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| No, this is not an Internet country code for Russia. This is how my pseudonym spelled out as an acronym. |
In other words, it's time for me to come clean about myself.
HOW IT ALL BEGAN
It all started from my (painful) past experiences when growing up as a teenager. You see, I longed for a good friend I can talk to and trust, but it was difficult to find. Even though I have a family, they tend to be hypercritical and overly sensitive towards my interests and the problems I faced at school. Not only I have trouble fitting in the new environment where most of my old friends have moved to a different school, I was also surrounded by most of the new people who are ridiculously cold and tend to reject me whenever I try to befriend them, thinking that I am some kind of 'social outcast' who is a great threat to them.
In short, it is called isolation.
I didn't finish Secondary School normally like most of my friends do. I avoided going to school starting from Form One right up to Form Three, to the point I was nicknamed 'Chipsmore', a chocolate chip cookie sold in Malaysia. The stresses of trying to fit myself into the new environment, followed by my family's harsh concern towards my school grades instead of properly listening to my problems, and the peer rejection I face during my teenage years is the real cause of my school refusal and truancy at my secondary school.
In the end, I moved here (as stated on my Blogger profile) in mid-2006 and stopped going to school altogether, despite the fact that I somehow finally managed to make more friends at the school. As a result of me moving to a new place, I took my SPM exams as a personal candidate instead of as a school candidate.
ENTER 'REMAINUNKNOWN522'
Due to my past experiences with peer rejection and my problems trying to fit in a new environment, I finally decided that it is time to change. I thought to myself, "I have faced rejection too much. Maybe it's time for me to remain unknown."
As I was an Anime otaku, I registered myself as a member of an Anime online community website called MiniTokyo, where I can leave my troubles behind by checking out my favourite collection of Anime-related images at that website. And so, it was here that the pseudonym 'RemainUnknown522' was born in 2009.
As like most Internet users would do, they would often use randomly-selected names and numbers to identify themselves. The 'Remain Unknown' part was how I choose to identify myself: a person who wants to remain unknown, away from the pain of peer rejection. The '522' on the other hand is just a random number I chose.
To this day, I have lost contact with all my old friends from primary and secondary school because of my final decision to 'remain unknown'.
To this day, I have lost contact with all my old friends from primary and secondary school because of my final decision to 'remain unknown'.
HOW THE 'BATTERED NEET BLOGGER' NICKNAME CAME UP
It was difficult for me to say, really. I was jobless since 2006 and remain jobless to this day. With my low grades in my qualification, I can barely get a job, and the only reason I try to get one is out of frustration and anger towards the cold, unemployment-hating society I am living in. Although I wanted to write a blog about Anime otaku stuff, I finally settled into writing a personal blog about my interests in ACG events, and my ranting about unemployment bashing.
What made me truly became the 'battered NEET blogger' was three years of being battered by unemployment-hating people in my family before I started blogging here. In February 2011, a small argument ended with me getting temporomandibular joint (TMJ) and head injury after being repeatedly punched by my eldest sister's husband, where he also angrily barked at me, "GET A JOB!"
To add insult to injury, my parents decided to side with him and openly defended him, and blame me for getting punched instead of listening to the truth I have been repeatedly trying to prove! In fact, whenever I tell my mother what happened and exposed her biased opinion towards the incident, she immediately jumped to conclusions by saying 'Let bygones be bygones'. What a perfect way to close the case and being in denial of what happened by openly defending her favourite son-in-law!
Ever since that incident, I have slight problems when opening my mouth wide or eating to this day. Large-sized burgers such as McDonald's Big Mac, Burger King's Whopper or KFC's Zinger gave me slight problems when eating it, necessitating me to 'readjust' my jaw before taking a bite!
My eldest sister is also no different, being an obvious unemployment basher who tends to openly bash my joblessness, to the point of giving a 'religious sermon' about getting a job. I, in all my honesty, dislike what she did; While she may have good intentions, but I think it's more like belittling me instead of helping me out!
To add insult to injury, my parents decided to side with him and openly defended him, and blame me for getting punched instead of listening to the truth I have been repeatedly trying to prove! In fact, whenever I tell my mother what happened and exposed her biased opinion towards the incident, she immediately jumped to conclusions by saying 'Let bygones be bygones'. What a perfect way to close the case and being in denial of what happened by openly defending her favourite son-in-law!
Ever since that incident, I have slight problems when opening my mouth wide or eating to this day. Large-sized burgers such as McDonald's Big Mac, Burger King's Whopper or KFC's Zinger gave me slight problems when eating it, necessitating me to 'readjust' my jaw before taking a bite!
