SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT GOALS: CAN THE GOALS BE ACHIEVED?

By Noralea Adzhar

The Sustainable Development Goals are the efforts and actions that need to be done in order to achieve a better and more sustainable future all everyone. They emphasize on global challenges humans are facing related to poverty, climate change, the environment, and peace. (The United Nations, n.d.)

Key transformations are required in achieving the Sustainable Development Goals set by the United Nations based on the major drivers of societal change, such as human capacity, consumption and production, decarbonisation, and the digital revolution.  (European Commission, 2018)

Firstly, sustainable development is a societal rather than an environmental challenge. Substantial advances in human capacity are needed through improvements of education and healthcare resulting in higher income and better environmental-related decisions.

Secondly, by adopting a circular economy approach and reduce demands, much more could be done with fewer resources through responsible consumptions. Besides that, clean and affordable energy could be provided through renewables and electrification. (Cann , 2015)

Moreover, in order for the society to achieve access to nutritional food and clean water while protecting the biosphere and the oceans, more efficient and sustainable food systems are required. One way to do so, is by increasing agricultural productivity and reducing meat consumption.

Furthermore, the transformation of settlement patterns into smart cities such as decent housing, smart infrastructure and high connectivity will benefit the world population and the environment

In terms of digital revolution; science, technology, and innovation are needed to support sustainable development. It highly depends on the way the world will put the Information Technology revolution to use; either by continuing present trends or inverting them by asserting societal control.

In conclusion, the society needs to cooperate and a collective effort is required in order to ensure that the Sustainable Development Goals set by the United Nations could be achieved to secure a better living for all. Without a mutual understanding among the society, the world we live in today might be at risk in the foreseeable future.

References

Cann , O. (2015, September 23). How can the development goals be achieved? . Retrieved from World Economic Forum: Sustainable Development: https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2015/09/how-achievable-are-the-sustainable-development-goals/

European Commission. (2018, July 16). Six steps to achieving the Sustainable Development Goals . Retrieved from The European Commission’s science and knowledge service: https://ec.europa.eu/jrc/en/science-update/six-steps-achieving-sustainable-development-goals

The United Nations. (n.d.). About the Sustainable Development Goals . Retrieved from Sustainable Development Goals : https://www.un.org/sustainabledevelopment/sustainable-development-goals/

A LANGUAGE THAT IS UNDERSTOOD BY ALL OF THE WORLD’S POPULATION

By Nor Nabilah Abdullatif

Most of us have experienced going into a place that nobody speaks our native language but there are languages that we can used to make other people understand us. Chinese, Spanish, and English are among the most spoken language in the world. However, what would happen if we are stranded in a place where the people couldn’t speak or understand any of the languages that we speak? How do we communicate or ask for help? The answer is nonverbal communication. According to Nordquist (2019), nonverbal communication refers to a communication process without using spoken or written words. This type of communication is also called manual language. Nonverbal communication can be considered as universal language because it is innate and people in different cultures and countries have a common understanding of these cues.

As humans, we express our emotions through facial expressions. Frith (2009) claimed, the emotion of facial expressions are not simply reflective but also consist of communicative components.The message of fear can be conveyed via the facial expression of widen eyes, eyebrows are raised and pulled together, and lips slightly stretched horizontally. This type of cues can help other people to understand our emotions and helps us to deliver our message. No matter what kind of culture or language that we speak, we will always be able to read facial expressions.

“There was speech in their dumbness, language in their very gesture”. The quoted line was taken from one of William Shakespeare’s writings. Some of us tend to move our hands and arms while we speak. This gesture reveal important insights into the speakers’s thoughts (Holler & Beattie, 2007). A simple gesture like “thumbs up” could easily be understood as a sign of good or everything is under control. These gestures are important in giving clues to the message that we try to deliver.

We have used symbols in our daily lives. These symbols help us to understand or interpret something better. Arrows are one of the symbols that are commonly used. According to George (2005), the meaning of symbols are more easily perceived and comprehended. Thus, it can be disseminated quicker. Most of the people around the world have the same interpretation of a symbol. As an example, red colour symbolizes “stop or danger.”

Knowing the functions and interpretation of nonverbal communication is important because we are communicating with people from various cultures everyday in our lives. Being a bilingual or multilingual speaker is absolutely beneficial but if none of the spoken language works, we can use nonverbal communication. Although we do not speak the same language around the world, we still share the same ground in nonverbal communication. A language that is understood by all of the world’s population.

References

Frith, C. (2009). Role of Facial Expressions in Social Interactions.

George, A. (2005). Communication through Symbols: Study and Analysis. Calicut: University of Calicut.

Holler, J., & Beattie, G. (2007). Gesture Use in Social Interaction: How Speakers’ Gestures Can Reflect Listeners’ Thinking.

Nordquist, R. (2019, July 26). What is Nonverbal Communication. Retrieved from ThoughtCo.: http://www.thoughtco.com/what-is-nonverbal-communication.

