“MORALITY” is a precious cultural and political capital in good old pious Malaysia – Peninsular Malaysia in particular.

“Morals” alone do not make the cake – it needs a counterpart for some alchemy of power to emerge to stir the public’s concern.

“Panic” is a very powerful word – remember how the combination of “panic” and “buying” was such a buzzword about a year ago on the cusp of the first movement-control order (MCO)?

“Panic” comes in many forms but the most potent alchemy for sociologists and media scholars is when it is coupled with the concept “morality” – hence, the birth of the term “moral panic”.

In Malaysia, the issues concerning “moral panic” and music subcultures in particular have often been overblown in the media in Malaysia and stepped on a-many blue suede shoes.

Stanley Cohen’s, who had a strong interest in human rights violations, influential 1972 book, Folk Devils and Moral Panics – a study on the United Kingdom popular media and social reactions to the Mods and Rockers subculture phenomenon in the 1960s – remains an important and relevant work in unpacking cultural politics.

In it, he explained that a period of “moral panics” consists of:

“A period, episode, person or group of persons emerges to become defined as a threat to societal values and interests; its nature is presented in a stylised and stereotypical fashion by the mass media; the moral barricades are manned by editors, bishops, politicians and other right-thinking people; socially accredited experts pronounce their diagnoses and solutions… the condition then disappears, submerges or deteriorates and becomes.”

While the average person is most probably well adept at using and consuming the media, most may not be aware of how powerful it has become in also misleading and misdirecting their attention since the arrival of the internet and big tech companies.

Taking anything at face value in the media is a bad habit since each media experience now has become a “silo experience” (my term) – one where persistent echo chambers of ideas you personally hold on close to is echoed repetitively, thanks to the brilliance of algorithms.

Nevertheless, any form of “panic” is amplified and travels faster now than it used to in traditional media (television, prints, radio) since they literally arrive at your fingertips (as long as you are connected and your smartphone is charged).

So, in this piece, I’d like to share a sequential model Cohen devised which you may use to question incidences in the media to judge whether The Man really cares about you and to discern if the media is fooled to take a ride along.

The sequential model as described by Cohen in his book can be used to describe the phases of a typical disaster (such as an environmental or natural disaster). However, this sequence can be used to scrutinise how authorities may be plucking certain moral panics out of thin air to win political mileage by scapegoating particular groups in society.

I stumbled upon his work while researching the 2001 “black metal crackdowns” which helped me channel the fire in my belly into more productive academic ambers.

When I scrutinised the news reports, a pattern emerged that parallel the sequences in the “black metal crackdown” reporting:

1. Warning: during which arises, mistaken or not, some apprehension based on conditions out of which danger may arise. The warning must be coded to be understood and impressive enough to overcome resistance to the belief that the current tranquillity can be upset.

2. Threat: during which people are exposed to communication from others, or to signs from the approaching disaster itself indicating specific imminent danger.

3. Impact: during which the disaster strikes and the immediate unorganised response to the death, injury or destruction takes place.

4. Inventory: during which those exposed to the disaster begin to form a preliminary picture of what has happened and of their own condition.

5. Rescue: during which the activities are geared to immediate help for survivors. As well as people in the impact are helping each other, the suprasystem begins to send aid.

6. Remedy: during which more deliberate and formal activities are undertaken towards relieving the affected. The suprasystem takes over the functions the emergency system cannot perform.

7. Recovery: during which, for an extended period, the community either recovers its former equilibrium or achieves a stable adaptation to the changes which the disaster may have brought about.

If one wants to gauge if a particular “moral panic” is a simulated moral panic or not, one needs to base the reporting on the third sequence, the impact – there needs to be actual proof of damage done (just like a real environmental or natural disaster).

With the “black metal crackdown” of 2001 I was researching, there was no actual proof of damages done by the supposed “the black metal groups” other than the damage to Islamic “belief” and “morals”. Sounds familiar?

In the reporting I analysed, the initial sequences of warning and threat had not been substantially supported by an actual impact. The only evidence reported consisted of “black metal paraphernalia” that were confiscated (which apparently included black t-shirts) and “reformed” ex-black metal member(s’) confessions.

In fact, there had been many false alarms concerning certain youth gatherings and such that had turned out to be “innocent” gatherings or totally unrelated to black metal groups. The lack of any strong voice and opinion (if any) from academic or independent professionals from civil society groups or even representatives from the subculture in the reports also show considerable loopholes in the sourcing and bias.  

According to Dr Peter Horsfield, one of my Australian communication studies professors, one must always remember that it is a common tactic for those in positions of leadership in social institutions who are given the responsibility of managing situations such as moral panics to adopt the public demeanour of calm father figures, managing the irrational outburst of an adolescent. Once the emotion subsides, it is assumed, the panic will go away.

This is exactly what had happened – the binary opposition of the paternal, adult father figure (“abah”) of the authorities versus the adolescent members of the black metal groups and later the binary opposition between the “good”, righteous religious Muslim leaders (a position also adopted by the politicians) versus the “evil”, ignorant youths of the “black metal groups”.

If the panic was indeed pure simulation, it may explain the fact that it eventually disappeared within a month.

You can substitute “black metal groups” with any subculture or marginalised group – the flavour of the moment for The Man (for a good decade plus or so) seems to be the LGBTQ community.

The current “crackdown” on cosmetic entrepreneur Nur Sajat whom religious authorities have in their crosshairs like a wanted super villain in some superhero Hollywood flick, is an unfolding episode that one may follow with a critical sociological and media studies lens on to call on The Man’s bluff. – March 5, 2021.

* Azmyl Yunor is a touring underground recording artiste, and an academic in media and cultural studies. He has published articles on pop culture, subcultures and Malaysian cultural politics. He adheres to the three-chords-and-the-truth school of songwriting, and Woody Guthrie’s maxim “All you can write is what you see”. He is @azmyl on Twitter.

* 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.