IS BODY SHAMING A CRIME?

By Attilya Binti Zainal

The term body shaming or also known as an appearance-related shame is coined quite recently and it is becoming the talk of the town as the social media is uprising. For as long as you have a body, the person is bound to be subjected to body shaming (‘This is…’, December 15,2018).). Body shaming refers to an action or practice of commenting, judging, criticizing, humiliating or teasing others for their physical appearance, especially their weight (National Association of Anorexia Nervosa and Associated Disorders, n.d) This occurs when the person did not appear to fit the societal standards of beauty as there is a specific ‘perfect’ figure that the person need to attain to be deemed acceptable in a society (‘This is…’, December 15,2018).

The idea of this ‘perfect’ body is so messed up because you could still be punished with harsh words if you are too skinny or too plump for the standard. And what’s worse, not only the body dimensions were scrutinized, it also can go to the length where people can be humiliated for their facial features, skin colour, hairstyles, height as well as the way someone is dressing up (Carpino, 2017). Thus, this has reflected in the way they are being treated in their everyday life including less job opportunities, less payment and others (Burnett, 2016). Therefore, it is crystal clear that body shaming is a form of bullying which may lower down the esteem of the victims.

Due to the fact that the media has heavily portrayed certain beauty standards to the audience, it does make sense that that is the criteria they need to achieve to be socially accepted (Jarret, 2019). Human brains are uniquely functioned, they are wired to like familiarities. Hence, with the constant exposure of body ideals, it has molded the way people think and whatever they captured in the media is what they believed in (Jarrett, 2019). Thus, the acceptance of beauty standards. Consequently, this has made those without the standard, especially the overweight ones to become a subject of jokes in the media.

Little did people know that the constant negative comments thrown to the victims has beaten them up emotionally and physically. There is evidence from the National Health and Morbidity Survey 2015 (Ministry of Health, 2019) that illustrated one out of two Malaysian is obese which brings Malaysia to one of the healthiest nation in Asia. Not only that, two thirds of adults in England were classified overweight in 2017. Meanwhile, according to the National Center for Health Statistics in United States, 70% of the adults is considered obese (‘Does fat…’, September 17,2019). Although the statistics look very worrying, that does not give the tickets to others to simply body shame those with overweight body with such nasty words.

Many people think that body shaming someone is a way of motivating the victims to shed some fats off their body (‘Does fat…’, September 17,2019). Interestingly, proof revealed that body shaming and weight discrimination made things worse and it will only lead to self-destructive behaviour (Sullivan, 2019). He added, the victims might feel ashamed of themselves and lead them to depression, anxiety and eating disorders. In addition, one of the body shaming victims said in an article (‘Does fat…’, September 17,2019). that the downgrading criticisms only made her eat more as that the only thing that makes her feel better. It seems like body shaming someone only create more problems.

There are many instances whereby people condemning others due to their physical appearances. For instance, Zaihani Zain, a well-known Malaysian fashion critic once body shamed someone for making her feeling uncomfortable during a catwalk shows she attended (Petter, 2018). She mentioned in her statement on Twitter that whoever weighing more than 60kg should not attend any fashion show event as their thighs are spilling over and disturbed the comfort of people sitting next to them. However, she received a huge backlash from Malaysian as well as other fashion critics for her insensitive comments.

Why body shaming is a crime? According to Ministry of Health Malaysia, body shaming is an act of bullying whereby it may marks a negative effect towards the victims such as emotional stress, loss of self-confidence, loss of appetite, depression and worse, may lead to suicidal thoughts (Yeap, 2019). Malaysia has finally stepped up their game to increase mental health awareness through criminalizing the offenders with fines up to RM50, 000 or imprisonment up to a year under section 233 (1) (b) Communication and Multimedia Act 1998. Therefore, with this initiative by the authorities, hope that people will be more sensitive to their words and mental health issues can be curbed.

In conclusion, know that people come in different shapes and sizes. Everyone is uniquely beautiful in their own way regardless their appearance. Be wise in choosing your words as it has the biggest power to influence others. Rather than using it to degrading others, people should turn it over with positive and uplifting criticisms. Hence, people will be happier and healthier.

References

Burnett, D. (2016, March 11). A big fat shame: the problems with criticising someone’s weight. The Guardian. Retrieved from https://www.theguardian.com/science/brain-flapping/2016/mar/11/big-fat-shame-obesity-media-biology-shaming

Carpino, T. L. (2017). Young Women’s Perceptions and Experiences of Skinny and Fat Shaming (Doctoral dissertation, Carleton University).

Does fat shaming help people lose weight? (2019, September 17). BBC News. Retrieved from https://www.bbc.com/news/health-49714697

Jarrett, J. (2019, March 21). Words Have Power: Can they lead to an eating disorder? Magnolia Creek. Retrieved from https://www.magnolia-creek.com/eating-disorder-recovery-blog/what-is-body-shaming/

Ministry of Health (2019, April). Retrieved from http://www.moh.gov.my/moh/resources/Buletin%20KKM/2019/E%20BULETIN%20APRIL%202019/files/basic-html/page8.html

National Association of Anorexia Nervosa and Associated Disorders (n.d.). Retrieved from https://anad.org/education-and-awareness/body-image/body-image-articles/body-shaming/

Petter, O. (2018, April 18). Fashion Critic Suggests People Weighing more than 60kg Should not Attend Catwalk Show. Independent. Retrieved from https://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/fashion/fashion-critic-weight-60kg-catwalk-shows-invitations-attendance-zaihani-mohd-zain-a8310586.html

Sullivan, B. (2019, September 17). Why Bill Maher is wrong about fat-shaming. The Conversation. Retrieved from http://theconversation.com/why-bill-maher-is-wrong-about-fat-shaming-123589

This is what body shaming is doing to your mental health: Why you should refrain from body shaming (2018, December 15). Times Now News. Retrieved from https://www.timesnownews.com/health/article/what-body-shaming-is-doing-to-your-mental-health-refrain-from-body-shaming/331436

Yeap, A, (2019, October 18). Body Shaming Is Now A Crime In M’sia, So Calling Someone Fat Online Could Land Bullies In Jail. Must Share News. Retrieved from https://mustsharenews.com/body-shaming-crime-malaysia/

MALAYSIA’ ACTION ON UYGHURS OPPRESSION

By Syed Faizal Bin Sitheek Rahman

The Uyghur is calling for help and Malaysia as a Muslim country seemed to be silent about the oppression that they are going through. Our Prime Minister Tun Dr. Mahathir Mohamad said that the reason is because China is one of the most powerful nations in the world; therefore we need to find another way to deal with Beijing so that the relationship between Malaysia and China does not damaged economically (Malaysiakini, 2019). Malaysia and China have been in political, social and economic relationship since before independence. Therefore, it is not an easy thing to raise voice against them as there might be some consequences that Malaysia will be facing afterwards.

In addition, he mentioned that China is a big trading partner in Malaysia and currently we are tied to Beijing because of Barisan Nasional’s projects that was renegotiated and confirmed on previously such as like the East Coast Rail Link, Multi-Product Pipeline and Tarns-Sabah Gas Pipeline and others. This might be one of the reasons why Malaysia is not enlisted in the group of 22 countries that are against China’s detention program in Xinjiang (Nurul & Ali, 2019).

All these 22 countries expressed their concern by writing letters to the President of the United Nation Human Rights Council and the United Nation High Commissioner for Human Rights by calling upon on China to uphold their national laws, international commitments and refrain from arbitrarily detaining or restricting on the freedom of Uyghur’s minority in Xinjiang. However, it is sad to see that Malaysia which has stood for many Muslim’s countries before could not stand or fight for this issue currently because of the economic relationship that we have with China (Putz, 2019)

It is even sadder that when there are another group of 37 countries who agree and defend with what China is doing in the Uyghur’s community. They mentioned that China has made remarkable achievement in the field of Human Rights and contributed to the protection and human rights development. One of the reasons why they defend China is because their own experience, for example, like Russia and North Korea have come under frequent attack internally and from abroad in the past. Due to their experience, they stand with China (Cumming-Bruce, 2019).