My eldest sister is also no different, being an obvious unemployment basher who tends to openly bash my joblessness, to the point of giving a 'religious sermon' about getting a job. I, in all my honesty, dislike what she did; While she may have good intentions, but I think it's more like belittling me instead of helping me out!
Finally came the last straw; after talking to about my problems for a long time, in early 2014, my aunt (my mother's younger sister) decided to backstab me by lashing out at my joblessness, calling me a freeloader who never helped my mother with the housework (which, in fact, completely false). It was due to this that I started blogging here on 28th March 2014; And because of that too, I came to strongly hate unemployment bashing and would get unbearably angry at the sight of any news of crimes perpetrated by the unemployed, or anything that depicts the negative stereotypes of the unemployed. Just look at my blog posts about Unemployment Bashing and you'll know what I mean...
In other words, Unemployment Bashing is a major 'Berserk Button' for me.
In other words, Unemployment Bashing is a major 'Berserk Button' for me.
Unfortunately, despite all efforts to make a living from blogging, I failed to generate any income through my blog. Not only that, the unemployment bashing never ends. I also failed in my childhood dream, to be the first in my three siblings to go to Japan, due to my failure in securing a job (I AM NOT LAZY, MIND YOU!) and also my failure in generating any income through my blog.
As I have written before, last year, I decided to get a job at a mobile phone accessory store so that the unemployment bashing stops, but I failed in getting a job there. I also went to McDonald's for a second job interview (my first was in 2015), and also failed. I finally went to an interview for a mosque caretaker job and, as expected, failed. In fact, during my last job interview, I told the the person interviewing me on how being jobless makes me feel like a complete outcast in the family and being treated like trash by some of my own family members.
In the end, I decided to quit jobhunting, remain jobless and focus only on blogging, and get battered by unemployment bashers again, hence the nickname 'Battered NEET Blogger' was coined.
ALTERNATIVE SOURCE OF INCOME & HEALTH CONDITIONS
As I was jobless, I would often participate in consumer contests as an alternative source of income without the need of listening to those biased unemployment bashers who prefer to attack and openly humiliate the unemployed. I started participating in contests in mid-2011, after all that TMJ injury fiasco back in February.
Due to my past experiences with rejection, I became highly intolerant towards losing. When I lost in a snack food contest in 2011 which offered cash prizes, I was severely devastated. This was made worse by my eldest sister, who showed no sympathy by coldly berating my loss and tell me to get a job like a typical unemployment basher would do!
What's more disastrous came after that: my health condition worsened to the point I almost died in early 2012. As it turns out, I got hypertension and possibly, stress-induced cardiac problems. Looks like all the emotional pain I got from my teenage years right up to early 2012 has started to became life-threatening. Although I have to admit that if I was given a choice, I rather die than continue living as a punching bag for the unemployment-hating society; I was thankful that I survived to write this.
Still, I already know that whoever reads this will either ignore it, or make fun of it. Typical cold-hearted, arrogant unemployment bashers!
Alright, enough of my rants and health problems. Despite the devastating loss back in 2011, I didn't give up and tried participating in contests again. This time, I got lucky on some of the contests I participated. Among the things I won are a hand towel, a Fujifilm Instax Mini 7s, RM500 cash, a Samsung Galaxy Tab A 9.7 (which I am currently using for writing my blog) and a 1 gram 999.9 grade gold wafer.
Speaking of contests, I personally prefer contests that require participants to send their entries using WhatsApp, as it is the easiest method of them all; I highly disliked contests that require the use of postal service, which required me to buy envelopes and postage stamps for it.
Secondly, I would often choose to participate in contests if they offer cash prizes only; if the prizes are electronic gadgets, this would be my second option. Finally, I prefer contests organised by milk companies (example: Dutch Lady), as it is a 'healthier' option. However, it is difficult to find contests organised by milk companies right now.
ALTERNATIVE SOURCE OF INCOME & HEALTH CONDITIONS
As I was jobless, I would often participate in consumer contests as an alternative source of income without the need of listening to those biased unemployment bashers who prefer to attack and openly humiliate the unemployed. I started participating in contests in mid-2011, after all that TMJ injury fiasco back in February.
Due to my past experiences with rejection, I became highly intolerant towards losing. When I lost in a snack food contest in 2011 which offered cash prizes, I was severely devastated. This was made worse by my eldest sister, who showed no sympathy by coldly berating my loss and tell me to get a job like a typical unemployment basher would do!
What's more disastrous came after that: my health condition worsened to the point I almost died in early 2012. As it turns out, I got hypertension and possibly, stress-induced cardiac problems. Looks like all the emotional pain I got from my teenage years right up to early 2012 has started to became life-threatening. Although I have to admit that if I was given a choice, I rather die than continue living as a punching bag for the unemployment-hating society; I was thankful that I survived to write this.
