Yes, true, Malaysians watch news in many languages

And how this access to diverse perspectives shapes our understanding of the world.

Photo by Danial H on Unsplash

There are so many things I take for granted about being Malaysian. As I said in my essay about Kuala Lumpur, I took for granted the privilege of living in Kuala Lumpur, having been conditioned through experience and kopitiam talk to dislike it.

Often, we’d be surprised by tourists when they exclaim, “Wow, Kuala Lumpur is so underrated!”

And then we will leave a comment thread saying, “Welcome to Malaysia! But we prefer to be underrated and would like to stay that way”, with a subtle hint of “now can you go back to ignoring us, please”.

As I said in my about page, Malaysians are rather quiet people on the world stage. We like it that way, and generally hate attention, especially from the big movers and shakers of the world. (Whispers: Namely, the West.)

But last week I broke the template a tad by writing The West is no longer the best, a provocative title in the fine tradition of the Singaporean career diplomat, Kishore Mahbubani, who wrote title-triggering books such as, Has the West lost it?, Has China Won? and Can Asians think?

Maybe there’s something about us South-East Asians. We are generally quiet and reserved, until we’re not.

One of the interesting comments I got was that readers found it fascinating that our media is so diverse:

Ahaha, diverse is one way to put it. We have a robust alternative media scene vs mainstream media, which are often controlled by political parties. Yes, you read that right, our media is literally owned by political parties. This, of course, meant that Malaysians from an early age were trained to look at the official media channels a certain way.

☝️ Most Malaysians when reading Malaysian mainstream media and official government announcements.

So, this environment has trained most Malaysians to approach propaganda news from mainstream sources very critically. Heck, these days we’re even suspicious of alternative news sources. Our propaganda-detection sensors have been well and truly honed.

On top of this, we have news in several languages, which brings different perspectives.

Here’s a Tamil news segment from Radio Televisyen Malaysia, a government-owned channel:

If you’re wondering what scarf she’s wearing, it’s a scarf in support of Palestine.

Here’s a news snippet in Malay, about Malaysia joining the BRICS:

Another in Mandarin:

There are other channels besides these government channels, of course. Here’s a guide to Malaysia’s media landscape, though I’m a bit confused why they excluded BFM, which is favoured by the English-speaking, middle-class crowd in Malaysia.

We discuss affairs of the world in our channels, such as this podcast about Kamala Harris: Kamala Harris Transforms US presidential elections and Jeffrey Sachs On UN SDGs: Herculean, Not Sisyphean.

This is not to say that every Malaysian can have a decent conversation in geopolitics. We still have echo chambers where Malays only read/watch Malay media, Chinese-educated Chinese read/watch Chinese media only etc.

But those who take advantage of this diversity will really be well-informed with what’s happening in the world.

Still, there are conversations happening in mamaks and kopitiams where Malaysians of all races will share what the Chinese/Tamil/Malay papers are saying about this or that issue. So, every Malaysian gets some diversity of information.

I admit I’m unique because I’m a huge geopolitical news junkie (to my detriment, alas). I spent years in a newsroom and as one of its world news eds, I had access to wires around the world, from AP to Xinhua (China).

I’ve carried this thirst for media diversity even after leaving the newsroom.

I’m no anthropologist, but last week’s letter made me reflect on how this exposure to diversity of thought may have influenced how Malaysians understand the world.

One, due to our linguistic abilities and mad context-switching skills, we are able to speak to people in China and India, two major geopolitical forces, in a way that makes them comfortable with us. Our linguistic abilities also mean that we can access their media in their languages and understand their perspectives. This skill is priceless in an increasingly multi-polar world and enables us to make great business and political connections.

And due to our exposure to all kinds of media perspectives locally, we are exposed to different cultures, and their way of interpreting events (even if it’s the official government line).

Therefore, we realise that there’s no one true narrative because we know that information can be distorted to fit the agenda of a party. Instead, we have learned to “read between the lines” and to research for any nuggets of truth from social media, other countries’ coverage etc. (Though I have my doubts about the Whatsapp uncles and aunties out there who likes to forward me the latest fabricated news of the day.)

This has made us realise that there’s no black and white in issues, and this extends to a country. No country is “evil” or “good”, but they need to be understood so that we can get along with them. (Or risked being bombed: IYKYK.)

Maybe you’re wondering how you can access this diversity or develop this media literacy.

It’s the Internet age, so it’s easier than ever, but you have to be proactive about it and go exploring online. First, you need to stop being afraid that the news sources will turn you into a brainwashed zombie. Be daring and read or watch the official government-owned media of various countries. Then, read their independent news and compare. Take a step back and compare what your country’s media is saying. Can you spot a common truth or different perspective?

This is a lot of work, of course, but if you’re serious about expanding your worldview, this is one of the best ways.

How is the media in your country? Is it more focused on covering issues at home? Does it talk about what’s happening around the world? If so, are they only focused on certain regions? I’m curious to know.

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