China has placed approximately 1.5 million Uyghur’s Muslims in re-education camps which they claim that is was necessary to prevent or combat against the Islamic extremist. However, what’s China’s claiming and what is really happening is very different. People who are detained or undergoing the re-education programs are being tortured and forced to submit to the will or policy of China. For example, from one of the interview with Uyghur Muslim Woman who managed to escape from Xinjiang gave her testimony in Congressional-Executive Commission on China in United Kingdom by saying that the China’s authority stripped, tortured and even laughed or make fun of her religion during the detainment (Halmurat, 2019).

When other countries such as like Hong Kong are also standing up for Uyghur (Al-Jazeera, 2019). It is perhaps the right time for Malaysia to join in the fight for Uyghur people too. Maybe we do not need to protest like Hong Kong, which turned out to be a riot, but at least we can peacefully do something to stop this mass brainwashing program otherwise the human right will not be defended. In the last summit in Kuala Lumpur, Mohd Asri Bin Zainul Abidin, who is the top Islamic jurist from Perlis state mentioned that Muslims need to boycott Chinese products due to Uyghur abuses. Even though, Malaysia could not protest directly via government administration. We can still protest through NGOs and third party channel so that the world can hear our support towards our Muslims brothers and sisters in Uyghur (Regencia, 2019).

REFERENCES

Al Jazeera. (2019, December 23). Hong Kong protesters rally in support of minority Uighurs. Retrieved December 25, 2019, from https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2019/12/hong-kong-protesters-rally-support-minority-uighurs-191223002851526.html.

Cumming-Bruce, N. (2019, July 13). More than 35 countries defend China over mass detention of Uighur Muslims in UN letter. Retrieved December 25, 2019, from https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/asia/china-mass-detentions-uighur-muslims-un-letter-human-rights-a9003281.html.

Halmurat Harri Uyghur @HalmuratU. (2019, November 27). I risked my life getting my parents out of a Chinese Muslim detention camp. I need your help to save more. Retrieved December 25, 2019, from https://www.independent.co.uk/voices/china-uighur-muslim-detention-camps-xinjiang-escape-a9220436.html.

Malaysiakini. (2019, September 28). Silence on Uyghurs because China is powerful – Mahathir. Retrieved December 25, 2019, from https://www.malaysiakini.com/news/493663.

Nurul, & Ali, N. A. (2019, December 23). Ini 22 Negara Yang Menentang Penindasan Etnik Muslim Uighur, Malaysia Tidak Tersenarai? Retrieved December 25, 2019, from https://siakapkeli.my/2019/12/23/ini-22-negara-yang-menentang-penindasan-etnik-muslim-uighur-malaysia-tidak-tersenarai/.

Regencia, T. (2019, December 20). Muslims urged to boycott Chinese products over Uighur abuses. Retrieved December 25, 2019, from https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2019/12/muslim-boycott-chinese-products-urged-uighur-treatment-191220122039763.html.

Putz, C. (2019, July 22). Which Countries Are For or Against China’s Xinjiang Policies? Retrieved December 25, 2019, from https://thediplomat.com/2019/07/which-countries-are-for-or-against-chinas-xinjiang-policies/.

FLAT EARTH?

by Wan Zamzaidi Wan Zakaria

Throughout our lives, we have seen many scientific theories that has been fed to us from the big bang theory, to the Darwin theory of evolution, and many more. Moving forward into this millennium era, another theory of science has been increasingly getting the attention of the public is the ‘flat earth theory’. The flat earth theory didn’t just recently arise as a topic of belief. The flat earth theory could be identified during the dark ages where Christianity did not support the idea that the world was spherical (Allergo, 2017). However from the 7^th century, monks and scholars have come up with writing on evidence to show that the world is round. The Islamic world also concurred to the same ideas with their beliefs and scholars and nobody had issues with this idea (Crindle, 1987). Beyond academics of the world, even an empty headed sailor recognized that the earth was spherical with the obvious fact that ships disappear over the horizon with the bottom first the sail to be the last of sight. The same idea applies when seeing land from ships. Evidently from these ideas, it is obvious that the surface curves continually at a certain point, making it one of the clear evidence that the world is spherical.

However, there are percentage of people from around the world who still believes that the world is flat! In a simple poll done in 2018 by the massive market research firm YouGov, results showed that;

84% of respondents said they have always believed the world is round
5% stated “I always thought the world is round, but more recently I am skeptical/have doubts”,
2% stated “I always thought the world is flat, but more recently I am skeptical/have doubts”
and 2% went with “I have always believed the world is flat”.
The remaining 7% stated “Other/not sure”.

The results shows a small number of flat-earth believers, but is in on a rise as the power of the digital media especially the internet are increasingly showing more and more content that influence and suggest that the world is flat. People who believes in this flat earth theory are more widely known as flat-earthers, and every day, their flat earth society is convincing others with their flat earth society movements (Hiskey, 2019).

So, what does flat-earth-society believes in?

The flat earth society was formed to promote what they think is a misconception of how earth is believed to be spherical. One of the beliefs of this society is that earth is actually shaped like a disc, with the outer rings being Antarctica acts as a border of ice walls. Gravity is formed because earth is moving forward like a rocket creating downward energy, while the moon and the sun is circling on top of the earth disc. (The Flat Earth Society, 2019)

They believe that the earth’s night and day cycle happens when the moon and the sun circles the atmosphere of the earth like a spotlight, whereas gravity is an illusion. The flat earth is said to be accelerating upwards hence pushing us down creating a sense of ‘false gravity’. What lies underneath earth is unknown because there has been no exploration and they believe that the world powers (governments) are purposely avoiding people from exploring this. From their point of view, it just might be pile or soil and rocks. These are among the elaborate geometric theories that flat-earthers have come up with to supposedly make it all work.

The resurgence of the flat earth conspiracy

We knew that the earth was round since more than 2000 years ago. How can it be possible that people are still arguing about this despite all the scientific facts and evidence that is clearly available? In our everyday life, at a certain degree we may feel like the world is flat through experience. However, this belief can only exist if the people ignore the centuries of evidence that have been accumulated showing that the earth is spherical.

With the new media especially the internet, it has helped this society to influence more people by tapping into high profile people such as celebrities and influencers in social media to slowly plant the flat earth theory into the minds of the public. Slowly, this theory is making a rise in social media platforms. The new generation that we live in nowadays consists of many social media users, but not many are actually media literate people. Online users tend to read through content that does not have research credibility with weak resources. However, because the social media platform are widely used, it creates a sense of belonging to the users and does have an effect towards their subconscious minds to believe in something even if they don’t know anything about.

Apart from that, studies have shown that people that tend to believe in conspiracy theories have the psychological need to be ‘unique’ and different from other people (Lantian, Muller, Cecile, & Douglas, 2017). What could be more unique than believeing in something that could be so outlandish? Because of a social trend that is growing like mushrooms in the social media, people tend to jump on the bandwagon to be part of something they do not know entirely. A psychologist research from University or Kent, Karen Douglas added that all conspiracy theories share a basic thrust. They present an alternative theory about an important issue or event, and construct an (often) vague explanation for why someone is covering up that “true” version of events. “One of the major points of appeal is that they explain a big event but often without going into details,” she said. “A lot of the power lies in the fact that they are vague.”

