14 March 2011

BERITA HARIAN: HOW THE MALAYSIANS OVERREACTED

ultraman1

I decided not to update my blog for a few days to give way for test 2 and thesis. However, this recent issue of tsunami caricature by Zoy had made me itching to write my opinion of it. In case you had just been released from the jail, here is the summary of the issue:

1 – Following the tsunami and earthquake in Japan, Berita Harian published a caricature of Ultraman trying to outrun a tsunami. That caricature is a work of Mohd Zohri Sukimi.

2 – CNN later published the news. I am not sure about international responses, but Malaysians were quite raged about the issue.

People, people, people! (Anwar Hadi, 2011). I didn’t want to be offensive, but I see there’s nothing wrong with the caricature. Many people accused the editors of Berita Harian as being ‘inconsiderate and distasteful’. Many many more cursed BH with many more vulgar words, of which the words are offensive themselves.

I am not trying to back the wrong side, but take a deep breath and think. OK, first when earthquake and tsunami occurred in Japan, you can see international reactions. Most of them, as usual, exclaiming their condolences and sorrow. But, there were also douchebags from many countries that had made fun of the Japanese tragedy.

See this one, as an example:

rude comments

These are some of the comments left on a youtube video. 4 out of the 10 comments left were being offensive. What about 30,000 comments? 3 million?

Well, the words clearly depicted how ‘insensitive and distasteful’ these human beings are! Why oh why on the world they didn’t get any bashing from any CNN or BBC, or even from the ever considerate Malaysians? Why they only bashed Malaysia? At least, the caricature have a few things that we can ponder.

Such as, it shows how even powerful the country is, it cannot fight the course of nature. How hi-tech or developed Japan is, they still couldn’t fight tsunamis and earthquakes. Why cannot you see in this aspect? Maybe it was presented offensively, but that was what caricatures should portray. Sharp sense of humour. Cynical, yet witty.

But the comments? Porn stars? Whew, I don’t know if it doesn’t sound offensive. Maybe Ultraman is more offensive to the Japanese than the porn industry. Oh and people. Please go and check youtube. Many comments left by many people was also being inconsiderate about religion. One commenter even wrote ‘If you really believe in God, then you must know that this is his doing’. Hm. Not offensive eh? Berita Harian more offensive?

Oh and when any international media humiliates Islam or Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him), why it was nothing more than a case of ‘freedom of speech’? What if Zoy tells the same? This is his freedom of speech, of how he perceive things in Japan, but in a cynical way. I am sure he sympathises the victims, and the caricature does not projecting BH and also his true feelings for the Japanese.

If really BH didn’t sympathise the victims, then they shouldn’t produce any news of them at all. But that was not the case. BH themselves extended their condolences to the Japanese. I am not being racist or whatsoever here, but Japan themselves never ask for forgiveness for their occupation during World War 2. They enslaved the locals, making the locals as their prostitutes. Just ask Koreans how do they feel until now. Their women lost their dignity to those Japanese army.

And even Malaysian women. And did Japan ask for forgiveness? Hm, maybe I am history illiterate, but if you found that one, please keep me posted.

Oh, that doesn’t mean I was being inconsiderate. Those are the facts. I’d love current Japan. Animes, comics. They shouldn’t be punished by what their ancestors had done. But as you can see, Japan themselves were trying to erase their own mistakes. Why shouldn’t we just let it pass? This is just a caricature!

This, has led me to formulate a few reasons why this has become an issue to the Malaysians:

1 – As always, politics. BH is considered as government’s paper. You should see how people suddenly turn their rage to the BN/UMNO. Oh mind you, I am not a BN supporter. And many people who supports opposition are using this issue to condemn the current government. This is the chance, people! Open your eyes!

2 – CNN was playing its part to provoke Malaysians. As you can see, America had interrupted in current situation in Libya. The IMF also interested to ‘help’ Egypt and Tunisia. This is a good chance to deepen Malaysians hatred to their own government, if not causing riot, at least Malaysians will distrust their government more. If really CNN found that caricature offensive, then they should also mention how insensitive their own people are. I am sure America will be so glad to see people rioting in Malaysia. CNN is also like BH. Government ass-licker.

