Malaysian policymakers are by and large out of touch.

Thank you 🙏

Vindicated too late.

We need evidence-based responses before the next tragedy. Not surveillance. Not bans. But coordinated community support that catches warning signs early.

Read my full piece: www.malaysiakini.com/read4free/75...

Singapore has successfully disrupted planned attacks using threat assessment frameworks. The US's Sandy Hook Promise shows early intervention works.

Prevention is possible, but it requires understanding actual influences, not moral panic over games.

Some solutions I proposed:

- Age verification for combat knife purchases online and deny delivery; Situational Crime Prevention

- Coordinated threat assessment in schools

- Mental health support systems

- Teaching healthy relationships vs parasocial fantasies

- Improved content moderation

The knee-jerk response? Ban video games. Install CCTVs in school. Reintroduce caning.

But that's missing the point. The accused never mentioned games. He researched school shootings and their aesthetics – the performance matters as much as the act itself.

The motive? A large part of their grievances may have been a combination of chronic pessimisim, chauvinism, and existential crisis.

www.malaysiakini.com/read4free/75...

Since 2020, Singapore detained 12 youths planning similar attacks. All young males. All spent extensive time in digital spaces glorifying violence.

This is a regional pattern – copycat violence inspired by internationally documented attacks.

See Singapore ISD report: www.mha.gov.sg/docs/librari...

The Malaysia stabbing accused brought combat knives and a note citing four US school shootings plus a niche film about school violence (Zero Day, 2003).

Not video games. Films and online communities where violence is studied, discussed, glorified.

Analysis: deepdive.chasseur.group/the-deep-div...

Thank you so much!

For additional context and full transparency, I was maligned for publishing my analysis and accused of fear-mongering and being "alarmist". You're welcome to read my full analysis and decide for yourselves. I think understanding these patterns isn't alarmist - it's necessary to protect our children.

See also @perspicatcity.bsky.social for her critique of my analysis along with her additional viewpoint and nuanced knowledge as well. We've been having a robust discussion about the incident.

Why This Matters: This violence pattern is extraordinarily rare in communal Malaysian society. But digital platforms collapse geographic boundaries, allowing individuals to consume and internalise foreign violence models. We need frameworks calibrated for this new threat.

The Solution: My analysis recommends procurement monitoring alongside support systems and intervention frameworks, not school securitisation. The attacker purchased combat knives online some time in advance. These sales to minors could be flagged to create intervention point before violence occurs.

This was a lone actor attack. No collaborative planning, no warning signs visible to parents or teachers. The radicalisation happened through private digital consumption - impossible to detect until too late. Traditional threat assessment frameworks in MY weren't built for this.