The movement of the flat-earth-society also have effects on the way the public perceives the authorities. They believes that it is just something the powerful people trying to hide, but form what? And because of these beliefs, it is indirectly cultivating people to disregard the authorities and also scientific evidence that have existed throughout of the century. In a way, it is considered dangerous as it may create more waves of conspiracy theories that will influence people to discard actual science and evidence.

So which side are you in? Is the earth is flat, or spherical?

References

(2019, April 12). Retrieved from The Flat Earth Society: https://www.tfes.org/

Allergo, J. J. (2017). The bottom of the universe: Flat earth science in the Age of Encounter. Sage Journals, 61-85.

Crindle. (1987, 6 25). Cosmas Indicopleustes, Christian Topography. Retrieved from Christian Topography: http://www.ccel.org/ccel/pearse/morefathers/files/cosmas_00_1_preface.htm

Hiskey, D. (2019, April 12). Retrieved from Today I FOund Out: http://www.todayifoundout.com/index.php/2019/06/who-started-the-flat-earth-conspiracy-theory-how-many-actually-believe-this-and-what-do-they-believe-exactly/

Lantian, A., Muller, D., Cecile, N., & Douglas, K. M. (2017). “I know things they don’t know!”: The role of need for uniqueness in belief in conspiracy theories. Social Psychology 48(3), 160-173.

Future banks in Malaysia

by Muhammad Hasif Bin Che Kar

Age can be just a number for some, but for this research the age gap different could mean everything. As generations grow, we can see baby boomers that are born between 1946 to 1964, which post-cold war era, very optimistic about the future. During this time, they have a good economic opportunity, (Wj Schoroer, 2004). While the millennials or gen Y were born between 1974-1994, this two-age gap has different timeline over the years. In terms of technology, these two generation has different ways of accepting and use technology.

The millennials are ‘media-conscious’ of everything that’s happening in the world, in their tip of their fingers. Moreover, there are known as digital natives. Facetime and social media play vital role in their communicating channel. While generations before that have the traditional media ritual, whereby newspaper reports play bigger role than reporting. For generations before the millennials, newspaper act as not only reporting but also news validating. The senior generations find it difficult to accept changes that have been made rapidly, (Dlodlo & Mafini, 2013).

For generation X, they are no specific years on what year they were born, but they are also known as digital immigrants. They form of communications are personal computers, and SMS and email play significant role in their life (Linnes & Metcalf, 2017). They are the generations after baby boomers and exposed to technology early in their life. They have exposed to technology whether by their workplace or devices.

In contrast these generation have evolved, from normal phone to smart phones, to social media. next, we are looking at sectors that also involved heavily with technology nowadays, and what has it compare to generations before.

Bank is financial institution that provide service such as safeguard money, accepting deposits, and provide loans. These types of service are few objectives why the bank is important. Together with the evolution of time and technology, banking sector has also evolved to provide facilities, payments service and insurance, (Shod & Ganga, 2016). Throughout the years, banking has been segmented to commercial banking, investment banking and housing finance. These separations were maintained by various forms of official regulation such as exchange control and lending constraints, (Bowen, Hoggarth, & Pain, 2016).

The increasing tempo of economic activity lead to tremendous increase in volume and complexity of banking activity. Banks have now come out to fulfill national responsibilities through catering to the needs of agricultures, industrialist, traders and all to all other section of the society. Transferring money to overseas, or payments to international account have to go through banking activity which expand the role of banking for more than just daily banking activity, (Kwak, Lee, Park, & Moon, 2010).

The year of 2000 see the new dawn of banking sector. Fintech or financial Technology has been created and slowly taken over the use of manual banking to online banking. Companies such as Ali Baba and Tencent has grown to ease the china market banking transaction. Many of the develop countries and developing countries has offer similar platform in financial sectors, these countries are embracing FinTech waves as they come in plain sight (Bowen, Hoggarth, & Pain, 2016).

References

Bowen, A., Hoggarth, G., & Pain, D. (2016). The recent evolution of the UK banking industry and some implications for financial stability. business and banking faculty, 22-45.

DELOITTE. (2017). EMBRACING A DIGITAL FUTURE. NEW YORK: DELOITTE ANALYSIS.

Dlodlo, N., & Mafini, C. (2013). The relationship between technology acceptance and frequecy or mobile commerce use amongst Generation Y consumers. Acta commercii 13(1), 8 pages.

Kwak, H., Lee, C., Park, H., & Moon, S. (2010). WHAT IS TWIITER, A SOCIAL NETWORK OR A NEWS MEDIA? DEPARTMENT OF COMPUTER SCIENCE, 26-30.

Linnes, C., & Metcalf, B. (2017). iGeneration and their acceptance of technology. International Journal of management and information system, Volume 21, Number 2.

Shod, & Ganga. (2016). Introduction of Indian Banking System. Shod and gangga journal banking sector, 1-3.

Wj Schoroer. (2004, february 4). social marketing. Retrieved from Generations X,Y,Z and the others: http://socialmarketing.org/archives/generations-xy-z-and-the-others/

CYBER-ATTACKS ON PERSPECTIVES OF ECONOMICS

by Zaliha binti Idris

The cyber risk landscape is growing rapidly in many fields. The government faces an unprecedented level of cyber-attacks and threats with the potential to undermine national security and critical infrastructure, while businesses that store customer information and confidential client’s online struggle to maintain their reputation amid massive data violations.

The potential economic impact of cyber threats cannot be underestimated. Economic have been warned of digital disintegration (The Global Risks 2014 report, 2014). A scenario in which cyberspace can be truly undermined because it strengthens attacks where the internet is no longer a trusted medium for communication or trade, at a high cost to the economy and society.

Cyber-attacks are now happening all over the world at an increasingly fast pace. Recently, the Office of Personnel Management in United States of America announced that hackers stole social security numbers and other sensitive information for more than 21 million people. Sony Pictures has a company and hacked personal email and also salary information for vice presidents and executives. Stuxnet is a US and Israeli computer virus that has been rumoured to attack centrifuges that are used to control machines that are important for the manufacture of nuclear weapons. As more companies and governments rely on the internet, this makes them vulnerable to malicious cyber-attacks from groups of hackers and countries that use hackers to infiltrate countries with sensitive computer systems (Mike & Jack, 2015).

There is a very urgent need for cyber security professionals to fill the many white-collar loopholes that have sprung up when companies struggle to protect their programs from outside attacks. Recent casualties include well-known brands such as eBay, Target, Neiman Marcus, Michaels Stores, NATO, JPMorgan Chase, Adobe, Social life and the list continues.

For our country, the government is seriously considering the threat of cyber-attacks in line with the rapid development of information and communications technology in the country. The reliance on the use of information technology for socio-economic development could pose a threat and cyber-attacks if not protected. Based on statistics produced by Malaysia Computer Emergency Response Team (MyCERT), 7,962 cyber threats were reported over the last year. Malaysia was no exception to the threat of cyber-attacks and the country ranked third among 193 countries in the world in terms of commitment to cyber security based on the Global Cyber Security Index (GCI) 2017. This is because of today’s industrial development is based on the digital economy and the challenges to tackle this threat are increasingly difficult.

Ministry of Science, Technology and Innovation claimed that they will help to develop research and development of cyber security incubation to remain competitive. Cyber Security is information technology security, focusing on the protection of computers, networks, programs and data from unwanted or illegal access, change or destruction. Cyber security affects us all when we are online, using a mobile device or tablet, or using cloud-based services. We all interact with various tools designed to protect your personal information, similar to the tools used to protect our country’s infrastructure. It’s important for everyone to understand cyber security and our role in being safe while staying connected to minimize the possibility of incidents (CHIPS Magazine, 2014).

