Social activist Fahmi Fadzil today finished serving an unusual and unprecedented settlement for defamation - which has inadvertently turned him into a minor international celebrity of sorts.

At around 6.45pm Malaysian time, he posted his 100th and last tweet in apology to Blu Inc Media for accusing them of having bad policies that victimise pregnant employees.

Fahmi, when contacted soon after posting his last apology tweet, said the experience was “surreal” and admitted that he did not expect the issue to get so much attention locally and internationally.

NONE “It’s been a very fascinating experience. Firstly, I didn’t expect it to evolve in such a way and fashion.

“The last couple of days have been quite surreal, but I tried to take it calmly. I’m thankful for all the support... it’s been an immense experience and I don’t think I’ll forget this very easily,” he said.

Fahmi, who is also political secretary to PKR vice-president and Lembah Pantai MP Nurul Izzah Anwar, began periodically posting the same apology message since 9am on Thursday, reposting it every half hour or an average of 33 times a day.

He and publisher Blu Inc Media recently agreed to settle the case with a 100-tweet apology on his account, @fahmi_fadzil, which was the source of his wayward allegation against the company.

Blu Inc had initially demanded that he make a public apology, pay damages and take up newspaper advertisements for wrongly claiming that the magazine Female - one of several magazines in the publisher’s stable - had mistreated his friend’s pregnant wife which led to her resignation from the company.

From defamation, to fame

The strange settlement however drew international attention, with major publications and broadcasters such as the International Herald Tribune, Guardian and Al-Jazeera running the story just hours after it got out in the public sphere.

This drew more attention to Fahmi, who saw a huge jump in followers on his twitter account, which stood at 5,485 at the last count compared to 4,253 at the time he posted his first tweet apology at 9am on Thursday.

Fahmi said he was “pleasantly surprised” with the support he received from twitter users, or tweeps, from around the world.

“They would ask me about my avatar, which is chendol and I would explain what it is and they found it interesting... I hope to be an ambassador for Malaysia,” he quipped.

Fahmi, however, acknowledged that it was not all fun and games, stressing that the experience has taught him the importance of being responsible and to always be ready to be held to account for his actions.

“There’s something to learn from this, wherever in life you may be. It’s very important to be aware of whatever you do. I’ll be more conscious of things I say on Twitter,” he said.

As for what his next move will be, Fahmi said he intends to take a breather from all the attention since last Thursday.

“The last three days have been hectic, so I think I’ll go lie down and sleep for a while. Maybe I’ll write a book. I’ll probably take a break and spend some time with friends and family... it was fun while it lasted,” he said.