Non’ Mediated Images

Public Culture and (State) Television in Malaysia

Bibliographic Data

ID7524902
AuthorsUmi Khattab (The University of Melbourne, corresponding author)
Year2006
Volume68
Issue4
Pages347-361
Publication date2006-07-10
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueInternational Communication Gazette (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 1748-0485 • E-ISSN: 1748-0493
PublisherSAGE Publishing (PUBLISHER • US)
DOI10.1177/1748048506065766
OpenAlexW2077714580
LanguageEN
Citations received4
References cited24

Television has been a state privilege in Malaysia since independence from British rule in 1957 and instrumental in Malaysia’s attempt to fashion and display public culture. RTM (Radio Television Malaysia) has functioned as a state mouthpiece, since 1963, most often representing deep differences between ethnic groups, and in the process manufacturing sacred and non-sacred circuits of cultures. Under a one-party, Malay-dominated, national coalition rule since independence, state television tends to reflect Malay culture in hegemonic and monolithic terms, failing to represent diverse differences within and between various ethnic and indigenous groups in Malaysia. The article explores how the state strategizes public and private television in manufacturing a public culture, arguing that the Vision 2020 desire to create a public Malay(sian) culture for polyethnic and multireligious Malaysia seems a myth mediated through polarized spheres. If state television is public service broadcasting (PSB), then it is clear that it is a utopia yet to arrive in postcolonial nations such as Malaysia

Ethnic group · Independence (probability theory · Indigenous · Malay · Media studies · Political science · Public broadcasting · Sociology · State (computer science · Anthropology · Asian Culture and Media Studies · Asian Studies and History · Law · Socioeconomic Development in Asia

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