Cyber Security can be defined as activities or processes, capabilities or capabilities, or countries where information and communication systems and information contained in them are protected from or defended against unauthorized damage, use or modification, or exploitation. Cyber Security focuses on protecting computers, mobile devices, tablets, networks, programs, and data from unauthorized access or manipulation. Understanding cyber security is the first step to protecting yourself, your family and your organization (Melike, Ali, Ihsan, Aysenur, & Murat, 2019).

Cyber threats are real a danger and the government should be worried on this issue. The economy, financial, and national security can be breached by the cyber-attacks. For example, we discussed on Malaysia’s scenario in economics. The study reveals that the potential economic loss in Malaysia due to cyber security incidents can hit a staggering US$12.2 billion (RM 49.6 billion). This is more than 4 per cent of Malaysia’s total GDP of US$296 billion (RM1.2 trillion) (based on studies by Microsoft in collaboration with Frost & Sullivan). The study revealed that a large-sized organization in Malaysia can possibly incur an economic loss of US$22.8 million (RM92.6 million), more than 630 times higher than the average economic loss for a mid-sized organization (US$36,000) and the cyber security attacks have resulted in job losses across different functions in three in five (61%) of organizations that have experienced an incident over the last 12 months (Sugriiva, 2018).

To calculate the cost of cybercrime, Frost & Sullivan (2018) has created an economic loss model based on macro-economic data and insights shared by the survey respondents. This model factors in three kinds of losses which could be incurred due to a cyber-security breach. There are direct, indirect and induced. Firstly, direct is a financial losses associated with a cyber-security incident which included loss of productivity, fines, remediation cost, etc. Second, indirect is the opportunity cost to the organization such as customer churn due to reputation loss and lastly, induced in which that was the impact of cyber breach to the broader ecosystem and economy, such as the decrease in consumer and enterprise spending. There are many other hidden losses that we have to consider from both the indirect and induced perspectives, and the economic loss for organizations suffering from cyber security attacks can be often underestimated. In addition to financial losses, cyber security incidents are also undermining Malaysia organizations’ ability to capture future opportunities in today’s digital economy, with more than three in five (62%) respondents stating that their enterprise has put off digital transformation efforts due to the fear of cyber-risks based on the studies by Frost and Sullivan (Sugriiva, 2018).

Although high-profile cyber-attacks, such as ransom ware, have been garnering a lot of attention from enterprises, the study found that for organizations in Malaysia that have encountered cyber security incidents, data exfiltration and data corruption are the biggest concerns as they have the highest impact with the slowest recovery time (Sugriiva, 2018).

In a world where cyber threats are a constant danger, companies find themselves in a continuing battle to keep their data safe. A large amount of risk now exists because cyber criminals are constantly looking for new ways to break our boundaries and get our vital information. However, did you know that 99.9% of exploitation is possible because the organization does not handle basic security cleanliness? The fact is that many industries focus on the wrong things, often using basically defective security strategies and ultimately not providing the right protection that they need (Andy, 2016-2017).

REFERENCES

Andy, G. (2016-2017). Breaking Into Information Security: Learning The Ropes 101. Retrieved March 26, 2019, from Leanpub: https://kyhwana.keybase.pub/books/breaking%20into%20infosec%20.pdf

CHIPS Magazine. (2014, October 16). Cybersecurity or Convenience? Retrieved mARCH 26, 2019, from CHIPS: https://www.doncio.navy.mil/CHIPS/ArticleDetails.aspx?ID=5594

Melike, E., Ali, K., Ihsan, K., Aysenur, B., & Murat, C. (2019). A Fuzzy Based MCDM Methodology for Risk Evaluation of Cyber Security Technologies. International Conference on Intelligent and Fuzzy Systems (INFUS 2019: Intelligent and Fuzzy Techniques in Big Data Analytics and Decision Making) (pp. 1042 – 1049). Switzerland: Springer, Cham.

Mike, L., & Jack, D. (2015, July 9). 22 Million Affected by OPM Hack, Official Say. Retrieved March 25, 2019, from abc News: https://abcnews.go.com/US/exclusive-25-million-affected-opm-hack-sources/story?id=32332731

Sugriiva, P. (2018, July 12). Cybersecurity threats to cost organizations in Malaysia US$12.2 billion in economic losses. Retrieved March 26, 2019, from Microsoft Malaysia News Center: https://news.microsoft.com/en-my/2018/07/12/cybersecurity-threats-to-cost-organizations-in-malaysia-us12-2-billion-in-economic-losses/

The Global Risks 2014 report. (2014). Part 2: Risks in Focus:2.4 Digital Disintegration. Retrieved March 25, 2019, from World Economic Forum: http://reports.weforum.org/global-risks-2014/part-2-risks-in-focus/2-4-digital-disintegration/?doing_wp_cron=1564101657.5671370029449462890625

How Political Correctness Ruins Hollywood

by Nursyamimie Sofi

There has been a declining viewership of western films in recent years as majority of American film fanatics and international viewers have turned to alternative entertainment programmes that are not from Hollywood (Fu, 2013). The rise of the Asian film industry, such as K-drama or Hallyu, has driven Western viewers to move away from Hollywood films. Film genres have remained stagnant (Neale, 2005). But Hollywood today is reinstating its dominance in the world by trying to promote a genre that highlights the Western lifestyle and maybe slowly injecting its social living standards in non-Western countries. This is shown on both traditional and new streaming platforms, such as television or at the cinema, as well as Netflix, Hulu etc.

What is political correctness? Roberts (1997) described it as language, policies or measures that are intended to avoid offense or disadvantage to members of particular groups in society. The term refers to avoiding language or behaviour that can be seen as excluding, marginalising, or insulting groups of people considered disadvantaged or discriminated against, especially groups defined by sex or race. In public discourse and the media, it is generally used as a pejorative, implying that these policies are excessive or unwarranted. In laymen’s term, it is an act deemed by liberals in America as a righteous virtue in upholding the minority race and sexual preference (Spencer, 1994).

To understand the current political correctness of today, one must look back at the origin of the movement. The term was first coined in the late 19th and 20th century under the leadership of Vladimir Lenin in Soviet Russia. Its function was to implement a condition of a socially contrast way of thought in the nation in the form of being socially and theoretically correct to give little room to any opposition opinion with the rulers. The indoctrination is heavily injected into factors that weigh heavily in a society, such as culture, social norms and race.

By late 1980s, most Western media and reporters criticised the term as a “usage that was deemed by the left to place censorship in the language being used in the news”. They argue its existence and usage is to “protect” ethnic minority culture and sexual preference. This has led to the undermining of its credibility and reliability as it intends to appease the left wing of politics in the US and European countries. Certain phrases or words are deemed “racist” or “intolerant” to minorities and the lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer (LGBTQ+) group (Raehn, 1997).

Hollywood is the latest to adopt the virtues of political correctness to appeal to the younger liberal masses. By the end of the millennium, Hollywood and entertainment industries in America face rigid competition from other entertainment businesses in producing music or films that cater to a wider audience outside America. Unlike the 1970s and1980s when Hollywood thrived globally, the viewers today are tuning less to Western production and are giving their support to local industries. Given also the fact that quarter of the US population is ethnically non-European ancestry, this demographic has demanded more representation of their own kind to be portrayed in TV shows and films.

As the US tries to uphold its “righteous” values and force them other nations, this too has been considered as another factor why the US entertainment industry is losing its fans. Viewers outside the US cannot comply to or accept the virtues displayed by Hollywood. Recent Hollywood films even displayed distorted historical facts. In late 2018, English director Christopher Nolan released his historical World War II film Dunkirk. The film was about the Britain army stranded at the shores of Dunkirk in France. They were trying to flee to England from the German army. Keep in mind this is a World War II film based on a true story. The distorted historical figures in the movie were the Britain army being portrayed. A few of the army men were actors of the African-American race. However, during the war, the Britain army did not consist of non-European ethnic fighting at the front line in Europe. This bad portrayal falsified history and gave a false view of the event to generations who watch the movie.

