Drama Queens: The Engagement of Sarawak Malay Housewives with Television’s Cosmopolitan Morality
Siti Zanariah Ahmad Ishak B.A (Hons) (Writing) Universiti Malaya, Malaysia MMS (Management Communication) University of Waikato, New Zealand
This thesis is presented for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy of The University of Western Australia School of Social and Cultural Studies Discipline of Anthropology & Sociology 2011
Abstract
Due to the presence of television, domestic space is no longer so isolated. Television has allowed housewives exposure to electronic messages concerning globalisation, modernity and, in the case of Malaysia, a form of Islam which is promoted by the government. These messages are embedded in different television genres in locally produced programs. The purpose of this study is to explore how urban Sarawak Malay housewives engage with television. The context is Kampung Tabuan Melayu,a working class Malay village in Sarawak’s capital city, Kuching. The life of housewives in the village is framed by motivational and talk-show television programs in the early morning; drama serials or imported telenovelas in the mid-afternoon; prime- time news in the evening and reality television or television magazine programs at night. The research examines how these housewives search for images on television of ‘ideal wives and mothers’ and how they use these images as resources to guide their own role performance in a changing society. The research argues further that this is possible because free-to-air Malaysian television adopts a cosmopolitan outlook focused on cultural diversity, emphasising moral values which the women are able to use to enhance their local social standing.
The ethnographic approach applied in this research enables a detailed investigation of how housewives interpret television messages. In-depth interviews and participant observation proved insightful methods in understanding how television messages permeate the everyday lives of housewives in Kampung Tabuan Melayu. Moreover, the adoption of a multi-sited fieldwork approach (Marcus 1995) made it possible to trace the housewives’ mobility and to comprehend their desire for consumer lifestyle commodities featured on television. Although there are studies of how ethnicity features in the way women engage with television, insufficient attention has focused on the way women use television images in their roles and identities as housewives, mothers, family members and petty business operators. Through its concern with these latter identities, this thesis offers fresh insight to studies of television reception among women.
Whilst Kampung Tabuan housewives recognise that television messages are censored by the government, the first finding of the study is that they willingly adopt many of these messages as resources to facilitate their moral understanding and performance of wife and mother roles. Being supplementary income earners is one i
means through which Kampung Tabuan housewives fulfil their moral obligation to be the ‘good wife and mother’ modelled television imagery. They often accomplish this through their involvement in petty-trading, which also enhances their ability to consume lifestyle commodities, and to reflect the images of modern women depicted on television. Thus, the second finding of the study is that Kampung Tabuan Melayu housewives utilise television imagery - drawn from both locally produced and imported television programs - in striving to enhance their social status. Through the influence of television, they do this by seeking to embrace cultural diversity and by acquiring an identity as modern, middle-class, but ostentatious, women. In short, Kampung Tabuan housewives seek to redefine themselves through a combination of kind-heartedness and ‘cosmopolitan’ beauty, the core qualities of female characters at the centre-stage of television dramas.
My argument is that the modern lifestyles and moral guidance sought by Kampung Tabuan Melayu housewives is modelled on both Western and non-Western cultural values and popular culture. This reflects the establishment and rise of both Asian and Latin American cultural industries, alongside those based in the West. Given the considerable amount of foreign television content on free-to-air Malaysian television, cosmopolitanism provides a useful theoretical framework for conceptualising women’s engagement with media messages. In addition, hybridity theory facilitates our understanding of the way the Malaysian government adapts foreign popular culture in the Malaysian context. In this study Malaysian television cosmopolitanism is understood in the context of three occurrences: firstly, through the establishment of free-to-air government and privately owned television stations in Malaysia, developed to meet the demands of the nation’s multiethnic population; secondly, through the existence of diverse, popular culture programs from different countries; and finally through the process of producing local Malaysian television which has been adapted from imported programs.
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Table of Contents
Abstract…………………………………………………………………………………..i
Table of Contents……………………………………………………………………….iii
Acknowledgements……………………………………………………………………..ix
List of Abbreviations……………………………………………………………………xi List of Maps…………………………………………………………………………….xii List of Tables…………………………………………………………………………..xiii List of Plates…………………………………………………………………………...xiv Glossary of Malay Term……………………………………………………………….xvi Glossary of Malay, Indonesian and Adapted Television Programs…………………...xix Statement of Candidate’s Contribution………………………………………………..xxi
Preface…………………………………………………………………………………...1
CHAPTER 1
GLOBALISATION AND THE STATE: HOUSEWIVES’ ENGAGEMENT WITH TELEVISION IN CHANGING SOCIETY…………………………………………….6
INTRODUCTION………………………………………………………………………6
MALAY HOUSEWIVES’ ROLES IN A CHANGING SOCIETY…………………...10
THE IMPACT OF STATE AND ISLAMIC INTERVENTION ON THE MALAY HOUSEWIVES………………………………………………………………………...14
TABUAN HOUSEWIVES: DRAMA SERIALS, ISLAM AND THE LAW…………16
THE ROLE OF MALAYSIAN TELEVISION………………………………………...21
WOMEN’S VIEWERS AND MORALITY: SOAP OPERA, TELENOVELA AND DRAMA SERIALS IN THE WORLD CONTEXT……………………………………24
TELEVISION AS RESOURCE FOR THE MORAL GUIDENCE OF HOUSEWIVES ………………………………………………………………………………………….27
RESEARCH QUESTIONS…………………………………………………………....29
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RESEARCH SIGNIFICANCE…………………………………………………….….30
STUDY SETTING……………………………………………………………………..31
CHAPTER OVERVIEW………………………………………………………………35
CHAPTER 2
METHODOLOGY: AUDIENCE ETHNOGRAPHY………………………………….41
INTRODUCTION……………………………………………………………………...41
ENTERING THE FIELD………………………………………………………………42
FIELDWORK ISSUES: WATCHING TELEVISION ACTIVITY AND OFFERING TABUAN HOUSEWIVES MOBILITY…………………………………………….....47
CONCLUSION………………………………………………………………………...58
CHAPTER 3
GLOBALISATION: TELEVISION AND COSMOPOLITANISM………………...... 59
INTRODUCTION……………………………………………………………………...59
GLOBALISATION AND THE MEDIA: EXAMINING PERSPECTIVES IN THE HOMOGENISATION AND HETEROGENISATION OF LOCAL CULTURE……..60
COSMOPOLITANISM………………………………………………………………...64
COSMOPOLITANISM AND WOMEN: TRAVEL AND OPENNESS…………...... 66
TELEVISION AND IMAGINED COSMOPOLITANISM……………………………69
COSMOPOLITAN MORALITY: TELEVISION, NEWS AND MELODRAMA……69
HYBRIDITY…………………………………………………………………………...72
CONCLUSION………………………………………………………………………...74
CHAPTER 4
TELEVISION COSMOPOLITANISM: AN ANALYSIS OF FREE-TO-AIR TELEVISION CONTENT AND THE POLITICAL FACTORS THAT HAVE
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SHAPED THE BROADCASTING LANDSCAPE IN MALAYSIA PRIOR TO 2006……………………………………………………………………………………86
INTRODUCTION…………………………………………………………………….86
APPROACH TO THE INVESTIGATION OF TELEVISION COSMOPOLITANISM ………………………………………………………………………………………….88
THE GOVERNMENT TELEVISION STATION (TV1) 1963-1969………………….91
CHALLENGES TO THE MULTICULTURAL APPROACH ADOPTED BY TV1 AND TV3……………………………………………………………………………....94
IMPORTED POPULAR CULTURE ON MALAYSIAN TELEVISION STATIONS
…………………………………………………………………………………….…..102
THE HYBRIDISATION OF TELEVISION POPULAR CULTURE PROGRAMS
………………………………………………………………………………………...108
FILTRATION IN MALAYSIA……………………………………………………...111
HYBRIDITY IN THE MALAY MINI DRAMA SERIAL: SEPUTIH QASEH RAMADHAN…………………………………………….………………………...... 116
The Storyline………………………………………………………………………….116
Inward and Outward Outlooks in Seputih Qaseh Ramadhan………………………....117
CONCLUSION……………………………………………………………………….119
CHAPTER 5
CHANGES IN THE SOCIAL STRUCTURE AND TENSION IN WOMEN’S ROLE IN KAMPUNG TABUAN MELAYU………………………………………………..121
INTRODUCTION………………………………………………………………...... 121
RURAL-URBAN MIGRATION: KAMPUNG TABUAN AND ITS RELATION WITH THE DEVELOPMENT IN KUCHING………………………………………123
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THE MALAYS: GENDER RELATIONS AND THE ROLES OF WOMEN IN MALAYA AND COASTAL SARAWAK MALAY PEASANT COMMUNITIES...128
GEOGRAPHIC LOCATION AND SOCIO-ECONOMIC CONDITION OF KAMPUNG TABUAN………………………………………………………………133
THE IMPACT OF MARGINALISATION AND STIGMATISATION ON THE TABUAN MEN AND WOMEN……………………………………………………..142
TABUAN HOUSEWIVES AND DOMESTIC SPACE…………………………..….148
TABUAN HOUSEWIVES’ ENGAGEMENT WITH TELEVISION………………..151
THE PETTY TRADING ACTIVITIES OF TABUAN HOUSEWIVES…………….158
CONCLUSION……………………………………………………………………….161
CHAPTER 6
IMAGINED COSMOPOLITANS: HOUSEWIVES’ PETTY TRADING AND CONSUMPTION……………………………………………………………………..163
INTRODUCTION…………………………………………………………………….163
OVERVIEW OF PETTY TRADING AND THE CONSUMPTION OF LIFESTYLE COMMODITIES……………………………………………………………………...165
TABUAN HOUSEWIVES, PETTY TRADING AND CONSUMPTION…………...167
Social-Trading Networks……………………………………………………………...173
Permanent Petty Trading……………………………………………………………...180
CONSUMPTION: THE CONNECTION WITH, AND IMAGINATION OF, OTHER CITY LIFESTYLES, AND THE MEANING OF CLOTHING ITEMS………….….187
CONCLUSION……………………………………………………………………….193
CHAPTER 7
TELEVISION COSMOPOLITANISM AND CONSUMPTION: NEGOTIATING MODERN MALAY HOUSEWIVES’ WOMANHOOD IN DOMESTIC RELATIONSHIPS…………………………………………………………………....194 vi
INTRODUCTION………………………………………………………………….…194
THE PORTRAYAL OF PHYSICAL AND INNER BEAUTY ON TELEVISION….195
THE WOMANHOOD OF TABUAN HOUSEWIVES: A REFLECTION OF THE IDEALS OF PHYSICAL ATTRACTIVENESS AND CONSUMPTION OF LIFESTYLE COMMODITIES……………………………………………………….200
IMAGINING MIDDLE-CLASS MALAY PHYSICAL ATTRACTIVENESS……...208
ISLAM………………………………………………………………………………...215
TABUAN HOUSEWIVES’ DESIRE FOR FASHION………………………………219
CONCLUSION……………………………………………………………………….227
CHAPTER 8
TABUAN WOMEN’S STRATEGIES OF GOOD MOTHERHOOD: DETACHMENT FROM A PROBLEMATIC COMMUNITY AND THE ADOPTION OF OUTWARD LOOKING MORALITY AND VALUES……………………………………...…….229
INTRODUCTION………………………………………………………………...…..229
PREVENTING THE SPREAD OF SOCIAL PROBLEMS: ISLAMIC MORALITY AND STIGMA………………………………………………………………….…….231
THE FIRST STRATEGY OF TABUAN GOOD MOTHERHOOD: FILIAL PIETY AND WEEPING……………………………………………………………………....237
THE SECOND STRATEGY OF TABUAN GOOD MOTHERHOOD: THE ADOPTION OF DIFFERENT CULTURAL RESOURCES FROM TELEVISION………………………………………………………….……………...244
CONCLUSION…………………………………………………………………….....249
CHAPTER 9
CONCLUSION: MORALISTIC HOUSEWIVES………………………………..…..251
INTRODUCTION………………………………………………………………….....251
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THE DRAMAS OF LIFE: THE CHALLENGES OF CONTEMPORARY HOUSEWIVES’ ROLES……………………………………………………………..251
THE COSMOPOLITAN OUTLOOK OF TELEVISION AUDIENCES…………….253
CONTRIBUTION TO TELEVISION STUDIES AND GENDER ROLES………….256
REFERENCES………………………………………………………………………..261
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Acknowledgements
My sincere appreciation goes to the people of Kampung Tabuan, who allowed me to share their life experiences. To all of the participants in my study, thank you for your time. A special thanks to the village headman and wife, Wan Alwi and Dayang Sariah, and sub village headman and wife, Rosli and Doris, and their extended families for assisting me to obtain data. Thank you to the families in Kuching, Kota Samarahan, and Sri Aman for allowing me into your families.
I am grateful to my supervisors, Professor Michael Pinches and Dr Richard Davis for their guidance. Michael’s patience in dealing with the continuous stream of paper work that was required by my sponsor and the institution that I am attached to is appreciated. Richard’s thought-provoking recommendations moved my research forward. Michael’s invaluable feedback, particularly for the final draft was greatly appreciated. Thanks to postgraduate coordinator Dr Cheryl Lange who provided assistance during my early candidature. Thank you to Mrs Jill Woodman who helped me with the administration problems.
I especially want to thank Dr Michael Azariadis and Dr Krystyna Haq from the Graduate Research School for organising the writing group, research seminars and support. I want to make a very special mention of Michael for teaching me to write with clarity. His ability in showing me ways to improve my writing is outstanding. This thesis was completed because of his commitment in assisting me. My gratitude goes to the Reid Library for the provision of excellent references and service. Thank you to Grayme Mill and the computer support team who were there whenever I need technical help. Thank you to the Graduate Research School and the School of Social and Cultural Studies for funding of my fieldwork in Malaysia. Thank you to the University of Western Australia (UWA) for providing exciting public activities and ‘a huge playground’ for my children. Thanks to Ahmad Nizar, Faizah, Nor Azlin, Florence, Musdi, Jem and Hamdan for your friendship while we were in UWA.
I owe considerable thanks to the Ministry of Higher Education, Malaysia, and Universiti Malaysia Sarawak for their generosity in sponsoring my study and granting extensions due to my ill health. Thanks to both the deans of the Faculty of Social Sciences, Universiti Malaysia Sarawak, Associate Professor Mutalip Abdullah and, later, Professor Spencer Empading. Thanks to the deputy dean, Dr Zamri Hassan and
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the Communication Studies Coodinaator, Siti Haslina Hussin. My heartfelt gratitude goes for their support and assistance in the completion of my study. Thank you to all my colleagues from the Faculty of Social Sciences who gave me moral support during my final writing stage. To Awang Ideris, Dr Sharifah Sofiah, Nor’ain Aini, and Dr Hew Cheng Sim, thank you for your comments and suggestions on, and corrections of, my draft chapters. Thank you to Wiermawaty Baizura for your technical support. Thanks to Chris of UWA and Dr Lim Kim Hui of Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia for their useful comments on my draft chapters. Thank you to Peter Cullip in re-checking the language and grammar usage.
To my sisters, brothers, in-laws, niece, and nephews, a sincere thank you for your love and unwavering support through thick and thin. Thanks to both the Hussin and Habsah, and Asmawati and Shahrun families for caring for my children when I was in the field. A big thank you to Ahmaliah and Mohd Natar for managing the financial matters during my years of entering and leaving Malaysia. My gratitude goes to Alfinah and Afzan; Zainuddin and the late Asiah; Md Sidin and Norhaya; Siti Hajar and Laham; Zubaidah; Fadzilah and Megat al-Imran; my parents in-law; the Yaakub family; and nieces and nephews; Shafiq, Zahidah, and Ada for your many contributions to my efforts. Thanks to Yon and the late Asiah family for providing accommodation, food, and transportation during our first 10 months in Marangaroo, Perth. A hearty thanks (again) to Ahmad Nizar, my husband, colleague, and study-mate, for your love, patience, undivided support, and constant engagement with my ideas. My thanks and love go to my beautiful children, Razin, Nur Sabrina, and Nazmi, for being courageous whenever we need to move to new places and schools during my study period.
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List of Abbreviations
ABIM Angkatan Belia Islam Malaysia (Malaysian Islamic Youth Movement)
AIM Amanah Ikhtiar Malaysia (Effort Trust Fund)
FTA Free-to-air
LPF Lembaga Penapisan Filem (The Film Censorship Board of Malaysia)
MLM Multilevel marketing
PAS Parti Islam Se-Malaysia (Pan-Malaysian Islamic Party)
RTM Radio Televisyen Malaysia
UMNO United Malays National Organization
VHS Violence, Horror, and Sex
NEP Dasar Ekonomi Baru (The National Economic Policy)
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List of Maps
Map 1 Sarawak and Sabah are the two Malaysian states located on the island of Borneo
Map 2 Sub-kampung within Kampung Tabuan Melayu: Tabuan Hilir, Tabuan Tengah, Tabuan Lot, and Tabuan Dani and their neighbourhoods
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List of Tables
Table 1: The demographic profiles of research participants
Table 2: Imports of films, animations, and documentaries by Malaysian TV stations, 1998
Table 3: Programs produced by independent production companies in Malaysia, 1998 – 2000
Table 4: The occupations of Kampung Tabuan men
Table 5: Daily time spent watching television
Table 6: The role of television perceived by Tabuan housewives
Table 7: Television genres watched by Tabuan housewives by frequency
Table 8: Aaron’s and Fasha’s approximate monthly household earnings and Fasha’s lifestyle commodity consumption
Table 9: Favourite television stations among Tabuan housewives
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List of Plates
Plate 1a Mami Jarum is a title of a Malay movie produced in 2002 Plate 1b Madu Tiga is a classic Malay movie produced in 1964 Plate 1c ‘India’ is the name given to a Sarawak layer cake. The highest price for the cake compared to others symbolises the preference for all things Indian to Kuching Malays. For instance, they imagine the facial features of Indian in them from Bollywood movies. Plate 1d The names of popular Western singers such as Lady Gaga are also used to name Sarawak layer cakes made by women in Kuching. Plate 2 The eastern entrance to Kampung Tabuan is accessed from the busy Setia Raja Road that connects the industrial areas and other districts in Kuching with Pending town centre and Kuching Port. Plate 3 The northern entrance to Kampung Tabuan. A private boat transports passengers from business centres back to the village. The simple landing platform is called pengkalan sekolah. Plate 4 Reclaimed housing areas of Kampung Tabuan Tengah that are close to the pengkalan sekolah landing platform.
