The Mount Kinabalu nudity story has lasted this long because people insist on taking offence
No one in this country really cares about the naked tourists, but the media is obsessed with anything potentially offensive
I genuinely can't believe how long the media has been reporting this Mount Kinabalu nudity scandal. Not only does it seem barely news-worthy, pretty much every normal person in this country has quite swiftly decided they don't give a fuck. Stranger still, the 10 tourists that stripped off have had more coverage than the earthquake in the area that subsequently killed 18 people. The reason for that being, an earthquake isn't as offensive as a pair of breasts or bollocks.
The story has lingered like a stale fart because the Kinabalu people believe the mountain is sacred (it's meant to house the spirits of their dead ancestors or something similarly Scooby Dooey), and to unclothe on it is profoundly offensive. There's that word again - "offensive". People took offence and that's why the tourists were thrown in a Malaysian prison for three days, and it's also why we've been forced to watch and read the appointed spokesperson for nudity, Eleanor Hawkins' apologies. Well, barring the fact I don't condone indecent exposure, and what they did was obviously stupid, I actually feel quite sorry for Eleanor for having to endure the relentless force of the media.
I say that as someone who finds it incredibly difficult to be offended. I think most people do, they're just tricked into thinking they care about what's on the news - like the Kinabalu story. We live in an era where the media forces us to take an interest and, more importantly, pick a side. "Do I find that offensive?" is probably one of the most frequent questions we ask ourselves, but it should be "Is this important enough for us to be debating? Do I give a shit if someone insults my beliefs?"
My thinking is that only a special kind of person takes offence. And by special I mean stupid and annoying. Most of us are normal and if something potentially offensive happens, we can either ignore it or deal with it in a calm manner. But to take it to a national newspaper? All that effort just to express how offended you are? You'd have to be a monumental dick. In fact, if I were to witness someone doing that firsthand, I'd be so baffled I'd throw up.
It might seem like I'm pooh-poohing the beliefs of the Kinabalu people - because I am. I don't believe in gods or spirits or the afterlife, so I find it incredibly hard to sympathise, even more so now that they've claimed the tourists' disrespectful behaviour caused the earthquake. That's obviously nonsense. If anything, that's the most offensive statement to come out of this story: to suggest that their moment of idiocy is responsible for the deaths of 18 people. Quite frankly, I find that disgusting. I might even be offended.
