THE past week saw Malaysians outraged over an amateur comedian allegedly insulting Islam. Story after story surfaced and it was soon brought to light that this episode was not their first controversy. 

Accurate or not, it does at least demonstrate their raw desire to draw attention. 

Unfortunately, it was not just them who got in trouble with the authorities, but the venues that graciously hosted them and countless other acts as well. 

Art, and whatever freedom of speech we have left in Malaysia, is precious.

Spaces like Merdekarya and Crackhouse Comedy are valuable democratic real estate that serves a need beyond the promotion of the arts. They are experimental labs, in which the boundaries of society’s tolerance on critique and satire are tested and pushed. 

On one end of the spectrum, while we push for conservatism and religiosity as choice virtues, so must the other end be allowed at least some equilibrium, if anything at least, to let off steam. 

Allowing ourselves to be emotive on the mistakes of one or two people would only be detrimental to our liberties as a community, liberties that have kept different ideologies appeased and at relative peace with one another.

But perhaps more importantly, the attention of the nation has been shifted from the razor-sharp focus we had last week, where lacklustre, half-hearted, makeshift initiatives to tackle hard problems were roundly panned by most, even from leaders within the administration itself. 

Just like that, we stopped talking about the rising cost of living and the increasing overnight policy rates, joblessness, corruption and such.

We’ve had over two years of a pandemic to deal with, and with it, economic uncertainty clouding Malaysia with a pall of gloom. 

To make matters worse, this was inundated with political polemics and multiple attempts by politicians to form, reform and un-form coalitions to overthrow and Uno-reverse one another. 

Is this part of an orchestrated attempt to divert attention from issues? Some people seem to think so.

It is strangely coincidental that issues pertaining to race and religion often rear their heads in times of economic hardship, or political strife. This was prevalent during the implementation of the goods and services tax, the hike in petrol prices and so on.

Even if it is true, those in charge of setting the tone of the narrative only bears the lesser blame. The greater fault should fall on Malaysians, who are easily distracted from issues, dwell incessantly over one topic for a while, only to drop it until the next hot button emerges.

This cycle is tiresome and while the immediate adverse effect is the derailment of focus that otherwise would cause groundswells of public anger, often forcing change in policy, greater focus and allocation of resource to solve the problem, or at the very least, stopgap measures that would alleviate the problem, giving time for analysis and resolution of the problem.

There are however, long-term effects as well.

First, the social conditioning of Malaysians to knee-jerk reactions breeds a more sensitive citizenry, where topics will become increasingly taboo, and issues be left unaddressed for fear of offending segments of society, shrinking the space for social discourse.

Second, the erosion of liberties and rights as the will of majority takes precedence of a matter of political expediency and the rush to placate the masses, instead of a more holistic, fairer political compromise.

Third, the widening gap of opinion, making the middle ground smaller and polarising Malaysians even further, be it from a political, social or ethno-religious angle.

There is a price to pay for getting upset – not only for the people causing it, but by people who choose to be affected. – July 13, 2022.

* Emmanuel Joseph firmly believes that Klang is the best place on Earth, and that motivated people can do far more good than any leader with motive.

* This is the opinion of the writer or publication and does not necessarily represent the views of The Malaysian Insight. Article may be edited for brevity and clarity.