ps: alay stands for anak layangan. Look it up on wikipedia to understand its meaning. I, myself, don't know the right way to desribe this term. Each person somehow perceive it quite differently though basically the same. What is alay and what is not exactly? Where's the line? (Oh, I bring up another set of questions. Forgive me. It's purely my curiosity talking. Lol)
Pps: it will be a good idea if someone develop an online indonesian slangs dictionary. There are many english slangs dictionaries around, why can't we make one? The way I see it, We have a lot of slangs as well. Anyone interested to create one? ;)