Plate 5 The wooden bridge pathways that connect the houses in the lowland area of Kampung Tabuan. Plate 6: Pokok apung or nypa frutican, (see the far bank of the river), the river, and boats are the traditional elements of the lives of coastal Sarawak Malays that are still present in Kampung Tabuan. Plate 7: One of the marginalised occupations for Tabuan men: a small scale terubok (Tenualosa toil) fish seller. Hamzah, the seller is in white shirt. Hamzah’s father, who owns the business, rents a small parcel of veranda space on the pathway in front of a Chinese grocery shop in Jalan Gambier, Kuching. Plate 8: Tattooing is a traditional practice for the indigenous people of Borneo. Although it is uncommon and religiously prohibited among the Malays, this Tabuan Malay man tattooed his arm. Plate 9: Juliana categorises her collection of over 200 VCDs, including local and foreign movies, drama serials, and karaoke and music albums. The photo also shows that Juliana wears the T-shirt of Mickey Mouse. Merchandise bearing animation characters, particularly from North America and Japan (see also Plate 10), are easily available in Kuching.
Plate 10: Priyanka’s lounge room has a complete entertainment unit, including TV, DVD player, radio, and speakers. There are also two framed Quranic verses hanging on the wall, some of her hundreds of DVDs, and a mascot of Dorisemon, a popular animation series from Japan on Malaysian TV. xiv
Plate 11: Norish (left) and Dania (right) are doing their seamstress homework at around 1:00 p.m. before watching popular Indonesian drama serials at 2:30 p.m. on TV 3’s Sinetron slot. Both women are learning seamstress skills at the Youth Centre in Pending. Plate 12: Some of living room of a house has been turned into a small grocery shop.
Plate 13: Rita in the furniture shop trying to calm down her grumpy son. She is caring for her son while organising hoi barang. Plate 14: One of the main hoi activities is to draw numbers to determine the members’ turn to receive their pot money. Plate 15: Maya Karin’s red lips. She is focusing her attention on trying on a crystal bracelet during a home selling session. The bracelet costs RM300 (AUD100) and is sold through a community rotating credit scheme. Plate 16: The ritual membuang peraja (throwing away misfortune) is performed when the bride and groom are on the way to the groom’s house.
Plate 17: Priyanka is wearing a modern Indian costume and a Japanese kimono. Plate 18: Priyanka in a Javanese costume (left). Priyanka and her groom in traditional Malay costumes. Plate 19: Rosli and Doris (photo at left), and Dayang Sariah (photo at right). These photos were taken during the religious festival Hari Raya Aidil Fitri, 2007. Plate 20: Rita (two photos on the left) and Doris (left), and Betty (right) wearing baju kelawar (bat dress), or Malay women’s pyjamas, which are striking in design and colours. They are showing off their collection of baju kelawar. It is made either from batik or is printed (as worn by these women). Plate 21: Because the AIM meeting and the money-borrowing procedures are conducted according to Sharia principles, all the Tabuan housewives attending the meeting wear baju kurung and head scarf. Some of the housewives in the photo would not wear this on other occasions. Plate 22: Bella Dally in a smock-style maternity dress that I buy for her in Kuala Lumpur. Plate 23: Prime Minister Najib Razak kisses his mother’s hand for a blessing after his appointment. On the left is Najib’s wife, Rosmah Mansor (Photo: Aziz 2009).
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Glossary of Malay Terms
Anak derhaka ‘A treacherous child’
Adat Customary law
Bagus agik pakei duit sendiri ‘It is good to spend our own money’ (Sarawak Malay)
Baju kurung A Malay woman’s loose-fitting traditional dress
Baju Melayu A Malay man’s traditional dress
Baju kelawar A Malay woman’s pyjamas
Barisan Nasional The ruling coalition party of Malaysia
Bodo (Sarawak Malay) Stupid
Bomoh A shaman
Belulut (Sarawak Malay) ‘to parade’ during a wedding ceremony
Cari duit lebih (Sarawak Malay) ‘To earn additional income’
Cerita/rancangan ya kacak ‘The drama/program is good’ (Sarawak Malay)
Comot-comot (Sarawak Malay) ‘dirty’
Dangdut Indonesian popular music
Daulat ‘Spiritual potency’
Diam rumah ajak (Sarawak Malay) ‘just stay at home’
Fatwa An Arabic loan word meaning a religious and legal decree or edict issued by a council of religious leaders
Gotong-royong The spirit of co-operation
Halal An Arabic loan word meaning something that is permitted by Islamic practice
Hadis A report of the sayings or actions of the Prophet Muhammad
Hajah The title for a woman who had performed the haj
Haji The title for a man who had performed the haj
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Haram The opposite of halal
Hoi barang Saving and buying goods from a community rotating credit scheme
Hoi duit (Sarawak Malay) Saving money in the community rotating credit scheme
Hari Raya/ Hari Raya Aidil Fitri A religious celebration for Malay-Muslims, or Eid Mubarak
Hari Raya Aidil Adha A religious celebration for the haj pilgrimage
Ikan terubok Tenualosa toli or ‘Chinese herring’
Kain brokat Brocade fabric
Kaki batu The local Malay name-calling for drug addicts in Kampung Tabuan
Kampung Village
Ketua kampung Village headman
Kebaya A tight-fitting Malay woman’s traditional dress
Kuih Malay cake or finger food
Kuih kering A Malay snack
Latah Startle
Main hoi (Sarawak Malay) To take part in the community rotating credit scheme
Maok tau perkembangan “To know current issues’ (Sarawak Malay)
Mbiak terbiar (Sarawak Malay) ‘An unattended child’
Melayu pesisir Coastal Sarawak Malays
Membuang Peraja (Sarawak Malay) To throw out misfortune
Mufti The council of Islamic jurists
Nasi lemak Coconut rice
Nipah Nypa fruticans
Nyesah pakaian ‘Laundry’
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Orang laut or orang hutan The names given to Malays from the coastal areas and interior areas of Sarawak
Pakei isi masa lapang ‘To occupy free time’ (Sarawak Malay) Pakei pengajaran or teladan ‘To teach a lesson’ (Sarawak Malay)
Pokok apong Nypa fruticans (Sarawak Malay)
Pugei ‘A charm’ (Sarawak Malay)
Rukunegara National ideology of Malaysia
Si Tanggang A Malaysian version of a Malay Archipelago folktale
Sik kempang ati ‘Do not have the heart’ (Sarawak Malay)
Sik patut ‘Inappropriate’ (Sarawak Malay)
Surau Prayer room or musolla (in Arabic), or small mosque
Surirumah Housewife
Syabu Methamphetamine (ice)
Yang DiPertuan Agong The Supreme Ruler of Malaysia
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Glossary of Malay, Indonesian and Adapted Television Programs
Al-Qulliyah An Islamic forum produced by TV3
Akademi Fantasia A reality singing program broadcast on the Astro station adapted from the Mexican reality program La Academia
Anugerah Juara Lagu TV3 A yearly live telecast of Malay popular song awards broadcast on TV3
Awangku Sayang A Malay drama series produced in 1965 and broadcast on TV1
Bawang Merah Bawang Putih An Indonesian drama serial version of a famous Malay Archipelago folktale
Bersamamu A TV3 reality program dealing with the underprivileged
Cinderella A Malay drama serial produced in 1998 and broadcast on TV3
Forum Perdana Ehwal Semasa An Islamic forum produced by TV1
Jejak Rasul A historical documentary on Islamic prophets produced by TV3 and broadcast during the month of Ramadhan
Majalah 3 A television magazine program produced by TV3
Malaysian Idol A reality television show adapted from American Idol
Manjalara A Malay drama serial adapted from a Venezuelan telenovela entitled Mi Gorda Bella
Neraca-Kisah Benar An drama series produced in the 2000s and broadcast on TV3
Penarek Becha A Malay movie produced in 1955
Roda Impian Adapted from Wheel of Fortune
Roda-Roda Kotaraya Loosely adapted from Chips
Sakti Delima A Malay drama serial produced in 2011 and broadcast on TV3, based on a 1957 Malay movie entitled Pancha Delima
Siapa Nak Jadi Jutawan? Adapted from Who Wants to Be a Millionaire? xix
Sembilu Kasih A drama serial produced from 2006-2007 and broadcast on TV3
Seputih Qaseh Ramadhan A Malay mini drama serial produced in 2006 and broadcast on TV3
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Statement of Candidate’s Contribution
The thesis contains the following published work:
Ahmad Ishak, Siti Zanariah 2011, ‘Cultural hybridity: adapting and filtering popular culture in Malaysian television programmes’, Jurnal Pengajian Media Malaysia (Malaysian Journal of Media Studies), vol.13, no. 1, pp 1-15.
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Preface
My interest in studying television using an anthropological approach developed after I had lived in Sarawak for some years. Born into a Malay1 family in the state of
Selangor, I came to Sarawak in 1994 to work as a tutor in a newly established university. As a Peninsular Malaysian resident, I had to obtain a work permit from the
Sarawak Immigration Department in order to work in Sarawak. The permit needs to be renewed annually. Technically, the process is quite similar to working in a foreign country. Peninsular Malaysians are not allowed to enter or reside freely in Sarawak, as they are in the 11 other states in Peninsular Malaysia, or Sabah. The immigration rights are one of the privileges gained by Sarawak under the Malaysia Agreement, conditions for the state joining the Malaysian Federation on 16 September, 1963 (Wong, 1995).10
I was still in contact with Kuala Lumpur daily through the media and frequent phone calls to my family members. I watched free-to-air national television and read national newspapers. The mass media had very little coverage on Sarawak. Moreover, little news from Sarawak interests the rest of the nation. Only the government TV station, TV1, has a slot for the broadcast of news from Sarawak and Sabah at 5:00 p.m. which is outside the prime time news. I observed and enjoyed the differences between life in Kuching and Kuala Lumpur but had yet to immerse myself in the community. I did not even try to speak the Sarawak Malay dialect. By conversing in the standard
Malay language in interactions with Sarawakians, I was identified and maintained my status as orang Semenanjung (a Peninsular Malaysian).
Although, initially, my research interest was in the field of organisational communication, my daily observations of the way women in Sarawak engage with
1 I am formally defining myself as a Malay although I have a strong consciousness of being a Malaysian- Javanese, since I am a descendant of Javanese migrants to Malaya in the 1900s. Indonesian migrants before the formation of Malaysia, such as the Acehnese, Bugis, and Javanese, are identified as Malays. According to Miyazaki (2000), these ethnic groups are a sub-category of the Malay people in Malaysia. 1
television in their everyday lives fascinated me. A significant event that led me to pursue research in this area occurred at my work place, the Faculty of Social Sciences at the University of Malaysia, Sarawak. A young, female Sarawak Malay clerk named
Mariam appeared on television2 to make a public plea to locate her father, whom she had never met. Years before, Mariam’s biological father, a Peninsular Malay, left
Mariam’s pregnant mother, a Sarawak Malay, to return to Peninsular Malaysia after his army service in Sarawak had ended. I was intrigued with her organisation and use of television to transmit her plea. I met another woman, Atikah, who had seven television sets at home. Her collection of television sets reinforced my observations about
Sarawak women’s close engagement with television. Atikah, a Filipino converted to
Islam and married to a Sarawak Malay, owned an Indonesian housekeeping agency. She has seven television sets in her home, scattered through the bedrooms, kitchen, and living room. It is uncommon to have such a number of televisions in a house. According to Atikah, Kuching is a remote place. Television is one of the ways for her to connect to vibrant lives in other locations and learn Malaysian culture.
The significance of popular culture to Kuching women is reflected in Sarawak layer cake. The cake was initially homemade but has been commercialised by women entrepreneurs. The cakes are given unique names and have striking colours (see Plate
1). Sarawak Malay women name their cakes after either classic or contemporary movies, drama serials, or songs as well as national symbols, such as the national car, the
Proton Saga. I found that the naming of the cakes after popular culture icons is peculiar to urban rather than pesisir (rural) Sarawak Malay women. I once had a conversation with Suriati, a staff member in my work place, about a Michael Jackson layer cake that
2 The program Jejak Kasih, (Trace of Love) was a reality show that helped people find their lost loved ones. 2
is sold in Kuching. She said women in her village simply named it kek roti (bread layer cake).
Plate 1a Mami Jarum is a title of a Malay Plate 1b Madu Tiga is a classic Malay movie movie produced in 2002. produced in 1964.
Plate 1c ‘India’ is the name given to a Plate 1d The names of popular Western singers Sarawak layer cake. The highest price for the such as Lady Gaga are also used to name cake compared to others symbolises the Sarawak layer cakes made by women in preference for all things Indian to Kuching Kuching. Malays. For instance, they may associate themselves with the Indian facial features in them as a result of the influence of Bollywood movies.
Although Mariam, Atikah, and Suriati were Sarawak Malay women who inspired my research topic, I choose to study Malay women in the marginalised worker community of Kampung Tabuan Melayu. The kampung is located in a busy industrial and business area of Pending in Kuching city. The settlement is marginalised by certain
3
local authorities and the population is stigmatised by some sections of Kuching society as violent, criminal, and drug addicts.
My early observations and the stories of why Mariam and Atikah depended on television in dealing with problems in their lives made me believe that the social context of female Sarawak Malay viewers should be a significant part of my audience reception study. Anthropological methods allow me to explore the social context of women, including their status, gender relations, the community they live in, and their connections with the national and the global communities.
4
5
CHAPTER 1
GLOBALIZATION AND THE STATE: HOUSEWIVES’ ENGAGEMENT WITH TELEVISION IN A CHANGING SOCIETY
INTRODUCTION
Anita married Hamzah in 2003 when she was just 17 years old. A year after that, their marriage took a whirlwind turn. Hamzah became addicted to amphetamines (locally known as ice) and also became a petty-dealer in drugs. It took almost two years for Anita to finally decide on whether she would continue to accept her husband’s involvement in drugs, or whether she would take a stand against it. However, she faced a dilemma. On the one hand, Anita was excited to receive the cash derived from Hamzah’s drug-selling. She used the cash to buy electrical goods, fashionable clothes and even managed to save some for her son’s education. It was rare that either Anita or Hamzah would receive such large amounts of money, as Hamzah was only working with his father as a petty fishseller. On the other hand, Anita felt guilty- about the manner which the extra income was earned, as she was aware that the proceeds from the selling of drugs was not only a criminal activity but also viewed as haram (prohibited) in Islam. To further compound her dilemma, she did not want to be seen by people around her as a disobedient wife3 if she were to take a stand against Hamzah’s involvement in drugs. Finally, she decided to fight against Hamzah’s drug addiction and trafficking although villagers commonly viewed that drug’s influence is a fate that is impossible to refute. Drug selling and addiction were indeed an issue for the community in Kampung Tabuan. Drug addiction was regarded as an incurable disease and the presence of ‘kaki batu’ (a local Malay name-calling for drug addicts) was considered a blight on the community. If it were a husband, their wives’ behaviour would be intensely scrutinised by the community and even by some of their own families when their husbands were confined in rehabilitation centres or even imprisoned. In Anita’s case, some of her family members joined the other neighbours in spreading gossip and rumours that Anita had found another man in the absence of Hamzah, which made the matter even worse for Anita and her household.
3 This is symbolically demonstrated m by a wife kissing both her husband’s knees during the Sarawak Malay akad-nikah (solemnization ceremony). 6
A husband’s involvement in drugs is sometimes portrayed in Malay television dramas as a representation of a ‘bad’ husband that every woman should shy away from. There are also portrayals of a ‘good’ husband, whose qualities such as kindness, love, religiosity, and being a pillar of, and role-model for, family values, characterised an ideal spouse. Anita confessed to having wept when watching the Malay serial drama, Seputih Qaseh Ramadhan (Qaseh’s True Love). Anita wept for the suffering wife who was betrayed by her husband, children and mother in-law. The drama was about a housewife who was imprisoned because her husband had framed her for possessing illicit drugs. At the end of the drama the truth prevailed; Qaseh’s innocence was proven and her dignity as a wife and mother restored whilst her husband was duly punished by the law. From this television drama, Anita recognised the circumstances of her own life, the torment of the suffering woman, mirroring that of her own. Hamzah always became aggressive when Anita confronted him about his drug addiction. Sometimes, Hamzah promised to quit, but he didn’t keep his promise. Anita secretly sought help from a shaman who she believed could help her to bring Hamzah’s drug problem under control. After she returned from her second visit to the shaman, Anita exclaimed, ‘I am powerful! I have the power of Oma Bertha!’ Here, Anita refers to the paranormal character of Oma Bertha in the spellbinding Indonesian drama serial, Bawang Merah Bawang Putih (Onion and Garlic). Perhaps with the power of the charm provided by the shaman, Hamzah in fact did stop taking and selling drugs, yet only temporarily. When Hamzah’s habit resurfaced, Anita finally filed a police report. In early 2010, Hamzah was arrested and charged with selling drugs and was sent to a rehabilitation centre for two years. Anita’s mother in-law, her maternal aunt and some of her closest neighbours, accused her of betraying her husband. However, Anita’s mother and father in-law believed that Anita was justified in what she had done. Anita admitted to everyone that it was she who had filed the police report and felt vindicated from any blame. Drama serials on television often depicted the triumph of morality over vice, and in her case, justification for a wife who confronts her husband over his wrongdoings.
