On May 22nd, newspapers' local news sections reported three separate killings brought on by out-of-control tempers.

In Changhua County, two elderly veterans got into a spat after they glanced off each other while crossing a street. The 80-year old grew furious and plunged a fruit knife into the 79-year old five times. In Tainan, a young male student died as a result of wounds to the neck produced by a samurai sword and a long watermelon knife wielded by a group of juveniles he had "dissed" by "looking" at them. Fed up with incessant harassment, a middle-aged Pingtung County man hacked his younger brother to death with a weed scythe.

A kid looks at you, so you gang up on him and try to chop his head off? Going on a killing spree, because your love life hits a rough patch? Venting your rage by committing arson, because of a quarrel with your wife? The last few years have seen an increasing number of anger-induced homicides.

How did it come to this? Why does anger take so long to subside and why are so many people hurt by it? Do people today have low frustration thresholds? Is our society sick? How is it that ten years since the concept of EQ (Emotional Quotient) became a hot topic in society, we have not even begun to internalize it?

Hands clenching the steering wheel, you are in an anxious hurry to get somewhere. Stuck in traffic, you stab at the accelerator and brake in rapid succession, looking for openings in other lanes. A sedan suddenly hurtles past. Instantly, your seething blood comes to a boil. You stomp on the gas. The engine whines. Your forehead throbs. Fury spews forth from your narrowed eyes. You cut in front of the offending vehicle and screech to a halt. You unconsciously grab the long metal steering wheel lock as you exit the car. You bring the "club" crashing down on the oblivious driver....