General – Page 2 – In Press Global

ABORTION

Written by Diyana Khairron

Elective abortion that is the elective termination of pregnancy by women’s own request and desire is unjustly takes the life of an innocent human being and it is a moral wrong either through science, history and human rights. Whereas from science concluded that the pre-born is human. Abortion says some humans are not persons while from history stated that we must not separated humanity from personhood and human rights says that the pre-born has the right to life.

Not only that abortion is a moral wrong, but it also has the after effect where many potential complications have been associated with abortion. Nevertheless, though that it is a moral wrong, yet many women are somehow conflicting and be relate to as they are two different kind of perspective that cause the conflicting towards abortion issues as both are clearly being separated into “Pro-Life, the right to give life’ and “Pro-Choice”: The right to take life.

While abortion is a never ending issues as different people have different perspective about it. Not to mention, the women who are in desperate position to do abortion. Thus, all of this will result in different action. Due to that, abortion issues has been chosen in comparing how the local media and international media portray the issues and to what extend.

4.jpg.png — Image credit: quotesgram Image source

The local media to look upon to for abortion issue is Utusan Online. Utusan online is the online version of Utusan Malaysia printed newspaper and it is a Malay language newspaper published in Malaysia. Utusan Malaysia was first published as Utusan Melayu in romanised (Jawi) version in 1939. In the year of 1997 is the launch of “Utusan Malaysia On-Line”, it is the Malaysia’s first Online Newspaper in full text and visuals. The service is provided in collaboration with Telekom Malaysia, enables pay-subscribers to read online. While for the international media chosen is the online version of ‘The Guardian’. The Guardian is a British national daily newspaper. It was first known as The Manchester Guardian until 1959, and now known as ‘The Guardian’. In recent 2009-2010, the Guardian has significantly developed and expanded its digital operations. Guardian News & Media announced plans to become a digital-first organization, placing open journalism on the web at the heart of its strategy.

Throughout the comparison it has come upon that the local media do play its role effectively by being very proactive and committed in disseminating issue on abortion and explicitly to tell that abortion is a moral wrong and clearly stated the consequences the doers will have to face if commit such act.

Nevertheless, it can be seen that both media has done great work in portraying the issues of abortion and has fulfilling their media responsibility as the fourth estate successfully. However, there are significant difference in how both medias portray the issues. These may be due to different of government policy, religion believe and culture.

As for the local media, Utusan Online has shown its ability to transmit implicit or hidden message and knowledge through its news reporting on the article of “Pengguguran – Bukan cara merancang keluarga” posted on 9^th August 2005 which further explains that abortion does not only happen among teenagers or women who are pregnant as a result of adultery, but also happen among the married women who do not want the child she carries. Based on this article, Utusan Online has successfully deliver information that maybe most of Malaysian people do not aware about as we usually may think that abortion only become a problem among the unmarried women who became pregnant, but it turns out abortion also occur among the married women and perhaps this matter can be highlighted as it should not be happening among the married couple.

Utusan Online also has reported many news articles on abortion. Among the news reported articles are “Pengguguran – Isu yang makin kiritikal” posted on 20^th October 2016 that stated abortion is becoming more critical issue, but still this problem has been ignored. This article calls the people to be more concern on abortion issue and take this matter seriously.

Throughout this news article searching, it is discovered that Utusan Online has been very informative and effective in disseminating information not only on abortion cases that happened in Malaysia, but as well as letting the public know the after effect of it and how the situation really is in Malaysia. With all the reported articles, it should have given the people in Malaysia the awareness to act and do something in order to avoid abortion from continually happen among the Malaysian especially the teenagers.

Towards the legal practices, Utusan Online has reported one article of “Gugur bayi penjara tujuh tahun” that stated the offender of abortion will be sentenced to prison for 7 years. This is because from the legal perspective, the act of abortion is very serious as it causes death. Not only that, the legal practices in Malaysia also stated that abortion cannot be done without reasonable reason. This in a way to tell the people the consequences of abortion and in what situation only abortion is allowed to be make.

In the matter of religion aspect, the local media, Utusan Online is discovered to not have that much news reporting article on abortion issue that relates with religion sentiment. This may due to that Islam is the official religion in Malaysia and the fact that Islam forbidden the act of abortion unless it threatens the life of the mother. Therefore, people in Malaysia know that elective abortion is not allowed. However, there are news reporting articles on “Pegguguran – Bukan cara merancang keluarga” posted on 9^th August 2005 translated as “Abortion is not a way for family planning” and “Akses mudah lakukan pengguguran” posted on 27^th April 2011 translated as “Easy access to do abortion” stressed that abortion is clearly stated as illegal in Islam and is considered as a great sin.

Utusan Online has also posted another article towards the recent case of Zika with abortion titled “Subra: No abortions allowed for Zika-infected pregnant mothers” posted on 6^th September 2016, whereas in the articlet, the Malaysia Health Minister Datuk Dr S. Subramaniamsaid that he welcomed Federal Territories Mufti Datuk Dr Zulkifli Mohamad Al-Bakri’s approval for abortion in such cases but said that the law only allows abortion if the mother’s life is at risk and not the child’s. According to him again, this is what is allowed in our system which had taken into consideration the religious stand and reminded all that not all pregnant mothers infected with Zika would end up delivering babies with disabilities. Thru this article, we can see see how religious sentiment is being taking into account, even though the law of abortion in religion aspect has been known. This has showed the effort of Utusan Online in giving awareness to the public on the dangerous of abortion and support the people to avoid abortion.

It is also discovered that Utusan Online has been transparent in reporting news regarding abortion. This can be seen when Utusan Online provided the exact and real image of death fetus in most of news reporting on abortion. Another article of “Akses mudah lakukan pengguguran” posted on 27^th April 2016 showed how the local media, Utusan Online has shown transparency as the content of the article is stated in a form of conversation between a doctor and the writer. The conversation is the original conversation between a doctor and an offender in which writer disguised as a woman who want to make an abortion. The conversation includes the explanation of abortion process, several ways that are made available for abortion in most of the private clinics in Malaysia and the fee charged.

Based on the above mentioned article, it can be assumed that it is very easy to make an abortion and women can even choose which way they like and comfortable with. This has indirectly acted as an additional information for those who never knew that there are privates’ clinics out there that run a service like this. This may even lead for more abortion as people have known that there are places to do abortion. However, if we look at the perspective ways, Utusan Online is actually trying to tell people by emphasizing on the fact that it is just so easy to get medical help for abortion from private clinics, therefore, parents and community should be alert on this matter and be more cautious especially on their teenagers and to never think that in this era, the youngs will not dare to reach to this level as cases of abortion is getting increased.

Moving to international media, it is found that there are not much cases on abortion reported by The Guardian. Therefore, it may be indefinite for the people to see what is the current situation is like. Though the international people especially in UK have more freedom in speech and they do fight for what they believe in which some are pro right which accept abortion and some are pro life which go against the abortion. They do get to voice out their opinion, but it would have been better if cases of abortion are being reported in public so that the public are aware. However, this may be not that crucial to them as abortion is legal in the UK, therefore, it may seem like it is not such a big critical issue.

In term of legal perspective, abortion is legal in England up to 24 weeks under the Abortion Act 1967. However, if there is a substantial risk to the woman’s life or fetus abnormalities, there is no time limit. There is also no age limit for treatment. This legal aspect that has been portrayed has lead to the situation in the article by The Guardian that stated “Irish woman live-tweets journey for abortion in Great Britain” posted on 20 August 2016. This shows how the people in other country willingly and excited to come to Britain to do the abortion to the extend to live-tweets the actions due to abortion is legal in UK.

