The Importance of Being Angry

Wrath is one of the seven deadly sins from the Christian Old Testament and it's not hard to understand why society still preaches against it. But anger has its uses, or else, why, as humans, would we be programmed with this emotion. Recent research from Harvard University found that people who let out anger constructively in the workplace were able to get ahead more quickly than those who repressed it and felt trapped under the glass ceiling. Let's face it, who has not found themselves in a pent-up rage at work?

That's not to say it's OK to let out fists of fury at your work colleagues every time your boss piles on an unreasonable amount of projects on your desk. I've worked with people before who are constantly angry at work, who have to share their raw emotion everyday with everyone, making others work around their needs. They are vile.

But those who can express and manage their anger constructively are able to channel their emotions and drive themselves towards much higher goals. For example, when someone is not pulling their weight at work and begins to drag your work behind, it helps show a bit of anger when you tell them off, provided you don't make it too personal. That can make a real difference. It's not that emotions are strictly good or bad, but it is about how appropriate they are to the situation and how we deal with them.

If history has taught us anything, it's that anger can be a powerful tool in shaping our progress as people. Progress was made for the abolition of slavery because people were enraged at the injustices on an entire race. Progress was made for women when Emmeline Pankhurst was enraged by the ruling men of England. Indeed even in the New Testament, Jesus also became angry at the people in the synagogue who remained silent when he asked if it was lawful to heal on the Sabbath and he became angry at the money changers in the temple.

I get angry from a lot of things:

• The failure of small universities to introduce bigger ideas or inspire its students, or to help newer, younger students to make more contacts.

• The lack of lead Asian and particular male Asian actors in Hollywood films, despite legions of Asian actors in Southern California who can clearly act better than the familiar few famous names being over-paid on the silver screen.

• The assumption that Asian communities in America and Europe do well and are always over-achieving when they have to fight just as much racial prejudice as any other.

• The sneaky international legislation introduced by the American government and Wall Street institutions to oppress ordinary people, sometimes far far away, in order gain money for itself.

The list goes on and I can't say I have the answers to any of these problems. I'm hoping other Angry Asian Men will help.

However, my anger is important to me because it allows me to move forward in work and life. It keeps me down to earth and motivated when I become too self-indulgent. It is the only thing I have to stop me from retreating into the lazy mediocrity of a numskull's life - after all, of the seven deadly sins, I would rather suffer from wrath than sloth!