MALAYSIA AND PEACE

By Noorhabibah Bahrum

As a multiracial country, Malaysia is always emphasizing on the importance of peace, not just locally but also internationally. The peaceful message is not just regarding races in the country but also between other countries which have conflicts among each other.

For example, at the national level, the Prime Minister of Malaysia; Tun Dr. Mahathir Mohamad stressed that the government will ensure that no one can disturb the national harmony and peace (Bernama, 2018). At the international level, during 74th United Nations General Assembly (UNGA), he urged that Pakistan and India must find a peaceful solution regarding Jammu and Kashmir conflict (Yunus, Harun, & Yusof, 2019).

With peace, it will bring the harmony and tolerance not just to the nation but also to the world. Galtung (1996) did mention that negative situations can be described as civil wars, separatist conflicts, and conflicts of interest whereas positive conditions involve situations and atmospheres of peace and tranquility where all members of the community can live in harmony.

At the international level such as in the meeting of Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), United Nation (UN), Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC), Non-Aligned Movement (NAM), and more Malaysia loudly criticizes the violence made by Islamic State (IS), the government of Myanmar towards Rohingyas, Israel towards Palestinians, terrorist attacks targeting congregations in two Christchurch mosques, bombing attacks around the world such as in Jakarta, and many others.

The UNGA, on 2nd April 2019, has adopted without a vote, a resolution entitled “Combating Terrorism and Other Acts of Violence Based on Religion or Belief”. Malaysia, alongside Indonesia, Kuwait, Pakistan, Qatar and Turkey sponsored the resolution while another 36 Member States co-sponsored the resolution (Ministry of Foreign Affairs Malaysia, 2019). This shows that Malaysia seriously wants to spread the message of peace to the world.

In order to spread  peace to the world, Malaysia is not just voicing out but also taking actions through Malaysia’s role as intermediaries of peace negotiations between the government of Philippines and Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) as well as between government of Thailand and it’s Southern Regions.

Other than that, Malaysia also gives protection to refugees from Myanmar, Bangladesh, Syria and more. Malaysia is also participating in peace missions by sending our army to the turbulent countries such as Syria and Lebanon. The Minister of Defense, Mohamad Sabu said, the involvement of the army internationally demonstrates that Malaysia is committed to fulfilling the humanitarian aid the country needs to ensure that the aspirations for universal peace can be realized (Bernama, 2019).

Not only the government, but other private bodies and NGOs are also contributing to spread peace around the world such as Mercy Malaysia, Global Peace Foundation, and Angkatan Belia Islam (ABIM) by providing food, health treatment, teaching aids to countries in need. This is indirectly boosting Malaysia’s image at the international arena.

References

Bernama. (2018, November 29). Dr M issues warning over mockery of national harmony, peace. Kuala Lumpur: Bernama.

Bernama. (2019, October 1). Pasukan pertama MALBATT 850-7 berlepas ke Lubnan. Petaling Jaya, Malaysia.

Galtung, J. (1996). Peace by Peaceful Means: Pace and Conflict, Development and Civilization. Journal of Peace Research, 42.

Ministry of Foreign Affairs Malaysia. (2019, April 4). Adoption of Malaysia-Sponsored United Nations General Assembly Resolution Entitled “Combating Terrorism and Other Acts of Violence Based On Religion or Belief”. Putrajaya, Malaysia.

Yunus, A., Harun, H. N., & Yusof, A. T. (2019, October 22). Malaysia to continue to speak out on Jammu, Kashmir. Kuala Lumpur: New Straits Times.

MODERN PROPAGANDA – IT’S IMPACT TOWARDS THE NATION AND PEOPLE

By Muhamad Shazwan Abdul Hamid

Propaganda; which has been used for ages started way back during the World War 1 and continuously being used until today. Propaganda is a type of communication in which its goal is to manipulate and influence the opinion of people to support some movement, organisation, government, cause or belief and it is likely be used in artwork, films, speeches and music (White, n.d.)

Dr Zollman said that “What we refer to as modern day propaganda was actually invented at the start of the 20th century and actually, it relates more to business practices, to advertising, public relations and so on”. He added said that we need to look back throughout the history, the terminology of propaganda and how it has changed (Modern Day Propaganda, n.d.)

In today’s modern propaganda, all of it has been changed to a digital visuals such as digital posters like memes, video games and it has been spreading widely in social media, websites, and chat rooms internationally without being controlled by anyone (Hasic, 2019).

Take for example the propaganda done by the United States (U.S) in a game called “Call of Duty: Modern Warfare” where they portrayed Russia as the evil villain whom kills the people there, which is now called as Highway of Death between Kuwait and Iraq. “The Russians bombed it during the invasion, killing the people trying to escape. He’s the man responsible for creating the Highway of Death, and for using forced labor torture, summary executions and chemical weapons to punish people in the region”, (Hall, 2019). The truth is that the one who did all the invasion was none other than the Great Father which is the U.S.  The game also portrayed a scene where a player who plays a role as a CIA officer shoots the enemies as well as Russian soldiers.