In the perspective of political, there is political influence through the article of “Why It Matters: Abortion in U.S. presidential race” posted on 17^th October 2016. It is known that the United State of America is among the country that hold the biggest power in the world, therefore somehow, what happen in the U.S.A does matter and may affect another country as well. In this article, the democrat Hillary Clinton supports access to abortion, while Trump been inconsistent but now appears against abortion. This article highlighting and examining the issue at stake in the presidential election and how they affect people whereby if it is a Clinton victory, it could strengthen the court’s current 5-3 majority that supports abortion rights and this will be supported by the people who are pro right. While if it is a Trump win who is a pro life and against the abortion could lead to a reconfigured court that would uphold tough state laws restricting abortion and possibly consider overturning Roe V. Wade, the 1973 decision that established a nationwide right to abortion.

Further on religion sentiment, one of the reason why the Northern Ireland’s abortion laws are different to the rest of the United Kingdom is due to its religious belief in which Northern Ireland’s status as the most religious part of the UK. Therefore, though abortion is legal in Northern Ireland but only under strict criteria and actually has never applied in Northern Ireland. Perhaps because of abortion is legal in UK, there is not much cases that have been reported by The Guardian. According to this one article in which The Guardian classify as Northern Ireland’s shame, titled “Northern Ireland woman takes NHS to court over abortion law” posted on 2rd November 2016. This article mentioned about a Northern Irish teenager who as a fifteen year old had to go to England to terminate a pregnancy, and is challenging the NHS’s refusal to fund abortions for women from the region in the supreme court. However, the health service has so far refused to pay for abortions for women from Northern Ireland who travel to England for terminations. This can be concluded that though abortion is legal, however, the desperate action taken by the people to do abortion is viewed as a shame.

Finally, The Guardian has been found to be transparent and fair by reporting any view and event on every parties as well as individual. Most of the news reporting articles display the protest rally made by the women in the United Kingdom as to preserve their rights to do abortion.

In overall, the local media, Utusan Online has the inclination to use the approach of persuading the people to not do abortion by keep updating on abortion cases happen in Malaysian and keep reminding the people on the religious and law perspective as well as the after effect of abortion. These approaches are alternately being used in news reporting so that to put public on the alarm state and ne aware of the issue.

While for the international media, they are more lenient and reports views and event on different party or individual as they have greater freedom in speech and that the law they hold legalize abortion. They also are very transparent and fair in delivering the message even when involving the politicians as they let the public to decide.

Therefore, both local both local media, presented by The Star Online and international media, presented by The Guardian has successfully fulfil their duty as the fourth estate for abortion issues.

References

The Guardian. (2016, October 17). WHY IT MATTERS: Abortion in U.S. presidential race.

Retrieved from The Guardian: http://www.theguardian.pe.ca/news/2016/10/17/why-it-matters-abortion-in-u-s-preside-4664752.html

The Guardian. (2016, August 20). rish woman live-tweets journey for abortion in Great

Britain. Retrieved from The Guardian: https://www.theguardian.com/world/2016/aug/20/irish-woman-live-tweets-journey-for-abortion-in-britain

The Guardian. (2016, November 2). Northern Ireland woman takes NHS to court over abortion law. Retrieved from https://www.theguardian.com/world/2016/nov/02/northern-ireland-nhs-abortions-supreme-court-law

Utusan Online. (2005, August 9). Pengguguran – Bukan cara merancang keluarga. Retrieved

from Utusan Online: http://ww1.utusan.com.my/utusan/info.asp?y=2005&dt=0809&sec=Keluarga&pg=ke_01.htm

Utusan Online. (2003, October 20). Pengguguran – Isu yang makin kritikal. Retrieved from Utusan Online: http://ww1.utusan.com.my/utusan/info.asp?y=2003&dt=1020&pub=Utusan_Malaysia&sec=Keluarga&pg=ke_05.htm

Utusan Online. (2011, April 27). Gugur bayi penjara tujuh tahun. Retrieved from Utusan

Online: http://ww1.utusan.com.my/utusan/info.asp?y=2011&dt=0427&sec=Keluarga&pg=ke_02.htm

Utusan Online. (2011, April 27). Akses mudah lakukan pengguguran Oleh MARIATUL QATIAH ZAKARIA. Retrieved October 23, 2016, from Utusan Online: http://ww1.utusan.com.my/utusan/info.asp?y=2011&dt=0427&pub=Utusan_Malaysia&sec=Keluarga&pg=ke_01.htm

COMMERCIALISM: DEFINE BY CULTURE OR REDEFINING CULTURE?

Written by Mahathir Ahamad

Commercialism has increased tremendously over the past twenty years. The growing commercialization of goods and services are significantly impact on our lifestyle. Commercialism can be defined as the vehicle of communication that creates consumer awareness and induces the desire for specific products and its goal is to increase consumer demand and commercial profit.

Commercialism can also refer positively or negatively to corporate domination. Company basically used commercialism as a tools and method to advertise and promote product and services to gear toward generating profit. However nowadays, commercialism widely used in negative ways when people are more concerned about making money rather than think about qualities of life and values. Capitalists exploit objects, people and environment to achieve their aims, objectives and goals.

(Susan, 1999), emphasized that contemptuous of the commercialization that seemed to infuse and debase every aspect of American culture, and hostile to middle-class values and the profit motive, members of that loose yet cohesive group known as the counterculture were revolutionizing almost every aspect of American culture. Their music was central to their individual and generational identity, their sense of having a different, more enhanced consciousness about society, politics, and self-awareness.

The Advantages of Advertising

Despite popular beliefs advertisements are not necessary a bad influence. The main purpose of it to sell something crucial to the everyday life. When advertising highlights a benefit of a product or service and matches them with your needs it is beneficial to society (White, 2013). It plays an important role in helping our economy function. It is a tool for economic growth and way to inform the public. It helps increase competition, make productions efficient, lowering prices, creating jobs and improving overall livelihood.

Advertising not only can influence the society with negative implications, lately, there are a lot of commercials or specifically PSA that discuss on the portrayal of women. These PSAs are most commonly parallel to the feminist movement made huge by Emma Watson when she made a speech in United Nations (UN). For example, televised campaign by Dove, portray women of different shapes and sizes as the models for their anti-cellulite campaigns. Although, the campaign receive some backlash for portraying “ugly” people on television, but it is an improvement on public’s acceptance on curvy women.

COMMERCIALISM IN MALAYSIA

Advertising industry in Malaysia has evolved since the beginning of mass media development as early as 1940. Nowadays, Malaysian advertising landscape is gradually shifting from traditional media forms to the new media advertising. Ads shown on television and radio are very different now than before in line with the changing times and the changing of technology.

In Malaysia, advertising practices are governed by The Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) which was established in 1977 to provide independent scrutiny of the then newly created self-regulatory system set up by the industry. ASA is an independent body that is responsible to ensure that the self-regulatory system works in the public interest. ASA promotes and enforces high ethical standards in advertisements. The constituent members of ASA as reported at the UNICEF official website are The Malaysian Advertisers Association, Association of Accredited Advertising Agents of Malaysia, Malaysian Newspaper Publishers Association and Media Specialists Association. ASA administers The Malaysian Code of Advertising Practice that regulates advertising activities in Malaysia. The Code was drawn up by organizations representing advertisers, advertising agencies and media.

The Malaysian Code of Advertising Practice states that, all advertisements should be legal, decent, honest and truthful. They must project the Malaysian culture and identity, reflect the multi-racial character of the population and advocate the philosophy of “RUKUN NEGARA” which reads: Believe in God; Loyalty to the King and the Country; Upholding the Constitution Rule of Law; and Good Behaviour and Morality.

ISSUES OF COMMERCIALISM IN MALAYSIA

Various issues occur in commercialism because of the insensitive party or advertisers in order to communicate or promotional messages towards their audience and consumers. (Willer & Fam, 2000) emphasized that Malaysian realized that advertising can be powerful and significant in shaping national values. According to Malaysia’s Consumer Association of Penang, the worrying trend is the growing influence of negative aspect of western culture on the people of developing country including Malaysia. The advertisement and commercialism industry has created the consumer culture which has an impact to our national culture.

