Let’s learn to chill, tickle and laugh more

I’m a funny guy, or so I think I am, and if you all don’t agree, well, at least my children think I am. But then again, my eldest, who is already a teenager, scoffs at my jokes rather than laugh these days.

Ah well, teenagers! They all have a warped sense of humour anyway. At least, they actually still have a sense of humour, which is more than can be said for most Malaysians.

Comedy, humour and satire are some of the most basic elements of freedom of expression and speech in human civilisation. It is important for our development and progress as a society and as people.

One of the most important things humour can help is to diffuse tense and sensitive situations and make it all better because it lightens things up.

For example, when I am in an argument with my wife, humour can really dissipate the tension. Sometimes, when I do something wrong (which, in her opinion, is all of the time!), I would apologise. She would play hardball and be really upset. I would make that one joke that would always work.

”Aha! I see that smile starting to appear!” I would say cheekily.

”No! Don’t try to be funny!” she would usually respond.

”I know you! We’ve been married for years. When the sides of your mouth start to curl up, you’re going to forgive me!” I would laugh.

I would then proceed to tickle the sides of her stomach and armpit, and she would laugh really loudly and all would be good again in the world.

So humour is really important in my life, and definitely in everyone’s lives as well. Of course, this is just one example. I can give you many more situations where humour is a good tool to have.

My five-year-old son is currently in his “terrible five” phase (it seems like he never really got out of his terrible twos, threes and fours!). So screams and tantrums happen quite a lot. But of course, as the funniest father in the world (or so I think I am!), I always use humour to get him out of his tantrums.

”Hey Achilles! I know what you always like me to do, right?” I would say as I curl both my hands into tiny little T-Rex hands.

”No! I don’t like you!” he would scream.

”Come on! You know you want me to do it.” I would say.

I would tickle the sides of his stomach and armpit, and he would laugh really loudly and all would be good again in the world.

Sometimes, humour can also help to create awareness of certain issues or problems.

Laughter teaches us humility, open-mindedness

At times, in a democracy, elected officials need to be held accountable for certain decisions they make that may not be agreeable by the very people who elected them into office. So we need to remind them of who they are responsible towards when they are in office.

No one likes to be criticised, especially if it is in a very aggressive and provoking way. So the best way would be to use humour.

Usually, when we are able to laugh at ourselves, it also means we understand that we aren’t perfect. That would also mean we are open to suggestions towards improvement. It teaches us humility, open mindedness and the realisation that we can do better.

However, in Malaysia, humour is something that is very delicate to handle. So many Malaysians don’t seem to possess any sense of humour. Every little thing can be considered offensive without any regard to its intentions.

Sometimes, an innocent joke can really be just that - innocent (sometimes, it can also an honest mistake). Whatever it is, our society needs to be able to laugh at ourselves better.

We shouldn’t be taking ourselves too seriously because it makes us uptight and unable to handle criticism, comments and suggestions. That can lead to very dangerous situations because then, even the slightest issue can be blown out of proportion, taken out of context or misunderstood.

Of course, humour needs to be tasteful, but whatever it is, we must learn to chill more, tickle more and laugh more. - Mkini

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ZAN AZLEE is a writer, documentary filmmaker, journalist and academic. Visit fatbidin.com to view his work.

The views expressed here are those of the author/contributor and do not necessarily represent the views of MMKtT.