Shame game

Over the last weekend, the family was deeply engaged in a debate on the appropriateness of a video clipping that went viral on the cyberspace. A thick in the middle kind of a middle aged man was filmed on a handphone whilst a girl, who may be the victim, went on a rampage accusing him of outraging her modesty while seated in a flight. He had apparently touched her after slipping his hands through the space between the seats.

The debate was whether what the victim did was right or the accused deserved such a shaming.

The victim who is from the generation who wishes that their mobile devices were attached to their body had the clarity of mind to record the whole event soon after the said crime was committed. She raised an alarm and drew fellow plane passengers to her seat as she started confronting the perpetrator with artillery of piercing questions. The accused on the receiving end sat slouched in shame covering his face. There is a second clip where the accused is in better spirits as he defends his actions.

In this digital age, it is becoming norm that  justice ala street justice is carried by social shaming. Sympathy is garnered by the number of likes. Almost everybody would agree and feel for the victim. The public would ask for blood. In a flash, all the job of judge, jury and executor would be even before natural justice takes its course. So much for someone being innocent until proven guilty.

All this may look benign but hitting the wrong button may prove fatal in the right predisposed individual. All the raw emotion hurled at the accused may just push him over the brink. Remember the nurse who spilled the beans over Kate Middleton's (Duchess of Cambridge, wife of Prince William) hospital admission in severe symptoms of early pregnancy - she took her own life. The pressure of guilt and accusation proved too much to stomach.
In this case, what if the gentleman who is accused of not being so gentle decides to take the path of least resistance away from all the shame? The accuser has blood in her hands or she could pat herself for justice had been served?

http://www.mid-day.com/articles/viral-video-girl-confronts-molester-on-flight-leaves-him-shame-faced/15958195

Crisp from the printers

Out now... Crisp from the printers...

Inside the twisted mind of Rifle Range Boy
ISBN: 978-967-13153-0-9
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A storm in the teacup?

Now that the dust has finally settled on the vilification of Kiki over her outburst and overreaction over the fender bender that is hardly worth discussing, sometimes I wonder how I would have reacted in such a situation - on either side of snafu.

I would not be surprised if I had flipped if I were Kiki with the brand new spanking French beau after years of being contented with the only automobile affordable that is forced down my throat with my meagre pay. After paying all the unnecessary additional payments to secure my lucky number and with the smell of new car still lingering on my tunic and skin, it is pure heartache to see it being defaced, albeit its triviality. Putting all that aside, I would have acted inappropriately if a stressful event had occurred prior to that fateful encounter - a unfair statement from someone close, an abusive client, committed a big mistake at work, getting up on the wrong side of the bed, a bad hair day or whatever that would anyone flip.
I do not, however, condone any of her actions by any means.
Regarding her seemingly racist's rant, come on admit it! We, Malaysians are racist by birth, by default and by force by the powers that be. How many times have we try hard to compartmentalise a new colleague or acquaintance into the common ethnic group in the country? It has become almost second nature to us to instinctively utter a totally inappropriate statement, racial wise, by stereotyping one by race. In the heat of the moment, Kiki did the same.
Perhaps her mistake was that her anger took a mighty long time to subdue. And to be caught on tape. If there were no evidence of the whole event in cyberspace, it would just be another unglamorous event occurring on a daily basis in the streets of Malaysia, another storm in the teacup.
What happened afterwards was even more laughable! The trial by social media, the vilification, exposure of personal details, the show of lack of privacy and how our life can be bear open for others to see, the crucification, the unwelcome stardom and the mania that followed does not augur well for us in our endeavour to portray to the world as a developed and mature society.
The biggest lesson learnt from kerfuffle is that 'Somebody is always watching you'... I am afraid to wash to wash my hair, when I look up, I see somebody standing there, somebody's watching me now! Who? The IRS!!!...