Diversified Cultural Representations on Malaysian Television

Abstract

The Malaysian society is known for its rich traditional beliefs and culture and is home to people of various ethnicities, which
include Malays, Chinese, Indians and various aboriginal tribes. Admittedly, there are social distances between the various races and
“most Malays do not know Chinese values very well and most Chinese are quite ignorant of Malay values, despite the fact that they have
been living side by side for so long” (Syed Hussin, 2008: 171). This is where mass media, according to Siapera (2010), especially
television, can play a big role. In light of this matter, Syed Hussin (2008) commented that mass communication has not been used to its
full effect to promote a better understanding of people of different cultures and values. Hence, the core of this paper involves looking at
the content of television programs in Malaysia, in order to unearth how the diversified cultures are being portrayed on television. By
relating it to the regimes of representation (Siapera, 2010) I intend to investigate if the various races are equally represented. Also, I am
interested to gauge the possible aspects one can learn about their culture from the program. To help answer this question, a qualitative
content analysis was conducted on Buletin Utama1, to ascertain the forms of culture that are being represented in the program most
watched by the Malaysian audience.