Unethical advertising is not only cheating the adult and children but also encourage people to be wasteful, spending the products and services that are not needed in daily life. Among the unethical advertising is giving incorrect information about the goods and services offered, exaggerated and irresponsible. Nowadays we can found some of the offending ads broadcast by Malaysian TV.

The Malaysian Insider on 2 August 2011 reported that Media Prima had been criticized for broadcasting a controversial series of Ramadan commercials on 8TV channel. Some audience claimed that if offended non-Muslim and Media Prima Berhad was forced to axe the controversial of commercials.

(Lee, 2005), stated that Islam plays a larger role in the formation of advertising guidelines, its prohibited to use women as sex symbols in advertising. Media Prima has violated the principle of cultural sensitivities. In line with government aspiration to maintain and promote racial harmony in the country the advertisement shouldn’t contain statement or suggestions which may offend political, sentimental or racial susceptibilities of any community.

Advertising of food products poses the major concern among Malaysian. According to Utusan Konsumer articles in November 2002 “Marketing and Advertising – Harmful to Children” highlighted that the advertisement can causes the rise obesity amongst children in Malaysia. The food industry always links their food with entertainment especially with movie and animation characters such as McDonald partner with 20Fox Century for 5 movies in 2009. The relentless onslaught of advertising for food products has contributed to unprecedented obesity in children seen during the past decade. Obesity is not the only health issue linked to the food industry. Despite the Malaysian Health Ministry’s persistent community messages, these problems have escalated to a “code red” level.

(Gilly, 1988), stated that Coca-Cola has 15 versions of the ads in the 50 countries using the same ads by including certain elements in each market based on the market suitability of adaptation. Besides, companies advertising, for their products or services in different countries, should be aware of a country’s existing norms concerning role portrayals and the way these organizations affect these norms.

THE IMPACT OF COMMERCIALISM IN MALAYSIA

Commercialism is one of the marketing strategies to promote products to consumers and media plays a significant role in displaying the positive and negative features of products to the audience. The purpose of the commercialism is to gain attention for the product, ensuring prolonged association with consumers, or for the purpose of recall of their product in customers’ mind.

(Pollay, Richard, & Mittal, 1993), stated that the seven factors model is built based on the fundamental difference between attitudes and beliefs. The model of attitudes toward advertising consists of three personal uses factors (product information, social image information, and hedonic amusement) and four socioeconomic or societal factors (food for economy, fostering materialism, corrupting values and falsity or no-sense).

Commercialism influences the behaviour and attitude formation of consumers. Consumer attitude and behaviour hugely influenced by advertisements, as example Apple and Samsung are the brands that are most popular in Malaysian market due to the advertisements. Food products and beverages for example also get influenced by advertisements. In Malaysia, McDonald’s follows cultural habits and uses celebrities to promote their foods and influence consumers. This show the influence of advertisements as local ads changes the consumer decision on particular brand shown in advertisement.

(Green, 1992) point out that to better understand on how the ads attitude affects brand attitude it is important to see what kind of attitude consumers develop toward the ads itself. If the feelings that the ad creates are positive and if the way the ads is made and the information in it are evaluated favourably then the ad should elicit a favourable attitude toward itself.

One of the key factors shaping the attitude and consumers behaviour towards commercialism is how the ads are represented. In the other hand we might say that advertiser play an important roles to produce positive ads in order to in line with national aspiration towards Malaysian. Different creative strategies may lead to the same overall level of attitude on the part of the consumers. In this context, the identification of creative characteristics which make an ad to be likable becomes essential

GOVERNMENT REGULATIONS TOWARD COMMERCIALISM IN MALAYSIA

The advertising industries in Malaysia face complex challenge in numerous government restrictions. The regulations were in line with the national aspirations to maintain Malaysian identity and culture and at the same time to conforming to the values of Islam as a national religion. Advertising Code for Television and Radio (1990) established to safeguard advertising and consumers against the influence of foreign culture and values. It prohibits of adaption any foreign culture which is not acceptable to a cross section of major communities in Malaysia society either in form of word, slogans, clothing, activity and behaviour.

Trade Descriptions Act 1972 was enforcing as the guidelines used in the field of advertising. There are no barriers in providing information, but any information provided shall be true. Section 15 (1) of the Trade Descriptions Act 1972 states that the false description of goods: Any person in the trade, business or provide through any means any direct or indirect indication that any goods or services rendered or in any manner that falsely took, including the Government Department has committed an offense.

As an effort to reduce the elements of foreign culture used in advertising, the Ministry introduced Made in Malaysia rule in early 1970 which required all advertisements produced locally. This rule designed to protect new local film and advertising industry by requiring commercials must be produced in Malaysia. To in line with this aspirations, advertisements were also required to promote social responsibility in order to inject civic mindedness and desired behavioural attitudes in life for example keeping the park clean and queuing up when boarding a bus.

Due to overcome the problem, government implement legal restrictions on how companies market their goods. These restrictions can relate to the importing of advertising material from overseas, the hiring of foreigners and on the advertising claims, again affecting the extent to which companies can use a standardised approach.

In March 2007, government introduce a public policy to ban fast food advertisements targeting children on television. This step is not without precedence as Britain promulgated a phased ban on advertising of food and drink products categorized as ‘High in Fat, Salt and Sugar’ (HFSS) on children’s television (TV) to be fully implemented by the end of 2008.

Efforts should probably be focused towards the grass root level; emphasis should be placed on informing consumers about the negative consequences brought about by advertisements and their potential implications towards society.

References

Deng, J. S., & Hassan, M. L. (1994). Advertising in Malaysia: A Cultural Perspective. International Journal of Advertising.

Duncan, T. R. (2002). . IMC: Using Advertising and Promotion to Build Brands. Boston: McGraw-Hill.

Gilly, C. M. (1988). Sex roles in advertising: A comparison of television advertisements in Australia, Mexico, and the United States. Journal of Marketing.

Green, W. F. (1992). What Drives Commercial Liking? Journal of Advertising Research.

Kotler, P. (2001). A Framework for Marketing Management. New York: Prentice-Hall Inc.

Lee, C. W. (2005). Cultural influences in television commercials: a study of Singapore and Malaysia. Journal of Promotion Management.

Mengu, C. S. (2004). Televizyon Reklamlarında Kadına Yönelik Oluşturulan Toplumsal Kimlik. Istanbul: Üniversitesi İletişim Fakültesi Yayınları.

Moderating effect of . (n.d.).

Mogire, V. B., & Oloko, M. (2014). Advertising promotion strategy and brand equity: A comparative study of arial and omo washing powders Nairobi-Kenya. Int.J.Manag Commerc. Innov.

Pollay, Richard, W., & Mittal, B. (1993). Here’s the beef: Factors, determinants, and segments in consumer criticism of advertising”. Journal of Marketing.

Solomon, M. R. (2003). Consumer Behaviour. Buying, Having and Being. Pearson Education Inc.

Susan, J. D. (1999). Listening in: Radio and the American Imagination from Amos “n” Andy and Edward R. Murrow to Wolfman Jack and Howard Stern. New York: Times Book.

Tuan, L. Y., & A, J. (2013). Moderating effect of brand equity on relationship quality in chain restaurant industry: A conceptual paper. Proceeding of International Conference on Information, Business and Education Technology. Moderating effect of brand equity on relationship quality in chain restaurant industry: A conceptual paper. Proceeding of International Conference on Information, Business and Education Technology.

Willer, D. S., & Fam, K. S. (2000). Cultural Values and Advertising in Malaysia: view from the industry. Asia Pacific Journal of Marketing and Logistics.