Another form of political correctness culture in the media is the diversity image Hollywood is trying to uphold in presenting a more diverse cast in today’s shows, compared with 20 years ago when most of the cast were Caucasian actors and actresses. The diversity that is being shown in TV shows and films from Hollywood often depicts an interracial cast instead of a cast that is fully non-whites or blacks. It is apparent that diversity reflected in Hollywood today only highlights multiracial cast when the make-up of the world population consists of different races with its own unique cultures, traditions, ways of living and behaviours.

But what has taken Hollywood by storm is a movement that is tied closely to politics in the US. The recent Oscars was one of the platforms used for such a political movement. One of the prominent women figures, Oprah Winfrey, used her airtime to preach women empowerment to the masses as opposed to receiving the award. What’s intriguing in this isn’t just how politics suddenly and explosively intersected with an awards-season release, it’s how the studio failed to punch back. Universal execs could have argued that the film is a celebration of an American hero; they could even offer to screen the movie at the White House. They did neither, partly because filmmakers refused to compromise their principles, and partly because they knew that placating conservatives would backfire at the Oscars.

What is obvious from the observation of political correctness is that Hollywood has a lot to study on the matter before adopting it senselessly onto its production and causing an uproar among the majority of audiences that can’t relate to the virtues of political correctness. Also, the adaptation should be freed of any political agenda to gain favours in the political American spectrum.

References

FAIRCLOUGH, N. (2003). `Political Correctness’: the Politics of Culture and Language.

Discourse & Society, 14(1), 17–28.doi:10.1177/0957926503014001927

Fu, W. W. (2013). National audience tastes in Hollywood film genres: Cultural distance and

linguistic affinity. Communication Research, 40(6), 789-817.

Neale, S. (2005). Genre and hollywood. Routledge.

Raehn, R. V. (1997, June). The Historical Roots of Political Correctness’. In Free Congress

Foundation (Vol. 44).

Roberts, P. (1997). Paulo Freire and political correctness. Educational Philosophy and

Theory, 29(2), 83-101.

Spencer, M. E. (1994Spencer, M. E. (1994, December). Multiculturalism,“political correctness,” and

the politics of identity. In Sociological Forum(Vol. 9, No. 4, pp. 547-567). Kluwer Academic

Publishers-Plenum Publishers.

THINGS YOU NEED TO KNOW ABOUT HALAL

by Nur Atikah binti Meor Rosli

Mass media is a medium or platform to reach large number of audiences. It can be divided into two categories namely electronic media which involves film, television, radio as well as recorded music, and print media which involves newspapers, books, pamphlets and comics. With the advancement of technology, media can be categorized as digital media that involves internet and mobile mass communication which provide services of mass media, i.e. emails, websites, blogs, and internet-based radio and television. There are several functions of media – it helps us interpret the past and encourages us to change what is necessary rather than stick to the status quo. We can learn technology by adopting new information from different sources of media as it has the ability to explain things that human beings are not able to which includes Halal certification towards basic needs of human being.

Halal certification in Malaysia is issued by the Department of Islamic Development Malaysia and Islamic religious council of each state. Competent authority is the best tool in determining a product is genuine. Moreover, Malaysia has received several awards as the implication of Halal certification on food products. Although some suppliers do not provide the logo but most of the products are certified by JAKIM. The food products with Halal logo is produced to meet the Halal dietary requirements, standards, procedures and guidelines to be followed. This is also supported by (Sheikh Abdul Aziz, 2015) stated that, in order to ensure the halalness of each product, it is important to educate the industries on the concept of the “halalan thoyyiban” aspects which are related to the safety, nutritional content and aesthetic appeal of halal products. As Muslim, consumers need to seek for a product that is produce in compliance to Syariah which is based on the Quran and Sunnah as well as the Malaysian law.

Although, there are platforms with the information of Halal certification given but people are still confuse and questioning the importance of Halal. The major reasons that people should know about the Halal certification is that the cleanliness and purity of the process to produce the products and the existence of the logo is not just for Muslim but it is applicable for everyone because we need to consume product that is wholesome and healthy as well as free cruelty to animals and no harm to the environment. Previously, there were few cases involve with exploiting the Halal logo which form a huge confusion among Malaysians. One of the issue is that, both Vivian – Lee May Ling, 29 and Alvin – Tan Jye Yee, 30 have been arrested and fined due to the ‘Bak Kut Teh” posting on Facebook – July 3, 2013. They were charged with posting religiously insensitive pictures, inciteful content and pornographic pictures. The photo shows them eating ‘Bak Kut Teh’, a non-halal delicacy, with the greeting “Selamat Berbuka Puasa” and a halal logo. The picture went viral and sparked anger among Malaysians especially the Muslim society as they realized that ‘Bak Kut Teh’ is forbidden in Islam. Thus, they were charged under Section 4(1)(c) of the Sedition Act 1948, fined RM5,000.00 or imprisonment up to 3 years or both. The confusion will not be developed if the knowledge of Halal being implemented by human. This is because the Halal certification provide countless benefits and it is guarantee that the products are safe and clean for consumers.

Nevertheless, people today are aware with the usage of Halal logo and they have strong demand on the products because they claimed that the product with the certification is much more healthier and safer compare to product without the Halal certification. It is also supported by (R, M., Nasir & Chiew, 2010)where they stated that, Non-Muslim Russians made purchases from Muslim stores because they believe the products are fresh, safe and infection- free, and had confidence that Muslims would adhere. It is also supported by (Othman, Shaarani & Bahron, 2017) that. the emphasis on quality as well as hygiene and food safety is not necessarily something that really halal. Although the products are certified with Halal logo but it does not ensure that the product is safe to be consumed. Based on Surah Al-Baqarah in verse 168: O mankind, eat from whatever is on earth [that is] lawful and good and do not follow the footsteps of Satan. Indeed, he is to you a clear enemy. The statement above is supported by (Abd Rahim, Mohd Mansor, Yakob, & Ismail, September 2018) mentioned that, it is clear that places great emphasis on Allah SWT viewed about the cleanliness in everything including the quality of handling food from raw material until it is ready to be consumed.

Halal logo can be associated with hygiene and food safety and it is clear that “Bak Kut Teh” is not suitable and forbidden for Muslims because of the procedure of slaughtering the animal which does not follow the Quran and Sunnah. The statement above is supported by (Ahadith, n.d.) from chapter 5, Surah Al-Mai’idah (The Table Spread with Food) mentioned in verse 3. Forbidden to you(for food) are: Al-Maytatah(the dead animals-cattle-beast not slaughtered), the blood, the flesh of swine and the meat of that which has been slaughtered as sacrifice for others than Allah, or has been slaughtered for idols, etc., or on which Allah Name has not been mentioned while slaughtering and that which has been killed by strangling, or by a violent blow, or by a headlong fall, or by the goring of horns – and that which has been (partly) eaten by a wild animal – unless you are able to slaughter it(before its death) – and that which is sacrificied (slaughtered) on An-Nusub(stone altars).

