When faced with threatening situations, our sympathetic nervous system engages and our body primes for one of two responses – to fight or to flee. In the case of the Department of Social Welfare (JKMM), it would seem that the governmental institution has taken the latter approach.
One week ago, on its Facebook page, the institution posted a greeting that addressed the Buddhist community, wishing them a “Happy Thaipusam”. Well intended as it may be, they have failed to take into consideration a most important fact – Thaipusam is celebrated by Hindus, not Buddhists. The move has been ridiculed heavily by cultural savants and illuminated individuals who, having been brought out of ignorance themselves, jumped on the bandwagon to criticize said organization.
Two days after Thaipusam, the Facebook page was nowhere to be found. Is there no redeeming grace that can pull JKMM out of its Facebook fiasco?
Maybe a word of apology would serve better than to turn tail and make for social media oblivion. While the gaffe is probably the result of one individual in charge of monitoring the Facebook page, taking down the entire page definitely required the approval of upper-level authorities.
Have we not learned to say we’re sorry when we make mistakes?
Is it really that hard to apologise for a mistake? http://t.co/3t0ADfrd