‘Mulut puaka’ wreaking havoc on social media with their whining
THERE seems to be a huge number of people with mulut puaka these days. Mulut puaka, a Malay street slang, is a combination of meanings that suggests a sniveller or a bellyacher who has an excessive inclination to whine and rebuke others.
This term has gained popularity on social media, where you will see a barrage of whining, accompanied with words and phrases that express unfavourable and adverse judgment of others.
It has become a habit for many Malaysians to whine and condemn others if they see or hear something they don’t agree with.
Vulgar, offensive words — such as bangang (stupid), bangsat (scoundrel), bangkai hidup (living carcass), jahanam (evil person) and lahanat (insolent) — are prevalent in social media, especially among the young.
Some laugh without being empathic with the emotional bruises these words may cause victims.
These bellyachers, usually hidden behind online handles, whine and complain about something or someone and condemn others, including well-known individuals, the government and institutions of this country.
Even the mild-mannered Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department (Religious Affairs) Datuk Dr Zulkifli Mohamad Al Bakri and the hardworking Health director-general Tan Sri Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah were not spared.
On WhatsApp discussion threads, for instance, in a college alumni group with diverse political beliefs, you’ll find plenty of chiding and censuring among the members, usually culminating in heated arguments and many choosing to agree to disagree. Such bickering often results in one or more persons leaving the thread.
Whenever celebrity Neelofa tweets, her statements are met with contemptuous and cynical remarks, reminding her of the offence she and her husband committed in flouting the standard operating procedures.
The TV host and entrepreneur found it hard to escape from mulut puaka, even when she rendered aid to those hard-hit by the pandemic through her non-governmental organisation (NGO), Pertubuhan Kasih Neelofa.
I do not wish to defend her and those who have been labelled as golongan kayangan, another slang to describe pampered and affluent upper-middle-class people. Nevertheless, it is absurd for people to indulge in these trivialities.
Eleanor Roosevelt once said great minds discuss ideas; average minds discuss events; small minds discuss people. We need to be objective and stay away from membawang, or back-biting or gossiping.
Out of this quagmire, the government bears the brunt. Sadly, when the government took action to quell Covid-19 infections and introduced financial schemes to help hard-hit people, these efforts were belittled.
Even when the prime minister was ill recently, I felt sick to my stomach reading what some Netizens wrote about his illness and the food he ate.
It’s really sad to read these condescending words when they should have wished Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin well in his recuperation.
At the same time, the opposition and former ministers of previous administrations have kept harping that the government has failed, and is inefficient and ineffective in addressing the economy and public health due to the pandemic.
Some statements by NGOs were politically motivated. I believe these groups have been “sponsored” by certain quarters to create an ugly perception that the government has failed.
It’s not surprising that there are political parties that have been “amassing bullets” to ridicule the ruling party to secure victory in the next general election.
That’s the nature of politicians since time immemorial, and they will never cease their mud-slinging.
The thing is, whoever takes over the government at this crucial juncture will face the burden of overcoming economic and public health issues.
Thailand and Indonesia have seen a massive increase in cases over the past weeks.
Do we say that these countries have a failed government? Cut our government some slack, please.
While it’s good to have dissenting views as we have always believed in the freedom of expression, be sure to taste your words before you spit them out.
Once they are said, they can be forgiven, not forgotten.