23/05/2026

SATURDAY | MAY 23, 2026

18 Understanding our emotional climate M ALAYSIA feels angry these power struggles have left many Malaysians emotionally cynical. People are tired – tired of promises, tired of outrage, tired of feeling like survival itself has become a full-time job. Even humour has changed. dinner tables and through small everyday interactions. That does not excuse bad behaviour. Road rage is still dangerous. Public abuse is still unacceptable. P O T T U O N P O I N T

previously only studied by Nasa engineers. But beneath the jokes and memes, something deeper is happening – Malaysia is emotionally exhausted. People are carrying invisible anger from lives that have become harder, lonelier and more uncertain. The cashier snapping at a customer may have spent the entire month worrying about rent; the man raging in traffic may be drowning in debt; and the woman arguing over a parking spot may not have rested properly in years. Many Malaysians are functioning but not coping and perhaps that is the real story. We are living in an age where everyone is overstimulated and under supported. Food prices keep climbing while salaries often do not. Young adults are trying to survive while paying PTPTN loans, rent, fuel, childcare and therapy-level Grab fares. Meanwhile, social media ensures nobody suffers quietly anymore. Once upon a time, if someone annoyed you, you complained to your spouse, your neighbour or your favourite makcik at the pasar . Now, Malaysians can upload a 37-second video, add dramatic background music and turn a parking dispute into national discourse by lunchtime. Algorithms reward outrage but calmness rarely goes viral. A thoughtful comment gets three likes while someone typing “Malaysia already finished” under a random post racks up 12,000 reposts and a podcast invitation. We are constantly consuming anger until it has become our emotional background noise. And politics certainly has not helped. Years of political instability, corruption scandals, racial rhetoric and endless

days – not just online, where complete strangers call each other “ bodoh ”, “ macai ” or “ walaun ” before breakfast, but also in Parliament, where politicians sometimes behave like relatives fighting over inheritance during Deepavali. The anger is everywhere – on highways, in supermarkets, at parking lots, at mamaks , in office WhatsApp groups and even in the passive aggressive “K” replies from colleagues who are one inconvenience away from launching a full emotional TED talk. Lately, scrolling through Malaysian news feels less like reading headlines and more like reviewing evidence for a national group therapy session. A few weeks ago, a viral video showed a motorcyclist kicking a car at a toll plaza, in what became yet another road rage incident. Another case saw five men arrested in Kota Kinabalu after a teacher’s car windows were smashed following a traffic altercation. Then there was the shocking Cheras case involving a senior citizen who was assaulted after a minor accident. The elderly victim later told the court he became afraid to leave home. At this point, some Malaysians no longer use signal lights while driving because apparently “hand gestures” have become the preferred form of communication. And honestly, can we talk about our roads for a moment? Some Malaysians drive like they are late for surgery they themselves are performing. You could be calmly driving to buy nasi lemak and suddenly find yourself trapped between a Hilux tailgating you at Formula One speed and a Myvi overtaking from an angle It was recently reported that the new MyKad contains 53 features, compared with 23 in the previous version. Privacy and surveillance are serious concerns but conversations on these issues should not be driven by fear, rumours or raw emotion as that can lead society down a dangerous path. Technology itself is not the problem; what matters is who controls it and how it is used. Many Malaysians are worried that using MyKad for everything – from transactions to identity verification and other services – could create a culture of constant surveillance. Such concerns are not unfounded, given the major data breaches involving government and private sector systems in recent years. It is only fair to demand stronger data protection laws, greater transparency and accountability from those handling our personal information. At the same time, not every digital initiative should be viewed as a conspiracy aimed at “total control”. While such claims may be emotionally compelling, they can also fuel unnecessary panic, deepen public distrust and erode confidence in our institutions. The issue here is not the MyKad but trust. Ironically, many of us already hand over vast amounts of personal data every day to foreign tech companies through our smartphones, e wallets, online shopping platforms and social media. They track what we buy, where we go, what we like and how we behave – often far