Source: Sample of Halal Verified Engine by Department of Islamic Development Malaysia Retrieved from https://www.halalverified.com/Halnet/Details/1

Source: Halal Logo by Halal Malaysia Official Portal. Retrieved from http://www.halal.gov.my/v4/index.php?data=bW9kdWxlcy9uZXdzOzs7Ow==&utama=panduan&ids=gp1

Moreover, according to (Amran, 2018), JAKIM has identified and recognized Halal bodies worldwide – namely Austria, Argentina, Bangladesh, Belgium, Bosnia, Brunei, Kanada, Chile, Egypt, Perancis, Jerman, Indonesia, Iran, Ireland, Italy, Kazakhstan, Kenya, Maldives, Maghribi, Poland, Singapura, Korea Selatan, Sepanyol, Sri Lanka, Switzerland, Taiwan, Thailand, Arab Emiriah Bersatu (UAE) and Vietnam. Based on the above locations, it can be explained that Halal food or products have significant impact on Halal food entrepreneur and contributes to the country’s economy. This shows that people are more interested to purchase products with Halal recognition. According to Ustaz Amin from Masjid Tunku Mizan, UiTM Shah Alam, Malaysia based on his islamic perspective – Respecting each other is an advised attitude in Islam. Each and every Muslim in the world who have faith towards Allah SWT should have respect to Muslims and non-Muslims as well. The differences between cultures becomes a challenge but it has its own silver lining. We should take the benefit from the differences that we have to become more mature. The statement above was taken from Surah Al-Hujurat verse 13 which states, “O mankind! We have indeed created you from male and female, and have made you nations and tribes that you may know one another. The noblest of you, in the sight of Allah, is the best in conduct. Allah is Knower, Aware.”

Source: Halal Certification Procedures. Retrieved from http://www.halalanquality.com/index.php/halal/halal-certification-procedures

The power of media is that people are able to provide and influence others with fake information through advertisement, pictures and messages. Nowadays, the content can be associated with implicit elements which does not affect the audience’s perception and behaviour immediately but if the medium is being used to encourage and provide genuine information especially towards Halal certification, people would be able to live a healthy life style without feeling doubtful. The government agency also plays an important role to ensure the product is verified so that we can educate and produce more Halal products worldwide.

References

Abd Rahim, S. A., Mohd Mansor, S. K., Yakob, M. A., & Ismail, N. (2018). FOOD SAFETY, SANITATION AND PERSONAL HYGIENE IN FOOD HANDLING: AN OVERVIEW FROM ISLAMIC PERSPECTIVE. International Journal of Civil Engineering and Technology (IJCIET), Volume 9, Issue 9, pp. 1524–1530.
Retrieved from http://www.iaeme.com/MasterAdmin/UploadFolder/IJCIET_09_09_148/IJCIET_09_09_148.pdf

Ahadith, Q. &. (n.d.). AYATS RELATED TO HALAL FOODS FROM QURAN E KAREEM. Halal Guider.
Retrieved from http://www.halalguider.com/page.php?sluge=QuranAhadith%20about%20Food

Amran, S. N. (2018). JAKIM IKTIRAF 66 BADAN PENSIJILAN HALAL LUAR NEGARA. Kuala Lumpur: Berita Harian Online.
Retrieved from https://www.bharian.com.my/berita/nasional/2018/02/388093/jakim-iktiraf-66-badan-pensijilan-halal-luar-negara

Othman, B., Shaarani, S. M., & Bahron, A. (2017). The influnce of knowledge, attitude abd sensitivity to government policies in halal certification process on organizational performance. Journal of Islamic Marketing.
Retrieved from https://www.researchgate.net/publication/304280352_THE_EFFECT_OF_HALAL_REQUIREMENT_PRACTICES_ON_ORGANIZATION_PERFORMANCE_AMONG_FOOD_MANUFACTURES_IN_MALAYSIA

R, F. G., M., Z., Nasir, M., & Chiew, E. (2010). Non-Muslim perception awarness of halal principle and related food products in Malaysia. International Food Reserach Journal 7 .
Retrieved from http://psasir.upm.edu.my/id/eprint/11717/1/NonMuslims_awareness_of_Halal_principles.pdf

Sheikh Abdul Aziz, D. W. (2015). MANUAL PROCEDURE FOR MALAYSIA HALAL CERTIFICATION (THIRD REVISION)2014. Putrajaya: Department of Islamic Development Malaysia.
Retrieved from http://www.halal.gov.my/v4/images/pdf/protocol%20halal%20meat%20poultry.pdf

DORAEMON: JAPAN’S SYMBOL OF CULTURAL DIPLOMACY

by Mohd Rafi Awang Senik

Japan as one of the country in the world who had enormous producing of anime and game characters. The market for its anime and games had been tremendous accepted and flourished around the globe. Furthermore, Japan as the core country existed with the advancement of technology and development (Adhikary, 2015). Hence, it could penetrate and influence other country in the perspective of cultural diplomacy. Cultural diplomacy is a part of public diplomacy. Diplomacy itself is an effort to gain the national interest in international society and to have foreign relations (Kim, 2017). Diplomacy is an effort to struggle its national interest through cultural dimension, such as education, science, sport, art, and other (Warsito & Kartikasari, 2007).

In this paper context, Doraemon one of the examples from many types of Japanese anime that have a popularity and famous worldwide. Doraemon is a Japanese anime series written and illustrated by Fujiko F. Fujio. In early publication, the series only in printing method and appeared for the first time in 1969 in Children’s Monthly Magazine in Japan. Before the series was took part in television series, the English translation came out for comic version. Animated series in television was debuted on 1973 by Nippon Television (Miho, 2014).

Why Doraemon anime as a part of Japanese Public Diplomacy? According to (Snow, 2009) , the countries now impress others with their soft power potential. These include of science, art, culture, sport, education and other things. If we look from the Doraemon anime series, every angle of Japanese culture been portrayed from its family relationship, varieties of food, school environment and positives side of Japan. This image portrayed as a representative image of Japan to the international world (Adhikary, 2015).

In one study conducted by (Kartikasari, 2018) stated that Doraemon as an anime ambassador through the International Anime Award in 2008. It was recognized by the Japanese Foreign Minister on that time because of the big influence of Doraemon. This recommendation and decision made by the Committee of Pop-Culture Experts and the Japanese Cartoon Association with the collaboration with Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Japan (MOFA) and Ministry of Culture of Japan (Kartikasari, 2018).

The appointment of Doraemon as the anime ambassador, the Japanese government hope that the world community can know the positive side of Japan through the Japanese anime. In addition, it could promote and introduce Japan to the world since it one of successful example of creative global industry. The government of Japan also hope that the presence of Doraemon raises the attractiveness of foreign society towards Japanese culture, tradition, music and technology. All this then formed a fans community that also spread in Asia and America (Kartikasari, 2018).

According to (Nye, 2005), in order to co-opt other groups and parties, the element of attraction is essential. Soft power is the ability to attract, and attraction often leads to acquiescence. Based on this statement, we could see how other foreign countries accepting the Japanese sources like anime, fashion, work culture and food in the local values. In Malaysia, the vision of Look East Policy has been chanted long time ago by Dato’ Seri Dr. Mahathir Mohamad, Malaysia Prime Minister. This to imitate how successful Japanese work ethics could be implement and practice in Malaysia (MOFA, 2002).

In Doraemon series also we look how the father’s role in the family as a leader or someone that hardworking and dedicated to his work. This has been portrayed how the cartoon wearing the office suit and sometimes coming back home in late time because of office’s work. Japan uses its anime as their public diplomacy actually because in this modern era, people tend to see the global condition by using simple way and also communication by using modern ways as media device (Mori, 2018).

Media is the place for getting the information or issues and also media can be used or giving the responds towards issues and information. It fits with the public diplomacy theory which is said by the U.S Department of State, Dictionary of International Relations Terms 1987 (PublicDiplomacy.org, 2016), Public diplomacy refers to government-sponsored programs intended to inform or influence public opinion in other countries. Its chief instruments are publications, motion pictures, cultural exchanges, radio and television.

Even the series mostly translated into the respective language in specific country, but the environment and message from the animation could be understood and digested. This effectiveness can be seen from the number of foreign students studying Japanese language for example. According to (Mori, 2018) when the anime features particular places as locations. The locations not only get to the viewers’ heart, but also motivate their behavior to visit there. Hence, develop P2P (People to People) diplomacy through international exchange between foreigners and local people. P2P diplomacy involves all the ways in which governments and private individuals, organizations and groups influence foreign policy directly and indirectly (Mori, 2018).