Still, I already know that whoever reads this will either ignore it, or make fun of it. Typical cold-hearted, arrogant unemployment bashers!
Alright, enough of my rants and health problems. Despite the devastating loss back in 2011, I didn't give up and tried participating in contests again. This time, I got lucky on some of the contests I participated. Among the things I won are a hand towel, a Fujifilm Instax Mini 7s, RM500 cash, a Samsung Galaxy Tab A 9.7 (which I am currently using for writing my blog) and a 1 gram 999.9 grade gold wafer.
Speaking of contests, I personally prefer contests that require participants to send their entries using WhatsApp, as it is the easiest method of them all; I highly disliked contests that require the use of postal service, which required me to buy envelopes and postage stamps for it.
Secondly, I would often choose to participate in contests if they offer cash prizes only; if the prizes are electronic gadgets, this would be my second option. Finally, I prefer contests organised by milk companies (example: Dutch Lady), as it is a 'healthier' option. However, it is difficult to find contests organised by milk companies right now.
Aside from contests, one of my alternative and only source of income now is by running errands for my second elder sister (she is two years younger than my eldest sister). I was paid RM10 a day for picking up her daughter from kindergarten at Bukit Changgang, and I have been doing this since mid-2017. Sure, I am now living off of my sister's money; But hey, she was the one who offered me RM10 for that!
PERSONAL INTERESTS & HOBBIES
As I often attend Comic Fiesta, it is obvious that I am an Anime otaku. This interest of mine started since childhood, and I am still an Anime otaku today, albeit, declining. Although I enjoy watching Anime during my teens, I am now beginning to lose interest in them, mostly because of the ridiculously aggressive and somewhat double standard censorship by Malaysian network censors. As of October this year, my most recent Anime series that I enjoy watching is JoJo's Bizarre Adventure on Animax Asia, although the aggressive censorship (mostly in the form of censorship cuts) by Astro Malaysia (or was it Animax Asia?) annoyed me a lot. One of those scenes that was cut from the show is Noriaki Kakyoin's 'Rero Rero' scene in Stardust Crusaders.
I am also an occasional cosplayer, cosplaying as Conny Springer from Shingeki no Kyojin. I chose this character to cosplay because of the popularity of Shingeki no Kyojin at that time (2013 onwards) and also for one thing: hairstyle. As far as I know, there are few Anime characters who have a buzz cut hairstyle, and Conny is one of them.
Being an Anime otaku, I also collect a number of Anime merchandise, from mangas and DVDs, to T-Shirts and figurines; Most of these are bought using my own pocket money and allowance I kept. Speaking of figurines, my first figurine in my collection is a figma action figure of Kan'u Unchou from the Ikkitousen anime series. To date, I have eight figurines in my collection; The majority of them are figma action figures. I have a complete Ikkitousen characters (Kan'u, Ryomou and Sonsaku) figmas, one Black☆Rock Shooter figma, one Henrietta (Gunslinger Girl) figma, one Mio Akiyama (K-ON!) figma, one Sega Prize Conan Edogawa figurine, and finally, one Sentinel BRAVE-ACT Armin Arlert figurine.
As written earlier, I often attend ACG events, including Comic Fiesta. To date, I have attended Comic Fiesta for 8 years, from 2008 to 2017; Although in those 8 years, I didn't attend Comic Fiesta 2011 and 2012 due to the TMJ injury fiasco in 2011 and recovering from bad health conditions in 2012. Other ACG events I attended including DaiCon 2009, Animax Carnival Malaysia 2014, VAX 2015 and the most recent one, TAGCC 2018.
Although it is mostly because that I am an Anime otaku that I attended ACG events often, this is only half of it. There is another reason why I often attend ACG events: to combat loneliness. While I am happy to be at ACG events due to my interest in Anime, I am also lonely and always solo, although a short conversation with anyone there does ease my loneliness a bit. After all, this is what I probably deserve for being a battered NEET blogger!
My visit to DaiCon in 2009 at MMU Cyberjaya was one of the most memorable ones, as it was the only time I met with a number of new friends from Anime Shrine section of Lowyat.net internet forum, and it was the happiest day of my life as an Anime otaku. The last time I met with my forum friends was during VAX 2015 and Comic Fiesta 2015, and I have never met them ever since.
I also love photography, where I would often take photographs of certain subjects that I find interesting. Some of my favourite subjects are landscapes, sceneries and still life, although I do occasionally take portrait photos, mostly during ACG events. Now, I have published a photoblog named RemainUnknown522 Photography, where most of the photos I published here are now located. Unfortunately, I have stopped taking photos for a while due to creative block, and I rarely upload new photos now.