Nobody deserves violence because they changed lanes badly or took too long at a traffic light. But understanding the emotional climate matters too. Because sometimes the rage we witness in public is not just anger – sometimes it is fear, exhaustion; years of financial anxiety, loneliness, disappointment and emotional suppression finally erupting over something as small as a parking space. That is the real danger facing Malaysia today – not inflation, politics or even the endless culture wars online but a society slowly losing its emotional patience with itself. Anger does not always arrive loudly; it can sometimes build quietly through unpaid bills, silent disappointments, humiliations at work, loneliness at home, sleepless nights and years of feeling unheard. Then one day, a stranger cuts into a lane, a cashier gets an order wrong, somebody leaves a harsh comment online and suddenly the pressure explodes. Malaysia is not collapsing in one dramatic moment; it is fraying slowly through millions of exhausted people trying very hard to hold themselves together. And perhaps behind every angry Malaysian today is not simply a bad person but someone who has been carrying too much for far too long. Hashini Kavishtri Kannan is the assistant news editor at theSun. Comments: letters@thesundaily.com

Malaysians still joke because humour is practically our national coping mechanism but our jokes now sound more like collective stress responses. We laugh about expensive groceries while calculating whether adding cheese to a burger now qualifies as financial recklessness. We joke about petrol prices while driving with the fuel warning light on long enough to develop spiritual trust. We make memes because if we stop laughing, some of us may genuinely cry in a hypermarket parking lot. And perhaps the saddest part is this: despite being more connected than ever, many Malaysians feel deeply alone. We message constantly but rarely talk honestly. We post selfies while quietly burning out. We know each other’s political opinions but not each other’s emotional struggles. Men are still often raised to suppress vulnerability until it emerges as anger while women carry enormous emotional labour silently until exhaustion turns into resentment. Children absorb stress from parents who themselves are barely holding it together. So no, Malaysians are not suddenly becoming cruel people – but we are becoming emotionally stretched. A society under pressure eventually starts leaking that pressure everywhere onto roads, comment sections, across

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“Malaysia is not collapsing in one dramatic moment; it is fraying slowly through millions of exhausted people trying very hard to hold themselves together.

LETTERS letters@thesundaily.com

Building rakyat ’s trust in new MyKad system LATELY , many Malaysians have grown uneasy about how the MyKad system is being used. This concern is not really about technology itself but about trust – or the lack of it – between ordinary citizens and the institutions entrusted to safeguard their personal information. more extensively than most government systems ever do. Yet, many of us are more fearful of our own local authorities than of these global tech giants. This reflects a deeper breakdown in public trust.

A country cannot function effectively if citizens begin to suspect every move the government makes. At the same time, the government cannot afford to ignore genuine public concerns. The government carries a heavy responsibility. Simply telling people not to worry is not enough; what is needed is real action. Firstly, there must be transparency. The public should be clearly informed about what data is being collected, who has access to it, how long it will be retained and what safeguards exist against misuse. Silence or vague responses only deepen suspicion and erode public confidence. Secondly, there must be stronger and more independent data protection mechanisms. Data leaks should not be treated as minor mistakes; they require accountability. Clear consequences must be imposed for negligence, corruption or the misuse of personal information. Trust cannot be rebuilt if failures are met without action. Thirdly, Parliament should establish an independent body to oversee national digital ID systems and cybersecurity. Such oversight is not a threat, rather, it is a safeguard that strengthens accountability and helps build public trust. As citizens, we also have a role to play. Many of us overshare online without thinking. Being a mature digital citizen means not only being alert but also being rational. The real danger is not just surveillance but also the risk of becoming a fearful, divided society where suspicion replaces reason. When fear dominates our conversations, we become

Many Malaysians are worried that using MyKad for everything – from transactions, verification and others – could slowly turn into a culture of being watched all the time. – BERNAMAPIC

for the Constitution and mutual trust between the people and those who govern. Technology without ethics can become oppressive, just as fear without wisdom can be destructive. Malaysia must not drift into either unchecked control or unchecked paranoia. The way forward lies in accountable leadership, informed citizens, stronger institutions and a renewed culture of trust. Only then can digital progress move in step with dignity, freedom and unity.

easy targets for misinformation, manipulation and political extremism. Democracies do not only fail under dictators; they can also erode through persistent distrust and fragmentation within society. We need balance: the right to question policies and demand accountability must be preserved. The government, in turn, must accept scrutiny with humility and transparency while public debate should remain grounded in facts and fairness, not emotional alarmism. A stable, progressive nation requires more than new technology; it demands ethics, respect

K.T. Maran S eremban