By ~ Lina Esa Öberg
I have been pondering about anger a lot lately, especially after being interviewed by Dina Zaman. Now more than ever anger in the general population seems to be reaching it’s peak. Everyone I talk to is angry at something. Merdeka is just around the corner. Many Malaysians are beginning to question where the country is heading, and what we have become. Unfortunately it is not a pretty sight.
I have talked about anger before, and right now the anger that people feel is not on a personal level. Rather there is a collective anger.
Perhaps what is most interesting is that when anger is at this level people are unable to see the current situation in the country for what it is.
Transpose that to what is happening to our beloved country and society. Just like the mythical Chimera, I propose that all of us are actually looking at a three-headed beast.
Let’s start with the first head and begin with a story from nature. Consider a lone baby crocodile that just came out from the nest, scrawny and hungry. It wandered through the grass learning very fast that it may just be the next meal for hungry storks, large fishes, and even other crocodiles. But then, it also learns to use the environment to thrive. In fact the environment is conducive for it to grow into a monstrous beast. It can sneak up on it’s prey without detection. It can strike with such a powerful blow that no creature can withstand its attack. Can you blame the crocodile for being what it is? Can you blame the environment for being so nurturing to it? Can you blame the prey for being so weak? Or would you just say, such is nature?
The science of psychology have found that some human beings have that tendency to be predators, not very much different from that of a crocodile. Perhaps, it is rather unfair that no one can see or even recognise these predators, except from character and behaviours, which are well defined and are quite predictable. Read the book “Snakes in Suits” by Paul Babiak and Robert Hare for examples and descriptions of this phenomena.
Perhaps due to the lack of knowledge, we are now in an environment that encourages predatory behaviours. Which brings us to see the second head of the beast. It is the public itself. People can generally be divided into two distinct groups; 1. The Authoritarian Followers and 2. The Non-authoritarian Followers, as described by Bob Altemeyer in his book “The Authoritarians”. Authoritarian leaders strive to have more of the first group. Such leaders may or may not be working in the best interest of the people.
The 2nd part of the group are more questioning and thinking. They tend to not follow an authority figure blindly, so when information is presented to them that is not quite right, they reject it.
Looking at the Malaysian public right now, it feels like it is very much in a conundrum. And as Newton’s third law puts it: “for every action there is an equal and opposite re-action”. The more that the second group want changes, the more the first group resist. In fact, the more the second group pushes to be more progressive in human rights, equality, and to be more liberal, the more the first group regress into extremism and narrow mindedness. This may manifest itself by way of using religion, race and status, for example.
This leads us to see the third head of the beast. This in actuality is the result of the above, which is not good, and may even be dangerous. People will start labelling each other. This process is called dehumanization, as described by Philip Zimbardo in his book “The Lucifer Effect”. At this stage people can get very sensitive. Any trigger may lead to chaos, and there are many examples of this from history. Like the Hutus and Tutsis genocide in Rwanda, the Zionists and the Palestinians, and most recently the Rohingyas genocide of Myanmar. In fact Malaysia has gone through this before with the May 13, 1969 incident. We need to look back and learn from history so that we do not repeat those mistakes.
Aren’t we already seeing the divisive movements already here in Malaysia?
So, can you now see the beast? It’s staring you right in the eyes…
Surya Women 