The issues studied in this thesis are illustrated through Anita’s life story, a young woman of Kampung Tabuan Melayu in Kuching, Sarawak, Malaysia. This thesis
7
concerns the processes of globalisation and social change in Eastern Malaysia and, in particular, the ways in which women in a low status, marginalised community have engaged with these processes by refashioning themselves, morally and aesthetically, through their use of television and consumption.
In the first two substantive chapters (3 and 4) I focus on the ways in which processes of globalisation, evident through the expansion of television, have impacted in Malaysia. I argue two main points. Firstly, I argue that these processes have an
‘outward’ quality, exposing the people of Malaysia to the cultural world beyond, but also an ‘inward’ orientation mediated by the Malaysian state and the exigencies of local circumstance and power relations. As a way of dealing with the dynamic relation between these outward and inward orientations, I develop the concepts of cosmopolitanism and hybridity. Secondly, I argue, contrary to common stereotype, that cosmopolitanism and hybridity, rather than tradition or passivity, characterise the consciousness and social behaviour of Malay women.
In the subsequent four chapters (5 to 8) I develop these arguments in reference to lower class Malay women in the marginalised urban neighbourhood of Tabuan in the city of Kuching, Sarawak. Here I document the ways in which women deal with the challenges presented by the developmental process and ideology that surrounds them, and, in particular, by the stigmatisation of their community and the social problems associated with their husbands and neighbours. It is in this context that I argue that the women of Tabuan have been able to positively refashion themselves as cosmopolitans, through their petty trading incomes, their television viewing, their consumer practices, and the control they exercise over their children’s socialisation.
In making this argument, however, I also highlight a number of significant tensions and contradictions evident in the lives of the Tabuan women. In large part these
8
stem from the disadvantage and stigmatisation experienced in Tabuan relative to the more prosperous, prestigious layers of people in Kuching. These experiences, and the efforts of Tabuan women in combating them, manifest in tensions between women and men, wives and husbands, mothers and neighbourhood youth, and finally, across the community, between those families who can afford to live in moderate comfort, to send their children away to school, and those who cannot. Yet there are also in Tabuan elements of a countervailing tendency to valorise local co-operation, and to critique over-consumption and the greed of Kuching’s wealthy middle class.
Anita is a housewife from Kampung Tabuan Melayu, a generally poor suburban
Malay village in Kuching, a city in the state of Sarawak, Malaysia. Her story, part of which has been described above, is that of an arduous, six-year battle to deal with her husband’s involvement with drugs. Unlike Anita, very few women in Kampung Tabuan
Melayu would have the courage to report their husbands’ involvement in drugs to the police. Neither would they be likely to seek a divorce on these grounds. It is more likely that women in Anita’s position, as she herself had done, would procure a charm from a shaman to influence their husband, so that he would stop his involvement with drugs.
Anita also seeks inspiration from television to guide her in making decisions, either consciously or subconsciously, to solve the problems in her family relationships. In particular, she draws on different representations of morality which are derived from both television messages and her Sarawak Malay cultural background. Anita’s story reflects, to some degree, the three aims of this study. The first aim is to investigate the everyday challenges faced by Tabuan Malay women in their roles as wives, mothers, petty-traders and consumers. The second aim is to investigate the ways in which Tabuan housewives use resources from television to negotiate these roles against the backdrop of rapid social, economic and political changes in the society. In doing this, I argue that
9
the women of Tabuan have developed a cosmopolitan outlook largely through the use of free-to-air Malaysian television stations. This outlook has influenced Tabuan women’s perception of being a good wife and mother.
MALAY HOUSEWIVES’ ROLES IN A CHANGING SOCIETY
The way that housewives carry out their roles in their families is influenced by their relationship with their husbands (Turner 1990). Studies concerning women and men’s roles, for instance in the relationship of men and women as a husband and a wife fall in the area of gender relations. Studies that focus on women can be benefited from gender relations’ conceptualisation of women and men’s role. The Malay housewives’ roles from the perspective of gender relations have been established by Western anthropologists who studied Malay community (Winzeler 1974; Swift 1963; Firth 1966;
Firth, R, 1966). My study which focuses mostly on Malay women concerning housewives’ roles (and the least degree of gender relations of women and men’s roles) is developed to examine changes in housewives’ behaviour in relation to their households and families. The changes are studied due to the impact of television viewing among the housewives.
The contemporary urban Malay housewives’ roles have their origin in Malay peasant society. Anthropologists who have studied Malay and other Southeast Asian communities have conceptualised gender relations through both the husband’s and the wife’s involvement in the subsistence economy of peasant society. Gender relations here have often been described as ‘complementarity’ (King and Wilder 2003, p. 263) in terms of men’s and women’s responsibilities, their rights and duties, and the ‘lack of
[an] exaggerated opposition of male and female ideologies’ (Errington 1990 in King and Wilder 2006, p. 263). Raymond Firth (1966), for example, asserts that fishing was the primary economic activity in generating food and cash for Malay families in
10
Kelantan, with both husband and wife displaying complementary gender roles—the husband fishes whilst the wife transforms the products into food and cash. Besides fishing, Malay women across Southeast Asia have a more significant involvement in rice cultivation when compared to men.4 Winzeler (1974), for instance uses the term
‘relative sexual equality’ (p. 564) to describe women’s specialised work in certain tasks in rice cultivation, whilst men work on certain other tasks. The ‘complementary relations’ of men and women in relation to work has been demonstrated in many
Southeast Asian societies, including Malaysia, Burma, Thailand, Cambodia, Laos,
Vietnam, Indonesia, the Philippines, Brunei, and Singapore (van Esterik 1982).
From past research I have identified three different spheres where complementary gender roles can be found. At the micro level, complementary gender roles can be found firstly in men’s and women’s involvement in the subsistence economy; and secondly men’s and women’s role in the organisation of the family. At the macro level, complementary gender roles are conceptualised through the division of men’s and women’s roles in public and domestic space. Whilst framing these three different spheres where complementary gender roles can be found in terms of micro and macro approaches, they are in practice interrelated (see Carsten 1997; Rudie 1994;
Mashman 1991; Strange 1981 Swift 1963; Raymond Firth 1966; Rosemary Firth 1966).
Nevertheless, scholars who advocate the existence of complementary gender roles in
Malay peasant society have paid less attention to the clarity of its operation in different spheres of the husband – wife relationship (see King & Wilder 2006 p. 262-279;
Manderson 1983, p. 4-7). In terms of the macro approach, women’s economic involvement is firmly situated in the domestic activities she undertakes to complement her husband’s economic role in public space. However, the need to separate Malay
4 For instance, Swift (1963), who studied Malay communities in Negeri Sembilan, states that the location of the family’s rice nurseries was decided upon only with the consent of the wife. 11
women’s economic activities from the domestic sphere has been noted. This has been brought about by the increased involvement of Malay housewives’ in cottage industries
(Hassan 2008) and micro-enterprises (Masud & Paim 1999). In more contemporary times, the increase in housewives’ involvement in the informal economy, as distinct from the domestic sphere, has been neglected.
The concept of complementary gender relations lends itself to a division in the roles of husband and wife in the organisation of family resources. On the one hand, a wife’s task is managing everyday domestic duties, including the management of household finances (Swift 1963; Raymond Firth 1966; Rosemary Firth 1966). On the other hand, a husband possesses the overarching authority in the family (Raja Mamat
1991). Swift (1963) contends that although the peasant Malay husband may relinquish his authority to determine decisions related to the spending of household money, his authority as head of the family is still recognised by his wife.
The ideals of complementry gender roles have been challenged. Stivens (1998) for example, points out that although women possess economic independence in relation to how household finances are spent, there is now a tension occurring in Malay middle-class families due to the insecurity of women having more economic power because of their participation in the formal economy. According to Healey (1999),
Malay women are not passive receivers in gender struggles and are increasingly resist male power in the domestic domain. There are few contemporary studies of gender relations in Malay working class families, especially in relation to the rapid changes associated with the emergence of the urban working class, modernisation and consumption (see Healey 1999; Ong 1990).
A complementary gender relationship also applies in the gendered division between the domestic and public spheres in Malay society (Carsten 1997). As
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mentioned above, I refer to this as the macro level of complementary gender relationship. The community’s formal political, social, ritual and Islamic activities are primarily associated with men in the public sphere. These activities are essentially closed to Malay women. According to Manderson (1983), whilst women are not actively involved in politics and ritual activities, their ‘behind-the scenes roles are often critical’ (p. 7). The informal nature of women’s involvement is acceptable in Malay adat5 (custom) (Karim 1992). In this regard, Malay women are not completely passive or powerless in regard to influencing public space activities.
Southeast Asian housewives’ involvement in producing food, generating an income, and managing household money, has contributed to their relative equality in relation to men (King & Wilder 2006; Errington 1990; van Esterik 1982; Strange 1981;
Stoler 1977). Winzeler (1982) suggests that Southeast Asian women’s status is high compared to women in South Asian countries and China. Other factors which enhance
Malay women’s power in the domestic domain include the practice of bilateral kinship and weak state control (Winzeler 1982; Burlings 1965; Hanks & Hanks 1963). Stivens
(1996), who studied the matrilineal society of the Rembau in the state of Negeri
Sembilan, contends that women’s autonomy in that society is due to ‘a greater degree of economic independence ... [as a result of] women’s considerable property rights and central cultural importance deriving from the historical reconstructions of matrilineal culture ...’ (p. 24). Despite this, the assertion of Malay women’s relatively high status has been challenged by the growing power of the post-colonial state and Islamic intervention.
5 Adat is defined as ‘customary law of the indigenous people of Malaysia and Indonesia. It was the unwritten, traditional code governing all aspects of personal conduct from birth to death.’ (Dictionary.com)
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THE IMPACT OF STATE AND ISLAMIC INTERVENTION ON THE MALAY HOUSEWIFE
Manderson (1983) reports that early anthropologists studying Southeast Asian women were struck by their significant involvement in the domestic and subsistence economies. She argues that ‘women’s activities – in the fields, in the home, in the community – all contributed to production; it took Western feminists another century to draw the same conclusions’ (p. 1). Here, Manderson (1983) contends that Malay peasant housewives have had a greater involvement in economic activities than many other peasant women in the 19th century. As mentioned earlier, this autonomy is supported by the adat (Karim 1992). In Malaysia, Malay women’s economic involvement, both in domestic and public space, is heavily influenced by government policy and Islamic ideology. Therefore, the so-called high-status of Malay women gained through adat is regulated, and in many cases supported by, state policies. Above all, the government has advanced Malay women’s economic involvement for the cause of national development (Ong 1990).
Strange (1981) also claims that the relative equality between Malay men and women ‘was an established cultural pattern before Islam gained strength in the area during the fourteenth century’ (p. 197). Manderson (1983) states that the way Islam affects women’s equality with men depends on how Islam ‘has been integrated into traditional beliefs and customary law’ (p. 3).
The Islamic resurgence which was first popularised by Malay university students in the early 1970s was in part a protest against Malay women’s adoption of
Western values and morality and the support they were receiving from the Malaysian government (Nagata 1995; Anwar 1987). The Islamic resurgence especially emphasised a Muslim woman’s loyalty to her husband. Women were also pressured to wear modest clothing. The Islamic resurgence during this period led to the establishment of an
14
influential Islamic social movement known as Angkatan Belia Islam Malaysia
(popularly known as ABIM or the Malaysian Islamic Youth Movement). Another strong proponent of Islamic resurgence was the opposition political party known as
Parti Islam se Malaysia (PAS), or the Pan Islamic Party. The tacit alliance between these two organisations was seen as a threat to the ruling United Malay National organization (UMNO). In response to this threat, the government established its own
Islamic policy in the 1980s. Camroux (1996) summarises the rationale behind UMNO’s adoption of an Islamic agenda by arguing that ‘the state has attempted to channel the
Islamic resurgence along a modernizing path linked to the secular objective of Malaysia becoming a fully industrialized country by the year 2020’ (p. 855).
Mohamad (2004) states that on the one hand, Malaysia endorses Islamic values that encourage women to focus on motherhood; whilst on the other hand, and in particular through Malaysia’s secular National Economic Policy (1971-1990), it also encourages women to participate in the formal labour force. State policy encourages
Malay women to either work full-time, or to generate part-time incomes for their households. Mohamad (2004) thus implies that Malay women are far from being constrained by dogmatic Islamic ideology; since the national policy in real terms promotes women’s participation in the work force. Hence, from time to time, Malay women are reminded by politicians that domestic duties and involvement in economic activities are part of their significant roles that represent their loyalty to the nation and to Islam (New Straits Times cited in Strange 1981; Mahathir Mohamad cited in Stivens
2006).
The mass media has been used by the government to disseminate a moderate
Islamic ideology that emphasises a set of progressive and universal human values
(Mohd Adnan 2010). My argument is that given the state’s grip on the mass media in
15
Malaysia, the so-called Islamic resurgence proposed by the government has been embedded in the television programming. This progressive and modern Islamic approach are spread to all levels of society, in particular to the masses who depend more on television for daily entertainment and information. This contrasts with the Islamic ideology of ABIM and PAS, which has a stronger hold in urban areas and universities and whose influence has been limited to the middle class-Malay in Peninsular Malaysia
(Stiven 1998 b; Nagata 1995; Anwar 1987). Ong (1990) mentions the role of the mass media in propagating Islam, but does not provide any empirical work to support her claims.
Along with promoting Islamic spirituality, including morality and guidance on appropriate forms of female sexuality, television also promotes Western modernity and consumer culture. Although there is no scholarly study conducted in Malaysia that investigates the relationship between television and material consumption, it is generally understood that television promotes the consumption of modern lifestyles and consumer goods. According to Mills (1997), for example, rural women in Thailand were motivated to migrate to Bangkok after watching depictions of modern life and material consumption on television. Mills (1997) states:
[i]n part this reveals the power of new technologies of representation – [such as] television and other forms of mass media – over the popular imagination in Thailand; these now pervasive forms of cultural production invest accumulation and display of commodities with dominant meanings about “progress” and the desirability of modern style and attitudes (p. 40).
TABUAN HOUSEWIVES: DRAMA SERIALS, ISLAM AND THE LAW
Stivens (1998) has studied changes within Malay middle class families and argues that the image of women in their reproductive roles and caring for the family’s well-being is promoted at the state level. Stivens’s (1998) argument is based on data gathered from advertisements in Malay women’s magazines. She states that,
16
[t]he models of the patriarchal father and the new Malay might suggest that the Malaysian state has been concerned to promote particular versions of masculinity, the thrusting economic rationalist of corporate Malaysia or the firm and upright father at home. Yet in spite of this there seems to me to be no clear state project of masculinity comparable to the developed exhortations about femininity (p.107).
In line with Stivens’s (1998) argument about the prevalence feminine images depicted in Malay magazines, women (and not men) on television are often depicted as the central characters in locally produced drama serials. Historically, women’s occupation of the role of the central character in drama serials did not always occur in the early Malay dramas of the1970s and 1980s - where men were more often the leading characters.6 In response to this change, I investigate the ways in which Malaysian television depicts a version of modernity which has been shaped by a cosmopolitan outlook in both national and foreign representations of women, women’s roles, and the family. By cosmopolitan outlook I mean Tabuan women adopt universal Islamic morality, consumer culture, Western modernity and India cult in many aspects of their everyday lives. Both local and foreign television programs are resources for Tabuan housewives - as demonstrated in Anita’s case. Tabuan women look for moral guidance on television programs. Returning to Anita’s story, the paragraph below shows how the state and Islam combine, through television, to define moral values in the husband-wife relationship. In addition, foreign drama serials also contribute to shaping the way in which Anita negotiates her role and identity in the family. Anita gains strength from television messages to enforce the moral values she sees as lacking in her husband.
For the most part, Anita’s marital problems arise from her husband’s drug addiction. Illicit drugs have become a major concern of the state, in part because of the negative impact they have on national development. Islam is used by the state as a
6 For instance, Malay popular drama serials entitled PJ and Tok Perak are the examples of the dramas that use male as the leading character (Syed Nong 1988, p.91). 17
moral basis for the condemnation of those who are involved with illegal drugs. The
Malaysian government clearly articulates its zero tolerance stands on illicit drugs through media coverage, government advertisements, and through television dramas.