White, Gary (2013).The Influence of Television Advertising. Retrieved on March 6th 2015 from http://smallbusiness.chron.com/influence-television-advertising-64010.html

SOCIAL MEDIA VIRAL

Written by Fikri Ajlan

In the modern advancement of technology today, internet plays a major role in our lives in many aspects. It give us the unlimited access of information and it brings a lot of advantages such as seeking information for our assignments, bettering our lifestyles and gaining relevant knowledge. Same goes with journalism, we used to read or watch news story on television and newspapers but as time passing by, online journalism has emerged and it has bring a whole new perspective of journalism.

New media bring with them new opportunities for news organizations to participate in unique storytelling experiences and audience engagement. The interactive nature of these new information and communication technologies (ICTs) has challenged news organizations to rethink their traditional journalism roles and practices (Chung, 2008).

Malaysia has numerous publications and newspapers such as Utusan Malaysia, Berita Harian, Sinar Harian (and many mores) and to keep up with the current trend of technology, they have created their own online platforms and come up with their own target audiences. These online platforms have proven to be one of the main sources for news story because accessibility of the platforms. Not to forget, new news online portal such as Malaysiakini and The Malaysian Insider have also established because the amount of internet users keep increasing year by year.

The existence of social media such as Facebook, Instagram, Twiiter and Youtube have opened up many possibilities in which sharing opinion can be done in a broaden audiences (as anything on the Internet can go viral) moreover when the news story is linked between any of them. On the other hand, social networking sites (SNS) has become a huge phenomenal in Malaysia and almost every internet users have their own SNS. Compared to before, our ancestors didn’t have this advantage to voice out their opinion freely and vastly, so through SNS, we can share our opinions and use it as a medium of discussion as it is more efficient and people (sometimes, even the authorities) seems to take more notes when something being posted on social media. SNS can be a very good and safe medium as long as it’s safely used by everyone.

On September 16 2016, a video of a schoolboy being violently assaulted has gone viral on social media and the terrible part about that video is that instead of helping the victim, the other classmates were seen rooting for the bully. In the two-and-a-half-minute clip, we can see the victim was punched, kicked, slapped and had a plastic chair thrown at him as well as put in a chokehold in a classroom. Some of the classmates sat around and watched the fight, while some were seen recorded the intense brawl on their smartphones.

Most of the netizens were left to frustration and angered by the video and questioned the whereabouts of the teachers. The video has received over 90,000 views and over 5,000 shares since it was uploaded.Based on the statement given from Bukit Aman spokesperson,the incident took place at a school in Putatan, Sabah and the victim’s father had lodged a police report on September 6.

On the other hand, due to the power of social media and instantaneous response from the users, it has proven that it could help in fasten the work process for the police. Based on the article posted by FreeMalaysiaToday on October 25 2015 titled “Two nabbed after snatch theft video goes viral”, two brothers were arrested in Kampung Rantau Panjang, Klang, for an alleged snatch theft involving a 56-year-old lady after the recording of the closed circuit television on the incident was widely spread on social media.

Huffington Post is one of the biggest online news portals in America and I have came across a lot of social media-related news story. One of them which was posted 13 April 2016, titled “You Are Special’: Judge’s Emotional Speech To Troubled Teens Brings Courtroom To Tears” tells about a County Superior Court Judge Verda Colvin in which her speech has gone viral while speaking to the group of youngsters as part of “Consider the Consequences,” a program organized by the local sheriff’s office in reaching young people who’ve had a history of discipline problems or crime.

Another article came into light when Joe Liu was photographed walking in soaked office attire while his umbrella protected his small son from the pouring rain. The picture, posted across SNS with the headline “Dads,” quickly went viral in the U.S. as well as in Liu’s origin native, China. Liu aka “Umbrella Dad,” is a former diplomat who currently works on Wall Street where he leaves his office at 5pm every day to pick up his son, Rhodes in Flushing.

Due to his recent fame (thanks to social media), Liu has set up Facebook and Twitter accounts for “Umbrella Dad,” by posting articles relating to education and parenting. But that is not the main reason for the webpages as his ultimate goal is to use media exposure as a platform to set up a charity to help children in China, particularly in the rural areas.

In conclusion, from what I’ve read from both local and international coverages regarding social media, I would say that there are a bit of differences on how Malaysian media and American media highlight the importance of social media.

For example, the portrayal of social media news story in Malaysia is more on how the users interacted with each other on virtual space and how social media is fully utilized by Malaysians. The writer usually put users’ comments and thoughts in the article and how the story can bring everyone together in solving the issue. Whereas in Huffington Post, the social media news story is more about telling the story itself in hopes it can catch the readers’ eyes and ears, and somehow create a sense of empathy to the audiences. They usually use a lot of emotion when it comes to writing a news story that related to social media.

Both local and international newspapers seem to acknowledge the power of social media and as long as the journalism industry and we as the users know how to benefits the usage from SNS, it forever will be a powerful tool in discussing, exchanging and spreading information and awareness about anything.

References

Chung. D. S. (2008). News now: journalism in the online environment. New Media and Society.Vol10(2):345–352. 10.1177/1461444807086478

FMT. (2016, September 6). Boy beaten, slapped while classmates cheer on. Retrieved November 13 from Free Malaysia Today.http://www.freemalaysiatoday.com/category/nation/2016/09/06/boy-beaten-slapped-while-classmates-cheer-on/

FMT. (2016, October 25). Two nabbed after snatch theft video goes viral. Retrieved November 13 from Free Malaysia Today.http://www.freemalaysiatoday.com/category/nation/2016/10/25/two-nabbed-after-snatch-theft-video-goes-viral/

Mosbergen.D.(2016, April 13. You Are Special’: Judge’s Emotional Speech To Troubled Teens Brings Courtroom To Tears. Retrieved November 13 from Huffington Post.http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/judge-troubled-teens-speech-video_us_570df702e4b0ffa5937d8ac9

Vale. P. (2016, April 19) . How The ‘Umbrella Dad’ Is Using His Viral Fame For Good. Retrieved November 13 from Huffington Post.http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/how-the-umbrella-dad-is-using-his-viral-fame-for-good_us_5714e65ae4b0018f9cba7317

MEDIA AS CULTURE INDUSTRY: MUSIC

Written by Jaihasra Jamaludin

In most countries including Malaysia, governments take an active interest in the media and culture industries. Government have the strongest influence and impact towards media industries in every country. Nowadays, media become as a new technology that developed cultural niches among the society. With the development of media industry from the 20th century, media contribute huge impact toward culture in every society. Culture affects us all no matter where we live or what we do in everyday life.

Media can be described as a method of communication channels through news, entertainment, education, broadcasting, journalism, advertising and promotional messages are disseminated. Whether we like it or not, media plays a crucial role in our everyday lives. Films, music, radio, television, books, magazines and online medium which are uniform the culture industry worldwide.According to Sabnani (2012):

According to Sabnani (2012), culture Industries was proposed by Theodor Adorno and Max Horkheimer of the Frankfurt school in 1944. It was presented as critical vocabulary in the chapter “The Culture Industry: Enlightenment as Mass Deception”, of the book Dialectic of Enlightenment. Adorno and Horkheimer proposed that films, radio programmes, magazines, etc. — that are used to manipulate mass society into passivity. Adorno and Horkheimer criticise the ‘Culture Industry’ for promoting a society that is drowning in a society of mass culture and industrialisation, instead of encouraging freedom and individuality.

Culture industry refers to the various businesses that include markets, produces, sells or distribute products or services to the customers worldwide. This product and services include foods, clothes, books, television, movies and music programme. Music industry culture is referring to the business involved in producing, sales, distribution and creation of work of creativities in the field.Music is one of the popular entertainment industries that gone through a long history and changes rapidly from the traditional method of producing, recording, manufacturing, distribution, sound, music video, advertising and produce to the newest technologies invented. From the traditional and classical genre of music such as Zapin, Ghazal, Dondang Sayang and Boria to the new genre of music such as Pop, Rock, Hip Hop, Raps, Ballads, Dangdut and also K-Pop music.

