As that old Queen song goes, friends will be friends, right till the end

THIS is a statement that has officially become a cliché: The invention of the Internet has changed our modern lives forever. Here is another statement-transmuted-into-a-cliché: Facebook really helps you connect with people.

Here is an original Ahmad Azrai statement: the greater the bandwidth available, the more trivia accumulates in your brain, hogging up valuable real estate that could have been used to come up with alternative energy sources. Although I must say that my brain miraculously does think up of ways in which to save our environment (hint: we need to stop using tar on our roads, amongst other things), even while I am in the midst of Mafia Wars — but that is another story for another day...

But as banal as the statements in my opening paragraph are, they are true to such a fundamental degree that people do not realise how much it means to us to get fully connected to the World Wide Web (which, admittedly, is ridiculously frustrating in Malaysia, no thanks to the telcos). It's like the number 0; such a basic thing, yet taken very much for granted, even though nothing could not exist without the nought (there, that's one statement never likely to become a cliché!).

As far as I am concerned, Facebook is now an integral part of my life — not because of the fun and games (which are starting to take a little bit too much of my time, as my cats' complaints will attest too), but because of the best payout from the investment of creating my profile in 2007: the friends.

In case you had no idea, I am a very personable fella. I might look like a grumpy fusspot who brushes his teeth with lemon juice and sour cream — but deep down (and quite near to the surface too, come to think of it), I am friendly. I am quite happy to talk (yes, yes, I can hear people saying that the problem is getting me to shut up), but I am also quite happy to listen. And above all, I am always more than happy to have a good laugh, although my laughter does tend to scare people because of how loud it is (having a neighbour from two houses away visit and ask "What's so funny, Azrai?!?" is a telling sign — yes, it has happened...).

At any rate, I am a loving person, as my friends would know. And I truly cherish my friends, whose name is legion. When people say they have a best friend, they usually mean only one; I have so many that were I to borrow five dollars from each, I would be bumped into the next income tax bracket (at this rate, I might as well borrow five hundred dollars from each of them. Hey, come back here!).

The wonder of Facebook for me comes from the very simple fact that by joining my school fanpage, I managed to find so many long lost familiar faces: Azlan Ariff, Tengku Iesta Rabieputra and Tan Yen Jen, who were my classmates way back in 1982, and whom I had not seen since 1985, 1986 and 1987 respectively; Michelle Loong Mei Chung, who — along with Benny Loo Poay Ong — had been with me through school from the start in 1982 right up to the end of high school in 1991; Randolph Chin Chok Li, who I found again just last week after an absence of 19 years, and whom I will never forget because he was the one who gave me chicken pox in 1988 (it's OK, Chok Li, I forgive you — thanks to you, I got two weeks off school, AND was able to stay at home and watch the Seoul Olympics!), and so many more.

It feels wonderful that even though I meet up with the regular gang quite often (once every two months, at the least), meeting up with the long lost ones feels like we never were apart at all. Of course, we're all different now; so many of them have kids (really cute ones, at that), and I am basically unrecognisable because I have gotten both bald and fat-ish (I used to be 54kg, and am now 86kg; my waist size not only caught up with my age, but is surpassing it) — but when we get together, we can still talk about the food in the school cafeteria (especially the nebulous quality of the chicken rice).

Then again, the whole point of social networking is to network: meeting new and unfamiliar faces and getting to know them. Of course, when we all started on Facebook, it was quite indiscriminate; anybody who wanted to add you, you allowed, and anyone you wanted to add did the same to you (usually based, as my old friend Peter Yang Chong Weng put it, on how hot the profile picture looked). As time went on, you became a bit fussier; you trimmed away the ones who never responded to your messages/pokes/Vampire Wars invites/links to the most hilarious jokes ever, and kept the ones who mattered (ie, the ones who didn't do the same thing to you).

In the beginning, my main method of making friends was from the Vampires vs Werewolves game; I became a werewolf purely for the unrealistic reason that I was balding and there was no such thing as a bald werewolf. Because most people play Vampires (because they are, after all, so cool), I ended up going against the same group of people day in and day out (this was WAY back in the day when the game only had less than 100,000 players in it). And I became the wolf to beat in Malaysia: I was in the No 1 spot for a while (yes, I have proof, in case you are sceptical), which was how I made friends with Terence Ooi, Mingshy Low and Denic Lim (who is fine photographer, by the way).

I have had so many nice people entering and enriching my life: Douwe Hoornstra, a friendly Dutchman who married a Finn (and has some VERY cute kids) and who is a regular reader of my columns; Sharon Findlater, a gaming grandma who was the first to respond to my call for well-wishes when my cousin Nikki was severely injured, and who keeps asking after his health (and mine too); Evan Michael, a 20-year-old who is taking up the career that I originally wanted to pursue when I was 14: hospitality management (and he wants the hot ladies out there to know that he is still available. Hey, he's a friend, and he's a good kid...).

There is also my German friend Sascha, who goes by the Facebook moniker of Johnny Sidewinder (don't ask me why). He is a solid member of mi familia in Mafia Wars, with whom I can chat about everything from music to the articles that I write. He and his girlfriend intend to visit Asia this summer, and I intend to show them around Malaysia, and strengthen our already solid friendship.

See, it is so easy to deal with people; all it takes is effort. Unfortunately, in Malaysia, we seem to be seeing more and more misunderstandings and stubborness, the refusal to take other people (regardless of whether they are of the same culture or not) and their rights seriously — especially in light of recent events. Our people and politicians really need to grow up and start heeding the call of John Lennon: you know, all the people living life in peace.

Well, I am determined to do my part by being the best friend I can be to whoever needs it, wherever they are. Because like that very old song goes, I'd like to teach the world to sing in perfect harmony. Or at least attend band practise and hang out...

Ahmad Azrai has already volunteered to head the preparations for his high school 20th anniversary reunion next year — and no, I do not know what came over me...