Obsession

Before you continue reading this post, please watch this short video below:



I have a theory. I have a theory why the Pakatan Harapan federal government collapsed. And I have reason to believe that it was down to obsession. Yes, obsession. But before I continue further, let me ask whether you had missed the gorilla in the video above? It was as clear as daylight. The gorilla was walking slowly through the group of players, it stopped in the centre of the frame and thumped its chest and then it walked away. But did you notice it? Some will say yes, and some will say no.

For those who said no, this can be explained as selective attention. According to Daniel Simons who devised this video, one can be so absorbed in doing something that one fails to see other things even though they are very obvious and happening right in front of one's eyes.

In my opinion, this same selective attention deficiency could have explained the situation our former Prime Minister, Mahathir Mohamed, was in. He was so obsessed with preventing Anwar Ibrahim from becoming the next Prime Minister that he failed to see the gorilla - or gorillas - in the room. The gorillas who were plotting to take over his job.  By the time he realised the gorillas were there, it was way too late. The gorillas were already consuming him.