Music is one of the popular entertainment industries that gone through a long history and changes rapidly from the traditional method of producing, recording, manufacturing, distribution, sound, music video, advertising and produce to the newest technologies invented. From the traditional and classical genre of music such as Zapin, Ghazal, Dondang Sayang and Boria to the new genre of music such as Pop, Rock, Hip Hop, Raps, Ballads, Dangdut and also K-Pop music.

house music.jpg — Image credit: wikipedia Image source

In 2012, Korean pop culture or K-Pop becomes an increasingly globalised music phenomenon including in Malaysia. The popularity of South Korean singer such as PSY and Super Juniors has become an unexpected worldwide hit and famous across the globe. Some Malaysian have accepted and adopted the K-pop culture into their lives. Korean music had influenced Malaysian with their music, dance, fashion style, food and language. The K-pop fashion and language is a major area that has influenced their fans. The Malaysian fans tend to copy the dress and accessories wear by their favourite singers. Some fans attend Korean language classes to master the language itself. After all, K-pop definitely as the new culture that influences Malaysian lifestyle in regard the music industries.

According to Korean.net (1999-2015), the Korean wave refers to the phenomenon of Korean entertainment and popular culture rolling over the world with pop music, TV dramas, and movies. Also known as “Hallyu” (한류) in Korean, the term was first coined by the Chinese press in the late 1990s to describe the growing popularity of Korean pop culture in China.

Music industries also perceived as a social and cultural implication such as morality and violence. For example, today most of the celebrities or artist shares their activities, opinions, news and information through social media. Famous artist Faizal Tahir used his Instagram application to share his opinion toward GST implementation. Through his posting, many fans give negative comments by using inappropriate word and condemn government action.

Other implication contributed by music industries on our education system where students are spending too much time on listening to the music and not enough time on homework. They spend more time listening to their favourite artist or watching their favourite entertainment programme. These environments become a normal culture to the new generation and it will affect their focus, concentration and performance.

The bad, violence and negative songs produce also bring negative impact to the listener behaviour. The rap music, for example, setting a bad example to young people throughout the lyrics of the songs they produce. Eminem songs Kill You shows how he portrays his feeling over his previous life which is are not suitable and should be avoided. The content of the lyrics can be influence the listeners’ especially young people to involve in the crime or violence activities. Jackson (2015) insists that:

Rap lyrics may discuss violence as a part of an exciting and dangerous lifestyle, but some songs condemn violence and even propose solutions. Research done at Western Connecticut State University found that those who listen to music with violent lyrics are more likely to be violent. Rap was born in poor urban communities where violence may be poorly controlled, but social and economic factors can play a much greater role in the prevalence of violence.

Music can provide both relaxation and entertainment and thus has proven its ability to influence people and culture. It can also affect the attitudes and behaviours of its listeners directly. Concerns regarding the negative effects of the music are not something new in this era.

The communities especially the authority’s organisation, governments, politicians, celebrities, artist and NGOs should play their important roles in order to prevent the negative impact towards social and culture to the Malaysian societies. Therefore, individuals have their own role to play, whether they are a person, a parent and an individual in society or a leader of the state. The music industry people, broadcasting company and the producers, in the other hand, should produce a positive and creative music to prevent our culture from destroys rather than think about the profit itself.

References
Jackson. N (2015). What Influence and Effects Does Rap Music Have on Teens Today? Retrieved 13 November 2015, from http://www.livestrong.com/article/1005065-influence-effects-rap-music-teens-today/
Korean.net (1999-2015). Korean Wave. Retrieved 13 November 2015, from the http://www.korea.net/Government/Current-Affairs/Korean-Wave?affairId=471
Sabnani. P (2012). Culture Industry. Retrieved 9 November 2015 from the http://www.slideshare.net/pankajsabnani/culture-industries

POKEMON GO

Written by Mahathir Ahamad

Pokémon Go is a free-to-play, location-based augmented reality game developed by Niantic for iOS, Android, and Apple Watch devices. The game is the result of a collaboration between Niantic and The Pokémon Company, and was initially released in selected countries in July 2016. In the game, players use a mobile device’s GPS capability to locate, capture, battle, and train virtual creatures, called Pokémon, who appear on the screen as if they were in the same real-world location as the player. The game supports in-app purchases for additional in-game items.

The game’s extended launch began on July 6, 2016, with releases in Australia, New Zealand, and the United States. Due to server strain from high demand upon release, Niantic CEO John Hanke stated that the release in other regions was to be “paused until Niantic was comfortable” fixing the issues. European releases started on July 13, and the game became available to most of the continent over the following ten days. Although the game was proposed to be released in France on July 15, it was postponed until July 24 out of respect and due to safety concerns following a terrorist attack in Nice on July 14.

In South Korea, the game was not officially released as major restrictions on the use of online mapping data exist. However, due to a glitch, a small area around Sokcho in the northeastern part of the country was considered a part of Niantic’s North Korea mapping region, making the game fully playable in that area. Numerous people took advantage of the gap to play the game. Bus tickets from the capital city of Seoul sold out and people living within Sokcho shared information on free Wi-Fi areas to tourists. In mainland China, Google services are banned by the Great Firewall. Players of Pokémon Go in China bought Australian App Store IDs and used a GPS spoofing app to use Google services. Many Chinese people downloaded a clone app called City Spirit Go, which was released shortly after Pokémon Go’s beta test in Japan.

When launched July 6, Pokémon Go proved from the start that it could be much more than a global pop culture craze for gamers. There’s more behind this game than searching Pokémon’s at your local landmarks, firing red Poke Balls, sprinkling stardust and capturing points on a smart phone. The real take-away from Pokémon Go is that it shows market transitions can come from anywhere; even a game meant for kids of all ages.

Days after the game’s launch in the U.S., Australia and New Zealand, players shared images and tales on social media of dangerous encounters, such as Pokémon popping up near subway tracks. In O’Fallon, Mo., four teens waited at PokéStops in order to rob arriving players, police said. Law enforcement has warned people to be mindful while exploring. Looking at the scenario mention above, the writers have decided to pick The Star Online for their local news on Pokémon Go and Cable News Network (CNN) for their international news on Pokémon Go. Thus, we will able to see the evidence related to the coverage, issues and social implications among the society whom affected to this global craze.

The Star Online views: According to a news publish in the Star Online, citizen, Lum Choi Yan, 24, said she was shocked to see a man at her front door, pointing his mobile phone to the roof of her house, believe to be playing Pokémon Go. The guy said he was chasing after a ‘Pokémon’, which had flown over the roof from the playground nearby. This has created a serious safety issues as many people were already hooked and if not careful, the game could be a safety hazard and public nuisance as reported in several countries. Pokémon Go players could easily be detected especially at crowded areas, while targeting place such as mosques and temples, high-rise buildings or secluded areas.

Another issues that infected societies due to Pokémon Go as reported by The Star Online was how it decreased moral value and competencies. For example, player would go to secluded places with a damaged signboard or behind a public toilet may be suddenly swarmed by people, all because of the game, and somehow ignored public and personal safety. People should not wander onto properties where they are not allowed. Another citizens, Tieu Chect Hou, 28, said a teenage girl, who was so engrossed hunting Pokémon, almost walked into him while he was having lunch at a restaurant in Pudu. The girl walking up and down with a mobile phone in hand and smiling by herself. She was so oblivious to her surroundings, bumping into people without apologizing. He said since Pokémon Go was launched, many people had been acting strangely, gathering at certain spots to play with their phones and causing traffic jams.

Pokémon Go has led to some being fired. The game has proven to be a huge hit here, but it is game over for some who persistently played it during working hours. Six employers have dismissed workers for playing the popular location-based game while at work, reveals a survey by the Malaysian Employers Federation (MEF). As it continues to “level up” on popularity, the game has spawned a culture of people walking around in search of cyber monsters in their homes, parks, workplaces, commercial areas and even places of worship. But the addictive, augmented reality game is worrying the MEF to that employees will not be giving their best at work.

