Malaysia S Snitch Society

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“Remember, you're an informant now. That means responsibilities, like conspiracy and confidentiality, but also privileges...”
- The Lives of Others (German film)
I have no idea why the MCMC is questioning two Facebook administrators for possibly inciting public disorder when this should be under police jurisdiction with the MCMC playing a supporting role.
While I understand why certain groups are livid with what these administrators have done, the real issue here is how the religious and political establishment is enabling a society of snitches.
Now, when I say snitches, I do not mean whistleblowers who for whatever reasons, are exposing corporate or political malfeasances but rather the average Joe Rakyat engaging in behaviour against the “other” for mala fide purposes.
What these administrators were doing was encouraging citizens to document and publish state-sanctioned behaviour. In this case, it was “illegal” Hindu temples.
Now of course what is illegal would be difficult to determine but the point of these types of groupthink is to destroy social cohesiveness for an ultimate agenda.
What they were doing was encouraging like-minded citizens to enable the destruction of places of worship without regard for the feelings of their fellow citizens.
Not only is this malicious but it also creates an atmosphere where people with not much power feel powerful. This enables the state which is all-powerful a distraction from its failings.
And honestly what these administrators were doing is not something alien to the state.
Think about it. The prime minister said the recently relocated 130-year-old temple was “illegal”. This of course is complete horse manure which has already been pointed out, hence what these administrators were doing is merely taking it to the logical extreme.
The 130-year-old Dewi Sri Pathrakaliamman Temple in Kuala LumpurOf course, there were rumblings that the temple committee was compensated for something illegal but this is what happens when you proclaim victory in the name of religion.
Nothing is ever enough to satisfy the delusionally self-righteous. But remember, encouraging people to report any kind of supposed infraction against the religion of the state or even majoritarian preoccupations is something that the state has always enabled.
In 2019 Pakatan Harapan's then-religious czar Mujahid Yusof Rawa proudly stated that Putrajaya had created a special unit supervised by the Islamic Development Department (Jakim) to monitor all media for insults against the Prophet and Islam.
“I have instructed the unit to accept any complaints about insults towards the Prophet and Islam, and to immediately report them to the police and the Communications and Multimedia Commission,” Mujahid had said.
This has nothing to do with protecting the sanctity of the religion of the state, but everything to do with making average citizens complicit in the diktats of the government.
This is about making citizens turn on each other in the name of religion thereby empowering the religious state.
Tattle telling
So we have two stages here. The first is one, where the state encourages citizens to snitch on the “other” by using race or religion as a galvanising issue.
The second stage is when the state encourages citizens to snitch on each other. This happens when the state religious apparatus encourages the faithful to report “deviant” teachings or lifestyles.
Can you imagine if there was a Facebook page where people documented behaviour which was deemed haram by the religious state? Can you imagine a Facebook page where adherents of the religion of the state had their pictures taken and what they were engaging in, to encourage sanction from the state?
Imagine if non-Muslims set up a Facebook group like this. What do you think would be the reaction of the state and ordinary Muslims?
Already the Malay language social media and mainstream press are a toxic environment where people are named and shamed for various reasons.
Moral policing for moral purity
Indeed the religious bureaucracy, both at the state and federal level, actively encourages snitching as a form of religious piety.
The idea is that moral policing of the community symbolises the moral purity of said community.
What religious groupthink does - and it does this everywhere - is to make a clear distinction between “us” and “them”.
What these types of snitching behaviour encourage is that the majority community understands that there will always be deviants who threaten the foundational aspects of the religion.
This kind of thinking is not only reinforced by the state but is actively encouraged as a form of communal protection from the inclusion of ideas and concepts that would alter the community.
For decades, the Islamic bureaucracy - through its various tributaries - has moulded a young voting polity to despise democratic traditions and norms, with the belief that doing so makes you a better Muslim.
So in other words snitching on your fellow citizens makes you a more pious person. The demonisation of Muslims who do not follow this groupthink is the underlying cause of tension within the Malay community, even more so than the cultural war with the non-Muslim communities.
The emotional justifications for these kinds of acts using social media as an alternate reality to justify socially destructive behaviour have been perfected by US President Donald Trump supporters here in Malaysia and in the US.
This kind of groupthink is the ultimate endgame for fascist governments/political parties.
As Andrew Sewer wrote in his percipient, Atlantic article: “…Trump supporters, whose community is built by rejoicing in the anguish of those they see as unlike them, who have found in their shared cruelty an answer to the loneliness and atomisation of modern life.”
While Madani claims it wants social cohesion, the ultimate goal or “victory” as the prime minister so casually announced, is a polity not only beholden to the state but which thinks it is powerful in its own right. They are not.
The Russians have a perfect term to describe such people, “useful idiots”. - Mkini
S THAYAPARAN is Commander (Rtd) of the Royal Malaysian Navy. Fīat jūstitia ruat cælum - “Let justice be done though the heavens fall.”
The views expressed here are those of the author/contributor and do not necessarily represent the views of MMKtT.

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