Alay, a Phenomenon among Indonesian Teenagers

There's a phenomenon in Indonesia here called "abay" which is an acronym for "anak lebay" or
"anak layangan" which literally means "hyperbolic kid" or "kite kid". This phenomenon are very
common among teenagers. It's a huge taboo in Indonesia. The alayers-name given to the
kidswho suffers from the "syndrome" - usually are not emotionally or physically bullied, but
their presence will not be liked by their peers. Sometimes cases such as humiliating will happen.
Why would these non-abay teenagers discriminate the alay kids? Even giving this term is
sometimes considered discrimination. Annoyance is the main reason why the abayers are
hated. What kind of annoyance?

First, these names are annoying. We can always ignore, but these kids spam on social
networking almost every second with that style of writing, those who write with improper
letters like writing "malas" (lazy) as "malaz", and in its most specific case, replacing letters with
number.Who would not hate that? It confuses the brain pretty much.

Second, the annoying pictures. Teenagers described the pictures as "too much self-bving" and
disgusting. Yes, you may be pretty. But do you think the weird pose and big, self-glorifying
names make you prettier? It does nothing other than making you book like an idiot.

Third, nobody likes a drama queen. Especially the most exaggerating type. You got scolded by
your mother and writing like 50 status (mostly with the writing style mentioned above and the
trademark sound effect "huuffftt" as sigh) about wanting to die because the world is not
comfortable anymore. Then ten minutes later your mother apologizes, and things get fine, so
you replaced the swearing to sweet, honey-dripping compliments for your mother. Totally
wishy-washy.

Perhaps this phenomenon is not that fatal, but this has spread all over the country, becoming
one of the most popular terms among teenagers. One thing is clear, you better not be an alay if
you want admittance from your peers.