Any issues can be used as the weapon in persuading the publics and automatically, enhance the user’s image and shaping the audiences opinion. The Star Online highlights few individual and organizations in giving their opinions, which sometimes can be seen as the strategies in gaining political influences. The Government should ban the release of Pokémon Go in Malaysia as it would only promote social ills among the youths, said Abdul Rani Kulup Abdullah, president of Pertubuhan Martabat Jalinan Muhibbah Malaysia (MJMM). He add that the augmented reality game would also destroy the faith of Muslims, as it could lead to obsession and could be detrimental to children’s development as their minds would be filled with cartoons.

The Department of Islamic Development Malaysia (JAKIM) also has urged all Muslims in the country to refrain from playing Pokémon Go. They does not allow Muslims to engage with the game based on a variety of factors including its harmful effects. This decision is in line with the view of law in other Islamic countries proving Pokémon Go game causing harm leading to incidents that claimed lives. The game also has significant negative impact on children and teenagers,”

CNN views: There is actual measurable data now that suggests reckless Pokémon hunting really does distract drivers and pedestrians. The research, published Friday in JAMA Internal Medicine, analyzed tweets and news items to piece together a picture of Pokémon-related traffic incidents. The results showed that, within a 10-day span, there were 14 crashes reported to involve Pokémon Go. Even scarier, pedestrians and drivers distracted by the game sent more than 100,000 tweets during that time. The researchers reviewed 4,000 tweets between July 10 and 20 and decided whether the tweets showed driver distraction, pedestrian distraction, or other traffic-related Pokémon topics like safety warnings or even humorous tweets from passengers.

The foreign media has diverse opinions on the issue of Pokémon Go, where mostly they will highlights the guidance issues on players, especially on minors. The most desirable Pokémon destinations are called Pokestops and Pokémon Gyms, and they are often found in public or community places such as parks and churches. Because of their popularity, this is where your child will most likely encounter other players, both children and adults. And when we talk to our children about being aware of their surroundings, they will keep an eye on trespassing private property. Police are reminding the public not to trespass, as some Pokémon Go players are wandering off paths and over fences.

Instead of reporting the negative impact upon this global craze, they might have uncover some potential outcomes in dealing with Pokémon Go issues. The game’s augmented-reality feature and method of rewarding players who go to Pokestops located at popular landmarks in their communities have led people to be more interactive than normal while playing video games. Lenore Koppelman is the mother of 6-year-old Ralphie, who has autism and hyperlexia, which is associated with verbal language difficulties. She has also found “Pokémon Go” useful in helping her son socialize with other kids. (‘Pokémon Go’) involves a finite set of interesting characters that is consistent, stable. Kids with autism often like things that are like this that are list-based or concrete or fact-based. They’re very good at learning about things and memorizing things, so not only is this a shared area of interest, it’s an area in which the kinds of strengths with autism can shine.

No one right now knows the staying power of Pokémon Go. It might be popular for a week, a month or a year. Some people feel like its popularity is already on the decline. During the middle of July, no one could stop talking about Pokémon Go. It was the hottest trend around. Comparing to the international media and the local media, there’s a similar approach and perspective highlighted by the author which is mostly the negative impact towards Pokémon Go craze. This might be due to the consequences that arise among the societies which suddenly behave weirdly when they engaged with this applications. Also, due to this issues, national securities and the breach of private space is among the highest story reported in both news portal. This might be the reason why the editor or the journalist try to help and encouraged the government by publishing such issues in order to enhance control measures upon this phenomenon.

GLOBALIZATION

Written by Erda Khursyiah Basir

Besides defined as all processes by which the peoples from over the world are incorporated into a single world society and global society globalization also refers to a process by which different economies and societies become more closely integrated, and concurrent with increasing worldwide globalization. Globalization closely relates with an element of neo-imperialism or new imperialism.

What is neo-imperialism? It refers to the dominance of some nations over others by means of unequal conditions of economic exchange. Neo-imperialism exist when one nation is dependent upon another because the weaker nation is unable to survive economically in the modern world without the aid of the stronger nation. Therefore, somehow globalization somehow also can be refer as massive and active international communication that bring together different nations states throughout the globe for collaboration in terms many aspects especially social, political, economic, capital flow, foreign investment and any other commitments. Through globalization, every country joining and work together in certain aspects and viewing themselves as part of the world as a whole compared to their own national identity.

2.jpg.gif — Image credit: dadalos Image source

Globalization also makes the whole world as one whereby the society may share or contribute or even used the same thing. McDonalds, Starbuck even the usage of social media like Facebook and Twitter are some kind or symbol of globalization as people from all over the world can used the same thing, the same brand and can communicate each other even in a long distance.

Globalization however perceived has bring the bad impacts on the local culture as society easily get influence on what they see and watch especially through media. Through the exposure of the western culture including their lifestyle, many of people nowadays are following that kind of living which considered as modern and up-to-date. The impact of globalization on economy for example like the implementation of the Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement (TPPA) also rise concerned of some local traders and entrepreneurs due to the ability of the country to compete with the first world country to market their goods and services. The worried is based on the huge and advance technology that the established country has compared to the others.

Many believe that globalization also affect the less powerful country to be controlled by the powerful ones. It also means globalization has increased interdependence of develop and third world country in the economic, social, technology, cultural as well as political towards first world country. If previously globalization was considered as an umbrella to protect people in one roof, however, now, it is more to symbol of hegemony of the powerful country to the less powerful countries.

As some people perceived globalization is a good thing for the whole world, as they can share and get the opportunity to use and ‘feel’ the same thing like other countries do, part of them however concerned on the impact of the globalization itself especially though the culture and hegemony of the first world country to the third world country.

Globalization give more power to the established country as they may lead even makes decision on the matter arise. If previously the stronger culture overpowers the other culture through war and colonialism, however globalization make this much easier as they just influence the way people think and shape their mind towards certain issues especially through media reporting.

HINDRAF RALLY

Written by Siti Murni

HINDRAF or Hindu Rights Action Force (Malay: Barisan Bertindak Hak-Hak Hindu, Tamil: ) with its slogan of People’s Power began as a coalition of 30 Hindu non-governmental organisations committed to the preservation of Hindu community rights and heritage in a multiracial Malaysia. HINDRAF has made a major impact on the political landscape of Malaysia in staging the 2007 HINDRAF rally.

Background of the Media

Local media: Utusan Online

Utusan Malaysia (literally translated from Malay to English as “The Malaysian Courier”) is a Malay-language newspaper published in Malaysia. Distinctive for its blue masthead as its logo and trademark, Utusan Malaysia was first published in Jawi in 1939. Utusan Malaysia became an influential medium for the people to voice out their opinions towards the ruling of the British Government in Malaya.

International Media: Reuters

Reuters is an international news agency headquartered in Canary Wharf, London, England, United Kingdom and is a division of Thomson Reuters. Until 2008, the Reuters news agency formed part of an independent company, Reuters Group plc, which was also a provider of financial market data.

Propaganda

Between propaganda clear in this issue is the relationship with the political Hindraf demonstration is illegal demonstration involving racial issues in Malaysia. According to the newspaper, this press jug questioned Hindraf demonstration as a struggle or to retard the country’s political system. Statement Utusan Malaysia could lead to anger by the Indians as they be little their efforts. While according to Reuters, Hindraf demonstration occurred because businesses Indians who want to defend their rights while they want to complain there is racial discrimination in the society. In addition, there is a statement in which they declare Hindraf demonstration intended to incite Malaysia because there are allegations of ethnic cleansing practices. There are statements exaggerating because Hindraf demonstration associated with Islam and mosques. There are charges that can make the issue more distant when they began to use religion to maintain their rights. In a BBC interview, Mr Najib promised further measures to tackle the problems of the ethnic Indian minority.