The game tried to portray Russia as a bad country internationally whereby all that they are good in doing is destroying and killing. The propaganda done can shift people’s view on Russia which is not good for their economy. Besides that, the games will subconsciously make other players from other countries to see Russia as a really bad country as most of the players are students. The games have been played by millions of people worldwide and it has sparked negative comments towards the Infinity Ward (the developer). Most of the Russian consumers who played the game commented that the game portrays their soldiers as a little more than faceless henchmen (Hall, 2019). Days after the release of Call of Duty : Modern Warfare, Russian consumers expressed their anger towards the game and created user reviews on Metacritic which led to a 2.5/10 score for the game.

In the modern day, people tend to look for information by using the internet medium which is the social media mainly through Twitter, Facebook and other news website such as BBC, Al Jazeera, The Washington Post and others. The problem with today’s information centre is that they are spreading the propaganda drastically and they called it as freedom of speech or freedom of expression. Instead of approving the Article 13, the government might as well create a law restricting a certain limit for the propaganda to be shared because sometimes the propaganda that is being shared contains more negative impact instead of positive impact towards a nation and also the people.

References

Hall, C. (2019, October 30). Call of Duty: Modern Warfare’s Highway of Death controversy, explained. Retrieved from Polygon: https://www.polygon.com/2019/10/30/20938550/call-of-duty-modern-warfare-highway-of-death-controversy

Hasic, A. (2019, March 12). Why propaganda is more dangerous in the digital age. Retrieved from The Washington Post: https://www.washingtonpost.com/outlook/2019/03/12/why-propaganda-is-more-dangerous-digital-age/

Modern Day Propaganda. (n.d.). Retrieved from Renegade: https://renegadeinc.com/modern-day-propaganda/

White, D. (n.d.). What is Propaganda? – Definition, Techniques, Types & Examples. Retrieved from Study.com: https://study.com/academy/lesson/what-is-propaganda-definition-techniques-types-examples.html

UNDERGROUND METAL SCENE IN MALAYSIA: TOWARDS THE NEW WORLD ORDER

By Adam Ariffin

The metal music in Malaysia has been one of the genres that create a phenomenon in terms of the mistakenly accused ideology and the way the music itself is being delivered. In order to be specific to the situation, the group of under metal scene in Malaysia is being focused on. The focus group is the underground metal scene.  As the element of the underground metal scene itself is divided into sub-genre such as death metal, black metal, thrash metal, doom metal and many others, the acceptance of the underground metal music in Malaysia is still not well received.

Black metal in Malaysia has been labelled as ‘anti-Islamic’ after it has been a sensational of the issues amongst public. The escalation of the panic situation began after the media in Malaysia reported stories regarding religious desecration by the black metal follower (Liew & Fu, 2006). The situation was getting worse when authorities failed to determine categories of the metal music. During the crisis, all kind of music that involved growl vocal, loud music and skull logo was accused as black metal. As the media continues to promote hatred to the underground metal music scene, the government took an action in 2001 to band black metal music. The Northern state of Kedah has been labelled as a centre of black metal and a number of people were detained. Their urine were tested and they were questioned regarding their faith (Hoffstaedter, 2009). Under the shadow of the black metal issues, local Malaysian bands such as Silent Death, Sil Khannaz and Braindead were developed and tremendously accepted by the Malaysian metal followers. The momentum of the scene keep gaining support from the local underground music lover such as Napalm Death, an international metal band that performed in Malaysia in 2001 (Ferrarese, 2015).

Moving towards globalization, people of Malaysia may seem to be very sensitive in issues pertaining religious and culture. The acceptance of the underground metal scene must be looked upon different angles of thinking as the Eastern metal scene has its own forte and approach. In other countries, metal scene situation is usually understood. The Western culture also provides space to the metal bands in expressing their frustration through music. Metal music also can be translated into a reflection of societal changes brought by globalization (Timbang & Ibrahim, 2017). The year 2020 is around the corner and sceptical view of underground metal scene in Malaysia should be changed as we are moving towards a developed nation and the new world order.

References

Ferrarese, M. (2015). Eastern desekratorz and nuclear metal lust:1 Performing ‘authentic’ black metal in Malaysian Borneo. Metal Music Studies, 1(2), 211–231. https://doi.org/10.1386/mms.1.2.211_1

Hoffstaedter, G. (2009). Contested spaces: Globalization, the arts and the state in Malaysia. Ethnicities, 9(4), 527–545.

Liew, K. K., & Fu, K. (2006). Conjuring the tropical spectres: Heavy metal, cultural politics in Singapore and Malaysia. Inter-Asia Cultural Studies, 7(1), 99–112. https://doi.org/10.1080/14649370500463182

Timbang, A., & Ibrahim, Z. (2017). Malay Metalheads: Situating Metal Music Culture in Brunei. Situations, 10, 7–26.