The morality of drug abuse is bolstered by the state’s harsh laws surrounding illicit substances. Malaysian law and its stand on drugs are known to be one of the toughest in the world.7 Malaysians understand that any involvement in illicit drugs is morally unacceptable because of the government’s strategy of associating drugs with Islamic morality. The concept of haram and halal in Islamic morality (prohibited and permissible) can be used to define the appropriate means of earning money for the family. Any activity related to illicit drugs is unreservedly haram.8 The fatwa9 proclaiming illicit drugs to be haram reinforces the states condemnation of illicit drugs.
The proclamation of fatwa strengthens the degree of immorality to which it is attached. For instance, although corruption is a violation of state law and is haram under Islamic law (sharia), it is not a fatwa proclamation. Therefore, I would argue, involvement in corruption is perceived by the public as being less morally reprehensible, at least from an Islamic perspective, compared to involvement with illicit drugs. The message from the government concerning the moral implications of using and dealing in illicit drugs is known to policy makers, scriptwriters, and television producers; and to ordinary women like Anita. When the theme of drugs appears in
Malay dramas, embedded in the narrative is an implied prohibition emanating from both the state and religion. Moreover, Malaysian drama serials such as Seputih Qaseh
7 Section 39B (2) of the Dangerous drugs Act 1952 was amended in 1983 to provide the mandatory death sentence upon conviction for possession of certain drugs in certain amounts (Amnesty International, 1995).
8 The Fatwa that endorsed drug abuse as haram was issued by the Fatwa Committee of the National Council for Islamic Affairs at their 3rd meeting on 15 April, 1982 (Jabatan Kemajuan Islam Malaysia).
9 Webster’s New World College Dictionary (2010) defines fatwa as ‘a religious and legal decree or edict issued by a council of religious leaders.’ (in Your Dictionary n.d) 18
Ramadhan (SQR) raises the issue of illicit drug selling and its effects on families and reinforces the state’s and Islam’s condemnation of those involved in illicit drugs. The standard of morality that is promoted by the state and Islam has contributed to the way in which Anita defines her marriage to Hamzah and motivates her to put aside the blind loyalty to a husband that is common in Kampung Tabuan.
Moreover, from both Malaysian and Indonesian drama serials, Anita is exposed to the complexity of the marital relationship. From the Malaysian drama serial SQR,
Anita learns that a husband’s use of illicit drugs constitutes a betrayal of his wife, which is equal to the more common type of relationship betrayal – the husband having an intimate relationship with another woman. Qaseh, the protagonist in SQR, is portrayed in the drama as a traditional wife who is loyal, modest, and patient in the face of the suffering she must bear. Anita told me that while she sympathises with Qaseh’s situation, she remains unimpressed with Qaseh’s humility. Through this drama, Anita decides that humility leads to suffering. However, it is from an Indonesian drama serial that Anita learns that women can access power through the help of a shaman. There are injunctions in Islam that prohibit Muslims seeking assistance from shamans. This ban is embedded in the Violence, Horror, and Sex Censorship Guidelines established by the
Film Censorship Board of Malaysia (LPF); the body which functions to censor locally produced and foreign popular culture. Horror in the guidelines includes the depiction of shamans. Due to censorship guidelines locally produced dramas contain few references to shamans, at least in comparison to foreign drama serials.10 Despite the injunctions of the LPF, shamanism is still a theme which is readily identifiable in especially
Indonesian drama serials. The LPF is unable or unwilling to completely censor unwanted portrayals from foreign drama serials, especially in relation to the central
10 The censorship policy on horror and mystical depiction has relaxed since 2009 (see Chapter 4 for further discussion). 19
characters and the plot of the story. The Malaysian government’s disapproval of shamans does not dissuade Anita from believing in the efficacy of the shaman’s powers and attempting to appropriate the shaman’s powers as a way to deal with her husband’s drug problem.
It can be argued that drama serials have the potential to provide direction to those viewers who are searching for answers to problems in their lives. Oma Bertha, for example, is a character who is depicted as being confident and willing to achieve her goals through the use of a shaman’s power. She is just one example of Anita’s engagement with female images from imported television programs which are prohibited in locally made Malaysian drama serials. Qaseh, as has been mentioned, is portrayed as the typical Malay housewife. Qaseh and Oma Bertha demonstrate that foreign and local images of women are simultaneously consumed by Malaysian viewers.
In trying to make sense of television resources that Tabuan housewives use to reflect on and facilitate their roles in the domestic sphere, my research takes into account the cosmopolitan nature of imported television programs. The imported programs shown on the free-to-air Malaysian television are no longer dominated by the
Western cultural products - in particular from North America since the late 1990s. In fact, since the 1960s, Malaysian television stations have had a history of purchasing both Western and non-Western television programs. My study investigates the notion of whether a cosmopolitan outlook has emerged among Kampung Tabuan housewives as a result of their engagement with both foreign and local television messages. The imported media from North America, which has often been studied through the lens of cultural imperialism (Dorfman and Mattlart 1972; Hamelink 1983; Schiller 1976), is popularly used to prove the influence of global popular culture in Malaysia (Wang
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2010; A. Rahim & Pawanteh 2009; Nain 1996; Karthigesu 1994a). These studies, however, have neglected the presence of non-American popular culture which has existed on Malaysian television since the inception of TV1 in 1964.
THE ROLE OF MALAYSIAN TELEVISION
The mass media, including television, has been identified as a potent source of knowledge for women to participate in Malaysian national development. According to
Ibrahim (1989),
[t]he key point that need (sic) to be considered here is the role of the mass media as an important conduit. While the mass media are responsible to help society informed of any matter of interest, they are also equally responsible to provide (sic) information on the social progress that is being achieved as well as future planning and alternatives that need women’s attention (p. 69).
The government broadcasting department, Radio and Television Malaysia (RTM) established and publically funded two of the earliest television stations in Malaysia,
TV1 and later TV2. RTM also formulated the guidelines for Malaysia’s local television drama production. These guidelines encouraged a particular portrayal of women that showcased and promoted their contribution to nation building (Mhd. Bathusha 1998).
According to Anuar & Wang (1996), the Malaysian government envisions the primary objective of Malaysian television broadcasting to be for the purpose of ‘facilitating or encouraging socio-economic development and for fostering national integration amongst the country’s multi-ethnic peoples’ (p. 262). These television stations, however, remain closely monitored by the government and need to comply with the state’s broadcasting laws which have been defined by the Film Censorship Board of
Malaysia (LPF) guidelines.
Although this study predominantly focuses on the foreign programs broadcast by Malaysian free-to-air (FTA) television, the national programs are also investigated because of the influence these imported programs have had on locally-produced 21
programs. For instance, Malaysian broadcasting has embraced a range of successful imported drama serials and reworked them in local productions. During the early years of Malaysian television, foreign programs being aired on FTA television stations were more numerous than locally produced programs. This issue is further elaborated in
Chapter 4. However, specific attention is given to the television melodrama genre which includes dramas, drama serials and movies because Tabuan women talk more about this genre in their everyday life than any other. Another reason why both foreign and local programs have been included in this study relates to the method of data gathering. The methods of data gathering documented what women remember about their television viewing; and when Tabuan women talk about television content, they most often give examples from both local and foreign programs.
The role of commercial advertisement is to promote the consumption of goods and services. Although consumption of lifestyle commodities is identified as one of the ways to reflect a cosmopolitan outlook by Tabuan women, television advertisements have not been included within the theoretical framework of this study. One of the direct roles of commercial advertisement is to increase the sales of products and services to television audiences. Meanwhile, melodrama genre incorporates an educational role and has an overtly moral dimension (Abu-Lughod 2005; Mankekar 1995). In this study I argue that the consumption of lifestyle commodities by Tabuan women is motivated by their desire to be moral agents, not because of the influence of television advertisements, but as a result of their engagement with the genre of television melodrama. In other words, in this study I suggest that therole of television advertisements is limited to providing informed choices about products or services.
The provision of education and information are believed by Tabuan housewives to be two of the most significant functions of television. My survey (elaborated on in
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Chapter 5) has demonstrated that the most watched television program by housewives in Kampung Tabuan is the news (83.3 percent or 25 out of 30 informants). In Britain,
Hobson (1981) who studied patterns of television watching among working-class housewives’ in Britain, discovered that they were watch more ‘feminine programs and topics’ (p. 109). News, in this study, was considered to be a more masculine form of television viewing. The survey data arising from my study contrasts with Hobson’s findings. One explanation may be that television was not regarded as the main source of information for housewives in Hobson’s study, as it is for the contemporary housewives of Kampung Tabuan.
In the early days of publically owned and run television stations in Malaysia, the majority of imported programs came from Britain (Karthigesu 1994b). These programs were not regarded as a threat to Malaysian cultural identity; rather, they were seen as a positive symbol of the relationship between Malaysia and her former colonial ruler.
This is in contrast to the influx of Western popular culture in the late 1980s, particularly from North America, which was thought to be a threat to Malaysia’s sovereignty.
Certain sections in the Malaysian government argued that American popular culture programs aired on Malaysian television posed a threat to religion, morality and national identity. American television content was seen as possibly eroding Islamic and Malay cultural values (Ang 2001). The anti-West discourse in Malaysia was at the time dominated by government officials, Islamic politicians, and the print media. Other foreign programs in 2000s that outwardly contradicted Malay-Islamic values were also criticised. For instance, the Mexican reality television show, La Academia, which was adapted for the Malaysian context and entitled Akademi Fantasia, was subjected to fierce criticism due to depictions of intimacy between men and women (Maliki 2008).
The Malays, who hold the balance of power in politics, religion and the media, highlight
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the moral threat that was supposedly eroding Islamic and Malay cultural values. Despite the anti-West discourse in Malaysia, the government was not dissuaded from permitting all Malaysian FTA television to broadcast a significant number of foreign programs.
This was in fact due to the demands of Malaysian audiences which comprise different ethnic and class backgrounds.
WOMEN’S VIEWERS AND MORALITY: SOAP OPERA, TELENOVELA AND DRAMA SERIALS IN THE WORLD CONTEXT
The soap opera is a television genre that appeals more to female rather than male viewer’s worldwide (Modleski 1984; Morley 1986; Alasuutari 1992). The soap opera originated in North America and has many variations. In Latin America, Mexico and
Spain they are called telenovela. The term drama serial is used in English for this genre in countries such as Egypt, Japan, Korea, the Philippines, Indonesia, and Malaysia. The soap opera, according to Geraghty (2005),
defines the form by its extended, complex, and interweaving stories; a wide range of characters, allowing for different kinds of identification; the delineation of an identifiable community, paying attention to domestic and familial relationships; and an emphasis, often expressed melodramatically, on the working through of good and evil forces within family or community... A more common approach was to see in soap a female-oriented narrative in which women were central (p. 312-315).
North America’s soap operas demonstrate the above characteristics. Other countries demonstrate variations of these characteristics according to the local context.
For instance, soap operas from the United Kingdom, Australia and Egypt are created from a social-realist perspective. Their narratives tend to highlight characters and situations from working-class backgrounds and everyday experiences; whilst Brazil’s telenovelas focus on themes that depict the country’s experience of urbanisation and modernisation (Kottak 1990). Despite these differences, a common feature of North
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American soap operas and their variations in other countries is that the narratives and characters usually focus on femininity.
Ang (1985) conceptualises the ‘feminine pleasure’ viewers derive from watching soap operas. However, she also highlights, as found in Dutch women viewers of an American soap opera Dallas, that those viewers who dislike Dallas watch it merely for the purpose of condemning and ridiculing it. Feminist scholarship has criticised soap operas for limiting women to traditional feminine roles and the domestic sphere. Lovell (1981) argues that the denigration of women’s images in the soap opera genre – in particular as this denigration applies to stereotypical representations of housewives. Female viewers of soap operas have also been found to use the subject matter from telenovelas to create real life conversations in the form of gossip and mutual reassurance in interpersonal interactions (Brown & Barwik 1987; Hobson 1982).
Gossiping and reflecting on soap opera narratives can be of positive value in women’s lives (Brown & Barwik 1987). Similarly, Miller (1995a) argues that Trinidadian women viewers of the popular Hollywood soap opera The Young and Restless gain a sense of pleasure through the local practice of ‘gossiping’ (bacchanal).
In contrast, television serials from foreign countries are also believed to empower women from lower socio-economic groups and of different ages to embrace change. Kim (2005) contends that young Korean female viewers are inspired to
‘imagine freedom’ by North American soap operas and movies. In Senegal, Werner
(2006) observes that viewers watch Brazilian and Mexican telenovas and use these to reflect on their unequal relationships with male members of the family and to renegotiate traditional values (Werner 2006). Nevertheless, local and foreign values are often quite different. Perhaps the most volatile difference between Western and Eastern cultural practices lies in the domain of sexual conduct. Co-habitation, pre-marital sexual
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relationships, overt male-female physical affection, illegitimate children, and bikini- style fashions regularly appear in Western popular culture, but may be prohibited in
Eastern societies because such behaviours are regarded as immoral. Of course women viewers have the agency to be able to recognise immoral behaviour based on their own personal and normative cultural and religious practices. Werner (2006) who observed mainly female Senegalese viewers watching Brazilian and Mexican telenovelas reported that the women distanced themselves from what they considered to be unacceptable moral standards. For instance, they made verbal comments like “It’s not good for us!”
(“Baaxul!”), “It’s sinful!” (“Aram le!”), or “It’s not in accordance with our traditions!”
(“Bokkul ci Sunu coosaanl!”) to distance themselves from representation of rich
Christians depicted in the telenovelas’ (p. 465). Kim (2005) contends that young Korean women viewers are inspired by Western drama serials that portray the freedom of young
Western women to choose their own ways of life. At the same time, these same Korean women reject the idea of freedom in sexual relationships which is embedded in these drama serials. In fact, the portrayal of premarital sex, regardless of its origin in either the Western or Eastern programs, is thought to be inappropriate to Eastern women viewers. MacLachland and Chua (2004), for example, contend that the portrayal of premarital sexual relationships in Japanese drama serials is judged by Singaporean women viewers to be improper in terms of moral conduct. Furthermore, MacLachlan and Chua’s (2004) study show that moral conduct on television is viewed differently by married women and single women. Married women favour the stricter censorship of sex on television, whilst single women are confident that they have the ability to self-censor
(MacLachlan & Chua 2004). The finding of MacLachlan & Chua (2004) might explain
Tabuan women viewers’ support for television censorship by the government.
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TELEVISION AS RESOURCE FOR THE MORAL GUIDANCE OF HOUSEWIVES
Viewers interpret television messages differently (Ang 1994). Studies have shown that the interpretation depending on the viewers’ contexts, such as ethnicity
(Katz and Liebes 1984); viewing practices, for instance, if these are family inclusive
(Morley 1986); socio-economic class (Mankeker 1993; 1999); and whether viewers are from a rural community (Abu-Lughod 2005; 2002). My study, however, investigates the way in which women make sense of what they watch, and takes into account if and how this impacts on their role as housewives. My argument is founded on the belief that
Tabuan women perceived that fulfilling the role of good wife and mother involves moral decision-making. Tabuan women are wives, mothers, traders, and consumers who use television messages as resources for assuming the moral responsibility for the well- being of their families and for fulfilling the obligation of becoming a dutiful citizen in response to government policy and associated media messages.
In addition, television is not a monolithic, one-dimensional communicative device but a media space that contains many different voices. Television has a polyphonic characteristic.11 Mikhail Bakhtin (1984) uses the word polyphony in his work entitled Problems of Dostoyevsky ‘s Poetics. For Bakhtin, polyphony refers to many discussions occurring all at once, which is what occurs in daily life. Similarly, there are many discourses on television. None of these discourses are more permanently primary that another, and none are in a hierarchical relationship with or more or less important than another. They each gain ‘purchase and prominence’ in relation to the viewers (in my study Tabuan women) who allow them to gain that prominence and influence.
11 According to Lewis (1991), television has a polysemic characteristic.
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Television messages in this study refer to the reproduction of image that are accompanied by sound via television sets. In the context of audience reception study, my research supports the view that the audience plays an active role in interpreting television message. The audience consistently filters messages that they watch from television. According to Hall (1980) there are three categories of audiences; dominant, negotiated and oppositional. These categories explain the degree in which audiences interpret messages from television. The degree ranges from recognising the producer’s intention to disagreeing the producer’s intention which are embedded in television messages. The interpretation of television messages by audiences depends, for instance, on the audiences socio-cultural background including gender, ethnicity, class, age and region. Towards the end of the spectrum of active audiences there are ‘passive’ audiences. The passive audience category arises due to the perspective that the media has power to influence the attitude and behaviour of audiences. One of the reasons for the powerless audience is the assumption made by an earlier model of communication that being Shannon and Weaver’s (1949) model of linear transmission of communication. They argue that the message travels to the receiver in a linear flow from sender to receiver.
Besides the study that focuses on women’s engagement with television, I also investigate free-to-air Malaysian televisions in relation to their role as the gateway of foreign popular culture to public television audiences in Malaysia. The method used for the investigation is based on the secondary sources. My aim is to establish the claim that
FTA Malaysian televisions demonstrate a cosmopolitan outlook. In addition, I examine the censorship process enforced by the Film Censorship Board of Malaysia (LPF) in the production of local Malaysian television programs and in foreign television programs. I investigate LPF intervention and control in two ways: Firstly, in facilitating the hybrid
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process of producing local television programs which include or are influenced by foreign elements; and secondly, the censoring of foreign television programs. The focus of my investigation is established in the research questions discussed in the following section.
