Rakib AhamedMELATAH
November 2nd 2010 11:43
Category: CULTURE
LATAH
Have u ever heard about this word? What the meaning of this word. Is this a disease or a culture problem? how bad can it affect your lifestyle? There is a couple of different meaning by several source.
la·tah
[lah-tuh]
–noun
a pattern of neurotic behavior, usually induced by a startle, first discovered in Malaya, and characterized by the compulsive imitation of the actions and words of others.
World English Dictionary
latah (ˈlɑːtə
a psychological condition, observed esp in Malaysian cultures, in which an individual, after experiencing a shock, becomes anxious and suggestible, often imitating the actions of another person
Medical Dictionary
la·tah definition
Pronunciation: /ˈlät-ə/
Function: n
: a neurotic condition marked by automatic obedience, echolalia, and echopraxia observed especially among the Malayan people
latah la·tah (lä'tə
n.
A nervous disorder characterized by an exaggerated physical response to being startled or to unexpected suggestion.
These are different meaning taking from different source. But what about people opinions about this behavior. lets take a look at some of the opinion.
I believe it is a repeat conscious behaviour that leads to unconscious (habits)..
how does it start? well, maybe it is learned behaviour culturally..
Most likely that if your parents or the people you mix do it, you will do it as well...
Had an Indian colleague that melatah easily, but he did in Malay.
We're all careful not to surprise him when clients are around as his latah was not exactly PG rated
I heard a discussion about this phenomenon and the panels said it happens among the French too, but not as bad as the Malays. sometimes it can be worse, when u tease her, take off ur shirt, she will take off half dance, and she dances, sing and she sings… but i was told not to tell her to ‘mengucap’ or she’ll fall asleep for good, never tried that though… haven’t found the right guinea pig yet… i also hear ppl say ‘oh kulup’ (o foreskin) sometimes…
[SIZE=3]This is interesting. My big fat Malay-English dictionary says latah is…
“…a nervous paroxysmal disease aroused by suggestion and often taking the form of hysterical mimicry; melatah, to suffer from latah; to get frantically excited; to get hysterical.”
I’m re-reading Sir Frank Swettenham’s Malay Sketches (originally published in 1895 with subsequent reprintings). He has a section on latah. The last sentence in this section is, “I have somewhere read that individuals similarly affected are found amongst the Canadian lumbermen.”
As u can see, there is a lot of different opinion about melatah. For me personally its not from ur genetic or what. its a habit that we start from looking at the people who melatah. Specially when ur good friend or relative. Mostly start when we tease someone who already melatah. For a long time, it could be a habit for us too. So whats your opinion about melatah. Is it a phenomenon, sydrom, sickness or a habit. Let share ur opinion here.
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