Endoh’s Dungeon

It was like a Mediacorp prime-time drama when Chee Soon Juan was recently hurled with the insult of “near psychopath” by a much respected political figure, Lee Kuan Yew. Sure, it raised the eyebrows of some while others found it hilarious for such insults to be permissible in the Court of Law. Of course, it was a very glaring evidence who the laws applied to, and who are exempted. I’m not about to start a discussion on our judiciary though, since Law Minister K Shanmugam said it is the duty of citizens to “condemn attacks on the country’s judiciary.”

I began to ponder about the term “psychopath” when I watched Most Evil on Discovery Channel. What exactly makes Mr Chee near-psychopathic? Maybe Mr Chee is already psychopathic? Or perhaps, the psychopathic one isn’t Mr Chee at all?

Psychopathic behaviours are commonly linked to serial killers, especially those with a long history of torturing their victims. In the show Most Evil, these individuals are ranked accordingly based on records and also their neuro activities studied by experts. It aids law enforcement agencies and the medical circle to more clearly define what is psychopathic and what’s not. In my opinion, it is still a very grey area to determine if a person is psychopathic even though there are very common traits seen in all cases.

According to Wikipedia, psychopathy and psychopaths are explained as;

Psychopathy - “… a psychological construct that describes chronic immoral and antisocial behaviour.”

Psychopath - “… is defined by a continual seeking of instant gratification in criminal, sexual and aggressive impulses.”

Based on the above descriptions, Mr Chee didn’t seemed to fit well into this category. Isn’t it? He challenges the political figures and their policies, but not rob the wealth of Singapore politicians and feed the poor ala Robin Hood. He’s not known to be convicted of any sexual atrocities (unlike ex-secretary general of National Solidarity Party for topless pictures of his Indonesian maid in 2003), nor being investigated or known to be involved. Aggressive impulses? Perhaps! He is the most outspoken opposition against the Lee clan and his cohort of political puppets.

But hell, aren’t businessmen aggressive with their business strategies as well? Isn’t ISD or the Government as a whole, also aggressive in clamping down on terrorists? Singaporeans love shopping and it’s not uncommon to see them “aggressively” queue for free gifts, sometimes leading to arguments? Hmmm… these certainly make all of us psychopathic, in a way.

Dr. Nelson Lee (IMH) is my psychiatrist whom had been treating my insomnia for years and is one of my most reliable sources for such expertise. Over a casual chat half a year ago, he was enlightening me on the differences between psychopathy, psychosis, chronic depression, obsessive-compulsive disorder and the common emotional stress. Regarding psychopathy, he had this to say;

Individuals with psychopathic behaviours are usually noted to be “living in a world of their own” through clinical observations. They display signs of violence which may endanger the safety of those around them. Psychopaths share similarities with psychotic patients like being delusional, such that they imagine things that are not there. Other examples are like those, whom has imaginary friends. It’s not uncommon for many people to confuse psychosis and psychopathy.

(The above is my summary of what Dr. Lee said, and not the specific words. Looks like I have my own Lee clan here, my psychiatrist is Lee, my surname is Lee, and I have a MM Lee and how can I forget PM Lee? Except I do not have the luxury of million-dollar salary package or personal security like SECCOM.)

When I recalled this conversation with Dr. Lee, I found myself focusing a lot on a second term - delusional. What both MM Lee and Mr Chee had since debated on, are perfectly legitimate issues. How does that make any single party “near psychopathic”?

Professor of Psychiatry Otto F. Kernbery had this belief for psychopathy;

… psychopathy should fall under a spectrum of pathological narcissism, that ranged from that ranged from narcissitic personality on the low end, malignant narcissism in the middle, and psychopathy at the high end. Because of the psychopaths inability to internalize superego precursors, they are unable to learn from past mistakes, and are completely devoid of a conscience.

Coming to that, isn’t Singaporeans aware of the amount of ego in how Singapore was built up from nothing? Oh.. oh… there are tonnes of bloggers who displayed narcissism periodically, so bloggers must be psychopathic too. Politicians trade a fair share of narcissistic remarks with foreign countries and oppositions afterall.

So MM Lee, maybe all of us are indeed psychopathic. Singaporeans IMAGINE that after receiving a little money just before elections, will see us living our lives in a more democratic country when we obviously know it will never come. Singaporeans IMAGINE that when politicians adopt New Media tools like blogging, the freedom of speech will be enhanced and the Government will be more engaging towards the citizens, when obviously it was just wishful thinking on our parts. Singaporeans, are so imaginative. Maybe that makes us psychopathic.

It’s always funny to see how politicians throw words at each other before the brain waves can work enough to determine if a certain term is appropriate. If MM Lee didn’t mean to say that as a tongue-in-cheek remark, then he must be dead sure that Mr Chee is seriously near psychopath. On what grounds did MM Lee deemed fit to determine and decide that Mr Chee was close to that level of insanity, I have no idea.

What made it even more hilarious, MM Lee is a trained lawyer. What about Mr Chee? He’s a trained neuro-psychologist!!! Now between the two of them, I wonder who is more likely to be qualified enough to determine if a certain individual is psychopathic or not. The combination of a lawyer and a neuro-psychologist in the Court of Law is certain to send some sparks, because some medical conditions are not even recognized by law dictators, even if proven scientifically.

For the politicians, it’s a matter of face-value and power. For us, it’s just another television-alike comedy.

Who’s more likely to be near-psychopath, then?

Hint: My elders always preach to me since young, the mad will never admit they’re mad. Have a good laugh, while I get out there and maybe kill some people whom had treated me badly.