RESEARCH QUESTIONS
In light of Malaysia’s rapid urbanisation and cultural globalisation, this study broadly examines the way in which women use local and imported television messages as resources to negotiate the challenges they face in their lives. The study consists of two unequally weighted and overarching questions. Firstly, how do marginalised worker community in Kampung Tabuan develop strategies that are informed by imported and local television messages, to deal with the problematic aspects of social change? Secondly, in what way does television content provide foreign and local moral resources for housewives to engage in negotiating their role within family relationships?
The study focuses on women’s engagement with television and constitutes an exploration of cosmopolitanism in Malaysian television. The investigation of the latter carries less weight than the first central research question. More specifically, my study has been developed to answer the following set of research questions:
1. How does Malaysian free-to-air television content reflect the Malaysian
government’s response to cultural globalisation?
2. How do Tabuan housewives perceive the role of Malaysian free-to-air
television?
3. What are the television resources that used by Tabuan housewives to facilitate
them in interpreting community problems, economic imperatives, and tension in
gender roles?
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4. What types of cosmopolitan images are desired by Tabuan housewives as a
result of their television viewing?
RESEARCH SIGNIFICANCE
Borneo is a neglected as an area of study on the Malay population (Collins
2004). In particular, studies that investigate the socio-economic changes affecting
Malay women, including research on menopause (Mohamad Diah 2010); factory workers (Ong 1987); and Malay women’s involvement in politics (Mohamad 2004;
Abdullah 1986) have primarily been focused on Peninsular Malaysia rather than Malay women in Borneo. This study, however, investigates a specific aspect of social change among Sarawak Malay women which is linked to urbanisation and globalisation.
Compared with their counterparts elsewhere in Malaysia, Sarawak Malay women live in unique circumstances. For example, Sarawak has a less urbanised, less cosmopolitan environment compared with Peninsular Malaysia.
Whilst the Malays are dominant in Peninsular Malaysia, in the state of Sarawak they are only the third most numerous ethnic groups. According to the 2000 census, the largest ethnic group in Sarawak is the Iban (603,735); followed by the Chinese
(537,230); and only then the Malay (462,270), Bidayuh (166,756) and Melanau (112,
984) (Department of Statistic Malaysia Sarawak 2009, p. 18-19). In addition to the majority ethnic groups mentioned here, there are 24 other ethnic minority groups, including the Kenyah and Kayan. Thus, both historically and culturally, Sarawak
Malays have coexisted with a number of diverse ethnic (especially indigenous) groups.
What is more, according to Harrisson (1970), a significant number of the Sarawak
Malays are in fact descendants of Dayaks12 who have converted to Islam. It is for these
12 According to Tan (1994), the term Dayak refers to non-Muslim indigenous groups on Borneo Island. The majority of Dayaks live in Sarawak, Sabah, and Kalimantan. 30
reasons it would be difficult to suggest that research on gender relations of the Malay population in Peninsular Malaysia should necessarily be representative of Malays in
Sarawak. As such, and given the unique circumstances of the Sarawak Malays, this study is aimed at filling a gap in knowledge that exists in studies on Sarawak Malay women.
Previous studies on Malay women have focused on women’s socio-economic status and have emphasised women’s roles in various economic sectors (Omar &
Davidson 2004; Hew 2003; Ismail 2001; Ng 1999; Ariffin 1996; Ong 1987; Daud
1985). Rather than focusing on the role of the housewife, studies have more often investigated housewives’ involvement in income generating activities. Such research includes women’s participation in cottage industries (Hassan et. al 2008); micro- enterprise (Masud & Paim 1999); and informal rotating credit schemes (Ghazali 2003).
Furthermore, official statistics, such as the Eighth Malaysia Plan 2001-2006, reports only on women who have full-time involvement in the labour force (Government of
Malaysia 2001). These examples demonstrate the importance women in the workforce have in the development of the country. A great deal of attention has been given to women’s roles in the economy; however there is a distinct lack of research on Malay women’s roles as housewives and mothers. Therefore, the significance of my study lies in its analysis of the challenges encountered by Sarawak Malay housewives in performing their domestic role and contributing to the wellbeing of their families.
Malaysia’s significant number of audience reception studies show that much of the research has been conducted on Malaysian youth (Rahim & Pawanteh 2009); children (Badarudin 1988); ethnic groups (Postill 2006; Barlocco 2009); and a combination of working women and housewives (Hassan 2009). Although women are reported to be loyal fans of locally produced and foreign drama serials and telenovela in
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Malaysia (Mstar Online 2010) there remains a lack of audience reception research on women, and in particular among marginalised housewives (see Hassan 2009 for her research on working women and housewives watching telenovelas). This research, therefore, contributes to an understanding of how women in this socio-economic class appropriate television messages in relation to their roles as mothers, wives, consumers and petty traders.
The presence of foreign programs on Malaysian television is typically investigated from either a cultural imperialist perspective (Karthigesu 1988; Maliki
2008) or the perspective that the state is exercising excessive control over television content (Nain 1994). Rahim and Pawanteh’s (2009) study investigated the impact on
Malaysian youth of the global media, including free-to-air and satellite television. Their findings support the argument that the global media’s promotion of Western values surrounding sexuality and parent-child relationships threatens Malaysia’s national and cultural identity. There are also changes relating to the flow of global television products and a substantial increase in the adaptation of foreign television programs for local audiences (Iwabuchi 2002; Kim 2008). These changes have presented an array of new research agendas surrounding television, including diasporic cultures (Gillespie
1998); the imagining of modernity among women in developing countries (Kim 2005;
Ganguly-Scrase 2003); cosmopolitanism (Delwiche 2001; Moorti 2004; Robertson
2010); and consumerism (Mills 1997; Miller 1995a). In line with the emergence of global television, my study investigates the possibility of a positive impact of foreign popular culture on marginalised Malay women through the lens of cosmopolitanism.
This study emphasises the role of women viewers as discriminating agents who use television to further morally justify their own positions vis a vis their husbands and the wider society.
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STUDY SETTING
Sarawak and Sabah are separated from Malaysia’s other 11 states by the South
China Sea. Sarawak is located on Borneo Island (see Map 1). Borneo is the third largest island in the world; incorporating the nations of Brunei, Indonesia (Kalimantan) and the
Malaysian state of Sabah. Politically, Sarawak is divided into eleven administrative divisions. Kuching is the largest of these administrative divisions and Kuching city is the state capital. The Kuching Division is divided into three administrative districts:
Kuching, Bau and Lundu. In 2006, the total population of Kuching was estimated to be
659,100; whilst the total population of Sarawak was estimated to be 2,357,500
(Department of Statistics, Malaysia Sarawak 2006, p. 24). Sarawak is claimed to have
27 ethnic groups, making it the most multiethnic population in Malaysia (Chang 1999).
Map 1 Sarawak and Sabah are the two Malaysian states located on the island of Borneo (Source: www.1borneo.net/images/my_map.gif).
Kampung Tabuan Melayu is located in Pending, a thriving business and industrial area of Kuching. The settlement provides a pool of unskilled labour to
Kuching city economic development. For instance, the kampung provides manual workers to Kuching Port. The port, which has been operated since 1960, is as a modern and international gateway for import-export activities connecting Sarawak with 33
Peninsular Malaysia and other countries. The biggest cement plant in Sarawak was built in the 1980s, and in the 1990s the only Free Trade Industrial Zone in Kuching Division was established about three kilometres away from the kampung. The population of
Kampung Tabuan comprises of a significant rural to urban migrants of coastal Sarawak
Malays. Some of the male population is stigmatised as criminals and drug addicts due to their involvement in vice activities. Hence, I use the term marginalised worker community to refer to Kampung Tabuan population (see Chapter 2 for detail explanation).
The Sarawak Malay ethnic group, which is the ethnic group at the centre of this study, is distinct from Peninsular Malays in regard to their origins. Said (1985, p. 4) contends that ‘while the presence of Sumatran and Peninsular Malays in Sarawak is undeniable, there is no strong evidence to suggest that mass migration ever took place.’
The Sarawak Malays, therefore, despite the presence of peninsular Malays, have origins from elsewhere. For example, during the pre-colonial period, when Sarawak was part of the kingdom of Brunei, Malays from Brunei migrated to regions that were primarily inhabited by indigenous peoples (Puteh 2005). Harrisson (1970) also emphasises the common practice of religious conversion of the non-Muslim indigenous population that now form part of the Sarawak Malay ethnic group. Harrisson (1970) claims that;
The Sarawak Malays do not to any significant degree represent any kind of evolutionary group, or even relic, of a distinct ‘Malay’ people who ‘came in from the west’ within any memory, or before. Rather, they reflect the movements of a few authoritative, aristocratic or able (guru, trader, etc.) Moslems – not necessarily always from Malaya or elsewhere in Indonesia. These individuals or small groups converted or led local, indigenous (in Miss Hahn’s sense ‘aboriginal’) populations, or parts thereof, to embrace Islam, become Moslem, and thus in latter-day terminology masuk Melayu become Malay (p. 648).
In fact, after Sarawak joined the Malaysian Federation, the Sarawak Malays were differentiated from Peninsular Malays by Sarawak State law. The Peninsular Malay 34
claims Puteh (2005) ‘is not recognised as a Malay in Sarawak for the purpose of landownership in native areas’ (p. 23). Other than the factors of geographic distance, origin, and the distinctions in the application of state law, Abdol Hazis (2006) adds that the history of Sarawak and the unique political context from which this state emerged contributes to the differentiation of Sarawakian and Peninsular Malays. I argue that these differences do have implications for how Sarawak Malay women perceive locally produced television messages from Kuala Lumpur. They perceive, for instance, that representations of Malayness on television do not wholly represent the Sarawakian
Malay. A degree of ‘foreignness’ can be felt, therefore, when Sarawak Malay women viewers watch television programs that have been produced in Kuala Lumpur. Thus, in the case of my research, Tabuan women have developed a cosmopolitan disposition that draw variously on images, narratives, and moralities from Peninsular Malaysia alongside Indonesia, Western, India and other foreign sources as well as from their local experiences.
CHAPTER OVERVIEW
This chapter introduced my approach to studying the roles of housewives in the family and the nature of their engagement with television, and my field-site. My thesis arises from the dynamic of the housewives’ role, as it has evolved against the backdrop of economic modernisation and cultural globalisation. I use television as a means to make this transparent, and to interpret women’s responses to changes in society.
Specifically, television messages are interpreted by women within the context of their role as housewives alongside education and economic backgrounds as well as their community status within the wider Kuching society. Thus, four ethnographic chapters
(5, 6, 7 and 8) have been arranged to illustrate how, due to their active engagement with television, housewives’ roles are affected by television messages. Chapters 2, 3 and 4
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investigate the concepts and theories that have been applied to television and the global flow of media, as well as a conceptualisation of Malaysian television.
Chapter 2 describes the methodology and ethnographic approach used in the research. Survey and interview are conducted to women respondents. Any information about men or women’s husband and children is mostly derived from this interview.
However, participant observation is conducted both to women and men.
Chapter 3 explores the concepts and theories related to television, the global flow of media, and audience reception. In this chapter I particularly focus on the notion of cosmopolitanism. In order to theorise global-local interactions I investigate the interrelated concepts of localisation, homogenisation, hybridity and cosmopolitanism.
These concepts are commonly used to explain the impact of global television programs on audiences; especially in the cases of soap operas, drama serials and television reality shows. Hybridity is an important concept used when investigating the production of local television programs. I argue that those scholars who have applied hybridity theory to the global flow of media neglect the powerful role of the state which filters global culture in the production of local media. This neglect is particularly relevant in the context of developing countries where both domestic and foreign television content is closely monitored by the government.
In Chapter 4, specific attention is given to selected Malaysian free-to air television stations. It includes a brief history of the establishment of these free-to air
Malaysian television stations and their responses to the global flow of media. The most influential television stations in Malaysia are the publically owned stations, TV1 and
TV2; and the privately owned station TV3. Due to the commercial and political benefit of television foreign popular culture, these programs are allowed to be screened on free- to-air television in relatively high percentage albeit protest from Islamic and nationalist
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groups. These programs reflect a cosmopolitan outlook. Moreover, my view is that locally produced dramas, drama serials and reality television programs incorporate elements of cosmopolitanism because of the requirement by the government censorship bodies to project multiculturalism, universal morality, Islam and material achievement modelled from Western modernity.
The discussion in Chapter 5 is centred on my field-site, Kampung Tabuan
Melayu. My argument is that the established system of gender relations which is based on the prestige of men has eroded in Kampung Tabuan. Men’s prestige both within the family and community have been negatively affected by the increasing marginalisation of Kampung Tabuan by the machinations of the market economy, the local state authorities, and surrounding middle-class Malay communities in Kuching. Tabuan men’s marginalised social status; in addition to their frequent involvement in petty crime, drug addiction and glue sniffing, has further disrupted the traditional prestige system founded on the complementary role of the husband-wife relationship. Although not all Tabuan men involve in vice, their general good image in the eyes of women and outsiders has decreased. In contrast to the image of vulnerability of Tabuan men,
Tabuan women have come to possess greater purchasing power for lifestyle goods stemming from their involvement in petty-trading and their traditional role as manager of domestic finances. Tabuan women also consider themselves to be more informed and accept the role of moral guardian for the family. Television is considered to be a valid source of knowledge for Tabuan women. Women are more exposed to television than men due to considerable time spent at home whilst men work all day. Whilst my focus therefore is primarily on changes in the role(s) of Tabuan housewives, one should not lose sight of the fact that men’s declining social and economic status has had a significant influence on the nature and performance of these roles.
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Chapter 6 investigates housewives roles’ as petty traders. This involvement has facilitated the acquisition of an imagined modern urban lifestyle, and a cosmopolitan outlook through consumption. Although their involvement in petty trading yields small earnings, it has allowed them to imagine their image of mobile business women. They also imagine middle-class lifestyles through their sporadic consumption. Hence, consumption is viewed as fostering relationship with the Other. Tabuan women imagine
Kuala Lumpur as a modern and foreign place. Their desire is to visit Kuala Lumpur as tourists, consumers, or as people who have saudara (kin) in this city. The connection with kin displays to others their affiliation with the most urbanised and modern place in
Malaysia. The particular image held of Kuala Lumpur, has been influenced by television messages.
Chapter 6 demonstrates that an analysis of Tabuan housewives’ roles as money- earners and money-managers is intrinsic to coming to a more holistic understanding of their consumption habits. Their involvement as petty traders and money-managers for domestic finances have allowed them to invest some of their domestic money in community rotating credit schemes (CRCS). These schemes have dual-functions; they can be used to save money or to consume lifestyle commodities. In fact CRCSs have allowed Tabuan housewives to consume more lifestyle commodities than they can actually afford.
Chapter 7 examines Tabuan housewives consumption of lifestyle commodities as a way to acquire a cosmopolitan appearance. Some of Tabuan women desire to have a universal rather than parochial Islamic identity through travelling overseas for haj
(religious pilgrimage). Tabuan housewives attempt to achieve a cosmopolitan outlook by developing their physical beauty and through fashionable clothes. To model beauty and urban lifestyles, Tabuan housewives specifically look toward Bollywood actresses,
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other Asian culture and representations of middle-class Malay women on television.
The latter is primarily portrayed in Malay dramas and drama serials. With regard to fashionable clothing, they desire distinctive styles which are popularised by local Malay and Bollywood actresses and celebrities. The styles, for example, include an integration of traditional dress baju kurung alongside foreign fashion elements to create a dress now known as baju kurung-kimono style.
Chapter 8 investigates strategies used by Tabuan mothers to protect their children from being influenced by petty crime, glue sniffing and drug addiction; all of which impact on a mother’s relationship with their children. Weeping is used as a strategy to detach Tabuan mothers from these social problems. One of the more powerful television messages used by Tabuan mothers is the attempt to reclaim the traditional, reciprocal mother-child relationship through filial-piety. Tabuan womens’ notion of good motherhood draws on three elements; messages from government and key public figures; Islam, and in particular its moral code; and a cosmopolitan notion of motherhood. Tabuan mothers experience these elements through television in the form of talk shows, drama serials and films. These television programs depict a combination of Western, Islamic and regional values in raising children.
Chapter 9 discusses the findings of the study. The first finding is that the messages of locally produced hybrid and imported television programs are willingly adopted as resources to facilitate a moral understanding of women’s roles as wives, traders, and mothers. The second finding suggests that Tabuan housewives acquire a cosmopolitan outlook from the ostentatious middle class images on television, depending on individual interpretations and circumstances. The contribution of this study is the contention that Malaysian free-to-air television stations provide both parochial resources as well as provide resources that promote cultural diversity. I also
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suggest that televised melodramas foster the embracing of culture diversity (openness) by Tabuan viewers.
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CHAPTER 2
METHODOLOGY: AUDIENCE ETHNOGRAPHY
INTRODUCTION
The aim of this Chapter is to describe the process of data collection.
Ethnography is employed for the study. According to Gupta and Ferguson (1997) the ethnographic method is one of the main distinctions that set anthropology apart from other social science disciplines. Ethnography is a research methodology that ‘is characterized by an epistemological commitment to explicit and holistic interpretation from a bottom-up perspective, an empirical interest in first-hand exploration and the application of multiple, mainly qualitative but also quantitative, methodologies’
(Schroder et al. 2003, p. 34). There is an increasing use of the ethnographic method in television audience studies (see Postill 2006; Abu Lughod 2005; Gillespie 1998;
Mankeker 1998). The aim of this method of data collection in audience research is to
‘produce a rich descriptive and interpretive account of lives and values of those subjected to the investigation’ (Morley & Silverstone 1991, p. 149-150).
