Everyone experiences some form of confirmation bias – the tendency to search, interpret, favour, and recall information that confirms pre-existing beliefs.
In Malaysia, we have plenty of that going around, particularly on social media.
Pick any news story or image. Some of us will only see the data that supports their views and others will only see data that supports theirs.
Taking to Twitter, netizen @AfiqH1507 commented on how a Hari Raya angpow apparently has pig motifs and patterns à la Islamic design.
Source: twitter
He tweeted, “Am I the only one noticing images of pigs on a duit raya packet released by Majlis Perbandaran Alor Gajah?”, and garnered much attention on social media.
Source: mnn
Pigs, as we all know, are a very sensitive topic amongst Malaysians, especially the Muslim community – because they are HARAM!
So whenever anything pig related pops up anywhere, someone somewhere is going to get triggered.
The image which has garnered mixed responses on social media also caught the attention of netizen @AfiqH1507.
"It is called scotoma. The mind sees what it wants to see."
– Sir Leigh Teabing, The Da Vinci Code https://t.co/tezvnjSzqP
— Afiq Harraz (@AfiqH1507) May 31, 2019
He also mentions in the thread that this should not be taken seriously. And with more than 2k retweets, netizens seem to be upset just how petty and narrow-minded people can be.
Source: twitter
Another commented on how some Muslims were overly critical of the image.
Source: twitter
“Even if it were images of pigs, holding it will not automatically make you an infidel.”
One netizen urged Muslims to move away from suspicion and instead practice tranquillity.
Source: twitter
“Why can’t we, in the month of Ramadan, guide our hearts to shun suspicion? There’s too much of it nowadays.”
As Malaysians, there’s no room to be so sensitive about trivial issues. A pig is literally not going to send you to hell, OK?
Seriously, being overly critical about an angpow packet which in time would end up in the recycling is just a bit over the top, don’t you think?
Also read: Netizen Shares Why It’s Okay for Malaysia to Have the Largest Pig Farm in Asia
