-- forwarded message-- Malaysiakini Letters <http://www.malaysiakini.com/archives_letters/2000/may/may15/letter8.htm> LETTERS May 15, 2000 Chinese with different exposures I agree 100 percent with MY Siew that the English-educated, at least in Malaysia and Singapore are not necessarily moderate, or open-minded ("Need to look beyond 'tudung'", May 13, ). To assume otherwise is another form of Orientalist (to borrow a word from Samad, who may have borrowed it in turn from Edward Syed) stereotype and arrogance. For example, my daily interaction with the Chinese-speaking and the English-speaking Chinese suggest that the second group is more Islam and PAS-phobic. This differences in attitude may be due to exposure to different media, and the limitation of ther social-world. In Malaysia, we have only two major English dailies, one the New Straits Times, and the other The Star. While the former is controlled by Umno, the latter, by MCA; and both are fanatically anti-PAS and sheepishly for Umno and BN. Imagine the ordinary monolingual English-educated Malaysians who cannot afford to read foreign magazines, Internet news, malaysiakini; or to travel to Terengganu, Kelantan and the Malay/Muslim hinterland : all the so-called "news", "analyses" and "commentaries" on PAS come to them only through these two dailies, day in day out and all year round. Is it a wonder that they are as anti-PAS and Islam-phobic like the mainstream media writers Wong Chun Wai and Shamsul Akmar? The psychological effects on the English-educated in this respect is not unlike the followers of The Heaven's Gate cult. Because they have no other means to double-check the validity of the news, interpretations and "analyses". And that is why many English-speaking Malaysians in the urban areas are so hysterical about "talibans", "Iranian Revolution" and "Fanatical Muslim fundamentalists". Allow me to suggest as a professional psychologist who has been observing this phenomenon for the last two years, that many of these people are bordering on neurotic phobia, if no alternative and true news about PAS, and Malays/Muslims in the hinterland are provided to them to countervail or challenge the false images built into their sub-consciousness and mental responsive system. I am serious. It is also serious. I do not blame these people because as normal human beings who have to earn a living everyday, they usually depend on only one newspaper for news and opinions, and the shortage of time and mental energy as well as physical fatigue, ensures that they only instinctively (survival instinct, or instinct for self-protection) catch the negative elements in what they see or read as "threatening". Lived in culturally uprooted suburbs which lack social networks and contacts with others, their nervous systems too have become over-reactive to negative and sensational "news" and rumours (some officially manufactured and sanctioned) like "Indonesians buying parang to kill Chinese", "PAS chops heads and penis" and "Riots in Kuala Lumpur" etc. On the contrary, the Chinese-educated have more sources to counter-check news and compare opinions with more liberal newspapers, public intellectuals, civic leaders and other social organisations. I think they are more mature, psychologically more stable and less prone to neurotic and hysterical reaction to PAS, Islam and things Indonesian. My observation might not be 100 percent accurate, but I put it up for everybody's reflection and consideration. It might be useful to the English-educated in Singapore too. I am willing to debate on this and admit any errors and faults in my hypothesis. Jane Chew Kuala Lumpur -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- To unsubscribe, send a blank message to <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> or go to <http://www.malaysia.net/lists/sangkancil>