Traditionally, television audience studies have used a positivistic paradigm for their theoretical approach, for both data collection and the analysis of the findings.
According to Wang (1997), audience research of various mass media in Malaysia in the
1990s was based on the strong influence of the media on audiences (see Badarudin
1988; Anis & Haneem 1992; Hashim & Md. Yusuf 1991). These studies mainly employed objective strategies of data collection. The studies used close-ended and open-ended interviews for data collection, and statistical analysis to interpret the data.
Wang (1997) criticises these studies as being too rigid, in particular in their theoretical perspectives, due to the emphasis on a positivistic paradigm. She questions whether there are other perspectives that could be of value in audience research. Accepting
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Wang’s criticism of previous studies, I adopt an ethnographic method that mainly employs participant observation to study a Malaysian audience. Alongside the ethnographical method, anthropological literature on television and women support the analysis of the data. To date, few studies of Malaysian audiences have been conducted using the anthropological approach (see Postill 2006; Barlocco 2009).
The obligation to immerse myself in the community as an ethnographer allowed me to make observations on the extent to which television is embedded in Sarawak women’s everyday lives. Ethnography allowed a more holistic view of the impact of television on viewers’ daily lives. Moreover, the ethnographic method of data collection was useful in investigating viewers’ associations with television, because both the media and its viewers are moving towards an increasingly deeper social and cultural contextualization (Ginsburg 1998; Silverstone & Hirsch 1994; Abu-Lughod 1989).
Viewers have become intimately connected with the soap opera and drama serial genres, particularly with their advent in the 1980s.
It is important to employ ethnography for data collection in an appropriate way.
Spitulnik (1993), commenting on the superficial use of ethnography, says that ‘most of this work is based on interviewing audiences in their homes, and critics have argued that the label ‘ethnography’ is misleading because detailed participant-observation is minimal, and actual immersion in the daily practices and social worlds of the people studied is almost nonexistent’ (p. 298).
ENTERING THE FIELD
The fieldwork was carried out from June 2006 to February 2007 in Kampung
Tabuan Melayu, a suburban village of Pending in Kuching. Prior to entering the field, I obtained human ethics clearance from the Graduate Research School of Human Ethics
Committee. Initially, when I started my fieldwork, I chose to settle not at Kampung
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Tabuan Melayu but at Kampung Surabaya Hilir. These are two villages that have different historical backgrounds and socio-economic statuses. I was attracted to
Kampung Surabaya Hilir because it is one of the earliest Malay villages, established along the Sarawak River. The river has been developed into the centre of tourism in
Kuching, the state capital.
In addition, May, a subordinate colleague turned friend, was originally from
Kampung Surabaya Hilir. My plan was for her to act as an intermediary between the people of the village and the village headman. My strategy was to affiliate with May in order to be accepted by the village. At first, May showed enthusiasm. She shared detailed information about her family. May was adopted by Melanau13 parents. Since her parents did not have any biological children, both May and her sister were adopted from two different Chinese families, and her brother was adopted from a Bidayuh14 family. She was happy to have been raised in a family from a different ethnic background to her birth parents.
I observed that May was cautious when introducing me to her neighbours and was hesitant in talking about her neighbours’ backgrounds. For example, when I wanted to know more about her neighbour’s family details, television viewing habits, and the types of work they did, she was reluctant to reveal anything. I was working under the impression that these issues would not be sensitive. However, it was possible that May did not want to upset her neighbours with my ceaseless questioning. She did not even
13 According to Chang (1999), the Melanau, or ‘people of the river’, originally occupied Sarikei and Miri Divisions. Chang further says, ‘It was believed that their ancestors came from Bali Island, Indonesia more than 500 years ago. Another group of Melanau ancestors were the Malays from Brunei when Mukah and the surrounding areas were under Brunei rule’ (p. 20). Mukah is the Melanau heartland in the Sarikei division of Sarawak.
14 According to Foh (1999), the Bidayuh ‘came from Sungkong in Kalimantan about twenty generations before Krakatau eruption on 27.8.1883. This indicated that the Bidayuh community had settled down in Sarawak sometime in 1380s already. Initially, they settled around Kuching area. However, in later years, when they were being attacked by other stronger groups, they moved to the hilly areas in Kuching and Samarahan Divisions till today’ (p.18-19). 43
allow me to meet with the village headman to ask permission to do research in the village. Due to this difficulty with collecting data, I left Kampung Surabaya Hilir. I learnt that an organisational friendship and a superior-subordinate relationship were of little help in making inroads into a community. The organisation and the community are two different places where people have different roles and identities. I began to understand that the key to gaining entry into a research site was to develop relationships of personal trust and to convince people of the sincerity of my work.
Although I only stayed in Kampung Surabaya Hilir for three weeks, the experience of staying in the village was valuable in understanding gender, class, and the women’s status within Kuching Malay society. In particular, I was able to compare the everyday issues that concerned the Sarawak Malay elite in Kampung Surabaya Hilir and the marginalised worker community in Kampung Tabuan Melayu. For instance, social problems were not obvious issues in Kampung Surabaya Hilir. Another observation concerns women’s status. Observing May’s response towards my research interest, another possible explanation for May’s reluctance was her position in the community.
In my opinion, being an unmarried woman in her early 40s, May saw herself possessing limited credibility as a member of the community. Furthermore, May had less economic status than many of her neighbours. Assuming that May could assist me in making contacts with the villagers perhaps revealed my ignorance of the importance of a woman’s social and economic status in the Sarawak Malay community. A woman who is single and lacking economic means and resources feels insecure in the community. I found that married women have more secure positions than single women do in the
Tabuan community due to their roles as mothers and housewives. Being mothers, they are respected; and being wives, they receive support from husbands and in-laws in their
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efforts to improve their household finances. Both social and economic power increases married women’s status in their community.
I learned about Kampung Tabuan Melayu from Sharifah Ramlah, who stayed in my house in Kuching while I furthered my studies at the University of Western
Australia. She worked as a dental nurse at the Tabuan Primary School, which is located in Kampung Tabuan. Sharifah had encouraged me to do my research in Kampung
Tabuan when I arrived to do my fieldwork. She was very confident that the village had potential as a research site. I had mixed feelings about going to this village. The village is only ten minutes’ drive from my house. I felt a little dismayed because the house that my husband and I owned was very close to Kampung Tabuan, but I hadn’t taken any notice of the kampung. Although I had been staying in Kuching for about eight years, I considered myself an outsider because of my ignorance of local lives. Moreover, as a first timer ethnographer, I was anxious when Sharifah remarked that the village was a
‘black area.’ She meant that some villagers are violent, and some are criminals and squatters.
She took me to the dental clinic where she worked in the primary school of
Kampung Tabuan. I thought that she was going with me to introduce me to the village headman because she knew the village quite well. I was surprised when she said she was not going to take me after I had been waiting for almost one hour in the clinic. I immediately thought that she was not keeping her promise because I was haunted by the failure with May. Instead of going with me, she assigned her assistant, Julaihi, who was a Kampung Tabuan resident, to make the introduction. I was upset and asked her why she did not go. She refused to reply. For some reason, she did not want to mediate between the village headman and me. I saw that she was a different person in her clinic to the friend I knew. I felt that she was acting bossy. I wondered why she had asked
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someone else when she did not have much work to do in the clinic. Julaihi introduced himself and his mission, as directed by Sharifah, to the village headman, Wan Alwi, in a formal and respectful manner. Julaihi stated that he was assigned by his superior
(Sharifah) to take me to the village. I then explained my purpose and my research interest to him. To my excitement, Wan Alwi accepted me warmly. When I reflected on this event, I concluded that Sharifah was quite ingenious in assigning Julaihi to integrate me into Kampung Tabuan. I learn that although a village lacks the formality of public and business organisations, I need to understand and follow the bureaucratic procedures and norms of the community.
I refer to Kampung Tabuan as a marginalised worker community because the settlement is mostly populated by unskilled workers that serve as manual labourers in
Kuching industrial areas. The village is marginalised by certain local authorities due to the reputation of the villagers (see Chapter 5). Tabuan men are said to be violent and commonly labelled as criminals, and the people are known as squatters by the Kuching
Malay population. Although Kampung Tabuan residents are marginalised, Tabuan men’s occupations play a vital part in the operation and in functioning of the city. The people of Tabuan experience an insecure, and in some cases impoverished, existence.
The stigmatisation does not apply to women. Married women of Kampung Tabuan are mostly housewives. Many of them married at a young age (16, 17, or 18 years old) and therefore lack the academic or vocational qualifications necessary to enter the formal work force. However, Tabuan women are actively involved in petty trading activity to supplement their husbands’ earnings and increase their consumption of lifestyles commodities.
While I could have stayed in my own house with Sharifah and her family, I chose to find accommodation in Kampung Tabuan. The wife of the headman suggested
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that I stay with Rosli Sibli’s family. Rosli Sibli, a 54 year old, is the sub-village headman (ketua kaum) of Kampung Tabuan Lot, which is one of four sub-villages of
Kampung Tabuan Melayu. I was accepted as an adopted daughter of Rosli and his wife
Doris, which proved to be a great benefit to me. Another family member who stayed with them was Betty, a twelve-year-old granddaughter. I received nods and smiles from the villagers and local authorities when they asked whom I was staying with in
Kampung Tabuan. The men and women in Kampung Tabuan know him and respect his leadership. Although Rosli is the headman of the one of the four sub-villages, his popularity as a respected community leader is recognised by all in Kampung Tabuan, much more so than the bureaucratically elected current Kampung Tabuan headman.
FIELDWORK ISSUES: WATCHING TELEVISION ACTIVITY AND OFFERING TABUAN HOUSEWIVES MOBILITY
Some villagers mistakenly thought that I was an ‘officer’ sent to help them to acquire financial assistance from the government. One woman thought that I worked for a television station and that I would arrange for her to appear in a reality television show to highlight her poverty and provide her with financial benefits. This suggests that outsiders are welcomed because they are assumed to have the ability to help them improve their economic status.
Table 1 The demographic profiles of research participants
Name Age Origin No. of Position Ethnic Children Identification 1. Informant #1 47 Kampung 7 Full-time cleaner Malay Sejingkat, Kuching 2. Kareena 32 Kampung Ajibah 5 Housewife and petty Malay Abol,Kuching meat distributor 3. Informant #2 35 Baram, Miri 4 Housewife and occasional ban (Muslim) food-seller. 4. Balkish 30 Kampung Tabuan 3 Housewife and seamstress Malay and Tengah Indian 5. Misma 22 Kampung Tabuan 3 Housewife and part-time Malay & Lot school bus driver Melanau
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6. Priyanka 24 Semeriang , 1 + Housewife and multi- Malay & Kuching expecting level marketing Iban. 7. Informant # 3 28 Bau 2 + 1 Housewife and cake Bidayuh stepson seller (Muslim) 8. Khairina 35 Kampung Tabuan 5 Housewife and irregular Malay Lot cook-food seller 9. Bella Daly 30 Samarahan 1 Full-time housewife Malay
10. Informant 40 Kampung Tabuan 1 Housewife and part-time Malay #4 Dani (adopted) insurance agent 11. Informant 37 Kampung Tabuan 2 Widow (homemaker) Malay #5 Lot 12. Informant # 20 Kampung Tabuan No child Full-time housewife Sarawak and 6 Tengah Peninsular Malay 13. Zulaikha 47 Sadong Jaya 2 Housewife and a grocery Malay shop owner 14. Teacher Nor 29 Kampung Tabuan No child Kindergarten teacher Malay Tengah 15. Informant # 29 Pendam 3 Full-time housewife Malay 7 16. Juliana 34 Kampung Tabuan 1 Housewife, kindergarten Malay Dani assistant teacher, and burger seller at night 17. Rita 40 Kampung Bako 6 Housewife and a credit Malay ring leader 18. Rani 39 Simunjan 5 Assistant nurse Malay
19. Amor 28 Kampung Tabuan 2 Housewife and petty Malay Lot trader 20. Dania 35 Stakan, Kuching 2 Housewife and seamstress Malay Division 21. Informant # 35 Kampung Tabuan 3 Full-time housewife Malay and 8 Tengah Iban 22. Informant 39 Simunjan 4 Full-time housewife Malay #9 23. Norish 35 Samarahan 3 Housewife and petty Malay trading 24. Maya Karin 39 Meludam 8 Housewife and petty Malay trading 25. Sofea Jane 40 Simunjan 11 Housewife, seamstress, Malay and snack maker 26. Informant 36 Kampung Muara 3 Housewife and seamstress Malay #10 Tebas 27. Hajijah Bt. 35 Samarahan 1 Housewife and seamstress Malay Noi (adopted) 28. Chae-rin 28 Simunjan 2 Full-time housewife Malay
29. Korina 32 Samarahan 1 + Clerk in small company Malay and expecting Iban 30. Anjali 40 Kampung Tabuan 5 Housewife and middle Malay person bakery seller
I conducted a survey of 30 Tabuan women who were mainly housewives (see Table 1).
Some of them were involved in petty trading activity. Two of these housewives were
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working full time. There are also other important women key informants (i.e. Anita,
Aleza, Doris, Yatimah, Meilan and Fasha) who I interviewed but not surveyed. These are the women who I spent considerable time with.
My focus is on women’s roles. I did not invite men to participate in the interview sessions. However, it is important to note that women’s roles are conditioned by men’s roles. Hence, a limitation of this study is the minimum access it has to men respondents concerning men’s roles and their everyday lives, and their engagement with television. However, information about men was gathered, and perceptions formed, from their wives or daughters. Similarly, I did not interview children, and therefore, information about them is also from the perspective of their mothers.
For instance, in the case of a father’s role in nurturing his children, I asked Anita about her father’s role in helping her to deal with her marriage problem (see Chapter 1).
Anita told me that her father, Awang Osman, did not help her (see also Chapter 8).
Anita recalled that, at one time, her father said, ‘Jangan kau sik merasa’ (it is your life experience) when she expressed her concerned about Hamzah’s involvement in drugs.
Anita was confused by her father’s philosophical yet sarcastic reaction. She even asked me what he meant. It took me quite a while to understand the meaning and why Awang
Osman reacted that way. I believe that he was advising Anita to face the problem in a brave manner but without any strategic tips on how to overcome the problem. He reacted in such a way to show that life is hard and do not expect smooth sailing. This is perhaps due to the continuous hardship of Tabuan men’s lives and the village’s violent environment.
A few of the women’s husbands were at home during the in-depth interview session. Anjali’s husband, for instance, sat together with us and listened to our conversation without giving much input. He had just come back from long hours of
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work. At night, he worked as a security guard in a hotel, and during the day, he had a part-time job as a goods handler at Kuching Port. In short, some Tabuan men spend long hours working and therefore the domestic responsibilities are passed to their wives.
Other men were not interested in sitting together or participating voluntarily in conversation. I conducted formal interviews with three men regarding the history of
Kampung Tabuan. Meanwhile Rosli Sibli, the sub-village headman, and Wan Alwi,
Kampung Tabuan headman, were very informative regarding general information about
Kampung Tabuan.
One aspect of my fieldwork was television watching activity. I carried out this fieldwork either alone, with adopted family members, or with Tabuan women. I watched television in order to make sense of Tabuan housewives views about certain programs, either in spontaneous daily conversation or during interview sessions. It was almost impossible for me to watch every television program, especially when a certain program was being broadcast at the same time as another program on a different station; also, I needed time to organise and reflect on my experience in the field. I monitored the popular programs watched by Tabuan housewives. By doing this, I was able to note the format, the plot (for drama series), and the program’s approach to dealing with issues.
Because Rosli has only one television, I have to take turns watching different television stations with Betty and Doris, who were avid television viewers. My previous experience of watching Malaysian television became useful as a reference or comparison for the current television programs.
Tabuan women concentrated fully on their favourite programs rather than discussing or commenting on the programs to me. There are three reasons for this behaviour, which I learned from my interactions with the women. Firstly, they value the visuals that they watch. When I complemented their big screen televisions, some said,
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‘to get a clear picture.’ They explained that the visual details helped them to imagine the visuals depicted on television. Secondly, in order to understand television messages,
Tabuan women put extra effort into understanding the accents used on the television stations as well as the usage of the national language because they use the Sarawak
Malay dialect for everyday communication. When I asked why they chose to watch
TV3 (the most watched private Malaysian free-to-air television station) instead of TV1
(a government television channel), one of the common reasons was that the Malay pronunciation used on TV1 is more difficult to understand than that used on TV3. This is because TV1 uses the Riau-Johor accent whilst TV3 uses the similar pronunciation of certain words to the Sarawak Malay dialect as well as Indonesian-Malay pronunciation.
Another reason is that many women were attracted to the depiction of modern and cosmopolitan lifestyles, which are different from those found in Kuching. Finally, they had to pay particular attention when watching non-Malay drama serials. Tabuan women tried to read the Malay subtitles or to understand the story through the visuals because non-Malay drama serials are rarely dubbed in the Malay language. As a summary, the way in which Tabuan women watch television indicates that watching television is a serious activity rather than simply for relaxation or entertainment. Hence, they hardly talk or do other things while watching television.
The activity of watching television with Tabuan housewives was time- consuming and it seemed very little could be gained about their opinions and the impact of the programs on their lives. For instance, when watching drama serials, they expressed only their hatred, anger, or sadness towards the characters. Moreover, watching television with them was not a great help in witnessing the moment when television messages become resources for Tabuan women to solve their daily problems.