Voters want change His arrival will follow a turbulent period in Malaysia, which has seen an opposition electoral revival, growing political conflict and protests from angry minority groups. Hindraf chairman today present the RM100 million suit against Deputy Chief Minister of Penang, six local media and three others for allegedly publishing the defamatory article and the organization, a few months ago. Six media is also being sued Makkal Osai Sdn. Bhd., Tamil Nesan Sdn. Bhd., The Malaysian Nanban Sdn. Bhd., MalaysiaKini.Com Sdn. Bhd., The Malaysian Insider Sdn. Bhd. and Star Publications Berhad named as defendants fifth to 10th. In his statement of claim, the plaintiffs alleged that the first defendant had to write and publish articles about false defamatory in Makkal Osai newspaper dated August 11, 2009, entitled Where is the money that has been collected RM700,000, its accounts show, Dr Ramasamy challenge the self-exiled leader. The charges were dropped as prosecutors could not provide a translation of their allegedly seditious comments. “It is a victory for the Indian community in Malaysia, but there is still a lot more work to do, he said. P Uthayakumar, one of those charged, told reporters he and his colleagues had been “maliciously prosecuted”. They charged us for sedition when we spoke the truth, he said. Activists say that policies granting jobs and economic advantages to the ethnic Malay Muslim majority leave many Hindus in poverty. Under Malaysian law, gatherings of more than five people require permission from the government.

Malaysia is gearing up for political shifts in 2009. It comes after protests by ethnic minority groups precipitated an electoral drama in 2008. He showed me around palm oil plantations in his home state, Perak, where Indian workers hack at prickly palm oil fruits with machetes. Why temples? He argues that temples were simply used to fire up sentiment for a wider Indian rights Struggle they’ve been called religious extremists but Vasantarao points out that temples are just one of several demands. There is exaggerating statement in this news where they relate religion and politics. Other than that, officials earlier confirmed they had stopped granting visas to Indian workers, in a move said to be linked to rallies by Malaysian Indians last year. If the prohibition is put in place it will affect about 140,000 Indians currently working legally in Malaysia.”There is no such thing as banning workers from India and Bangladesh, he told the BBC”. I have talked to the minister of human resources. We have never made such a decision. ‘Hindraf link’ News of the apparent ban emerged after leaders of Malaysia’s ethnic Indian community complained that Hindu priests and musicians had been denied visas. Lingering ethnic divide Authorities had already stopped issuing work visas for Bangladeshi migrant workers, arguing that labour agents were bringing in more workers than there were jobs.

Chronology of the Event

In AUGUST 31: HINDRAF lawyer, filled a class action suit on behalf 2 million ethnic Indians against the British Government at the Royal Courts of Justice in London. Then, in NOVEMBER 25: HINDRAF organized a rally, as planned, to submit a 2 page memorandum to the British High Commission. Then, in DECEMBER 11: All 3 HINDRAF leaders who were charged with sedition were acquitted by the judical courts. Besides, in the year of 2008 OCTOBER 15: HINDRAF was officially banned. Moreover, in the year of 2009 MAY 9: HINDRAF leaders were release from ISA detention, after 514 days. Then, in the year of 2013 JANUARY 25: Putrajaya finally lifted its over 4-year ban on HINDRAF.

Evidence of the Event

Image credit: Hindraf evidence of impact is when the arrival of Dr Zakir Naik to give lectures. Dr Zakir Naik is an Indian Muslim who came to Malaysia to carry out his mission. When his arrival, there was a controversy in which he was not allowed to deliver the message because he was an Indian. As is known, Hindraf is an association of India. Public lecture at UTeM initially canceled following protests from Hindraf and other Indian groups. However, Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Ahmad Zahid Hamidi said today the government has allowed the college to continue serving Zakir change the topic. Other than that, speaker religion of India, Dr. Zakir Naik, who is scheduled to deliver a lecture at the University of Technical Malaysia Melaka (UTeM) on April 17, is expected to be forced to drop the matter. This follows the direction of the Chief of Police Tan Sri Khalid Abu Bakar said the police felt that the council cannot continue for the sake of public order and religious sensitivities in Malaysia.

POVERTY ALL AROUND THE WORLD

Written by Jamilah Zubir

Poverty is a global issue where it is still faced by big parts of the world to date. To be precise, countries like Asia and the Pacific, Sub – Saharan Africa, Latin America and the Caribbean, near East and North Africa and few developed countries are still in poverty. Even though we are living in the 21st Century where futuristic technologies come in existence, foods are produced millions in productions and so much more but poverty still remains. Why? Are we born in this world based on whether we are unlucky or not? My perception on poverty is that the difference is whether you are living in Malaysia means you are safe from poverty and if you’re born in Africa, your chances living in poverty is high.

Poverty is about not having enough money to meet basic needs including food, clothing and shelter. However, poverty is more, much more than just not having enough money. The World Bank Organization describes poverty in this way, poverty is hunger. Poverty is lack of shelter. Poverty is being sick and not being able to see a doctor. Poverty is not having access to school and not knowing how to read. Poverty is not having a job, is fear for the future, living one day at a time.

There is no one cause of poverty, and it is different in every case. Poverty varies considerably depending on the situation. Feeling poor in Canada is different from living in poverty in Russia or Zimbabwe. The differences between rich and poor within the borders of a country can also be great.

Despite the many definitions, one thing is certain, poverty is a complex societal issue. No matter how poverty is defined, it can be agreed that it is an issue that requires everyone’s attention. It is important that all members of our society work together to provide the opportunities for all our members to reach their full potential. It helps all of us to help one another.

Facts about poverty

Nearly half of the world’s population — more than 3 billion people — live on less than $2.50 a day. More than 1.3 billion live in extreme poverty (less than $1.25 a day).
1 billion children worldwide are living in poverty. According to UNICEF, 22,000 children die each day due to poverty.
More than 1 billion people lack adequate access to clean drinking water and an estimated 400 million of these are children. Because unclean water yields illness, roughly 443 million school days are missed every year.
In 2011, 165 million children under the age 5 were stunted (reduced rate of growth and development) due to chronic malnutrition.
870 million people worldwide do not have enough food to eat.
Preventable diseases like diarrhoea and pneumonia take the lives of 2 million children a year who are too poor to afford proper treatment.
As of 2011, 19 million children worldwide remain unvaccinated.
A quarter of all humans lived without electricity — approximately 1.6 billion people.
80 percent of the world population lives on less than $10 a day.
It would cost approximately $40 billion to offer basic education, clean water and sanitation, reproductive health for women, and basic health and nutrition to every person in every developing country.
The World Food Programme says, “The poor are hungry and their hunger traps them in poverty.” Hunger is the number one cause of death in the world, killing more than HIV/AIDS, malaria, and tuberculosis combined.

The world’s population is in poverty, most of them. This should not be the case where we live in a world full of resources. We were taught since in pre – school that sharing means caring and we should share what we have to people around us. Why does well developed countries do not help the poor countries and if they did help them, why are the poor countries still remain in poverty. What values that we instil in our country? Although the realisation on poverty is high among other countries, there are still people living in poverty.

MANOHARA AND 100 EPISODES SINETRON

Written by Farahin Mustafa

On 26 August 2008, Manohara and Tengku Fakhry tie the knot. After several months of marriage, Manohara Odelia Pinot, Indonesian 16-years old model were being sexually abused by Kelantan Royalties. Manohara escaped from Tengku Muhammad Fakhry Sultan Ismail Petra with the helps from Singapore police during the Singapore trips to see Sultan Ismail Petra receiving medical treatment. Manohara’s mother, Daisy Fajarina, claimed that she has been barred access to see her daughter after getting married with Tengku Fakhry. After flee from Singapore to Indonesia, Manohara organized a press conference said that she was being abused sexually and was treated like an animal locked in her room (Perianin, 2009).