That’s all dudes. I am more disappointed in Malaysians than BH. This had added to one more proof to prove how Malaysians can easily be provoked. Malaysians don’t like to think. Everything people say, especially America, they would immediately believe.

I want to stress again that the caricature might be offensive to some, but for those who have brains, it is an eye opener. It is a cynical image of even though human beings think they are powerful, they cannot fight the force of nature. Which for people who believe in God; will see how fragile human beings are at God’s mercy.

14 comments:
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  1. aku suka point of view ko pasal sesuatu topik..nice syed!!

    ReplyDelete
  2. in truth, i dont find the illustration as offensive as well, but maybe because we're not japanese. to us it may appear to be a joke, but jokes too can have multitudes of connotations.
    and yeah perhaps u are right about how people can go berserk in things like this, but i think newspapers are bound to professionalism. and what BH did was unprofessional, even for a simply cartoon slot like that.

    just giving an opinion ;)

    ReplyDelete
  3. well caricature is always about the joke :P
    many people can accept caricatures about Rosmah's hair. LOL!
    oh and not to be forgotten, the Darwin Awards. how they made fun of dead people. but did they get the bashing from CNN?
    my point is, everybody is the same. many more Americans cracked jokes about the tsunami. just go google. but why only they attacked certain group? as if they have their own motives.

    ReplyDelete
  4. mostly related to offensive? But still, the caricature reflect the real of what was happening to Japan. How can you relate people running from tsunami? Ultraman is the best. Yeah!

    Orang Malaysia suka melatah apabila ada isu timbul. Lepas tu ada jer orang yang sokong gitu-gini tanpa ada buah pemikiran sendiri.

    For me, the caricature is no wrong as it doesn't reflect any of this issue - religion.

    ReplyDelete
  5. huyowh...bgos2..anda blogger yg bgos ea

    ReplyDelete
  6. "A nuclear power plant in Fukumi, Japan exploded at 4:30 AM today (14/3/2011) . If it rains tomorrow or later, don't go outside. If you are outside, be sure that you have rain protectors. It's acid rain. Don't let it touch you. You may burn your skin, lose your hair or have cancer. This applies to all Asian countries. Please pass, stay safe and remind everyone you know..."- anonymous

    We will be in Xmen team soon. So be patient to pop up your claw out of your fist! LOL...hahaha

    by the way. I wanna say my grief to Japan. Not intend to put ultramen in jeopardy. Just don't believe that nuclear from Japan can reach Malaysia. That's all.

    ReplyDelete
  7. huhu..hairan aku ngn "budak2" zaman skang..=)
    mane peginye Malaysia yang so called berbudi bahasa..hahaha...
    xslh aku,"Melayu" agk terkenal ngn adab2 yg budi pekerti..=)tp xpelah,nmpk mentaliti penulis ni agak "tinggi"..biasala,budak U..ye dok?

    n budak hort,simpati tp still bergurau?huhuhu..nice one dude..=)

    ReplyDelete
  8. ShutterNista, ur statement is quite funny.
    Oh, the ever so lame people lamenting 'budi bahasa budaya kita'.

    First of all, clarify urself when u r saying adab2 yg budi pekerti. if not, u r definitely barking a wrong tree. Melayu terkenal dengan sindiran. Org Melayu banyak memandang sinis sesuatu perkara. Isn't it so? So apa masalahnya kalau kartunis tu memandang secara sinis ttg perkara ni? kalau org Melayu ditimpa musibah, org akan ckp "Lain kali, buatlah lagi. Kan dah kena!" Budi bahasa not? Sindiran is also perkara yg membuatkan org Melayu terkenal. Nampaknya nasihat utk anda: jangan cakap perkara yg akan memberi peluang utk org menilai ilmu anda. DO NOT ASSUME I'M THAT IGNORANT. I have my own arguments.

    N which part yg sungguh tidak beradab itu. Sila terangkan.

    Mentaliti agak tinggi? At least I am trying to think outside the box. This is what my U is trying to teach me. Not some people yg asyik emosi mcm lembu kena cucuk hidung. Org marah, dia ikut marah. Berfikirnya tidak. N u r unlucky if u r one of the people,shutter. Unable to think differently. Take that as a compliment.

