http://keluargakilljoy.com/2015/06/12/t ... arthquake/
Traitors: How Privileged Allies Failed Sabahans During The Kinabalu Earthquake
Posted on 12 June 2015 by tariqk
Before we begin, a moment of silence for the dead.
Nineteen people. Of five different nationalities. Six of the dead included children from Singapore, who no doubt treated this excursion as an exciting, if daring, adventure the way kids under the age of 12 often do. Four of them were experienced mountain staff, who had given their lives to make sure that the people who were under their care were as safe and happy as they could be. They are remembered fondly, not only by their families, but also by the many people who they have helped ascend Mt. Kinabalu.
But perhaps none of that matters to you. None of those deaths matter, nor the livelihoods of those that depend on the mountain and the facilities around it. Maybe the damage to infrastructure on Kinabalu is not a big deal. Or the schools and facilities around the region. Not a big deal. Not important enough.
Certainly not important enough for the international news, right? Because that’s what you recall hearing1: a Government Minister of Muslim-Majority2 Malaysia “blaming” the earthquake on “angry spirits”. Never mind that fellow Sabahans have pointed out that he was speaking as a man dealing with a massive tragedy, and that sometimes, you know, when people hurt, they tend to blame anything: the supernatural, in this case.
And it’s bad enough when white Europeans decide to make our nations their playgrounds, even co-opting and re-creating spaces that reflect our deeply racist past. It’s bad enough when white Europeans, a people with a narcissistic and racist history of barging into holy places with nude selfies for their gap yuh, do it again.
NAKED WHITE PEOPLE SPOIL EVERYTHING
It’s worse when even Malaysians join in in enabling these fuckers:
No, it isn’t the casualties of the earthquake, though those too were tragic of course. It isn’t the Malaysian government’s inept rescue operations. And it certainly isn’t the naked photos taken by foreign tourists atop the mountain.
No, the greatest tragedy of the Sabah earthquake is the response of many Malaysians to the foreign tourists stripping off on Mount Kinabalu for some harmless fun.
Was it, Shaun Tan? Was it some “harmless fun”? Is it harmless fun when someone comes into your domicile3, violates your boundaries and then ignores and belittles your protests? Is it harmless fun when your anger and hurt is used as examples of how “uneducated” and “childish” you are? Are subalterns never allowed their anger, for fear of staining the reputations of all subalterns forever and ever? Are they never allowed their grief? Must they conform to your ideas of “proper” protest and “correct” thought to be taken seriously, as “adults” and full human beings?
Here’s the way the narrative is being told right now, for many “educated” Malaysians:
A bunch of tourists strip on the summit of Mt. Kinabalu and pose naked.
An earthquake happens.
A Malaysian Minister blames the earthquake on angry spirits.
Sounds clear-cut, right? We can see who’s wrong here. It’s an easy narrative to fall into, as you can see from Kate Ng trying to explain to the erudite readers of the Guardian what happened:
Malaysia, despite its technological advancement and a strong desire for the world to see us as developed, is still a country steeped in culture and tradition. We are a nation in a state of transition, and, whatever you believe about the spiritual dimension of Mount Kinabalu, it’s important for all Malaysians that tourists treat us with respect. It’s the lack of consideration that these tourists displayed that really stings, regardless of how much store you put by the volcano’s sacred associations.
[…]
Malaysia needs to have a serious discussion about the best way to protect our culture. We are entitled to expect tourists to behave considerately. And we must be diligent in holding on to the way of life that makes our society so unique. But there is room for debate and development, for moderation. We claim to be a modern nation – we must live up to it. Blaming earthquakes on a group of tourists, no matter how they have behaved, will just not do.
Note how Ng talks about how Malaysia is stuck between True Modernity™ and primitive superstition tradition. Note the cringing, apologetic tone. Note the call for “moderation”, and how the issue is all about how we’re “blaming” the tourists and subjecting them to injustice. Note that someone who doesn’t even know that Mt. Kinabalu is a fucking pluton and not a fucking volcano4 is basically telling Malaysians how we should react.
Instead of following that narrative, let’s reframe it:
A bunch of tourists, directly contravening the taboo of the community that consider themselves custodian of the mountain, strip and pose naked.
Some time later, an earthquake happens. People die. Infrastructure is damaged. Livelihoods are affected. We call the people who survive heroes, but their livelihood is damaged, and it doesn’t look like we’ll step up for them.
a Chief Minister who not only holds a government post, but also the Paramount Leader of the Kadazandusun Cultural Association, now instead of dealing with one crisis5, has to deal with two. He speaks, not only as a Minister, but as a Sabahan and the Paramount Leader6 of his people, as Kinabalu is central to his experience too.
People, Malaysians, use #3 to dismiss the damage and pain felt for both #1 and #2.
Who’s the asshole now7?
Because that’s what it’s all about, really. It’s not about whether the spirits care if you’re naked or not. It’s not about whether they caused the earthquake or not. It’s about people being angered for having their boundaries violated and you responding by dismissing their pain and minimising their anger.
When people’s boundaries are violated, we call that abuse. When their narrative of abuse, their experience, their pain is dismissed or denied, we call that gas-lighting. It isn’t that difficult.
You do recall that the Dusun, like every other community in Malaysia, have had to face not decades but centuries of dismissal and dehumanization by colonial powers8. That these attempts at enforcing these actions are not only about laws and taboos, but demanding that we be treated with dignity? That we all have our sacred spaces, and we open them out to visitors in hopes that they will at least treat our spaces with respect?
I think what’s been most painful here isn’t really a reminder of how, to white tourists9. We’re basically a product. Our main concern isn’t about our dignity and worth as communities and human beings with agency, but how good our service is, and how much money we can bring in. That’s certainly a discussion we can have, but, right now, frankly:
SABAR SEMUA DISREGARD WHITE TEARS
No, what I guess still stings even now is how in many cases, the same voices that mock our fellow Malaysians are other Malaysians. That the most painful voices aren’t from “international”10 commentators, but from the effete Malaysian bourgeois liberal déraciné manque-elite. The ones who sip their flat whites and decry the rise of barbaric superstition amongst Malaysians. The ones who will talk about how they’re above racial and religious politics, yet engage in racism when talking about their “less advanced” and “less progressive” brethren.
I can deal with outsiders barging in — I think we have an entire stream of post-colonial thought that deals with that. The foe at the gates we can deal with. It’s the friendly fire that hurts.
Malaysians: You are literally spitting at the faces of people who are suffering right now when you belittle them for having “superstitious beliefs”, calling those beliefs “ridiculous”11, and focusing your attentions on how native people are getting it wrong and not being scientific about the fucking earthquake. Newsflash: no one cares what you think, asshole.
Also, that the anger that is being expressed, the hurt that is being felt, actually transcends religious and ethnic belief. I’ve seen Muslims that try to defend their Dusun brethren, not because they share that belief, but because they understand. Joseph Pairin Kitingan is Catholic. Literally, this pain they feel… they feel it as Sabahans, not as Muslims, Christians, or animists, or as a single ethnic group, but as a state, together12.
What they’re noticing is that, in their time of need, you spit at their face. Many of them will remember this. You’re trampling on the dignity of fellow Malaysians. You don’t believe in mountain spirits and ancestral worship? Fine. It’s not your belief. It’s not mine either. But so what? A community has had their taboos violated. And instead of helping, you are laughing at them.