I also found that there were hardly any meaningful conversations with them regarding
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how they use television messages immediately after watching a certain program. They did not give their opinions about what they had watched. Instead, they made reference to television messages in spontaneous daily conversation on other subjects, in places other than in front of the television. In this, I shared a similar experience with previous researchers who were unable to gain significant evidence on the simultaneous impact of television messages on viewers (Ginsberg 1998; Machado-Borges 2006). Couldry
(2003, p. 48) raises the methodological issue of the home as the ‘stereotypical site of media consumption’ in response to the importance of the ethnographer’s presence in a definite location. While watching television is performed at home, little can be gathered in the home about the impact of television messages. In response to the complexity of how to capture audience reception, Couldry (2003) suggests that the impact of media on audiences can be gathered outside the home. Therefore, during the later fieldwork, I concentrated more on activities outside the house.
While in the village, I drove a car, which was beneficial because it allowed me to participate more fully in the daily routines of Tabuan housewives. Some housewives are mobile and they go to many places. By offering a ‘taxi’ service, I was able to trace and participate in the daily lives of the women when they travelled outside the village. I drove, while they gave directions. Thus, I spent many hours driving to shopping centres, to the clinic, to school, to pay bills, to visit the market, to the airport, to visit relatives, and even to a shaman’s house. Some interesting conversations occurred in the car. This spontaneous conversation included how they use television characters or messages to reflect upon their daily lives. I also participated in the village’s many social activities, including a karaoke competition and weddings, as well as other religious and
‘economic’ gatherings.
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The ethnographer’s background is an issue in the field because it affects the process of data collection. Anthropologists have discussed the issue of bringing along
‘children’ to the field (see the collection of articles in Cassell 1987). There are advantages and disadvantages of taking them. I chose to leave my children with my brother’s family in my hometown, Selangor, Peninsular Malaysia. I informed the
Tabuan women that I was to make brief fortnightly visits to meet my five-, seven-, and ten-year-old children, The journey from Kuching to Selangor takes an hour and forty- five minutes by plane. Another hour is spent travelling from the airport to my hometown. It is an arduous journey. I should have spent my precious time in the village doing fieldwork, but I also had to spend time in both airport terminals, on board planes, and in cars and buses. Sometimes I missed important events in Kampung Tabuan. This was the disadvantage of being absent from the field.
However, in my opinion, I gained more than what I lost through these trips.
Some of the women took the opportunity to ask me to buy things in Kuala Lumpur, which was sometimes quite annoying. Instead of spending time with my children, I felt obliged to battle the traffic jams to visit shopping centres to fulfil their ‘orders.’I did not decline their requests as I felt that this was one of the important aspects of my research, which could also be considered ‘multi sited’ fieldwork (Marcus 1995). In this case, I was tracing their consumption of lifestyle commodities habits, which transcends their locality. These visits also helped to convey my status and identity as middle class, a student, a married woman (with a husband studying for his Ph.D. in the same university), and a mother who looked forward to visiting her children in West Malaysia to the Tabuan women. This identity connected me to Tabuan housewives in two ways.
Firstly, I was a woman and mother just like them. Secondly, I was connected to the representation of middle class women on television. In fact, many Tabuan women
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thought my life resembled those mobile and independent middle class women they admire on television. A Tabuan woman once said to me, ‘Your life is just like the
[Malay] drama Cinderella. The airport must be your second home!’
During the period of my fieldwork, I also conducted formal interviews to learn about the history and the people of the village from the local authority perspective. An information sheet and a consent form to sign were given to each participant prior to the interview sessions. I interviewed a former councillor of the city council who was originally from Kampung Tabuan, the deputy mayor of South Kuching, and the chairwoman of the Sarawak Women’s Council, which was concerned with the development of women in Kuching.
These informants were given pseudonyms in order to protect their privacy.
Those appearing in the Table 1 who were not otherwise referred to in the body of work were given numbers (for instance Informant #1), rather than a pseudonym. The pseudonyms chosen for informants were mostly names of actors or characters from foreign and locally produced popular culture as well as common local names. However, there was a situations where a full name was retained; the name of Chairwoman of
Sarawak Women’s Council. In this case, there is no reputation issue to be protected.
The chairwoman offered a positive statement about Tabuan women which supported the good image of these women.
These informants were given pseudonyms in order to protect their privacy.
However, there were two situations where full names were retained; the list of informants in Table 1 and the name of Chairwoman of Sarawak Women’s Council. In both cases, there is no reputation issue to be protected. The list of informants comprised their names, age, their birth place, designation and ethnic identification. When these informants were cited in the text, only then they were given pseudonyms. In the later
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case, the chairwoman offered a positive statement about Tabuan women which supported the good image of these women. The pseudonyms chosen for informants are mostly names of actors or characters from foreign and locally produced popular culture as well as common local names.
I conducted semi-structured interviews with 30 Tabuan women. The interviews were designed with three sections corresponding to my three aims. The first and the second consisted of a series of structured questions, while the third section was comprised of open-ended questions. In the first section, my aim was to understand the socio-economic backgrounds of the women and their families. The questions asked concerned age, place of origin, number of children, occupation and monthly salary
(including those of the spouse), and ethnic identification. In the second section, my aim was to develop profiles of Tabuan women viewers. The questions asked included those about their favourite TV stations, their perceptions of the broader social roles of television, and the approximate time they spend each day watching television. In the third section, my aim was to investigate the way Tabuan women situate television within the context of their daily lives. Here the questions were open ended. Initially, the first question I asked was ‘Can you tell me the television programs that you watched yesterday?’ Many respondents struggled to name the programs and, even worse, they forgot what they watched. The abruptness of the question surprised them and prevented them from giving their answers. I also found that the question was ‘too dry’ to encourage them to talk about their viewing experience. I had failed to establish a friendly environment. Therefore, I changed the strategy by initiating everyday life conversations, such as complementing their CD collection, asking more about their children, or talking about break-ins that had recently occurred in the area. Then, I
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slowly changed the topic and made a comment about a popular drama on television, and waited for their response.
During the course of these interviews, I did not focus on a specific genre of television programs. Instead, I followed the flow of their conversations. For instance, if a woman was inclined to watch religious programs, we talked more about the elements of these that related to her daily life. This approach was adopted in light of my previous failure to elicit any meaningful conversation in relation to my research aim. Previously, when I wanted to talk about a specific genre, not all the women were able to realise that ideas from television had become resources to solve their daily life problems. Much of the time, I depended on their memories to talk about what were the most resourceful programs. Even with this strategy, not all women were able to talk about what they watched on television. Because of the diversity of the television programs they watched,
I discussed the many types rather than focusing on specific television genres, such as drama serials. However, the majority of participants tended to talk about drama serials.
Most of the interviews were conducted in Tabuan women’s houses. Often, the interviews were disrupted by their children. Some women requested that I conduct the interviews in my adopted parents’ (Rosli’s and Doris’s) house due to the crowdedness of their own. The women whom I interviewed were aged between 20 and 55 years, and most were housewives. I used snowball sampling, whereby I asked for the women that I interviewed to recommend another informant. I set up one criterion for the women that I wanted to interview: They must be keen on watching television. The interview lasted from one and a half hours to two and a half hours. Some of the women felt uneasy and were worried about not knowing how to answer my questions. Against the backdrop of informal life in domestic spaces and their relative lack of education, their unease was related to my formal demeanour with interview papers, pen, a tape recorder, and a
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camera. Thus, my first task was to make them comfortable in my presence. The fact that
I am a mother and a wife went some way to building a common understanding of housewives’ roles. Moreover, the first section, which asks about their backgrounds, was a great help in establishing friendly conversations. It was important to build trust in the interview sessions since the conversation and the questions dwell on family members’ everyday personal experiences and problems.
In addition to primary data gathering through participant observation and in- depth interviews, I also conducted content analyses of selected television programs and schedule to illustrate the Malaysian free-to-air television content.
Thorne (2000) describes data analysis as process of unpacking the researcher’s holistic experience and understanding from the cultural perspective of the subject being investigated.
Ethnographic analysis uses an iterative process in which cultural ideas that arise during active involvement “in the field” are transformed, translated, or represented in a written document. It involves sifting and sorting through pieces of data to detect and interpret thematic categorisation, search for inconsistencies and contradictions, and generate conclusions about what is happening and why. (p. 69)
I use quotations from formal interviews with women, men, local authorities, and newspaper reports, as well as from my field-notes to support facts and arguments in my study. The women that I have quoted in this thesis are mostly my respondents and information on their backgrounds is shown in Table 1. I offer a detailed background of only some women respondents in order to make sense of their stories. Last, but not least, selected photos that were taken during fieldwork are included in the study and a local map was drawn to indicate the village’s location. The anthropological perspective on women is employed to support the theoretical framework of gender relations and women’s roles.
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CONCLUSION
Many Sarawak Malay women have unique experiences of using television resources to facilitate or reflect on aspects of their everyday lives. The distinctive engagement with television, therefore, is best encapsulated through audience ethnography methodology. In addition, the audience ethnography method has allowed me to investigate the marginality of Kampung Tabuan and its population, and how their marginality influences the way they interpret television messages. Although many of
Tabuan women were avid viewers, elucidating their experience was a challenging task.
One of the challenges is due to the nature of television viewing where viewers often use television messages subconsciously. Nevertheless, the method has contributed to a deeper level of understanding of women’s roles in the marginalised worker community of Kampung Tabuan in the era of globalisation and consumer culture.
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CHAPTER 3
GLOBALISATION: TELEVISION AND COSMOPOLITANISM
INTRODUCTION
This chapter has two aims. The first is to examine the way scholars have theorised viewers’ engagement with foreign television programs – programs which have flourished as a result of globalisation. These are not only imported from the West, but also from emerging television producers in Asia and Latin America. Of particular importance in this study is the issue of morality that is contained in foreign news and melodramas. Cosmopolitanism is also investigated as a quality attributed to people. We may then talk about ‘cosmopolitan viewers.’ The second aim of this chapter is to investigate the literature on the phenomenon of hybridisation occurring when foreign television programs are reworked and consumed by local audiences; thereby promoting cosmopolitanism. Here, I argue that hybridization does not occur in a vacuum. Rather, the Malaysian state plays a dynamic role in accommodating global popular culture in local television.
In developed countries, television remains a fundamental part of people’s daily experience, despite the increasing popularity of the Internet as an electronic medium of global education and entertainment. Gray (2008) states that many people’s daily routines are structured by television viewing in that they ‘wake up, turn on the television, get ready, leave for work/school, go home, turn on the television, sleep’ (p.
2). For example, in Japan 95% of the population watch television for on average 3 hours and 28 minutes every day (Kamimura, Ikoma & Nakano, cited in Holden 2003, p. 149).
Even more so than the Internet, television is easily accessible to ordinary people
(Castells 1996; Turkle 1995).
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The role of television in developing countries has evolved over the years. In the
1960s, the role of television was to foster nationalism. In the 1980s, television was used to appropriate modernity. In the 1990s, television increasingly allowed viewers to experience foreign cultures without the need to travel. For example Hebdige (1990) states that;
[w]e are living in a world where ‘mundane cosmopolitanism’ is part of ‘ordinary’ experience. All cultures, however remote temporally and geographically, are becoming accessible today as signs and/or commodities. If we don’t choose to go and visit other cultures they come and visit us as images and information on TV...Nobody has to be educated, well-off or adventurous to be a world traveller at this level (p. 20).
The presence of foreign programs on local television can be conceptualised in terms of two possible outcomes: the homogenisation or the heterogenisation of local culture.
GLOBALISATION AND THE MEDIA: EXAMINING PERSPECTIVES IN THE HOMOGENISATION AND HETEROGENISATION OF LOCAL CULTURE
The term time-space compression was introduced by David Harvey in 1990.
Harvey claims that people the world over, regardless of distance and time, are now connected by communication technologies. The globalisation process has rested on the expansion of communication technologies which by their very nature bring into view and juxtapose different cultural practices, beliefs and symbolic forms. Giddens (1990) defines globalization as ‘the intensification of worldwide social relations which link distant localities in such a way that local happenings are shaped by events occurring many miles away and vice versa’ (p. 64). This definition alludes to more powerful forces in the form of economic capitalism and the political domination of elites. This definition is also based on the assumption that global culture from the West is a dominant entity shaping local cultural practices, beliefs and symbolic forms.
Discussions centred on the impact of globalisation have crystallised around the theory of cultural imperialism (Schiller 1976; Dorfman & Mattelart 1975, Hamelink
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1983; Sklair 1991). During the 1980s and 1990s, the debate on globalisation focused exclusively on the West’s influence over local cultures, and the global cultural homogeneity emerging from this process. Schiller (1976) argues that the West, and here North America in particular, dominates the ownership of the media and the distribution of popular culture around the world. Mohammadi (1997) refers to Schiller’s theory of cultural imperialism as ‘the process whereby all global cultures are inexorably drawn into the sphere of influence of one single capitalist culture’ (p.179).
Time Warner, for instance, was formed in 1989 and is now one of the largest global communication companies in the world. Since its inception it has marketed North
American lifestyles in everything from personal grooming to fast food (Thompson
1995, p. 160). Hall (1991) has argued that ‘[t]he new kind of globalization is not
English; it is American’ (p. 178). The influence of American culture is also popularly known as ‘Americanisation.’ Ritzer (1993) coined the term ‘McDonaldization’ to describe the influence of American fast food culture on the rest of the world. Fung
(2008) suggests that the explicit or implicit propaganda that is advanced by global media corporations serves the interests ‘of different parties; commercially, advertisers, and politically, the government’ (Fung 2008, p. 86).
North America’s domination of the global media was perceived as a threat to the national culture and identity of receiving countries. It is a fear often echoed in the polemics of governments, nationalists and religious groups (Rantanen 2005). The tension of the presence of American popular culture in the local context highlights the influence of Western popular culture on local viewers. Perhaps surprisingly, studies on audience reception rarely employ or support the theory of cultural imperialism. I discuss below three such audience reception studies (Wilk 2002; Davis 2004; Miller 1995a)
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which attempt to make sense of the impact of American popular culture on local viewers in a number of different countries.
In Belize, in the early 1990s, the phenomenon of Americanisation was pervasive. Wilk (2002) observed that ‘[t]here is some objectively measurable increase in the ‘Americanisation’ of Belizean institutions, customs and language, but it is paralleled by a decline in British influence’ (p. 181). Soap operas, together with many other
Hollywood television genres including situation comedy, action and detective serials, were then considered by the public in Belize to be immoral. In Wilk’s (2002) study, the public, supported by the church, highlighted the negative moral impact on society; in particular children and youth. In addition, feminists in Belize claimed that, as a result of the impact of Hollywood television programs, the social standing of women was being eroded. Mothers were also seen as being helpless in curbing the negative influence of
American television programs on their children.
In the Torres Strait Islands, Davis (2004) discovered that the adornments adopted by Saibaian men originated from militaristic Hollywood movies, including
Predator and Shaka Zulu. The Torres Strait Islander dance costume designers had integrated elements of the costumes into films to project ‘a powerful, sensual masculinity’ (Davis 2004, p. 37). Davis points out that ‘North America, from which much of the available television content, popular music and culture is produced, is taken to symbolise an ostentatious self-confidence’ (Davis 2004, p. 37). According to Davis, the Western influence permeating these films invoked a phrase employed by other islanders in the Torres Strait: ‘Saibai waza America’ (Davis 2004, p. 37). This implies that they recognise that Saibaians have been influenced by American images.
Miller (1995a) argues that Trinidadian women who watch the popular
Hollywood soap opera The Young and Restless gain a sense of pleasure through
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gossiping (bacchanal). The lifestyles of the characters in The Young and Restless are constructed around fashion, love, marriage and sexual relationships - emotions and institutions which, despite their poverty, Trinidadian women in squatter communities readily identified in their own lives. Bacchanal does not have an accurate English translation, but its meaning in fact comes closer to ‘scandal’ than gossip. Miller’s
(1995) study illustrates how the local practice of bacchanal has been revived by
American soap operas.
Whilst the above reception studies illustrate the impact of Western images, Wilk
(2002) and Miller (1995a) are as has been indicated dismissive of the theory of cultural imperialism. This stance reflects that of even the earliest of audience reception studies which similarly lent no support to the theory of cultural imperialism (Katz & Liebes
1984). Instead, Katz and Liebes (1984) have argued that the American soap opera
Dallas, which was watched by viewers around the world including in Israel, Algeria, and Italy, was ultimately interpreted through local cultural perspectives. They have argued that viewers interpreted meaning through their own cultural filters. Wilk (2002) summarises scholarly opinion which supports Katz & Liebes and the validity of the local interpretation theory.
Goods are also recontextualized and reinterpreted at their locus of consumption (Friedman 1990; Lofgren 1990; McCracken 1988; Arnould and Wilk 1984; Wilk 1990; Belk 1988). I think we need to apply these same critical insights to the study of television in the Third World. Just as a McDonald’s hamburger means something very different in Moscow from what it means in Dubuque, so the drama of Dallas has been found to convey very different meanings to Israelis, Algerians, and Italians (Katz and Liebes 1984, 1986; Sijl et al. 1988). Australian aborigines interpret television dramas in ways that would be unintelligible to those who produced the drama in the first place (Michaels 1988) (Wilk 2002, p. 289).
