- Home
- e-Journals
- Journal of Asian Pacific Communication
- Previous Issues
- Volume 23, Issue, 2013
Journal of Asian Pacific Communication - Volume 23, Issue 2, 2013
Volume 23, Issue 2, 2013
-
Unity in diversity: Inculcating the concept of 1Malaysia through local television programmes
Author(s): Sabariah Mohamed Sallehpp.: 183–195 (13)More Less1Malaysia concept is a vision to create a harmonious Malaysian society, which is vital for Malaysia to attain a successful and developed country status. The concept stresses on the acceptance and inclusion of other cultures within the Malaysian realm and unity is vital for a country with plural society like Malaysia. Prime Minister Mohd Najib Tun Razak asserted that the 1Malaysia concept is unique as it celebrates the diversity of cultures grounded within a unique potpourri of living patterns that is steeped in traditions yet able to accommodate and withstand the winds of change without losing her local cultural balance. Siapera (2010) opined that it is without doubt that the media is an important tool which ensures diverse cultures in a country are equally represented without neglecting the universal and common values practised by everyone. The 1Malaysia concept places importance on both celebrating the diversity of cultures and inculcating common values amongst its citizen. This is where mass media, especially television, can play a big role. Syed Hussin (2008: 171) commented that mass communication has not been used to its full effect to promote a better understanding of people of different cultures and values. How true is this notion? This paper will shed some light into these issues: how the culturally diverse society and the concept of 1Malaysia are being represented on television and how audiences make meanings from these representations. The methodology employed in this research is twofold, comprising content analysis and focus group discussion. The objective of content analysis is to analyse how the concept of 1Malaysia is being represented on local television programmes. The focus group discussion, meanwhile, discovers how adolescents negotiate the television text in the process of understanding the 1Malaysia concept.
-
Normalising breastfeeding: What can media do to help?
Author(s): Emma Mohamadpp.: 196–210 (15)More LessThis paper argues that the media can play a role to help normalise breastfeeding in society, particularly in Malaysia. This deduction is reached following an analysis of local media portrayals of breastfeeding, particularly by observing where and how breastfeeding is being portrayed, as well as delving into the division of space between breastfeeding and formula feeding. In addition to the media analysis, the study also looks into several media production issues by interviewing a parenting magazine editor. Findings suggest that local media plays an important role to reinforce breastfeeding as a private activity and subtly divide public/private space through the way producers locate breastfeeding stories and images. The study suggests that in order to normalise breastfeeding, the media should make an effort to portray local women in breastfeeding images and highlight these images in general media outlets.
-
The social reality of blogging and empowerment among Malaysian bloggers
Author(s): Abdul Latiff Ahmad, Michael Bromley and John Cokleypp.: 210–221 (12)More LessThe study focuses on the issue of empowerment among Malaysian bloggers. In Malaysia, there are issues considered as taboo and are not discussed openly in the mainstream media. The rise of blogs in the earlier part of the 21st century has led to the discovery of a new platform of interaction. Malaysia is unique in the sense that it has its own interpretation of press freedom, a multicultural society and Islam as the official religion. Though there is a general awareness on ‘what is illegal offline, should be illegal online’, there are those who found new freedom in this new realm. The new world of blogosphere is considered as a haven for self-experimentation, discourses and sharing of opinions where it allows individuals to express themselves openly with or without considering the legal, religious or even cultural restrictions. Some people have used the new avenue positively and found empowerment which they would never have found if the blog had never existed while others may take advantage of this new platform for malicious activities. Forty Malaysian bloggers were interviewed during the course of this study where they share their personal blogging experiences and how blogging has brought about changes to their lives.
-
Acceptance of social innovation in Malaysia: Advocacy and the impact of government transformation programme (GTP)
pp.: 222–236 (15)More LessInnovation is a key factor to bring about change. The government should formulate policies that are innovative to bring change to the nation. A government that enhances transformation, is a dynamic and progressive government. The Government Transformation Programme (GTP) in Malaysia, that is implemented in three phases started in 2010, is studied to examine how the programme is being accepted by the people. GTP is a programme that has never been implemented before. This programme emphasises more on performance and results of civil servants rather than budget spending. It also emphasises more accurately on planning. The aim is to produce high levels of accuracy and accountability of public employees and to provide rapid results in a short time as desired by the people. The 2011 GTP report showed that more than three million people have been positively impacted by this programme although it has only been implemented for two years. However, empirical studies found that people did not really feel the impact of the GTP programme. Although this programme was advocated through electronic and on-line media, many people still do not understand what is exactly the GTP and what are to be achieved through this programme.
-
Utilising information and communication technologies (ICT) for development: What research contributes
Author(s): Ali Salman, Mohd Yusof Hj. Abdullah, Jamaluddin Aziz, Abdul Latiff Ahmad and Chang Peng Keepp.: 237–248 (12)More LessResearch in ICT has contributed significantly to the needs of the country in terms of policy formulation, programme implementation and hence the volume of investments in the sector. When Malaysia embarked on ICT as a tool for development of the country with the introduction of the Internet in 1987 by the Malaysian Institute of Microelectronic Systems (MIMOS) through its Rangkaian Komputer Malaysia (RangKom) project, research on the impact of ICT was encouraged and done aggressively. Studies on the impact of ICT have helped in identifying factors that may influence the adoption of ICT and the resulting benefits to the society. This paper discusses the factors that affect the acceptance of ICT among users. The discussion is based on the findings from a quantitative study conducted on 300 internet users. This study gauges the users’ opinion on what motivates them to use ICT and the perceived usefulness of ICT usage. From the findings, ‘perceived usefulness’ and ‘personal factors’ are the main motivating factors in accepting and using ICT. Thus, it encouraged them to use ICT positively in their daily lives as the findings revealed. The findings are crucial for the country in shaping future ICT policies, strategising steps in improving ICT implementation, and in revealing the challenges that need to be addressed. It also enriches the literature on technology acceptance by way of extending the Technology Acceptance Model to include other factors responsible for technology acceptance.
