New Media, Cultural Imperialism and the Malay Muslim Society in Malaysia
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Volume: 5 Issues: 29 [June, 2020] pp. 19 - 33] Journal of Islamic, Social, Economics and Development (JISED) eISSN: 0128-1755 Journal website: www.jised.com NEW MEDIA, CULTURAL IMPERIALISM AND THE MALAY MUSLIM SOCIETY IN MALAYSIA Shafizan Mohamed Department of Communication, Kulliyyah Of Islamic Revealed Knowledge and Human Sciences, International Islamic University Malaysia (E-mail: [email protected]) Article history To cite this document: Received date : 9 -4-2020 Mohamed, S (2020). New Media, Cultural Imperialism Revised date : 10-4-2020 and the Malay Muslim Society in Malaysia. Journal of Accepted date : 20-6-2020 Islamic, Social, Economics and Development (JISED), Published date : 23-6-2020 5(29), 19 - 33. ___________________________________________________________________________ Abstract: The Malay Muslims are the majority of the Malaysian population. They are the products of the Malaysian government’s institutionalization of Islam that was intended to create modern Malay Muslims that are economically savvy, religiously conservative and politically subservient. The Malaysian media system has been strictly protected to ensure that media content do not go too far against the state’s Islamic ideology. In fact, Malaysia has one of the most flourishing Islamic media industries where media channels, operations and content comply with the Syariah. However, the onslaught of new global media is changing this dynamic. While the distinction between the ‘old media’ and the ‘new media’ is becoming vague, this article argues that when discussing the impact of media, the term ‘new media’ is still relevant especially when trying to compare the changes in media effects. When analysing the impact of television for example, one can distinguish the differences between watching traditional TV boxes with streaming TV channels online. The former can be considered ‘old media’ while the latter is the ‘new media’. Taking this consideration as its basis, this commentary focuses on the implications of ‘new media’ such as social media, mobile applications and online streaming services on the Malay Muslim specifically and indigenous cultures generally. The commentary suggests that while the new media offers much opportunity for the Malay Muslims to be part of the contemporary world, it also reignites old concerns of cultural imperialism and troubling postmodern ideals. Keywords: Culture Imperialism, Malay Muslim, Malaysian Media, Mobile Applications, Social Media, Streaming Media ___________________________________________________________________________ 19 Volume: 5 Issues: 29 [June, 2020] pp. 19 - 33] Journal of Islamic, Social, Economics and Development (JISED) eISSN: 0128-1755 Journal website: www.jised.com Introduction The Malay Muslims are the majority of the Malaysian population. They are the products of the Malaysian government’s institutionalization of Islam that was intended to create modern Malay Muslims that are economically savvy, religiously conservative and politically subservient. The Malaysian media system has been strictly protected to ensure that media content do not go too far against the state’s Islamic ideology. However the onslaught of new media has challenged the Malay-Muslim status quo that framed the development of the Malaysian media. Coupled with the increasingly commercialized and globalized media practices, the Malaysian media is left in a cultural juncture in which local protectionism of media content is pressured to make way for western media products and contents that are culturally bias against indigenous beliefs and traditions. This commentary articulated this phenomenon by establishing the socio- political intricacies of the Malaysian media and analysing the complex changes brought upon by the new media. The discussion is loosely inspired by the theoretical ideas of globalization and cultural imperialism. The analysis is done through careful readings of relevant literatures and qualitative observation. The Muslim Society In Malaysia Islam is the official religion in Malaysia. More than 60% of the Malaysian population are Muslims (Department of Statistics Malaysia, 2018). Since the late 1970s, the Islamisation process has seen Islam legally and structurally incorporated into crucial aspects of public life. The enforcement of Islamic education in public schools and the promotion of Islamic banking system are examples of how in Malaysia, Islam is more than just a religion. It is an institution. The complex relationship between the Malaysian social, political and economic circumstances is the major driver to this development (Mohamed & Azzman, 2018). Although Islam has been recognised as the official religion since 1957; analysts (Weiss 2004; Hamid 