WHITE RABBIT CANDY HALAL STATUS

By Faranaz Fatini Binti Zaharan

Instinctual behaviour which exists in all business organizations has created a grapevine communication effect which is known to be the agent of spreading unwanted rumours in the form of a mix of truth and untruth information. According to Fine and Ellis (2013), rumours are defined as the expression of belief towards a certain event that is about to happen and has happened. It does somewhat evoke impactful means towards business organization in either a positive or negative way.

The issue regarding the White Rabbit candy halal speculation that went viral in the early 2019 had caught the attention of the public in Malaysia, Singapore and Brunei after the Americans introduced a White Rabbit candy flavoured ice-cream (May, 2019). In the Malaysian perspective, the issue was being discussed in respect to the halal status of this candy flavoured ice-cream as its candy product (i.e. White Rabbit candy) was also known to be one of Malaysian favourite childhood candies (Jayne, 2019). 

The issue of the said discussion stemmed from the Malaysian public’s concern and doubt of the validity of the halal certification of the White Rabbit candy product. The government of Malaysia has also launched an investigation on this issue of concern after the Brunei’s Ministry of Religious Affairs (MoRA) has confirmed that the White Rabbit candy contains unwanted substance that are known to be haram (Astro Gempak, 2019). Originally, this candy was from Shanghai, China is known to be an iconic or essential sweet brand in China and also some other overseas countries, nearly eight decades since the year 1940s (Roxburgh, 2018). It was known to the general public consuming the sweets as the “Mickey Mouse sweets” as, apparently, on its wrappers an iconic Disney character was being displayed (Jayne, 2019).

The deputy minister in the Prime Minister’s Department, Fuiziah Salleh has released a statement in TV Al Hijrah announcing that the White Rabbit candy is certified as Haram (Nazari, 2019). The ministry has officially confirmed that the product contains both pork and cow protein through the investigation conducted by the Department of Islamic Development Malaysia (JAKIM) (Liew, 2019). The result of the investigation has brought sadness to not only the Muslim communities of Malaysia but also the Muslim communities of Brunei and Singapore as it has brought nostalgic memories of the candy itself. In an Instagram post posted by Rumah Gelato Frozen Treats (n.d.), the post has displayed grief in which it illustrated a White Rabbit wagon with parting goodbyes captions depicting the company has joined the bandwagon of the American White Rabbit flavoured ice cream of not selling its White Rabbit gelato ice cream product due to the negative viral issue concerning the American White Rabbit flavoured ice cream. Furthermore, similar post also made by Project Ice Cream (n.d.) through the medium of Instagram with a caption of immediate action to discontinue the White Rabbit ice cream production. This could provide the evidence on how food companies, especially the ice cream companies, had taken action in pulling the flavour of the White Rabbit in the market as a respect and acknowledgement to the sensitivities of the Muslims communities.

It could be seen that, the Muslim communities in Malaysia, Singapore and Brunei had used the platform of social media to sustain a regular and consistent flow of communication to the general public regarding the controversial issue of the halal status. This also connotes that the public and the countries’ respective Islamic organizations or authorities have shown interest in taking serious actions regarding this issue. The issue has brought the people together in knowing the brand better whilst at the same time taking precaution by carrying out research on product ingredients or contents prior to consumption (i.e. on any other similar products being introduced to the market). It has also brought the awareness that not all candies are certified halal and a research of ingredient content is needed to be made.

Image source: (Astro Gempak, 2019)

References:

Astro Gempak. (2019, September 13). Sah! Tidak halal, gula-gula White Rabbit ada gelatin babi. Astro Awani. Retrieved from http://www.astroawani.com/gaya-hidup/sah-tidak-halal-gula-gula-white-rabbit-ada-gelatin-babi-217431

Fine, G. A., & Ellis, B. (2013). The global grapevine: Why rumors of terrorism, immigration, and trade matter. Oxford University Press.

Jayne, T. (2019, February 27). The iconic White Rabbit candy was once taken off the shelf. Here’s why. SAYS. Retrieved from https://says.com/my/lifestyle/the-iconic-white-rabbit-candy-was-once-taken-off-the-shelf-here-s-why

Liew, E. (2019, September 12). White Rabbit Candy Officially NOT Halal, Contains Pig & Cow DNA. World of Buzz. Retrieved from https://www.worldofbuzz.com/white-rabbit-candy-officially-not-halal-contains-pig-cow-dna/

May, A. (2019). After lab test, White Rabbit candy found to be non-halal.Retrieved from https://hype.my/2019/167808/after-lab-test-white-rabbit-candy-found-to-be-non-halal/