To improve Japanese figures abroad, MOFA (Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Japan) took the policy by organizing several programs to attract people in other countries. The purpose of these programs actually to enhance the image, enhance mutual trust and respect for the Japanese government and its society. MOFA and Japan Foundation as the actor of public diplomacy to executes programs and strengthening their objectives in enhancing to promote of learning Japanese and culture (MOFA, 2018).

The Doraemon series started it franchise on 2005. At this time the agreement between TV Asahi Corporation and The Walt Disney Company arranged for the series get aired in Disney XD television channel in the United States. The popularity of Doraemon not just appear in television series, but also video games, musical, merchandise and film. From Japan’s view, the acceptance of their product in foreign country not only give a positive image, but from franchising of Doraemon character will boost their economy, particularly in merchandise and copyright (Miho, 2014).

With the large of Japanese anime fans outside from Japan, certain program arranged in local area to attract and showing a positive image of Japanese culture (Kartikasari, 2018). In Malaysia, the Japanese anime fans such as Doraemon, Sailormoon or One Piece could participate and show their interest by participating in the event like Japan Expo, Comic Fiesta and World Cosplay Summit (Paidi, M. Akhir, & Ping, 2014).

These platforms provide a connection and interaction among the fans and indirectly will spread the positive image and views about Japan. The programs usually supported by the Japanese organizations by giving a grant. In Malaysia, the cultural grant aid provided by the Japan government from 1975 to 2016 approximately JPY 1,561.5 Million (MOFA, 2018). Japan Foundation as one of the organization that provide full support as it function in bridging between local people and Japan government. Moreover, its existence located in every country in the world.

In conclusion, the Japanese anime series will give a significant view in the cultural diplomacy. Even if watching the anime could not bring the audiences directly to the Japan’s policies, but in certain level, the message of positive image successfully deliverable. The formation of Japanese identities in every part of the world proved that, without a military weapon also could influence others to accept the characteristic based on the attraction that have in the cultural values.

REFERENCES

Adhikary, R. S. (2015). Impact of Japanese Cartoons on Primary School Going Children: With Special Reference to Doraemon. IOSR Journal of Humanities and Social Sciences, 20(6), 01-09.

Kartikasari, W. (2018). The Role of Anime and Manga in Indonesia-Japan Cultural Diplomacy. University of Tsukuba, 41-47.

Kim, H. (2017, August 2). Bridging the Theoretical Gap Between Public Diplomacy and Cultural Diplomacy. The Korean Journal of International Studies, 15(2), 293-326.

Miho, T. (2014). Educational and Technological Perspectives in Doraemon – Hope and Dreams in Doraemon’s Gadgets. International Journal of Humanities and Social Sciences, 8(11), 3723-3728.

MOFA. (2002). Ministry of Foreign Affairs Japan. Retrieved from Look East Policy – The Challenges for Japan in Globalized World: https://www.mofa.go.jp/region/asia-paci/malaysia/pmv0212/speech.html

MOFA. (2018, July 25). Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Japan. Retrieved from MOFA: https://www.mofa.go.jp/region/asia-paci/malaysia/data.html

Mori, H. (2018). How Does Anime Realize Public Diplomacy?: The Potential and Future Prospects of Anime Pilgrimage. International Journal of Kitakyushu City University, 87-104.

Nye, S. (2005). Soft Power: The Means to Success in World Politics. New York : Public Affairs.

Paidi, R., M. Akhir, M., & Ping, L. P. (2014, 8 5). Reviewing the Concept of Subculture: Japanese Cosplay in Malaysia. 163-181.

PublicDiplomacy.org. (2016). PublicDiplomacy.org. Retrieved from PDAA – An Association of Public Diplomacy Professionals: https://pdaa.publicdiplomacy.org/?page_id=6

Snow, N. (2009). Rethinking Public Diplomacy. New York: Routledge.

Warsito, T., & Kartikasari, W. (2007). Diplomasi Kebudayaan: Konsep dan Relevansi Bagi Negara Berkembang. Yogyakarta, Indonesia : Ombak .

The Role of Mass Media: Application by Government and Society

by Fadzil Hadri bin Mohd Nawawi

Nowadays, we could describe that the communication have expand and evolve to the borderless world. Most of the public and society could communicate through various channel and platform including media. It is one of the most powerful tools of communication in the developing countries, as well as in the developed countries. It can aid in promoting the right things at a right point of time, or can make use of any situation to create disturbance around the people or in the society (Biswas, 2016). Could we imagine the world without boundaries? People communicate to one another as present without limitation including demographic, cost and more. The development is also positively affecting information communication technology (ICT) where people sharing information, news and messages through available sources. This evolvement is due to mass media that become influential sources of present communication. What is mass media? Mass media is communication—whether written, broadcast, or spoken—that reaches a large audience. This includes television, radio, advertising, movies, the Internet, newspapers, magazines, and so forth.

One of the significant mass media role for government is it has become the government source of information channel. In early days and in an effort in achieving independence, the mass media especially newspaper and radio has become the propaganda channel. The freedom fighters will plays the national issue in order to instill the national spirit among the citizen. However, as present, the emergence of media has seen transformation from the traditional media to the new media era particularly through the connection of internet. In the today context, the traditional media comprising its print and broadcast components are being increasingly challenged by modern media in cyber space such as the internet, the blog, and the SMS, in the market of news, views and previews (Stephen Tan, 2006). Therefore, most of the governments used mass media in order to deliver their messages including policy to the public. Despite using traditional media which is newspaper, television and radio, the government also spreading the information and messages via new media such as blog, social media platform, SMS and more.

Furthermore, in order to persuade the public and society to maintain support, the government apply social media, blog and news portal as part of their political campaign. New media have become a significant channel in order to attract support especially between the young adult and youngsters. Frequent uses among youngsters of Internet are watching videos, using search engines for finding new knowledge and information, and downloading or uploading music or videos (Shanti, 2010). The trends show that the society especially among young generations prefers new media of source of information. Therefore, the government has enhanced its new media platform in order to persuade the public to maintain their support to the government and in the same time delivers latest government announcement, policy and more.

The mass media for government also plays a role in providing new education branch specifically focusing in media. Since the formation of traditional media in pre and post-independence period, the government note that the requirement to enhance the public especially among student to focus on media studies. Since then, the media education has become one of the prominence social science fields to be chosen by student. The wider agenda was to churn out trained and competent ‘professionals’ for a country that was still rather young and needed to develop its economy rather quickly (Z.Nain, 2003). The government believes that the media plays a vital role in shaping community resulting to the decision of media professionals training among the young generation. The majority of media academics received their higher degrees from Western – principally American – universities (Z.Nain, 2003). The situation resulting to the direction of media studies which taking Western perspective as main sources.

Therefore, the evolvement of media studies which many are offered in private and public education institution giving a new light to the local media education. Furthermore, the mass media also have been transformed as an education channel as well as method in learning and teaching. Most of educators and academician probably transform into electronic-learning (E-Learning) as learning and teaching method. This method particularly provides a new teaching and learning excitement among students. For example, there are few E-Learning channels in most of the nations introduced by the government (via government linked-companies) or academic institution of Smart School, Edu-Web TV, I-Learn and more. E-learning platform tools for automatic knowledge check, systems of questionnaires and voting as well as systems of communication between students and academic teachers increase students’ motivation for regular and independent studying which in final effects gives comparable and slightly better results than traditional methods (Półjanowicz, 2011).

