So it all started when Dr Rais Yatim, Information Communication and Culture Minister of Malaysia made a statement (quoted via a Bernama piece and theStar), saying ‘Muslims must avoid being totally immersed in Facebook, Twitter’ thus exhorting Malaysians to be wary of the popular Internet services. Now what Rais did NOT know is how he’d become a mini-celebrity in Twitter, touted as the most viral social media tool ever to be created, within a span of 4 hours from when the hastag, “#yorais“, got formed.

Update #2: Thanks to @bal_agil and @wernshen we have proof that #yorais made #4 and #3 respectively. Also, just updated The #yorais Chronology with the addition of theStar’s article!

Update: Never miss another #yorais moment, click on View More for the full transcripts!

Malaysian tweeps all around the world of all race, religion and age got hooked into the hashtag #yourais so much that everyone was soon participating in what could seem to be an “orgy” of sorts. Friends and strangers alike pitched in their wit to form the best “quote” that best describes Rais’s fear for the social media tools, and soon, it became what we call a “Trending Topic“, as shown below.

Pic source from Icednyior, read her post here
 
To us Malaysians, it was an achievement of sorts, as it wasn’t an easy task to match up to other countries with giant populations such as our neighbours, the Indonesians. What more with a minister who does not support the use of social media in our lives commanding Information Communications of the country, no less.

As of 6.42pm the hashtag #yorais is the world’s 6th trending topic, only three below #Haiti, a world re-known phenomenon. In a mere half an hour, it got to 4th place as shown in the pic above. Just imagine the sort of interest this would place us at an international level, a blunder that would shame us as social media believers in the face of the planet.

Thanks to @wernshen for the 3rd spot proof! Click on pic to head to his post in LowYat.net

If you want to know the sort of quotes being made up by our fellow Malaysians in both Twitter and Facebook, click here. For more in-depth statistics, find them here. Best watched with a large pack of Caramelized Popcorn and a can of Coke. Just don’t blame me when you laugh out

loud in public spaces though!

And as for Dr Rais Yatim himself, maybe it’s about time he read up on this article instead, because doing anything else (like banning the internet) will definitely not be such a good thing to do after all this. (source via @zhiq)
 

The #yorais Chronology

3:05pm |@bongkersz confirms that he started the first ever #yorais hashtag. He’s now a legend, and secretly hopes #yorais doesn’t ISA his rais. Also, he owns royalty rights. lol.

3:05pm |@bongkersz confirms that the first to comment after his first #yorais tweet goes to: RT @hidsie: @bongkersz LOL siap ada hashtag!

6:30pm | @spinzer: Ladies & Gentlemen, #yorais is now a trending topic. Dr Rais Yatim, how ironic.

7:17pm |@yoonkit reports that #yorais is now #4th place out of 10 – announcing Dr Rais Yatim as the best Minister of Information Communication. In a way, he’s right.

7:38pm |@timothyteoh reports that #yorais is now in #3rd place, while #haiti makes its exit. What a sad, sad day.

8:04pm |@jenkinyat reports that #Haiti is back on track on 2nd place..pushing #yorais to #4 on Twitter’s Top 10 Trending Topic

8:12pm |@amrirahim reports that we don’t need 1Malaysia. #yorais is uniting Malaysia y’all!! (via @tekong)

8:35pm |@nileshbabu reports that #yorais is now at 5th! This shows 60% of Malaysians are currently watching Berita Jam 8 RTM

9:00pm onwards |Nothing else to report, most Malaysians are probably more interested in #food, while the hashtag #yorais slowly slips off the radar, leaving only trails of jokes to chuckle on…

2:42pm 20th January |I can’t believe my eyes, but TheStar has gone on ahead and reported about the #yorais phenomenon! Kudos to @starIntech‘s team for your bravery! Many in the Twittersphere are stirred by this move, and we’re going to see a rise spike for #yorais once more.

ps. for reference, below is a dynamic 7-day chart to see how long the #yorais effect will last.

6pm – 7pm showed Malaysians having the highest Twitter usage at 0.16% of the world’s twittersphere

A question for you: what would you say, then, of the difference of influence between Twitter and Facebook judging from this scenario?

Click view more to read the hilarious transcripts!#yorais – A Malaysian-made Twitter Trending Topic Story