As a keen observer of society – as a postmodern flaneur or one who is inside but not immersed in society - I am confused by the way we ‘spray’ each other.

Two incidents in the last few weeks showcase how we treat dissenting views, as derived from the way we contradict ourselves, the Umno Youth KLCC protest and Mahathir’s Kelantan visit.

The protest against US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice near the KLCC could have been a spray occasion had it been organised by, say Parti Sosialis Malaysia. In fact, many months ago they were sprayed for protesting peacefully against the war in Iraq.

The KLCC protest was organised by Umno Youth and therefore there was no need to spray those folks. The organisers, as the media portrayed, had a difficult time submitting the memorandum of protest. I imagine there must have been an easier and less dramatic way for Umno Youth to register its protest.

But then again, whoever owns the media owns the means to project the image of defiance against the American Empire. The image is a postmodern transmutation and transculturalisation of the ancient Malay-feudalistic symbolism of a familiar concept of anger-management gone berserk: amuck