THE MALAYAN SWING

The story is set within the world of ‘community care.’ A system that claims to make provision for those having learning disabilities and mental health difficulties who are being placed in the “community.” The story is told through the words of Aidan, a forty five year old man who has been moved from a group home where he felt safe and had developed a positive self identity, and now he finds himself in a ‘community’ that is fraught with fear, violence and degradation. His story is of a struggle in a strange environment where danger and suspicion have become his principle experience in the new ‘freedom.’ The reader is invited to experience an isolated journey and gain an understanding of the brutal forces that those who are mentally ill are exposed to and exploited by. The progress Aidan had made over the years, of building confidence and developing skills to be independent, deteriorates as he is plunged into a world where he finds no respect or encouragement; his disabilities are made obvious to him through his experiences and daily interaction.

Through Aidan’s experience we acquire an insight into a world occupied by some of those people with mental disabilities. The story attempts to show that in the main, those people labelled as “mentally ill” are not the violent intruder and danger to society often presented in the media, but rather, they are vulnerable individuals who are exposed to elements that are unmanageable, and it is a community without adequate support that is a danger to him or her who is mentally ill.

Note about the title: “Malayan Swing” is a name given to the booby trap used in Vietnam; it is a survivalist weapon used in jungle warfare.

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