Nazari, T. (2019, September 12). White Rabbit candy IS NOT halal; contains pig and cow DNA. The Rakyat Post. Retrieved from https://www.therakyatpost.com/2019/09/12/white-rabbit-candy-is-not-halal-contains-pig-and-cow-dna/?fbclid=IwAR0Z4hS_qEHpRxLKTeRAkaznetA-q0aHpBlJPuZRcXdB_t6-5XMp1wmf8gY

Project Ice Cream [@projecticecream.bn]. (n.d.). Posts [Instagram profile]. Retrieved May 12, 2019, from https://instagram.com/projecticecream.bn?igshid+1cnyq2ja5yfqn

Roxburgh, H. (2018, April 30). How China’s iconic White Rabbit sweets went from a Shanghai favourite to being known the world over. The Star. Retrieved from https://www.thestar.com.my/news/regional/2018/05/01/how-chinas-iconic-white-rabbit-sweets-went-from-a-shanghai-favourite-to-being-known-the-world-over RumahGelato Frozen Treats [@rumahgelato]. (n.d.). Posts [Instagram profile]. Retrieved May 17, 2019, from http://instagram.com/rumahgelato?igshid+atqfrs243jvo

THE RISE OF MALAYSIAN ANIMATION INDUSTRY

By Muhamad Saifullah Bin Roslan

The animation industry in Malaysia is still at an infant stage compared to the bigger countries such as the United States and Japan, which is the biggest in the production of animation with famous animation studios such as Pixar, Walt Disney, Dreamworks and Toei Animation. Philip (2019) stated that it is common knowledge that Los Angeles, Tokyo and Paris are among the top established animation hubs. As reported in “Global Animation, VFX & Games Industry: Strategies, Trends & Opportunities” (2019) the total value of global animation industry was US$ 259 billion in 2018 and is projected to reach US$ 270 billion by 2020.

The history of Malaysian animation industry goes back to 1978 when the first animation in Malaysia, a short film, Hikayat Sang Kancil was produced in by the National Film Department of Malaysia (FNM) and this short animation film successfully being screened in 1983. The film was accepted very well among the Malaysian audiences and this situation led to the appearances of more animated short films such as Sang Kancil & Monyet, Sang Kancil & Buaya, Arnab yang Sombong, Gagak yang Bijak and Singa yang Haloba according to Juhan & Ismail (2016).

The Malaysian government strives for the use of digital technology in the industrial sector in 1980 and this resulted in the producing of the first animated TV series, Usop Sontorian and in 1998, the first animated film, Silat Lagenda. Following the success, another animation series, Keluang Man started being aired on the television in 1998. Governmental push for the use of digital technology has resulted in the appearance of 31 animated TV series, and 3 animated feature films in Malaysia (Juhan & Ismail, 2016).

Animation sector in Malaysia starts to enlarge and portray substantial growth during the ruling of the fourth Prime Minister of Malaysia, Tun Dr. Mahathir Mohamad, Suriawati (2012) stated that, due to his excellent premiership caused the Malaysian government to urge for digital technology to be utilized to a maximum level in order to encourage the development of local contents to overcome the invasion of foreign animation that contain of elements which are not suitable for Malaysian cultural lifestyle (Hassan, 2009; Azahar & Russlan, 2010; Kamarudin & Sajilan, 2013).

Due to the emergence of 3D animation, in 2007, a new TV series, ‘Upin & Ipin’ produced by Le’s Copaques Production emerge in the animation scene in Malaysia. The series obtain a lot of popularity within the Malaysian community. The success of this TV series led to the first 3D animated film by Les Copaque Production in 2009, ‘Upin & Ipin, Geng: Penggembaraan Bermula’. Finas (2011) reported that this film became the most successful Malaysian animated film at that time with box-office returns of RM6.2 million.

Following the success of Upin & Ipin, in 2011, another 3D animated series was aired on local TV Station. Boboiboy by Animonsta Production was aired in March 2011. The first film, ‘Boboiboy: The Movie’ was released in March 2016, and it continues on with another series, ‘BoboiBoy Galaxy’ started from November 2016 to July 2018. Only after one season of the new series, another film that is the second film, BoboiBoy Movie 2 was released simultaneously in 4 countries, including Malaysia, Indonesia, Brunei, and Singapore on 8 August 2019. The Vietnamese dub version of the film was released in Vietnam on 30 August 2019. BoboiBoy Movie 2 is currently the highest-grossing animated film in Malaysia that has ever been recorded with box-office return of RM29.60 million (US$7.3 million).

According to Malaysia Digital Economy Corporation (MDEC), the Malaysian animation industry was worth RM 567.85 million (US$ 187.7 million). There are now over 100 homegrown studios that have produced more than 20 original IPs and seen their work rate to 120+ countries, with an export value of RM132 million (over $32.2 million). With these statistics, it can be proven that the animation industry in Malaysia is developing and has started to penetrate the global market and compete with international animation.

References

Aiza, M. Z. (2019). Championing Malaysia’s Digital Economy: A Case Study. Kuala Lumpur: Malaysia Digital Economy Corporation (MDEC).

