HE HOISTED himself up the railing to dive face down three floors below according to eye witnesses.
The news that someone took his own life always generates a collective gasp of shock among members of a community. The feeling of scandal is then followed by reverie as to the HOWs and WHYs of the case.
Unlike other issues when it is easier to detach ourselves, suicide affects all of us on a personal level. It has that emotional resonance that gives it a jarring effect. We wonder what strong forces in an individual's life could lead a person to do what seems to be an unthinkable act. Especially since we are all operating in society religiously following the instinct for self-preservation.
Isn't it the case that there is a tacit agreement among us all that we are here to survive for ourselves and our families and we pattern our everyday life toward the attainment of this goal? The traffic, commerce, and the general hustle and bustle of everyday living follow this logic of survival. Thus, we are brought to a sudden pause when somebody decides not to participate in this game called life - abruptly, willfully, and dramatically. And in an upscale brand new mall at that.
It is curious that there are rising incidents of suicide within malls in recent times. It seems that the venue of choice for those who have lost hope dramatize their final act in these spaces that represent the good life in our society driven by consumption. The malls have become the new churches where we commune with our middle class aspirations. And the symbolic message of a painful self-inflicted death in these spaces is laden with so many meanings.
At the core of these many possible interpretations is that behind the veneer of happiness and contentment that the display of abundance malls offer is actually the close affinity of this contemporary space with death.
How many workers again died in the Bangladeshi sweatshop building collapse so that name brands can retail their hand-sewn designer clothes in malls and turn in super profits? 1,129. How many overworked Chinese workers have also leaped to their deaths in a span of 72 hours so that you can have in time your latest Apple gadget that are now gloriously displayed in these malls for your touch and perusal? 14. How many construction workers died in this specific mall so that it can be opened in schedule feng shui style? The exact number is not known but there are reports of five to six individuals.
But the macabre aspect of malls goes beyond these physical gruesome deaths. There is also the demise of life and spirit that these spaces violently symbolize. Outside the lighted glass-encased products are people whose labor value are less than the exchange value of the products they sell. For them, malling is a spectator sport where those who have the income purchase while they, in contractual below-minimum wages only look in envy.
Malls are where all these contradictions in the way we order our society take place. It is thus understandable why it has become a venue of choice for those who are frustrated over their lot in life.
In this singular space, the dream middle class life is so close yet so out of reach. To break through the exclusionary glass divide that the malls manifest within their spaces, it would take land holdings, fat government contracts or positions, or a family member working abroad, or in other words, successful entry into the high-spending consumer class.
The next day, the gleaming marble tiles showed no trace of where the self-inflicted violence was staged. In their attempt to make sense of the event, some callously attributed the suicide to the recent NBA game finals while others cited the supernatural forces that supposedly inhabit the place.
For life must go on – a kind of life where the illusion of bounty and normalcy takes precedence over the painful reality of frustration, exclusion, and want.