Somehow, I think we’re already in fantasy world
Yesterday, I posted about the Hantu & Jin exhibition at the Negri Sembilan State Museum. One of the people who think that the exhibition should be stopped is the Perlis Mufti (who is a real stand up guy, IMHO) because he says that there is a fear that society might live in a fantasy world. Well, check out today’s Harian Metro’s front page. The full article is here: Budak Trauma. The gist of it is that a house was burgled by an “orang minyak”, which was witnessed by an 8-year old girl and she is now traumatised by it. I don’t know whether to laugh or cry. The article ended with this paragraph:
Selain itu, katanya, ada jiran mendakwa orang minyak terbabit menggunakan ilmu hitam untuk mengecilkan tubuh bagi memasuki rumah mangsa melalui lubang angin.
That’s right, the oily burglar uses black magic to reduce his size so that he can then enter the victim’s house through an air-hole. Through a “lubang angin”. This was ON THE FRONT PAGE! Sorry, didn’t mean to shout there, but … I dunno. Arguably then, you might say that the “Hantu & Jin …?” thing is symptomatic of society today. Suanie commented in yesterday’s post that Mastika “is probably the hottest publication in malaysia” and one can only assume that that is so because of the content. Take the April 2007 issue. Among the stories mentioned on the front page of the comic is:
- Hantu Jadian Merasuk Penghuni Bukit Mutiara
- Syaitan Berdiri di Sebelah Kananku
- Mayat Terbang di Angkasa
- Cahaya Putih dan Lelaki Berjubah Lindungi Ustaz
I haven’t read any of the articles mentioned above, mainly because I haven’t found the time yet. I will read them, though, since it is useful to know the mindset of Mastika’s readers. They’re probably the same ones who think that Pak Lah is a stock market expert.
For what it’s worth, rather than just ranting about these things, I think that we should all learn to apply some critical thinking. Just because we can’t explain certain phenomena doesn’t mean that someone else wouldn’t be able to. Nor should we be so quick to assign the someone else role to mystics, voodoo witch doctors, mullahs and politicians. Honestly, I’d trust a magician first (like Penn & Teller, or David Blaine, say) before any of that other shower. After all, magicians and illusionists make a career from tricking us and don’t pretend like what they’re doing are some sort of mystical mumbo jumbo. At least they’re honest about tricking us.