Media Discourse on Malay Development in Singapore, 1980s to 2019 (Wednesday, 27 March 2019)

Speaker: Mysara Aljaru, Master Candidate, Department of Malay Studies, National University of Singapore
Date : Wednesday, 27 March 2019
Time : 3.00pm
Venue : AS8 #06-46, Singapore 119260

ABSTRACT 

The development of the Malay community has been in the spotlight since post-independent Singapore. Elites from the People’s Action Party (PAP) and the Malay community such as Mendaki and AMP often discuss the progress of the community in speeches and interviews, which are then reported in local mainstream media.

Media outlets belonging to Mediacorp and Singapore Press Holdings (SPH) have also started to attempt to tackle race and religion in their documentaries and news reports. However, their narratives still channel colonial stereotypes which are perpetuated in state institutions and ascribe cultural deficit to the Malay community, especially when discussing issues pertaining to socioeconomic issues such as drugs, education, integration, health and poverty. Most recently, the local news outlets had reported on the Home Affairs Minster, K Shanmugam’s remarks on a saga that had a Swedish black metal band’s concert cancelled on the day they were to perform. News outlets reported that his remarks singled out only the Malay-Muslim community, which caused the community to be upset. This presentation aims to explore and study the media discourse on Singapore Malay development starting from the 1980s, during the formation of Mendaki. The proposal will also look into exploring what are some common stereotypes reproduced by the English and Malay mainstream media and explore how their coverage reproduces stereotypes of the “problematic Malay”.

ABOUT THE SPEAKER

Mysara is a first year Master’s candidate in the Department of Malay Studies. Prior to this, she was a journalist and producer with the local mainstream media after graduating with a Bachelor in Communication (Journalism) from Murdoch University. Her research interest includes media representation of minorities and Malay women.