Nonetheless, the mass media also plays a vital role in generating economic income to the nation. The economic perspective generated through the platform of advertising that considered transmitted to the audience through mass media channel. Advertising is the non-personal communication of information usually paid for and usually persuasive in nature about products, services or ideas by identified sponsors through the various media (Bovee, 1992). Usually advertiser will purchase advertisement either through printed, electronic and new media in order to promote their product and in the same time persuade the public. As present, most of advertisers opt for new and digital media that enhance the capability to reach target audiences especially among young adults.

The advertising industry today is showing a change in the traditional media to include the digital media in order to reach audience more effectively (MCMC, 2009). Hence, the evolvement of advertising industry plays a significant role in generating economic income to the government via tax collection. The government could apply all the tax collection and contribute back to the society via services including health, transportation and more. Furthermore, mass media through advertising industry also creates job opportunities among the young generation especially fresh graduates. The job opportunities offered through the industry consists of graphic and creative design, ads installation, media analysis and more. Therefore, it also creating and supporting the human resources needs among the society through the job opportunities.

Interestingly, mass media role have been applied as communication channel through social media platform. Social media are web-based communication tools that enable people to interact with each other by both sharing and consuming information (Nations, 2017). The social media platforms that actively applied consist of Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and more. It means that through social media, people could have an unlimited communication to one another including the among nation’s leader. Our very own Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak is also among the rank of world leaders who use Twitter to connect with fellow Malaysians at home and abroad (Khushairi, 2017). Through social media, society could interact to one another including sharing information, data, picture, music and more. Social media allows everyone to be more approachable and personal in sharing updates and comments daily (Khusairi, 2017). There could be vast reasons the application of social media as communication platform which are convenient, affordable, mobile, borderless, limitless and more. For example, pertaining gathering support from public, a politician could communicate with his/her social media followers in order to share thought, activity, announcement and persuasion.

Most of the nation leader could have their own social media team to enhance the engagement with the public. Meanwhile, the public especially young adults tend to apply social media for communication enhancement. Somehow, most of the interaction and verbal talk happening through social media platform and it have become a present trend. It’s difficult to predict anything exactly, but if one thing can be said about the future of social media, it will probably be more personalized and less noisy (Nations, 2017). Nonetheless, through the development of technology, social media will become a partial and vital changing agent in shaping the future society.

Hence, mass media have become needs among the global society including Malaysian. As discussed above, mass media role could be concluded into several perspectives that are government source of information channel, providing new education branch specifically focusing in media, generating economic income to the nationand applied as communication channel through social media platform. Furthermore, most of the society applies mass media as present main source of information. They tend to choose mass media as communication sources due to the flexibility and reliability of the media. Even though the media could have negative impact and effect, people could still rely in order to meet individual gratification as explained by Uses and Gratifications Theory[WN1] (Musa, Nazri & Salina, 2015). Furthermore, while granting the media some effects, the theory gives the audience more credibility and holds that people actively seek out specific media and specific content to generate specific gratifications or result (West & Turner, 2014). It is depending to the society on how applying the mass media since it could also be inviting negative effects. Users consists of government and public should be wisely and effectively applies mass media as according to the suitability in order to enhance the development of the nations and society. Perhaps the mass media would promote national development and in the same time maintain the human relationship between societies.

References

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Cultural Imperialism of Disney

by Shahiirah Atiqah Sharom

Nowadays, within the modern world, it can be seen that the culture of Disney has spread all over the world, aided by its popularity. But the questions that raises to our mind is what are the main cause of it? It is greatly well-known that Disney is one of the most powerful organization that owns around billions of the amount of media assets. As stated by Wantasen (n.d.), the term of “Disneyization” usually will be defined based on the bad way and it also indicates the homogenization of the emotional labour, consumption and merchandising. According to Bryman, (n.d.), there are four dimensions of cultural imperialism of Disney, which are theming, emotional labour, dedifferentiation of consumption and also merchandising.

Firstly, theming of the theme park. As nowadays, most of the leisure activities have becoming standardized and also homogenized, therefore due to the fact that it is well-known theme park, it could be the product, together with the shifting of the society’s needs. Nevertheless, they have come up with the visualized cartoon in forms of physically exist in order to attract more visitors. It can be said that one of the reason of the development of this industry is due to the high demand among society to stay away from stressful daily environment (Bryman, n.d.).

Meanwhile, as stated by Bryman (n.d.), the term dedifferentiation of consumption defines that “the general trend, in which the forms of consumption associated with different institutional spheres becomes interlocked with each other and increasingly difficult to distinguish”. In other words, the main attraction is not totally focused only on the industry of theme park, but also restaurants, accommodations, shops and so on. The combination of those services may be defined as the “consumption of hybrid” that represents the merging of various kinds of the consumption. Plus, the main key objective for the organization is to attract more on the spending among visitors, therefore they can produce more profit. The higher the needs being fulfilled, the longer period of time that people will prefer to stay. Same goes to their spending. As for example, those visitor, their main idea is just to go to the theme park, however, they will still need to spend more on the food, souvenir and others as well. This is the same thing as you dropped into the airport as it can also become your shopping spots. So, your main point here is to take flight, but still you want to spend on the other things as well like foods for example.

Besides that, the other elements is the merchandising that also represents the franchising. As stated by Bryman (n.d.), merchandising acts as the part of the promotion of the products in the form of or holding the images and also logos of copyright, which involves those products that are made under the license. It can also mentioned that it’s one of the main reason that Disney becomes the leading and also very popular organization throughout the whole globe. Besides that, they have a lot of different kind of products for their merchandise which was sold at all of their outlet. Therefore, the key contributor of their profit comes from the sales of their merchandise like books, hats, mug and so on. As stated by Bryman (n.d.), rather than the general type of business solely, the sales of merchandising surely will encourage towards better profit.

The fourth element that was proposed by Bryman (n.d.), was the emotional labor, in which he explains that the employees are given no choice but to behave within the behavior that has been set by them. As for example, portraying the good and joyful behavior as the employee of the theme park whenever they are communicating with the visitors of the theme park. Those employees need to comply with the specific behavior that has been set by them, in terms of the helpfulness, friendliness and cleanliness. However, this kind of behavior in working was finally turn into the stereotype of contemporary culture. This is to convey the idea that the theme park employees also feeling happy as well, therefore it produces the loyalty among the visitor based on the medium of conversation among them.

As for conclusion, through the advancement of technology, it can be said that there’s no longer barrier to spread the culture all over the globe, that people can reach the information at any of their convenient time. The influence of this culture can be seen through the domination of Disney culture towards the world. Within Malaysia, it can be seen through the transformation by Malaysian make-up artist, Saraswati, through her Instagram account, Queenofluna into few characters of Disney princess (Malaymail, 2016). This was somehow shown that we actually being affected by the diffusion of culture. This is a very rigid examples of how Disney culture is being integrated into our own culture. In which, people adapted and also accepted the culture and at the same time this shows how powerful the Disney’s hegemonic across the globe nowadays. The society however, could be either negatively or positively affected by the culture of Disney. As for positive, it could be we get to learn new culture and negative effect is our own culture might lose its own original identity as mixed up with the other culture.

References

Bryman, A. (n.d.). The Disneyization of Society. Sociology Review, Vol 47, 125-26, 29-30.

Malaymail (2016, February 27). Malaysian makeup artist proves you can wear a tudung and be a Disney princess. Retrieved February 27, 2016, from https://www.malaymail.com/news/life/2016/02/27/malaysian-makeup-artist-proves-you-can-wear-a-tudung-and-be-a-disney-prince/1069325

Wantasen, I. (n.d.). Walt Disney as the Icon of the American Popular Culture. Sam Ratulangi University. Retrieved March 9, 2016, from http://www.niu.edu/international/_images/Isnawati%20Lydia%20Wantasen.pdf