We seem to be an angry nation, time to ease up

 

Why are so many people angry? There appears to be so much anger in everyone that you speak to these days. Of course social media adds to the rage with clips that mostly raise the ire of everyone.

You speak to your friends and the subject inevitably digresses to the state of national politics, a subject which obviously raises your hackles, leaving a bad taste in your mouth.

Even if you try your best and divert the discussion to something more beneficial, the focus eventually comes back to the dreary topic of exactly how someone thinks Prime Minister Ismail Sabri Yaakob should run the country. Then all hell breaks loose, with some raising their voices saying everything he does is wrong.

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Try picking up a conversation with a trader at the market or your car mechanic: you’ll hear nothing but complaints and anger directed at the government.

They say they are struggling, their businesses are dying and they will have to close shop soon. And they move on to say how angry they are with the politicians from both sides. No one seems to be spared.

Your Grab driver starts off the journey quietly, trying to assess you to see if they can pour their woes to you. Once they get started, there’s no stopping them. Most of those I have met recently have lost their jobs or left after being paid poorly.

When on the road, you see impatient drivers giving you angry stares even if you genuinely make an error or forget to turn on your signal lights before turning. The anger seen on their face is as though you were responsible for some disaster.

Conversations with government school teachers will make you wonder why they even bother remaining in public service. The anger ranges from inconsistent policies that change overnight at times to an overload of non-teaching responsibilities.

An angry teacher in Selangor told me they are now required to get students to beautify their toilets in addition to making theirs a 5-star one. Yes, the competition involves getting a star rating to win prizes.

But when it comes to the award ceremony, it will be the headmaster marching up to receive the trophy and prize money. And mind you, toilet rating is one among many other competitions.

The teachers are angry because it takes them away from the core duty of teaching, let alone spoiling their Saturdays which could be better spent with the family instead of cleaning school toilets.

Comments on social media are of the no-holds barred variety; netizens don’t give a toss to the tough sedition laws. Insulting race, religion and colour is a norm when posting comments.

No one seems to care about the hurt they would cause to others or seem not to fear being picked up by the police.

Obviously, it would make one angry reading all the insults hurled at all communities. Some writers like this scribe avoid reading the comments of netizens who use vulgarity not only on you but your last two generations!

Going into government departments and hospitals for counter services puts you into a combative mode even before entering the premises. You are always ready for an argument, especially after seeing long queues.

This despite knowing that such waits are to be anticipated because of either the lack of manpower or poor planning. In some cases, the number of visitors is just overwhelming.

When the results for the annual university and college intakes are announced, you have many angry students and parents going to the media to express their anger and displeasure at not getting what they want or deserve, more so when others with lower grades get into better courses than they do.

Lately, the anger prevalent among Malaysians seems to be directed at one common target – politicians. The outrage runs across the board. Very few are spared.

And of course the animosity and anger displayed in public by senior political leaders against each other has reached a palpable level.

When you read about the testimony in the current corruption trials of senior politicians, you feel nothing but disgust and anger, to a point where many are saying that they have been fooled all along by some of their whiter than white pronouncements.

The list is endless. But every Malaysian is responsible for this state of affairs.

Is there a way of ending this madness of anger? I am not too sure but some optimists are saying a bit of this anger will ease up after the next general election. They are saying the earlier it is held, the better it is for the people. But for that to happen, most of the current crop of senior politicians must go.

While we wait for that to happen, Malaysians should ease up and calm down, until we get a chance to put a cross on the ballot paper again.

Only the voters can clean up the politicians’ act, because they won’t do it themselves. Political parties had better be warned that this anger may work against them. - FMT

The views expressed are those of the writer and do not necessarily reflect those of MMKtT.