Sick and stupid gun culture
Dato' Dzulkifli Abd Razak
Article
The New Sunday Times - 04/29/2007
EIGHT years ago, Columbine High School grabbed the headlines when two students massacred 12 students and a teacher, before turning the guns on themselves.
Many thought the incident would create greater awareness and that it won't be repeated. Some had argued for stronger gun control to avert a similar carnage. But this was not to be.
Two weeks ago, we were shocked by the killings on the campus of Virginia Polytechnic Institute. This time, it turned out to be the worst in US history.
At least 33 lives were lost across campus, including that of the killer himself, a student of South Korean lineage who lived in a dormitory on campus. Another 29 were injured.
The incident showed that "gun culture" is still very much alive in the US. Interestingly, some find it apt to use Iraq as an excuse to continue supporting it.
A letter to the editor of the New York Times (April 17) asked whether someone living and working in Iraq would want their firearms to be taken away. He reckoned the answer would be "no". In fact, the person wished "there were more kids in that school with firearms to protect themselves".
This is an ironic comparison because as far as one can tell, the US is nowhere near the mess it has created in the occupied country. Again, even if there are massacres as tragic as that of Virginia Tech, or even worse, to cite Iraq as a comparison is unimaginable by any standards.
To start with, lives are being lost in Iraq on a daily basis and there is no escape. In other words, senseless killings a la Virginia Tech are now part of the Iraqi "way of life".
A study last year of 1,000 randomly selected people across five Baghdad neighbourhoods showed 890 of them had experienced a violent incident firsthand. This included all 27 children under the of 12 in the sampling.
An Iraqi psychiatrist has predicted that it would take "a generation or more" for the country's collective psyche to recover from the violence. The "liberation" has spawned a gun culture to the very extreme with Iraq being turned into one big killing field.
Unfortunately, the phenomenon is not only confined to Iraq. The Financial Times reported a similar incident in Afghanistan. Citing the Independent Human Rights Commission of Afghanistan, it said: "A dozen civilians were left dead after soldiers sped through a 10-mile stretch of road in eastern Afghanistan's Nangahar province, shooting at pedestrians, people in cars, public buses and taxis."
The incident took place last month after a US convoy was attacked by an explosives-rigged minivan.
"In failing to distinguish between civilians and legitimate military targets, the US Marine Corps employed indiscriminate force," the report said.
While it is premature to suggest what motivated the tragedy in the Virginia Tech campus, there is speculation that this could be a case involving someone who is unstable, or a "loner" who is pushed to the limit by circumstances.
Another letter on the same issue in NYT related the Virginia Tech tragedy to mental health in the country, especially on college campuses. It called for an honest and open discourse on the situation.
This suggestion has a familiar ring to it. Reportedly, close to four million Malaysians are believed to be suffering from some form of mental health problem, a condition often associated with suicidal tendencies.
It is predicted that in the next five to 10 years, the number of suicides may become the country's second biggest cause of death after cardiovascular diseases (NST, Feb 16).
We must move quickly away from the stage where violence, aggression and suicide are the only options left to settle our problems.
Article
The New Sunday Times - 04/29/2007
EIGHT years ago, Columbine High School grabbed the headlines when two students massacred 12 students and a teacher, before turning the guns on themselves.
Many thought the incident would create greater awareness and that it won't be repeated. Some had argued for stronger gun control to avert a similar carnage. But this was not to be.
Two weeks ago, we were shocked by the killings on the campus of Virginia Polytechnic Institute. This time, it turned out to be the worst in US history.
At least 33 lives were lost across campus, including that of the killer himself, a student of South Korean lineage who lived in a dormitory on campus. Another 29 were injured.
The incident showed that "gun culture" is still very much alive in the US. Interestingly, some find it apt to use Iraq as an excuse to continue supporting it.
A letter to the editor of the New York Times (April 17) asked whether someone living and working in Iraq would want their firearms to be taken away. He reckoned the answer would be "no". In fact, the person wished "there were more kids in that school with firearms to protect themselves".
This is an ironic comparison because as far as one can tell, the US is nowhere near the mess it has created in the occupied country. Again, even if there are massacres as tragic as that of Virginia Tech, or even worse, to cite Iraq as a comparison is unimaginable by any standards.
To start with, lives are being lost in Iraq on a daily basis and there is no escape. In other words, senseless killings a la Virginia Tech are now part of the Iraqi "way of life".
A study last year of 1,000 randomly selected people across five Baghdad neighbourhoods showed 890 of them had experienced a violent incident firsthand. This included all 27 children under the of 12 in the sampling.
An Iraqi psychiatrist has predicted that it would take "a generation or more" for the country's collective psyche to recover from the violence. The "liberation" has spawned a gun culture to the very extreme with Iraq being turned into one big killing field.
Unfortunately, the phenomenon is not only confined to Iraq. The Financial Times reported a similar incident in Afghanistan. Citing the Independent Human Rights Commission of Afghanistan, it said: "A dozen civilians were left dead after soldiers sped through a 10-mile stretch of road in eastern Afghanistan's Nangahar province, shooting at pedestrians, people in cars, public buses and taxis."
The incident took place last month after a US convoy was attacked by an explosives-rigged minivan.
"In failing to distinguish between civilians and legitimate military targets, the US Marine Corps employed indiscriminate force," the report said.
While it is premature to suggest what motivated the tragedy in the Virginia Tech campus, there is speculation that this could be a case involving someone who is unstable, or a "loner" who is pushed to the limit by circumstances.
Another letter on the same issue in NYT related the Virginia Tech tragedy to mental health in the country, especially on college campuses. It called for an honest and open discourse on the situation.
This suggestion has a familiar ring to it. Reportedly, close to four million Malaysians are believed to be suffering from some form of mental health problem, a condition often associated with suicidal tendencies.
It is predicted that in the next five to 10 years, the number of suicides may become the country's second biggest cause of death after cardiovascular diseases (NST, Feb 16).
We must move quickly away from the stage where violence, aggression and suicide are the only options left to settle our problems.