Digital Vector. (2019). Global Animation, VFX & Games Industry: Strategies, Trends & Opportunities. Animation, VFX & Games Market Research.

FINAS. (2019). Collection and Admission for All Local and Foreign Films in Cinema: 2012 – 2018. Retrieved from National Film Development Corporation Malaysia FINAS : https://www.finas.gov.my/en/industry-information/

Juhan, M. S., & Ismail, N. (2016). Character Design towards Narrative Believability of Boboiboy in the Malaysian Animated Feature Film Boboiboy: The Movie. Academic Research and Solutions.

Kamarudin, H. S., & Sajilan, S. (2013). Critical success factors of technopreneurship in the creative industries: A study of animation ventures. Review of Integrative Business and Economics Research, 2(1), 1.

Les’ Copaque. (2019). Malaysia: Animating an International Brand. Retrieved from ASEAN Intellectual Property Portal: https://www.aseanip.org/Portals/0/Case%20Studies/CS%20Malaysia.pdf

Malay Mail. (2019, August 13). MalayMail. Retrieved from MalayMail: https://www.malaymail.com/news/showbiz/2019/08/13/boboiboy-movie-2-collects-rm9.9m-after-just-five-days/1780290

MarketsandMarkets. (2011, November). Global Animation & Gaming Market by Application, Geopgraphy, Market Trends and Forecast (2011-2016). Retrieved from Markets and Markets: https://www.marketsandmarkets.com/Market-Reports/animation-gaming-market-514.html

Nukman, R. (2019, November 21). Strategis in Producing BoboiBoy Galaxy the Movie 2. (R. Saiful, Interviewer)

Philip, M. (2019, March 17). Why Malaysia is the Asian Animation Market to Watch. Retrieved from Toon Boom Bring Stories to Life: https://blog.toonboom.com/why-malaysia-is-the-asian-animation-market-to-watch

“MENTAL HEALTH AND TECHNOLOGY: A MATCH NOT MADE IN HEAVEN?”

By Nor Hasaliza Asikin Binti Nawi

The proliferation of technology has brought 1001 benefits to human’s life through incredible invention and innovation that will change the future. However, there’s the bane behind the boon of these achievements which turn out to be the global issue and the rise in suicide cases is one of the costs that must be paid by the human. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), 1 person dies every 40 seconds and almost 800,000 people take their own life every year, which makes suicide as the second leading cause of death among young people after road injury. By 2020, it is predicted that the rate of death will increase to 1 person dies in every 20 seconds (Ritchie, Roser & Ortiz-Ospina, 2019).

It might be unfair to pointing fingers solely to the technology proliferate for an upward surge in the suicide cases. However, research indicated that technology has contributed to the issues, especially through the social media. According to The Lancet medical journal, low self-esteem, poor body image, poor sleep and online harassment are contributed by social media (Balasegaram, 2019). As an example, in a few months, there are 2 suicide cases of Sulli and Goo Hara, a K-Pop idol which take their own life after receiving hateful comments and cyber bullying in social media(Hun & Lee, 2019). Earlier, in Malaysia, a 16 years old girl has been reported to take her own life after getting 69% votes on a poll asking if she could die or not via her Instagram account (Balasegaram, 2019). All this is just few suicide cases that covered by the media, while there’s could be numerous attempted depression cases out there awaited and might be ended with a tragic ending.

Suicide is the serious global public health issues which need the tremendous actions at world level due to its impact to the public and our future generation. The preventive action must be taken from now onwards and WHO has been prioritized the reduction of suicide mortality as a global target (“Suicide in The World”, 2019). However, this preventive initiative needs the comprehensive action by each country to ensure that the tragedy that cost millions of lives can be overcome.

In Malaysia, the survey conducted by national mental health survey in 2017 indicated that 1 in 5 Malaysian’s teenagers have suffered from depression with 10% from it have the thought to take their own life (Balasegaram, 2019).  Suicides should be put as an uppermost concern in drafting the 12th Malaysia Plan and Malaysian society must come together in order to nurture a robust world for future generation (Abdul Razak, 2019). Ministry of Health (MOH) has prepared for National Strategic Action Plan on mental health 2019 – 2025 and as part of World Mental Health Day 2019 which initiated by WHO as world’s awareness programs, #Let’s Talk campaign has been introduced by MOH to encourage people in need to seek help (Amirul Ihsan, 2019).

In conclusion, suicide is the serious global mental health issues and the preventive action to combat this threat in order to create a better world for our future generations is the entire world responsibilities. The awareness program or any initiative by the world organization or each country is supposed be discuss and share to the international level in order to give an idea and helps other countries in needs. This is because, day by day the challenges will be vary and towards the industrial revolutions  4.0 it will definitely get greater. Hence, our action’s today will command the world’s of tomorrow, where our future generation will heritage.