Finally, I love driving. Ever since I got my licence 8 years ago, I am beginning to enjoy it. However, I drive not for 'going from point A to point B' like the majority of people do, but for fun and pleasure. In fact, ever since I started driving, I was hoping that I may become a race car driver someday, as I enjoy the thrills of driving. Unfortunately, I am now beginning to lose the fun and pleasure in driving, all thanks to the rude and stupid drivers (particularly, ROAD HOGGERS AND SLOW DRIVERS) on Malaysian roads who treat the road like a house where they can sleep forever, and also, my family's hatred towards car racing!
CONCLUSION
PERSONAL INTERESTS & HOBBIES
As I often attend Comic Fiesta, it is obvious that I am an Anime otaku. This interest of mine started since childhood, and I am still an Anime otaku today, albeit, declining. Although I enjoy watching Anime during my teens, I am now beginning to lose interest in them, mostly because of the ridiculously aggressive and somewhat double standard censorship by Malaysian network censors. As of October this year, my most recent Anime series that I enjoy watching is JoJo's Bizarre Adventure on Animax Asia, although the aggressive censorship (mostly in the form of censorship cuts) by Astro Malaysia (or was it Animax Asia?) annoyed me a lot. One of those scenes that was cut from the show is Noriaki Kakyoin's 'Rero Rero' scene in Stardust Crusaders.
I am also an occasional cosplayer, cosplaying as Conny Springer from Shingeki no Kyojin. I chose this character to cosplay because of the popularity of Shingeki no Kyojin at that time (2013 onwards) and also for one thing: hairstyle. As far as I know, there are few Anime characters who have a buzz cut hairstyle, and Conny is one of them.
Being an Anime otaku, I also collect a number of Anime merchandise, from mangas and DVDs, to T-Shirts and figurines; Most of these are bought using my own pocket money and allowance I kept. Speaking of figurines, my first figurine in my collection is a figma action figure of Kan'u Unchou from the Ikkitousen anime series. To date, I have eight figurines in my collection; The majority of them are figma action figures. I have a complete Ikkitousen characters (Kan'u, Ryomou and Sonsaku) figmas, one Black☆Rock Shooter figma, one Henrietta (Gunslinger Girl) figma, one Mio Akiyama (K-ON!) figma, one Sega Prize Conan Edogawa figurine, and finally, one Sentinel BRAVE-ACT Armin Arlert figurine.
As written earlier, I often attend ACG events, including Comic Fiesta. To date, I have attended Comic Fiesta for 8 years, from 2008 to 2017; Although in those 8 years, I didn't attend Comic Fiesta 2011 and 2012 due to the TMJ injury fiasco in 2011 and recovering from bad health conditions in 2012. Other ACG events I attended including DaiCon 2009, Animax Carnival Malaysia 2014, VAX 2015 and the most recent one, TAGCC 2018.
Although it is mostly because that I am an Anime otaku that I attended ACG events often, this is only half of it. There is another reason why I often attend ACG events: to combat loneliness. While I am happy to be at ACG events due to my interest in Anime, I am also lonely and always solo, although a short conversation with anyone there does ease my loneliness a bit. After all, this is what I probably deserve for being a battered NEET blogger!
My visit to DaiCon in 2009 at MMU Cyberjaya was one of the most memorable ones, as it was the only time I met with a number of new friends from Anime Shrine section of Lowyat.net internet forum, and it was the happiest day of my life as an Anime otaku. The last time I met with my forum friends was during VAX 2015 and Comic Fiesta 2015, and I have never met them ever since.
I also love photography, where I would often take photographs of certain subjects that I find interesting. Some of my favourite subjects are landscapes, sceneries and still life, although I do occasionally take portrait photos, mostly during ACG events. Now, I have published a photoblog named RemainUnknown522 Photography, where most of the photos I published here are now located. Unfortunately, I have stopped taking photos for a while due to creative block, and I rarely upload new photos now.
Finally, I love driving. Ever since I got my licence 8 years ago, I am beginning to enjoy it. However, I drive not for 'going from point A to point B' like the majority of people do, but for fun and pleasure. In fact, ever since I started driving, I was hoping that I may become a race car driver someday, as I enjoy the thrills of driving. Unfortunately, I am now beginning to lose the fun and pleasure in driving, all thanks to the rude and stupid drivers (particularly, ROAD HOGGERS AND SLOW DRIVERS) on Malaysian roads who treat the road like a house where they can sleep forever, and also, my family's hatred towards car racing!
CONCLUSION
So, to conclude this, who am I now, really?
I am just a battered NEET blogger who goes by the pseudonym RemainUnknown522 who is also an Anime otaku and Japanophile, loves photography and driving; And above all, abhors unemployment bashing.
RemainUnknown522 Out.