Tengku Fakhry has succeeded in sueing both Manohara and her mother Daisy for defamation and since Manohara was in Indonesia, she decided to ignore the court order as Malaysian law limited to people in Malaysia only. The issue brings more hatred towards Malaysian. Indonesian domestic worker started to voice out their experience being sexually and physically abused by their Malaysian employer. This is to relate what being experienced by the Indonesian socialite; Manohara, is what the domestic worker has experienced. The love-hate relationship between Malaysia and Indonesia always become one of the important issues in global media.

Based on the news reporting, Kompas.com emphasized on the issue of Manohara experienced sexual and physical abused by Tengku Fakhry while The Star Online focus on the defamation suit made by Tengku Fakhry against Manohara. Both newspapers have their own propaganda and what differs them is the way they publish news reporting. After going through all the news article and headlines, we can conclude that Manohara claimed she was being abused by Tengku Fakhry however, the statement mostly were made by Daisy Fajarina, Manohara’s mother and it was supported by Manohara once she “escaped” from Tengku Fakhry in Singapore (Kompas.com, 2009) . She claimed that she escaped but Tengku Fakhry friends, Soberi, claimed that she fled voluntarily. Both are the statement made outside the court (The Star Online, 2009).

However, according to the court, Tengku Fakhry sued Manohara for defamation. Meaning that all the statement made by Manohara is untrue. People might say that Tengku Fakhry won the cases because he had money but the truth is Manohara is the one who did not gave cooperation along the proceeding. She did not go to the hearing session, her lawyers withdraw, she did not go for health examination to prove that she experienced abused and many more. From here we can say that Manohara is making a story. The best part is when she ignored all the court order and chooses to stay in Jakarta to run from the court sentence (Mageswari, 2009).

Looking back at the timeline, I must say that Daisy Fajarina and Manohara are actually planning on something. As a normal person, if royalty like me, I would do whatever it takes to make sure the royalty marry me. In this cases, Daisy claimed that they are not agreed to marry Manohara and Tengku Fakhry because of excuses like not illegal in Indonesia for girls age 16 to get married, no permission from her father and so on. Daisy had the chance to make a press statement on that issue and they had the chance to lodge a report police regarding the issue of raping but they did not instead they agree on the marriage. Looks like Daisy were happy that they finally could have the royalty as their relatives (Perianin, 2009). After she was escaped for Tengku Fakhry, instead of go for health examination to prove that she experienced such abused, they went to the media making press conference and create drama. Daisy who was known as the sexiest mum suddenly wore hijabs and tries to look decent and gain sympathy. Even OC kaligis, Manohara lawyers withdraw from the case, as Manohara did not want to go for health examination and lodge a police report. Manohara seems not serious about the case (Yusof, 2009). After that her next lawyer also withdraw because of the issue of Manohara kissing another man and the spread news about Manohara and Daisy wearing sexy and having a party. Everyone started to doubt Manohara (UTUSAN, 2012).

Image credit: Rumahmodernsederhana Image source

The truth is Daisy is trying to take advantage on the royalty however, Tengku Fakhry who own other agenda like he was gone too far by having sex with Manohara needs to be responsible, the marriage things was not for him but for the family sake, he did it but later it turns to a fight and Manohara succeed in running away. The fight might be because of Manohara was young and she wants to have fun and go clubbing and get a life but she forgot that royalty freedom is limited, they cannot go anywhere they want without any guard and so on. She forgot that fact before marrying Tengku Fakhry. About the issue not getting in touch with her mom, Manohara create drama by saying that she was being scolded by her husband and was locked in her room (here we can see that how brilliant Manohara is in manipulating things), Daisy became angry with Tengku Fakhry and wanted to take away Manohara however, Tengku Fakhry who sees Daisy as irresponsible mom (with her clubbing life, sexy attire and unhealthy lifestyle) did not want to let Manohara go. After Manohara escaped, Daisy who feels that she cannot get anything from the royalty, try to bad mouth Tengku Fakhry but end up they were sued for defamation and lastly decided to ignore the cases. Here we can see that those newspapers headline, and how Tengku Fakhry can win the case, shows that Manohara is a liar and her mum is the mastermind. This summary can be rationalized through all the news report, the gossips, the background of Tengku Fakhry, Manohara and her mum, Daisy. It is based on what reasonable man would do.

Bibliography

Perianin, M. (2009, July 3). Manohara’s mom tells her side of the story. Retrieved November 2, 2016, from Blogckchew-stand up be counted: https://ckcounterpunch.wordpress.com/2009/07/03/manoharas-mom-tells-her-side-of-the-story/

Kompas.com. (2009, April 21). Putra Raja Kelantan culik, sekap dan silet model Indonesia. Retrieved November 14, 2016, from Kompas.com.

The Star Online. (2009, June 3). Manohara’s case with hubby a personal matter, says Kelantan palace. Retrieved November 14, 2016, from Nation: http://www.thestar.com.my/news/nation/2009/06/03/manoharas-case-with-hubby-a-personal-matter-says-kelantan-palace/

Mageswari. (2009, 21 December). Damages for Kelantan prince to be decided on Jan 14. Retrieved November 12, 2016, from Nation: http://www.thestar.com.my/news/nation/2009/12/21/damages-for-kelantan-prince-to-be-decided-on-jan-14/

Yusof, A. (2009, June 7). Manohara perlu hentikan sandiwara ini. Retrieved November 14, 2016, from Roda Kehidupan: https://areniesah.wordpress.com/2009/06/07/manohara-perlu-hentikan-sandiwara-ini/

UTUSAN. (2012, February 4). Manohara cetus kontroversi lagi. Retrieved November 14, 2016, from Utusan Online: http://ww1.utusan.com.my/utusan/info.asp?y=2012&dt=0204&pub=Utusan_Malaysia&sec=Hiburan&pg=hi_09.htm

THE IMPORTANCE OF FAMILY COMMUNICATION IN BUILDING HAPPINESS LIFESTYLE

Written by Aqnees Zulkiflee

As we all know, a good family relations are build on a strong communication. Without a strong communication in a family, there will be a difficulty in building a healthy lifestyle among the family relationship itself. Thus it can for sure affect the family communication in a family. But still, what is family communication? What do you think of a family communication when you hear about it? A happy family laughing together during dinner? A fight with your brother or sister? A visit to your grandparents? Well for your information, all of that is a family communication.

Communication involves the ability to pay attention to what others are thinking and feeling. In other words, an important part of communication is not just talking, but listening to what others have to say. Communication within the family is very important. It enables members to express their needs, wants, and concerns to each other. Besides that, open and honest communication creates understanding and able to resolve the unavoidable problems that arise in all families.

We know that communication is the process of giving and receiving information. Nowadays, many families live far apart and they do not see each other frequently. Even when they are at home, everyone’s schedule may be so full that it is difficult to find enough time even to eat a meal together, let alone sit down to talk. Besides that, the emergences of technologies also have its effect towards family communication.

Cell phones, e-mail, and new technology bombard us, creating many interruptions to family time. People nowadays especially teenagers or even adults might spent too much time on their cell phones rather than having a conversation between them. However, we should also realize that because of the technologies, it can help us connect with those who are living farther away. The challenge is to make time to interact face-to-face with family. Therefore, there are an advantages and disadvantages of the technologies towards the family communication.

Marriage and family therapists often report that poor communication is a common complaint of families who are having difficulties. Poor communication is unclear and indirect. It can lead to numerous family problems, including excessive family conflict, ineffective problem solving, lack of intimacy, and weak emotional bonding. Therefore, having a poor communication between the family can associated with an increased risk of divorce and marital separation and more behavioral problems in children. In my opinion, communication within family can be in effective communication or poor communication. It is depends how the family member do their job as to remain the harmony in house.

Various communication skills can be found on how to improved family communication. As we all know in Malaysia we do have this Ministry Of Health Malaysia in giving very useful information on what can be done to improve family communication in Malaysia. They can also organised a campaign to promote ways on how to have a better understanding on family communication thus it can for sure attract a lot of people to know more about the importance of family communication.