References

Abdul Razak, D. (2019, September 13). Tackling suicidal tendencies. Retrieved from New Straits Times https://www.nst.com.my/opinion/columnists/2019/09/521241/tackling-suicidal-tendencies

Amirul Ihsan. S. L. (2019, October 8). A beacon for mental health. Retrieved from New Straits Times https://www.nst.com.my/lifestyle/heal/2019/10/527962/beacon-mental-health

Balasegaram, M. (2019, Mei 26). Human Writes: Suicide is the second leading cause of death among young people today. Retrieved from The Star Online https://www.thestar.com.my/lifestyle/living/2019/05/26/suicide-help

Hun. C. S., and Lee. S. H. (2019, November 25). Suicides by K-Pop Stars Prompt Soul-Searching in South Korea. Retrieved from The New York Times https://www.nytimes.com/2019/11/25/world/asia/goo-hara-kpop-suicide.html  

Ritchie. H., Roser. M. and Ortiz-Ospina. E. (2019). Suicide: one person dies every 40 seconds. Retrieved from https://www.who.int/news-room/detail/09-09-2019-suicide-one-person-dies-every-40-seconds “Suicide in The World – Global Health Estimates”. Geneva: World Health Organization (2019). Retrieved from https://www.who.int/news-room/detail/09-09-2019

INSIGHT OF DR MAHATHIR MOHAMAD’S SPEECH AT THE 74TH UNITED NATIONS GENERAL ASSEMBLY

By Syahnaz binti Khariul Anwar

The General Debate of the 74th session of the United Nation’s General Assembly (UNGA) was held in New York from 24 th to 30 th September 2019 (‘UN General Assembly’, 2019). One of the world leaders that took part in delivering the country’s statement was Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad, Prime Minister of Malaysia. It has been his second time standing before the international eyes since his return to the political arena in 2018, and his speech continued from where he left in the previous UNGA’s session. Overall, his speech during the 74th UNGA session touched on the economy, social and political spheres which comprised of Veto Power, Israel – The Origin of Terrorism, Climate Change and Catastrophise, Trade, Sanctions and Capitalism, and the way for United Nation to move forward (“Speech text”, 2019).

In his previous speech during the 73rd UNGA session, he began with the New Malaysia empowerment of democracy that embodies the spirit of the year’s theme of “Making the United Nations Relevant to All People: Global Leadership and Shared Responsibilities for Peaceful, Equitable and Sustainable Societies”.  He continued with the trade war between powerful countries, new social values that erode nations’ stability and terrorism within the political sphere, specifically mentioning of the sufferings of the Palestine and Rakhine people. He touched briefly on environmentally sustainable development by mentioning on the national’s oil palm sustainable production before ending with a high note on calling the reformation of the veto power within the UN organization (“Speech text” 2018).

This year, the theme of the General Assembly is “Galvanizing multilateral efforts for poverty eradication, quality education, climate action and inclusion”, and Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad wasted no time in calling once again for the reformation of the veto power which is seen as a treat to the human right’s principle as well as an erosion to the global democracy. Again, he condemned the occupancy of the Israelis on the Palestine’s land due to the unlawfulness as well as the devious engineering hatred towards Muslim and Islam of terrorism globally. Citing again the Rakhine’s massacre in Myanmar, the invasion and occupancy of Jammu and Kashmir. He spoke of the climate change and trade, sanctions and capitalism. Although the UN has contributed fairly to the health, education and social security improvement, Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad believes that the UN should play a much more active role in re-establishing failed governments. Again, as his previous speech, he urged for UN to move forward by reinstating of the original purpose of the UN (New Straits Times, September 28,2019).

Drawing similarities between both speeches, Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad had focused on the importance of strengthening democracy and democratizing the international system (Tharoor, 2018). As the year before, his speech during the 74th UNGA once again drew the international attention on the various issues brought up, from the sharp criticism of the UN failures in preventing wars ((‘UN General Assembly’, 2019).; ‘Malaysian PM’, 2019) to the on-going conflict in Jammu and Kashmir (‘Malaysain PM says”, 2019; ‘Malaysian PM raises”, 2019; ‘Malaysian UN Speech’ 2019). However, these criticisms did not go without any backlash from the global public. The silence on the mistreatment of the Uyghurs in China is seen as a move of not wanting to upset China, Malaysia’s biggest trading partner (‘Silence on Urghur’, 2019) with exports worth RM13.3 billion (DoSM, 2019). Unlike Israel and Myanmar whom Malaysia has no direct trading ties with the former and bilateral trade volume of only RM4.4 billion in 2018 with the later, Dr Mahathir has no reservation in using strong words against the occupation of Palestine and the genocide of the Rohingya people. Interestingly, Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad did not seem to mind in upsetting India, one of Malaysia’s biggest oil palm exporters by raising the conflict issue in Jammu and Kashmir. Having to defend himself following the trending #BoycottMalaysia backlash among the Indians, Dr Mahathir said it was in line with Malaysia’s policy of resolving conflicts with non-violence approach.

