[KINI DI NOVEL PLUS] Sendu

Prolog

"Hey everyone! It's Rio Shabiro and you're watching The Rio Channel. Rasanya macam dah lama tak buat video baru kan? Ramai gila orang complain! Dekat sekolah, hari-hari ada orang tanya, 'Rio...bila nak buat video baru?', 'Buatlah video baru Rio, bosanlah tengok YouTube takde video baru...' etcetera, etcetera, etcetera! You know what, here's the video you've all been waiting for! Thank you so much for being so patient. I really really really appreciate it. You guys are the best!

Actually, I've been very busy with studies. Tak ke mana pun sebenarnya. Tahun ni kan nak SPM so memang tak ada masa sangat untuk buat benda-benda lagha macam ni. Tettt! Nolah, mommy and daddy suruh Rio fokus pada pelajaran and make sure that I score straight As in the exam. Insya-Allah. You guys pray for me, okay? Thank you!

Now, mesti semua orang tengah wonder what's with the title of this video. What do I mean by 'Rio Shabiro's Innocent Confession'? Well, there's a reason behind the title and you're about to find out in the next few minutes.

I don't know if you guys have been reading the news. Recently, there have been some serious anti-LGBT movement dekat Melaka. There was this one guy dekat Bukit Beruang if I'm not mistaken, kena bunuh with the people from anti-LGBT group. Sadis gila bila baca the news. I mean, how can someone murder someone just because they're different than other people? That's just cruel, man! Why can't you think rationally before you do something as stupid as murdering someone? Kan tak pasal-pasal dah masuk penjara. Padan muka! Ke tali gantunglah jawabnya tu.

And guess what? These people from the anti-LGBT group ni kan, diorang bukan je membunuh tau dekat Melaka tu. Diorang siap bakar rumah orang lagi! Gila ke apa? And one of them dah kena tangkap atas tuduhan cuba membunuh. Crazy, right? I still can't believe that benda ni berlaku dekat Malaysia. I mean, I know that homosexuality is still a taboo in our country but sampai nak bunuh orang, seriously? That's just too much!

I'm glad that these people dah meringkuk dalam penjara sebenarnya. But I don't think 100% of the anti-LGBT members dah kena tangkap. Confirm ramai lagi dekat luar sana because yang kena tangkap tu dekat Melaka je. Macam mana dengan negeri-negeri lain dekat Malaysia ni? Mesti ramai lagi kan? I pray for the safety of our friends yang kena discriminate because of their sexuality. Be safe all the time, brothers and sisters.

So, mesti ada yang tertanya-tanya why do I care so much about the anti-LGBT movement kan? Apa kena-mengena dengan I? Kenapa I sampai kena buat video because of that topic? Well, here's why. Over the last couple of months when I started doing videos on YouTube, I received a lot of questions from people. And I've been hearing some not so pleasant stories about myself dekat Twitter. Some of them are funny, I admit it but most of them tersangat-sangatlah menyinggung perasaan. Seriously, people. You guys should really stop talking about other people. Especially when you don't know a single thing about them.

The most asked question that I received was about my sexuality. Ramai yang tanya I ni gay ke, I minat lelaki ke, kenapa I takde girlfriend apa semua. I jadi rimas dibuatnya! Come on, people. Does it really matter to you if I'm gay or not? I tak kacau hidup orang so why would you kacau my hidup?

But since we're talking about it and since I believe that the LGBT community need to stay strong especially when their lives are in danger right now, let me just give you guys a clarification. Yes, I AM GAY! I am gay and I am proud. I have always been gay since I was small. Believe me, my mom knew it the moment when she saw me cat-walking back in primary school. Oh and yeah, I came out to my family when I was 14. And they accepted me for who I am. I am blessed with such an understanding family.

So here it is. This is my confession. This is me coming out of the closet. This is for my brothers and sisters out there. I am gay and I am proud. I realized that I need to do this because I have the power to do so. Representation matters and I tahu tak ramai orang-orang berpengaruh dekat Malaysia ni yang sanggup mengaku yang diorang ni gay dekat public. Ramai gila yang still in the closet. Like, ramai gila! You won't believe the number of gay who are still in the closet, okay?

But that doesn't matter. What matter is that we should stand together and be ourselves. Don't let other people take away your rights to live your life. Don't be afraid to speak up. We should be proud of who we are. And I hope with this video, I can inspire everyone out there especially those yang look up to me. You are not alone. We...are not alone.

I know somehow this video akan kena bashed at the end of the day but I tak kisah. I dah speak up my mind and I am relieved! God, it feels so good to finally be able to embrace who I really am! Thank you so much to my family who have been my rock, my friends who have always been supporting me since day one and thank you to all of my viewers who keep inspiring me to be a better person by accepting who I really am. I love every single one of you. Please continue supporting me. I am still the same Rio. Nothing has changed. I am still me. And I hope you guys can accept me for who I am. Okay? Thank you so much for watching this video. Stay tuned for my next video after the trial exam. Bye-bye!

Eh sekejap! In case if you guys are wondering, I'm still single and I'm ready to mingle. Tata!"

Video tamat. Rio merenung lama skrin MacBook-nya. Dia menarik nafas panjang sebelum menekan butang 'Upload' di laman YouTube.

Loading bar keluar dan Rio menunggu dengan sabar. Dia sudah meletakkan diskripsi video awal-awal lagi. Dia berdoa agar videonya itu mampu dijadikan inspirasi kepada mereka yang sedang bertarung dengan seksualiti masing-masing.

Setelah hampir dua minit, upload completed. Rio tersenyum lebar. Dia pantas menekan butang share pada videonya itu ke Facebook dan juga Twitter.

"A brand new adventure..." bisik Rio yang tahu selepas saja videonya itu dimuatnaik, hidupnya akan berubah serta-merta. Dan biarpun ianya agak menakutkan, Rio sudah bersedia!