Fear the rabble-rouser

By admin-s On Oct 28, 2014

(MMO) – Why are these sort of people trying to manipulate me into fearing and hating something on the basis of differences that doesn’t really affect my life?

Halloween is not something I celebrate, unless looking forward to the seasonal TV shows that come with it constitutes celebrating. But neither do I suspect it to be a global conspiracy that seeks to undermine my religious faith, which some seem to think these days.

So how do these lines of thought come about? Why is it that some people see hidden knives and conspiracies at every turn while others don’t? It comes back to the torn fabric of the Malaysian society itself.

Of course this is not particularly extraordinary. Any given society, no matter how seemingly united, is usually segmented into groups that have their own identity, priorities, etc. Malaysia’s multi-racial society is no different.

And sometimes within these groups are those who are effectively insulated from others who do not share their group-based identity.

Take, for example, Malaysians who live entirely within their community cocoon, with minimal interaction with other races.

These people don’t know anyone from another race. They may see a big difference in the cultural and religious beliefs of other races, perhaps even in status, relative to their own. They may feel superior or inferior to another group for various reasons.

For these people, their social identity is strongly tied to similarities to their own race group and differences with other races, according to Marilynn Brewer’s theory on optimal distinctiveness.

These insulated people may think along the lines of “I am of this race, we behave like this and that sets us apart.” What they think about other races is based on what they hear and are told. They have no personal interaction to counter this second-hand information.

This is how we have Malaysians who still believe in the lazy stereotypes of other races. This is how we have Malaysians who still think all Malays are lazy; who still think all Chinese are conniving; who still think all Indians are drunks.

The problem is when this isolation creates active distrust and suspicion. One way this could happen is when the so-called thought leaders seek political leverage by manipulating what these insulated members of their group think and feel.

These leaders, who are supposed to bridge the differences between different races to promote harmony and collective progress, instead emphasise differences instead of similarities.

They threaten the isolated individual’s sense of security and identity by questioning how the “others” may be seeking to erode the core values that the race collective identifies itself with.

They threaten the isolated individual’s sense of inclusion by implying that the group collective’s core values are shifting, likely by virtue of influence from the “others”, thereby threatening to leave the isolated individual behind in limbo without a group to be a part of.

The possible consequences of what these sort of leaders do, among others, are of the individual wondering: are the “others” trying to destroy everything I stand by? Are the “others” trying to corrupt me and my people and change us into something we are not? Are the “others” out to get me?