Being Asia’s most senior statesman, Mahathir’s wisdom and knowledge are sought by world leaders. Yet, despite Dr Mahathir’s fiery speech on championing human rights at the global stage, much is left to ponder of the UN human rights instruments that are yet to be ratified by Malaysia, having only ratified 3 out of 9 core international human rights treaties (OHCHR, 2019). Little was touched on the theme’s quality education, whereas climate action was touched on the surface, in contrast with the promotion of Malaysia’s oil palm industry – an industry that is increasingly shunned by Western countries due to its environmental damage of deforestation. Maybe it’s time for Malaysia to place greater prioritization on the country’s own national policies in responding to globalization challenges, and followed by offering a new fresh insight to the world in achieving a better and more sustainable future for all.

REFERENCES       

Aljazeera. (2019, October 1). UN General Assembly 2019: All the latest updates. Aljazeera. Retrieved from https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2019/09/hold-general-assembly-2019-latest-updates-190916224113531.html

DoSM. (2019). Malaysia External Trade Statistics July 2019. Department of Statistics Malaysia. Retrieved from https://www.dosm.gov.my/v1/index.php?r=column/cthemeByCat&cat=139&bul_id=cU1NaUVUMGpnWkhHeXFWU3pxWDBuQT09&menu_id=azJjRWpYL0VBYU90TVhpclByWjdMQT09                                                                 

Economic Times. (2019, October 1). Malaysian PM says India ‘invaded, occupied’ Kashmir at UNGA. Economic Times. Retrieved from https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/international/world-news/malaysian-pm-says-india-invaded-occupied-kashmir-at-unga/articleshow/71362388.cms?from=mdr

Malay Mail. (2019, July 29). Booming opportunities await Malaysian investors in Myanmar. Malay Mail. Retrieved from https://www.malaymail.com/news/money/2019/07/29/booming-opportunities-await-malaysian-investors-in-myanmar/1775796

Malaysiakini. (2019, September 28). Silence on Uyghurs because China is powerful- Mahathir. Malaysiakini. Retrievedfrom https://www.malaysiakini.com/news/493663

New Straits Times. (2018, September 29). [Speech Text] Dr Mahathir at 73rd UN General Assembly. New Straits Times. Retrieved from https://www.nst.com.my/news/nation/2018/09/415941/speech-text-dr-mahathir-73rd-un-general-assembly

New Straits Times. (2019, September 28). Dr M’s full speech text at the 74th UNGA. New Straits Times. Retrieved from https://www.nst.com.my/news/nation/2019/09/525269/dr-ms-full-speech-text-74th-unga

OHCHR. (2019). Ratification Status for Malaysia. Office of the High Commissioner. United Nations Human Rights. Retrieved from https:// https://tbinternet.ohchr.org/_layouts/15/TreatyBodyExternal/Treaty.aspx?CountryID=105&Lang=EN

South China Morning Post. (2018, September 28). Malaysia PM Mahathir Mohamad laments world’s ‘pain’ in first speech to UN in 15 years. South China Morning Post. Retrieved from https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/diplomacy/article/2166286/malaysia-pm-mahathir-mohamad-laments-worlds-pain-first-speech-un

Tharoor, I. (2018, September 28). The World According to Asia’s Most Senior Statesman. Washington Post. Retrieved from https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2018/09/28/worlds-most-senior-statesman-returns-center-stage/

The Asian Age. (2019, September 30). Malaysian PM raises Kashmir at UN General Assembly, alleges India ‘invaded, occupied’ it. The Asian Age. Retrieved from https://www.asianage.com/world/americas/300919/malaysian-pm-raises-kashmir-at-un-general-assembly-alleges-india-invaded-occupied-it.html

Times of India. (2019, September 29). Malaysian PM: UN has failed to prevent wars. Times of India. Retrieved from https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/world/rest-of-world/malaysia-pm-un-has-failed-to-prevent-wars/articleshow/71349313.cms

Yahoo! News. (2019, October 1). Mahathir’s UN Speech on Jammu and Kashmir causes #BoycottMalaysia Twitter trend. Yahoo! News. Retrieved from https://malaysia.news.yahoo.com/mahathir-un-speech-jammu-kashmir-101507515.html?guccounter=1&guce_referrer=aHR0cHM6Ly93d3cuZ29vZ2xlLmNvbS8&guce_referrer_sig=AQAAAKU08wiHksBdJZ9z5rurLqfT0OeRnl-vHJ0ip4AqUt2Fy4Yws4ECPcWoGLDIG7bTDZv55EatVNyJY2DA5jiCE30pSh7IhGPVFhHThpA2sjDuM77s6koI5- rgeVRmb8jk8XOb1VeysOuFEv71Cyyo_ASQ7UuWI2YOxNkwrtT0s9q_

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/