    ReplyDelete
  9. x yah la cerita ttg budi bahsa budaya kita.. why previous flood dekat kedah johor kelantan x dak pon org nak bt lawak.. bcoz it happen in malaysia.. why time tsunami indonesia hari tue x der bt jgk.. same bcoz it happen in our beloved country jugak.. ada country len bt lwk time tuh..? please la BH tuh dah thp profesional punya newspaper dlm country jer la.. so people expect to be profesional la.. org dok byk mati hilang.. hilang tmpt tinggal BH dok bt camtuh menunjukan kita m'sia nie suka la.. kira hg suka la.. me..? obviously not!!

    ReplyDelete
  10. Azlan Shah,
    first of all, siapa ckp karikatur tu lawak? ada saya kata saya suka ke dia buat karikatur tu?

    saya cuma kata 'there's nothing wrong with that caricature'. karikatur tu tak lawak, tapi sinis. boleh faham tak?

    "please la BH tuh dah thp profesional punya newspaper dlm country jer la.." see? inilah point saya! kenapa nak heboh sampai CNN kalau setakat paper dlm negara?

    paper tu utk edaran dalam negara, supaya org malaysia tengok n ckp "sehebat2 jepun yg gagah dan maju mcm ultraman, time tsunami tak dpt buat apa2 selain lari. kita pulak mcm mana agaknya kalau bencana ni melanda Malaysia? Subhanallah" - well, at least ada org positif yg fikir mcm ni. yang akhirnya berfikir Allah swt paling gagah dan berkuasa. bukannya kita nak melawakkan musibah org lain!

    tapi kita suka melulu mencarut2 dengan emosi, tpi x boleh nak fikir drpd segi lain. cuba take it that way. depends la. ini suggestion saya. kalau semua org nak pndg sudut negatif je, silakan. saya x paksa.

    ReplyDelete
  11. @ShutterNisa, *shy* thanks for your compliment. I like it (nasib baik takda butang 'like').
    Saya post tu sebab ramai sangat yang percaya boleh pula datang radiasi tu ke Malaysia? Wat the heck with that info? Setahu saya radiasi nuclear hanya bersekitar tak sampai 100 km radius. Takkan kita pun boleh kena. Sungguh ajaib! Apa watak X-men ShutterNisa minat nak jadi kalau kena radiasi yea? I like prof. X. Control others mind with ease.

    Though I;m still hort kid, I still have rational to know about that kind of general knowledge.

    @Azlan Shah, dude do you understand English? bedaduz state that nothing wrong with that caricature. That's all. It's the same for me too.

    Susah nak terang BI ni meh aku terang BM. Karikatur tak semesti melambangkan lawak. Ia lebih kepada santai sambil berfikir. Jadi gambar ultramen lari dari tsunami melambangkan tiada kuasa yang kuat melainkan kuasa Allah. Itu tafsiran saya. Yang CNN mencarut-carut pasal Malaysia keluarkan, lepas tu kita melatah apa ke hal nye yob?

    Sebab Berita Harian akhbar profesional ke atau sebab lain tu yang kamu duk mencarut kat sini? Dude, think using your head not emotion. Eh silap. Guna akal bukan emosi...(kang ada orang ingat aku suruh guna kepala = head. By this mean head = akal...k?).

    ReplyDelete
  12. untuk yang masih x puas hati, sila refer link ni. ini ialah pendapat seorg lagi blogger ttg isu ni. lepas baca link ni, cuba guna otak. jangan guna emosi dah.

    http://kyo9.blogspot.com/2011/03/reaksi-jpon-terhadap-kartun-tsunami.html

    ReplyDelete
  13. it's funny you claimed that you reply all your readers comment without being emotional.

    dik, ada master & pendidikan tinggi tak bermakna kita cukup bijak utk menegakkan perkara yg batil

    As for this entry, i have to disagree with you.
    I find that when you mix jokes with people's misery, you're losing your heart..whether it's in caricature,YouTube comments, a blog entry.

    it's distasteful, I have to agree with Azlan Shah's opinion

    ReplyDelete

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