2009) claim that it was in the 1970s; during the wake of the Global Islamic Resurgence catalysed by the Iranian Revolution; that the Islamisation project found its footing in Malaysian politics. The Islamic discourse that was prevalent in the Muslim world revitalised debates around the fundamental questions of what being Muslim is about. Initially, Malay university students exposed to the transnational resurgence of Islamic thought led the Islamisation movement, but over time the movement penetrated into major national institutions and took root (Hamid 2009). This rise of the new Islamic-educated Malays, who were mostly trained in the Middle East, and the influence of Islamic NGOs such as the Angkatan Belia Islam Malaysia (Muslim Youth Movement of Malaysia), asserted intense pressure on the ruling government, especially the United Malay National Organization (UMNO) to prove that it was Islamic. The rise of political Islam was also entrenched within the rivalry between the two main Malay- Muslim political parties, namely, the historically secular-nationalist UMNO, and the more fundamentalist Parti Islam Se-Malaysia (PAS) in the contest to become the Muslim champion. In the wake of the Malay community’s religious scrutiny, the UMNO needed to prove that it was more “Islamic” than the PAS. This led Weiss (2004) to argue that the UMNO Islamisation project was less a religious conviction than an invested electoral strategy. As a result, Islam in Malaysia has largely become a conservative, pro-establishment entity that enables the state to manufacture and control expressions of Islam in official and everyday Malaysian life. Islam has undoubtedly become a force affecting all citizens. In 1988, the Malaysian Parliament approved constitutional amendments and added Article 121 (1A) (Malaysian Federal 20 Volume: 5 Issues: 29 [June, 2020] pp. 19 - 33] Journal of Islamic, Social, Economics and Development (JISED) eISSN: 0128-1755 Journal website: www.jised.com Constitution 2006), which reads: “The [civil courts] shall have no jurisdiction in respect of any matter within the jurisdiction of the Syariah courts”. This initiative to restructure the Islamic legal institutions was followed by all the other Malaysian states. The climax of Islamic resurgence occurred in September 2001 when Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad declared Malaysia to be an Islamic state (Martinez 2001, 474). The Malay Muslims in Malaysia A visionary leader, Mahathir understood that Islam is central in the Malay identity. In his effort to confront local pressures on his government to be more Islamic, while at the same time building an economically competitive nation, Mahathir had successfully constructed a unique application of Islam that is relevant within a capitalistic global environment. Mahathir promoted a progressive interpretation of Islam. In his nation building efforts Mahathir closely tied Islam, ethnicity and nationalism in one narrative. Mahathir depicted the inception of Islam and the radical break with the pre-Islamic past as turning away from the dark ages: And so the animistic ancestors of the Malays embraced Islam with such enthusiasm and faith that they destroyed all their old idols and temples. Today, Malays are constitutionally only Malays if they are Muslims. The progress of the Malays after conversion and presently owes much to Islam as a way of life. There had been lapses of course but by and large Malay civilisation and its progress in the arts and sciences, in the systems of government, the concept of justice and the rule of law, have been the result of attempts to adhere to the teachings of Islam. (Mahathir 2001, 161) The Islam Mahathir intended for Malaysia was destined for modernity and strict in its rejection of traditional and superstitious beliefs. Mahathir places Islam as the core to the nationalisation of the Malay Muslims through the incorporation of the ideal Islamic way of life. The Malay Muslims was socially, institutionally and culturally shaped through economic development, urbanization and modern thinking that are compatible with Islam and their conservative feudal outlook. These visions were realized through the New Economic Policy (NEP) where the transformation of the economic and social standings of the native Malays were done through the manufacturing of an urban, educated, entrepreneurial, affluent and commercial Malay middle class also known as Melayu Baru or ‘New Malay’. By the early 1990s, the fruits of the NEP were very much visible. New generations of urban and affluent Melayu Baru were taking control of the country’s economy. This new middle class is actively manufactured by the state and is promoted as a class of modern entrepreneurial, hardworking and consuming Malays who had incredible purchasing power (Shamsul 1998). Thus becoming middle class meant that