In 2008, I arrived in Miri, Sarawak, to begin a new chapter in my career as a Mill Manager at a palm oil mill owned by a Government-Linked Company (GLC).
The mill was located quite far from Miri, approximately 120 kilometres from the city. Travelling along the Miri–Bintulu Highway, I would reach Bekenu before turning towards Bakong, a small town. From there, the journey continued along gravel roads, passing through another small settlement, Lapok, before finally reaching the plantation located beside Loagan Bunut National Park.
Previously, I had spent several years in the interior of the Kinabatangan River in Sabah. Now, I was moving to another remote location, this time in the interior of the Baram River in Sarawak.
Having spent the previous four years working in the challenging environment of Lahad Datu, particularly with the notorious Jalan Jeroco, moving to Long Lama was nothing unusual. It was simply another journey in my life in the palm oil industry.
In 2009, my eldest child turned five and was ready to start preschool. My wife, who has always been very meticulous with her planning, began reminding me of the arrangements that needed to be made.
For many years, we had been living in plantations. Now that our children were growing up, their education had become an important consideration. We could no longer simply think about where I worked. We also had to think about where our children would go to school.
Early that year, I started looking for a rental house in Miri.
Alhamdulillah, I was fortunate to get to know Cikgu Hasan and his wife, who were both very friendly and welcoming. He had served at the Institute of Teacher Education (IPG) in Miri for more than 20 years. To many people who had moved to Miri, he was almost like a community leader, someone who helped newcomers find their way around the city.
Almost everyone who had spent some time in Miri would know Cikgu Hasan.
I managed to rent a house next to his. The following year, I moved into the house that he had previously rented to me, as he had retired and returned to Pasir Mas, Kelantan.
That first rental house marked another important milestone in my life.
For the first time, I had a home with an internet connection.
Between 2004 and 2009, I had spent most of my working life in remote plantation areas where internet access was either unavailable or extremely difficult to obtain. Having an internet connection at home was something I found incredibly exciting.
It opened up a completely new world for me.
In the same year, I started my blog, Kembara Insan, and opened my first Facebook account.
Through Facebook, I began reconnecting with many old friends from school and university whom I had not heard from for years. It was an opportunity to rebuild friendships that had been separated by distance, work and the passage of time.
I also reconnected with Cikgu Sabaraddin, my friend from matriculation, PALAPES and the Engineering Campus. At that time, he was serving in Belaga, Bintulu, Sarawak.
I was simply fascinated by the possibilities offered by the internet, social media and blogging.
However, like many people who were discovering social media for the first time, I became extremely active. Almost everything that crossed my mind was something I wanted to share. Every issue seemed worth discussing, and every subject appeared to deserve my opinion.
Politics, religion and almost every other topic became part of my conversations.
Sometimes, it felt as though I was an expert in every field.
Several years later, after moving back to Sabah in 2012, I met Salahuddin Abdul Majid. He was quite vocal during our preparation for the Steam Engineer examination at the Department of Occupational Safety and Health (JKKP) Sabah.
During one of our conversations, he gave me some advice.
He reminded me not to become too active in commenting on political issues.
His words were simple, but they left a deep impression on me.
In 2013, I joined Toastmasters Club in Sandakan. Interestingly, the club emphasised a similar principle when preparing speeches and selecting topics for public speaking.
Members were generally advised to avoid discussing three particularly sensitive subjects: Politics, Sex and Religion.
The idea was to create a comfortable and inclusive environment where people from different backgrounds, beliefs and perspectives could communicate, learn and develop their public speaking skills without unnecessary controversy.
Since then, I have gradually changed the way I use social media.
Instead of commenting on almost everything, I started focusing on subjects that I understood, had experience in and was genuinely passionate about.
I concentrated on writing about the palm oil industry, engineering, leadership, management, personal experiences and lessons from my journey through life.
I continued writing on my blog for the next 18 years.
Last month, the blog recorded more than 102,000 pageviews, bringing its cumulative total to approximately 2.3 million pageviews.
In September 2026, I published my first book, My Journey in Palm Oil Industry.
I have also created more than 260 songs, sharing them through several TikTok and YouTube channels.
Looking back, all these achievements began with something as simple as getting an internet connection at a rental house in Miri back in 2009.
More importantly, I have learned that having access to social media does not mean we need to comment on everything.
Whenever we open Facebook or other social media platforms, there is always something that catches our attention. Sometimes, our emotions encourage us to respond immediately. We feel the urge to express our opinions, correct others or become involved in discussions that may have very little relevance to our lives.
But have we ever stopped to ask ourselves a simple question?
Does our comment bring any benefit to ourselves or to the people reading it?
If the answer is no, perhaps it is better to pause and think before responding.
Not every issue deserves our attention. Not every disagreement requires our involvement. And not every opinion needs to be expressed publicly.
Sometimes, silence is a better decision.
Avoiding unnecessary discussions about Politics, Sex and Religion has had a significant impact on my life. It has allowed me to focus on what I know, what I enjoy doing and what I can contribute to others.
I would rather spend my time sharing knowledge, documenting experiences, writing stories and creating something meaningful for the next generation.
After all, social media should be a platform for sharing knowledge, building friendships and creating positive contributions, rather than a place where we constantly engage in unnecessary arguments.
Thank you, my friend, Salahuddin Abdul Majid, for the advice that changed the way I look at social media.
Sometimes, a simple piece of advice from a friend can change the direction of our lives.
That is my story for today.
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