-
Understanding visual metaphor: The importance of documentary historiography in audience reading
pp.: 249–257 (9)More LessUsing a history documentary ‘The Kinta Story (1949)’, this article explores the ‘grammar’ of visual metaphor. Numerous images can be found in history documentary, while many more are being planned, which can be accessed by people all around the world. These images technically represent producers’ ideas. They construct connotation and meaning for audiences to read as what the readers want. The visuals are highly posed and set in descript locations to make them usable across the globe. They represent actual places or tragedies and they document witness, which symbolically represents moods such as ‘contentment’ and ‘freedom’. It is argued that visual metaphors cannot be described adequately in formal terms only. Rather, they must be considered as visual representations of metaphorical thoughts or concepts and the changing of time and mass. A cognitive definition of metaphor must not, however, distract from potential variations in meaning and impact which arise from the mode of communication through which metaphors are expressed. This study suggests that many of the dissimilarities between verbal metaphor and its visual counterpart are results from the differences regarding what the two modes are able to express easily and efficiently.
-
Peace journalism: Implications of war and peace news amongst Malaysian audience
Author(s): Faridah Ibrahim, Normah Mustaffa, Fauziah Ahmad, Chang Peng Kee and Wan Amizah Wan Mahmudpp.: 258–269 (12)More LessThe dilemma between war and peace has often created continuous debates among many people even though their countries are not involved in the act of war. What they see on television or read on the Internet and in the newspapers are enough to incite emotions and feelings. Some took to the streets and joined street demonstrators who demonstrate against the act of aggression and war in certain countries. While others, would be glued to the television or the Internet, following minute details on the act of war and silently condemning the perpetrators of war. There are also groups of individuals who are indifferent to what is happening around them. In other words, people react to war news in many ways. Moreover with the potential of the mass media to provide neutral and objective reporting of war and peace, one may ask, how do the media perform in times of conflicts and war. Based on a survey of the Malaysian audience, this paper tries to dwell into how the people of a non-warring country like Malaysia, perceives the act of war. To what extent do they see the role of the media in propagating peace and how do they conceptualise the notion of Peace Journalism.
-
Interethnic tolerance among multiethnic youth: Accommodating differences in the construction of social citizenship
Author(s): Fauziah Ahmad, Ali Salman, Samsudin A. Rahim, Latiffah Pawanteh and Abdul Latiff Ahmadpp.: 270–285 (16)More LessA pluralistic nation like Malaysia needs an extremely organised and sensible society in order to be fruitfully tolerant. Living in a plural community demands a strong willingness to accommodate different ethnic expectations. Tolerance is crucial for the achievement of the right kind of community. It takes a collective voice among all the communities on the character of the nation they want to live in, and the respective rights and obligations within it to overcome the challenge of managing a diverse society, more so in a multiethnic one. The nature of a tolerant society inclined its members to be attentive and open to form a relationship that is continuous and reliable. To understand youth’s life experience in regards to growing up amidst a multi-ethnic milieu, we have to explore their experiences to see how they are able to adapt and assimilate. This is an important aspect of fostering understanding with the different ethnic groups with motives that contribute to the formation of social citizenship and a participatory democracy. This research will focus on how Malaysian youth make sense of the seemingly calm and peaceful nation and how their negotiations and resolutions relate to their qualitative citizenship in a multi-ethnic society.
-
Epistephilic forces in Malaysian indie documentary: Three scenarios
Author(s): Badrul Redzuan Abu Hassan and Roslina Abdul Latifabupp.: 286–303 (18)More LessDocumentary film has established itself as an important spatial extension of this nation’s historicity. This paper explores the terrains of this critical transformational space which in recent years, has been dominated arguably increasingly, by a cohort of ‘socialist’ filmmakers. That such an ‘alternative/independent’ group of documakers — a label it is often associated with — edges over the ‘mainstream’ ones in terms of its worthiness, timeliness and relevance of an issue, debate or perspective, is a claim or perception that needs to be qualified in this paper. Notable documakers gave in-depth interviews on their creative works and issues of nation building both in shaping the trajectory of ‘alternative’ documentary, hence, sustaining a potentially transformative public sphere. This paper will engage in analyzing critical and defining documentary works as its mode of inquiry followed by the discourses gleaned from the interviews.
Volumes & issues
-
Volume 34 (2024)
-
Volume 33 (2023)
-
Volume 32 (2022)
-
Volume 31 (2021)
-
Volume 30 (2020)
-
Volume 29 (2019)
-
Volume 28 (2018)
-
Volume 27 (2017)
-
Volume 26 (2016)
-
Volume 25 (2015)
-
Volume 24 (2014)
-
Volume 23 (2013)
-
Volume 22 (2012)
-
Volume 21 (2011)
-
Volume 20 (2010)
-
Volume 19 (2009)
-
Volume 18 (2008)
-
Volume 17 (2007)
-
Volume 16 (2006)
-
Volume 15 (2005)
-
Volume 14 (2004)
-
Volume 13 (2003)
-
Volume 12 (2002)
-
Volume 11 (2001)
-
Volume 10 (2000)
Most Read This Month
Article
content/journals/15699838
Journal
10
5
false

-
-
Language learner self-management
Author(s): J. Rubin
-
- More Less