HOW DO MALAYSIAN TELEVISION STATIONS AND MEDIA TEACH THE MELAYU AND MALAYSIANS TO HATE THEMSELVES AND THE GOVERNMENT, WITHOUT THEM KNOWING THAT?

…AND HOW HORROR FILMS AND ACTION FLICKS CAN CAUSE THE GOVERNMENT TO LOSE VOTES.

By Mansor Puteh

The opposition in Malaysia does not have to do much; they have RTM and the other television stations to do the bidding for them. How so?

While the opposition does not have a national media organization such as a television station or radio station, yet, they are still able to create hatred of the government by the government television stations doing that for them. And it’s all for free.

Those in the television do not realize how they have been doing all this while.

And if the Malaysian government does not know it; if they had lost support from many Melayu especially from amongst the voters, they ought to look at the television stations and media to know how this has caused it to happen.

Allowing the production of horror or ghost films may be good for the producers, but to what effect?

The majority of the Melayu who watch horror films may be entertained by them, but for the elder folks, it is a different story.

The elder Melayu are not too entranced by them; they do not say much. But they can translate their abhorrence of such horror films at the polling stations.

There will be many elder Melayu voters who feel that the government and Islamic religious departments or authorities who have not done their part to stop the younger Melayu and Muslims from watching films which they consider to be ‘khurafat’ or unIslamic.

They blame the authorities for pandering to the puerile tastes of the filmmakers who should have known better.

And the television stations and also the print media are also doing that, by showing and printing those programs and reports which seem to look like they are encouraging the public who are exposed to them, to hate the government.

Its true news is mostly on the negative things, yet, most of the time, these things happen because of government inefficiency.

And the television dramas, too, do the same, if not more when they encourage the production and broadcasting of serials on people who are angry with themselves and with the others – meaning also by default, hating the authority and government and anything that symbolizes the authority.

The end results will be seen in election time, when they spout their venom by voting opposition as what happened in 8 March, 2008.

It is therefore, for nothing that the opposition could get enough votes to win many seats in parliament and the state assemblies enough to deny the Barisan government a two-thirds majority in parliament and losing some states along the way.

Yet, till today the government or more exactly the ministry of information, communication and heritage (KPKK) does not realize this. They keep on holding onto the same policies and allowing television dramas and other programs to cruise along the same street.

The reason being they are totally aloof to this and because they are not so well educated on the effects of the media on the people they could not see this as a problem that they could solve by reshaping the media policies so programs on television and reports in the print media can be produced in such a way so that they do not cause the people to hate authority or the government.

It’s all dramatic to see people complaining about poor quality public services and facilities. But does that not mean that they are being encouraged to hate the authority for neglect?

Don’t those in the television stations especially not feel bored watching the same type of dramas on television that dwell on almost the same issues?

In fact, all about these dramas are the same – the characters, setting, themes, stories and also dialogue.

They look like they were written by the same persons.

So no wonder no scriptwriter or director and producer of such programs has ever managed to move further by going international.

The television stations cannot be proud of developing talent. The newspapers too cannot be proud that none of their columnists or editors has ever been bought over by a much bigger and influential newspaper abroad.

Yet, they often-times try to encourage Malaysians to develop their talent and potential in everything that they do, yet, they are the ones who are still stuck in their editorial rooms until they retire.

No wonder, Malaysian newspapers are stuck in the same level of achievement with none of their editors especially who could not get the chance to further their studies abroad as the newspapers do not allow them to do that as that would cause a ripple effect on the entire organization and editorial office.

No wonder the editorial offices of the newspapers and television stations are stuck with the same crowd, who have the same attitude and mentality on what drama and news are.

The television dramas are mostly about Malaysians hating each other. The Melayu hating the other Melayu within the same family and those around them.

The Malaysians are encouraged to hate anything – their own faces, hair, house and lifestyle.

So no wonder on weekends and public holidays Malaysians generally do not prefer to remain at home; they go out to clog the streets and shopping complexes because they are taught to hate staying in their houses. They also hate to eat food they cook, so they prefer to eat outside.

As for the Chinese and Indians, they are exposed to programs from Hong Kong and India that they have acquired a mentality which is alien, like they are foreigners or new immigrants to the country, who could not relate to their surroundings.

Only their citizenship and the passports they hold prove that they are Malaysians.

Many of them do not speak in the national language of Bahasa Melayu with the elderly ones who could hardly communicate well in the language.

Yet, there are many of them who could pass the driving test which is conducted in Melayu. How could this be?

No wonder, too, the same type of reports are published and the same type of television dramas and programs produced and shown to the public.

Malaysian television and media are stuck in the same level of achievement for so long.

They may be doing okay business-wise, but for the government, it may mean that they stand to lose more votes in the forthcoming general election if the situation does not change for the better.

The opposition, therefore, does not need its own media organization; they can depend on those that the government already has.