Other scholars view globalisation as bringing about two simultaneous effects - the homogenisation and heterogenisation of local cultures (Hall 1991; Hannerz 1991;
Appadurai 1990). Hall (1991) admits the influence of American popular culture in the 63
local, but believes that it does not create uniformity. He argues that the way American popular culture is absorbed into local culture is through ‘recogniz[ing] and absorb[ing] those differences within the larger, overarching framework of what is essentially an
American conception of the world.’ (p. 28). The diffusion of foreign popular culture in the local is based on the homogenization of the cultural format, such as in the uniformity of television genres, tempered by the heterogeneity of the varying interpretations of the content by local producers and audiences (Adams 2008; Iwabuchi
2004).
In contrast to the cultural homogeneity and uniformity so often associated with globalisation, cosmopolitanism stresses the heterogeneity of culture in the local context
(Held et al. 1999; Tomlinson 1999; Waters 1995). In fact, the terms available to describe the heterogeneous process of globalisation include hybridisation (Nederveen
Pieterse 2009); glocalisation (Robertson 1995); indigenisation (Appadurai 1990); and cosmopolitanism (Hannerz 1990). The following section illustrates the way in which television is conceptualised to mediate cosmopolitanism in the local context. The investigation starts with a brief overview of the concept and attributes of cosmopolitanism.
COSMOPOLITANISM
The term cosmopolitanism is derived from the Greek words cosmos (the universe) and polis (city). Cosmopolitanism can be traced back to Immanuel Kant’s
1795 essay, entitled ‘Toward Perpetual Peace: a Philosophical Sketch’ (Bohman &
Lutz-Bachmann 1997). Following Kant’s idea of creating a commitment towards realising ‘citizens of the world’; Kantian political philosophy advocates citizens who
‘live in a world governed by overarching principles of right and justice’ (Vertovec &
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Cohen 2002, p. 7). Kant’s philosophy of cosmopolitanism is grounded in a moral commitment to achieving global peace (Wood 2002; Apel 1997).
The earliest problematic of cosmopolitanism was that it was narrowly conceptualised in relation to elite and mobile men (Hannerz 1990). The cosmopolitan was criticised as a rootless person because, as a citizen of the world, he was assumed to have no loyalty to any nation (Brennan 1997). The idea of ‘demotic cosmopolitanism,’ however, has broadened the understanding of cosmopolitan from the elite to the working class who have similarly embraced a commitment to engaging with cultural diversity (Lamont & Aksartova 2002). These cosmopolitans include transnational male migrants who reside permanently or temporarily in host countries (Sichone 2008;
Werbner 1999). Another type of demotic cosmopolitan is working-class men in a culturally diverse workplace (Parry 2008; Lamont & Aksartova 2002). Demotic cosmopolitan points to the everyday experiences of either working-class or middle-class people, and takes into account what they ‘eat, watch, listen to, shop for and buy, and dream about’ (Skrbis & Woodward 2007, p. 735). Ong (2009) states that a cosmopolitan identity can be constructed from ‘consumption habits, pathways of material/cultural/symbolic goods, even everyday gossip – the many ways in which culture is deterritorialized and reterritorialized’ (p. 460). Both Ong (2009) and Beck
(2004) employ the term banal cosmopolitanism to suggest that cosmopolitanism can be acquired from viewers’ engagement with the media.
In relation to the problematic of cosmopolitans presented earlier, Mazlish (2005) points out the conflicting political interests emerging from one’s commitment to (either) the global or the local. Cosmopolitanism implies a commitment to a moral universalism and to humanity as a whole and without distinction. This contradicts the commitment to a national identity which is expressed more narrowly through patriotism (Nussbaum
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1996). The emphasis on a national identity subverts the possibility of adopting a global outlook.
An alternative approach to cosmopolitanism, however, advocates national identity as a way to achieve a cosmopolitan outlook (Calhoun 1997). In other words, cosmopolitanism is viewed as the attachment to the local and global (Skrbis et al. 2004;
Beck 2002; Tomlinson 1999; Appiah 1998). Cosmopolitan ‘operate[s] at the level of both the local and the global simultaneously, not as a binary pair but in dynamic relationship (Meeuf 2007, p. 742). Werbner (2008) argues that the tension between global and local is not as critical when considered from an anthropological perspective.
From the perspective of anthropology, cosmopolitanism re-establishes the significance of local culture vis a vis other cultures, regardless of whether these are within or beyond the geographic borders of the nation state. Werbner argues, for instance, that ‘[f]or anthropologists, cosmopolitanism is as much a local engagement within the postcolonial states – with cultural pluralism, global rights movements, ideas about democracy and the right to be dissent – as beyond their borders’ (p. 6).
COSMOPOLITANISM AND WOMEN: TRAVEL AND OPENNESS
With regards to gender, women have historically been invisible (Stivens 2008) in discussions relating to cosmopolitanism. Hannerz (1990), for example, consistently uses the pronoun he in reference to the qualities of the cosmopolitan. The language used signals that Hannerz is not consciously engaging with issues of gender. In relation to Hannerz’ work, Nava (2007) points out the distinctiveness of men’s strategies in
‘becoming cosmopolitan.’ She argues that ‘in his framework, the cosmopolitan (who seems always to be ‘he’) has cognitive and semiotic skills which enable him to manoeuvre within new meaning systems while remaining culturally and emotionally detached’ (p. 8). Two qualities that are related to an individual’s attributes, through
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which cosmopolitanism can be acquired, are discussed in relation to women as cosmopolitans. These are travel, and openness toward other cultures (Hannerz 1990).
Travel can be performed in two ways: either physical travel, or travel which is mediated by electronic technologies. The latter will be discussed momentarily. Physical travel alone, without any commitment to embracing an attitude of openness towards other people and their cultures, does not make for a cosmopolitan (Hannerz 1990).
Cosmopolitanism must be associated with ‘a willingness to engage with the Other’
(Hannerz 1990, p. 239).
Historically, men have travelled in the pursuit of power and knowledge. In relation to the manner in which travel underpins the existence of the cosmopolitan,
Tomlinson (1999) summarises the domination of men and the absence of women:
As Janet Wolff has argued, not only has travel historically been structured by patriarchy, but both the literature of travel and the metaphors of travel that have been employed in broader cultural theory are intrinsically gendered (Wolff 1993). The idea of cosmopolitan, then, might have to be ‘reappropriated,’ as Wolff argues for the case of travel metaphors in cultural theory (the ‘nomad,’ ‘mapping’), from this implicitly patriarchal discursive context. (p 187)
With regards to travel as a male-dominant activity, Sichone (2008) situates women firmly within the conventional gender position of carer for the family, while men are left to formulate and exercise the strategies that allow them to eventually migrate.
Sichone presents Ishmael, a Somalian refugee residing in the Republic of South Africa, who marries a woman from Cape Town. Because of this marriage, Ishmael is able to acquire South African citizenship, which in turn opens the opportunity for him to migrate to a first world country. Ishmael later leaves his wife and migrates alone to
Britain. Whilst she remains the nameless host who offers herself to Ishmael, she is still inscribed with a cosmopolitan identity. Hence, Sichone’s study shows that women and men both acquire cosmopolitanism, but sometimes in different ways. In Sichone’s view,
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we should look to remote African villages and congested urban slums to find the woman who greets the stranger with a tray of food. This woman who has never left home lives her cosmopolitanism by welcoming the world. (pp. 320- 321).
Nava (2007) further suggests that women’s relationship to cosmopolitanism takes a different form than that of men by focusing ‘on the unconscious, non- intellectual, emotional, inclusive features of cosmopolitanism’ (p. 8). She refers to this as ‘the structure of feeling’ (p. 3). Psychoanalytic theory provides Nava (2007) with a framework to argue that women have, in fact, a more global outlook than men. She states, for instance, that ‘women display a greater sense of inclusivity, both reflexive and emotional, and [are]in general more hospitable than men’ (p. 9). However, scholars working from a psychoanalytic perspective, despite the fact that they have asserted that women have an innate emotional connectedness to difference, do not offer an explanation for this connectedness. Both Julia Kristeva15 and Virginia Woolf,16 for example, suggest that women are more open than men toward accepting the idea of a global world, without an explanation as to why. Kushner (2004) in his study of US and
Caribbean male migrants, similarly accepts the existence of women’s welcoming of strangers, yet does not explore this in any depth. In a similar way, Sichone’s (2008) study demonstrates that the researcher uncritically accepts women’s hospitality to strangers as ‘natural.’ As a result, the scholars highlighted in this section perpetuate the conventional gender stereotype of women, albeit one that facilitates ideas about the connection of women to a culturally diverse world.
15 Julia Kristeva, in her book entitled Nations without Nationalism (1993), mentions that women are more ‘world oriented’ than men (cited in Nava 2007, p. 72).
16 In Virginia Woolf’s book entitled, A Room of One’s Own/Three Guineas (2000)[1938], she made the claim in relation to patriotism: ‘As a women I have no country. As a woman I want no country. As a woman my country is the whole world’ (cited in Nava 2007, p. 234). 68
TELEVISION AND IMAGINED COSMOPOLITANISM
Television also has the ability to facilitate cosmopolitanism (Beck 2006;
Hebdgie 1990). Urry (2000) highlights the significance of global television in contributing to what has been termed banal globalism. From a distance, television, in the form of drama serials, music videos, and reality shows, exposes audiences to world affairs and diverse cultural forms. World affairs, including sporting events and the coverage of natural disasters, are broadcast live and often simultaneously to audiences around the globe. Urry (2000) contends that events such as these provide a means of virtual travel ‘to the variety of ‘others’ across the globe’ (p. 3). Rantanen (2005) raises the question as to whether cosmopolitanism, rather than being conceptualised more narrowly as the exclusive domain of intellectual and aesthetic elites, could become a mass movement. Hannerz (1990) also suggests that cosmopolitanism can be acquired from the mass media, including foreign books and film. But he also raises an interesting point in arguing that the degree of cosmopolitan influence deriving from personal encounters is greater than that deriving from the mass media. Some scholars have since argued that a cosmopolitan outlook requires both virtual and real experiences.
Appadurai (1996), for example, claims that, ‘[t]oday’s cosmopolitanisms combine experiences of various media with various forms of experience – cinema, video, restaurants, spectator sports, and tourism’ (p. 64). The experience of unfamiliar cultures, as suggested by Appadurai, is accessible through the cultural practices of modernity that are routinely performed in the daily lives of urban people in developing countries.
COSMOPOLITAN MORALITY: TELEVISION, NEWS AND MELODRAMA
The media, and in particular television, has a role to play in conveying diverse forms of morality (Ong 2009; Silverstone 2006). This assertion contradicts the traditionalist view from sociology and anthropology which has criticised television for
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being ‘morally cretinous, because it is the bastard of the media it claims to expose….
Once a critical force, it has become facile and useless . . . about nothing other than
[itself]’ (Tester, cited in Ong 2009, p. 449). However, cosmopolitanism has been useful in conceptualising viewers’ engagement with the media, despite the criticisms emerging from sociology and anthropology. Indeed, there have recently been an increasing number of studies which have analysed the consumption of world news on television which has permitted viewers in the local context to foster a cosmopolitan outlook
(Robertson 2010; Ong 2009; Hoijer 2004). Chouliaraki (2008) uses the term ‘ecstatic cosmopolitanism’ (p. 375) to describe the shared feeling of suffering and empathy distant viewers experience when watching the television news. Chouliaraki argues that cosmopolitan citizenship can be attained through sensitivity to human suffering. In fact
Boltanski claims that suffering is ‘routinely appropriated in American popular culture’
(cited in Kleinman & Kleinman 1996, p. 2). Examples may include coverage of events including ‘natural disasters, political conflict, forced migration, famine, substance abuse, the HIV pandemic, chronic illness of dozens of kinds, crime, domestic abuse, and the deep privations of destitution’ (Kleinman & Kleinman 1996, p. 1). Research on news broadcasts and audience reception demonstrate that expressions of pity
(Chouliaraki 2008) and compassion (Hoijer 2004) often structure the relationship between sufferers and spectators. This research further reveals distinctions in gender and age when measuring expressions of compassion (Hoijer 2004). For instance,
Hoijer’s study of violence in news broadcasts in Norway and Sweden surrounding the
Kosovo War showed that ‘[w]omen react with compassion more often than men, and elderly people much more often than younger people’ (Hoijer 2004, p. 519). Given that news broadcasts can generate a cosmopolitan outlook through sharing in human
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suffering, the following section explores how a cosmopolitan outlook might be cultivated from viewers’ engagement with foreign melodramas.
Melodrama is used in the soap opera genre, which includes telenovelas from
Latin America and drama serials from Britain. These genres incorporate similar melodramatic features (Barker 1997; Lozano & Singhal 1993) which, according to
Brooks, are characterised by the following:
[t] he indulgence of strong emotionalism; moral polarization and schematization; extreme states of being, situations, action; overt villainy, persecution of the good, and final reward of virtue; inflated and extravagant expression; dark plottings, suspense, breathtaking peripety . . . . (cited in Feuer 1984, p.4).
These characteristics are also shared by films that fall outside the soap opera genre. In particular, Bollywood movies depict heroes, villains, and the conventional ‘happy ending’ narrative (Thomas 1995). Bollywood movies are consumed worldwide, especially in diasporic Indian communities, such as in the United Kingdom (Gillespie
1995) or Malaysia (Seneviratne 2001); as well as in Bangladesh (Wahid 2007) and
Nigeria (Larkin1997). In addition, Feuer (1984) claims that sitcoms and ‘cop shows’ on
American television have been influenced by melodrama popularised by the soap opera
(p.4). In television drama series in Egypt, another obvious melodrama characteristic is the depiction of ‘strong emotion in the everyday interpersonal world’ (Abu-Lughod
2002, p. 117). It is clear that melodrama characteristics are used by soap opera producers worldwide.
With regards to the soap opera, I ask whether a cosmopolitan outlook can emerge through women’s engagement with this genre. Although television melodrama is associated with globalisation and modernisation, there are a lack of studies that conceptualise cosmopolitanism in relation to soap operas, telenovelas, drama serials, and movies that are broadcast on television. For example, whilst Lopez-Pumarejo
(2007) has studied the presence of a telenovela cable channel in Israel, he makes no
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mention of the concept of cosmopolitanism. However, he did note that the popularity of
Latin American television drama serials in Israel promotes ‘tolerance to others’ race, religion, culture and sexual orientation’ (p. 200). Lopez-Pumarejo (2007) associates good race relations as part of the creation of national identity in a modern country.
Locally produced television melodramas have also been identified as providing a narrative framework to advance the project of state development and modernisation
(Abu-Lughod 2005; Lozano & Singhal 1993) and a way for women to acquire modernity from locally produced television melodramas (Abu Lughod 2002) or imported ones (Werner 2008; Kim 2005). Geraghty (2005) then poses the question:
‘How [do] soaps play a role in the processes of globalization and modernization?’ (p.
318). In answering this question, Geraghty points to the portrayal of characters in
American and British soap operas whose (wealthy and successful) lives are played out in public space. She also asserts that soap operas and telenovelas in particular, have traditionally tackled sensitive issues such as ethnicity. Moreover, Latin American telenovelas confront a range of social issues depending upon the countries that produce them (Geraghty 2005; Barker 1997). Therefore, imported television melodramas present a diversity of sensitive and perhaps even taboo issues to its viewers in other countries.
These emerge from the diverse cultural backgrounds of the production houses and the fact that many of the issues in question concern the family and women.
In the following section, my focus is on hybridity theory that allows cultural diversity, as a foundation of cosmopolitanism, to exist through the assimilation of imported programs in the local context.
HYBRIDITY
The argument for cultural purity, which implies that culture is static or fixed, is now viewed as being irrelevant (Werbner 1997). According to Tomlinson (1999), the
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widely accepted view of culture is that it is ‘fluid, dynamic, protean, ever changing – and at no point in history fixed, established, static’ (p. 144). Hybridity also symbolises political power and has the potential to be an ‘empowering, transformative, dangerous or transformative force’ for the local culture (Werbner 1997, p. 4). Hybridisation, of course, relates to the processes through which culture is adapted or changed through
‘fusion.’ Hybridity takes many forms and has been studied in various disciplines. For instance, in post-colonial studies, the adaptation of colonial languages has produced hybrid languages, which are termed pidgins and creoles.
Hybridity is an element of cosmopolitanism in that it requires the ability to empathize with others and to celebrate diversity (Held 2002; Kahn 2006). Although the notion of a hybrid culture does not necessarily need to be invoked when conceptualising cosmopolitanism, hybridity underpins the very existence of global cultural commodities. Transnational television networks (McMillin 2001) and world pop music
(Shim 2006) communicates the knowledge, symbols and images which facilitate hybridity in the local milieu. Global cultural commodities provide people with access to global experiences. Cosmopolitanism relies on the openness of people to, and acceptance of, diverse cultural experiences.
The work of Bhabha (1994) has been seminal in refining the notion hybridity. In
Bhabha’s (1994) study of post-colonialism, the notion of hybridity is linked to a discourse of race. Racial mixing, for instance, was viewed by imperial powers as being negative. However, Bhabha’s work demonstrates that the colonized subject can gain access to power in the new cultural site at the nexus of the coloniser’s and the colonised’s merging cultural practices. Bhabha (1994) terms this new cultural site the
‘third space.’ In another study, Garcia Canclini (2005) contends that the process of hybridity offers an escape from the marginalisation of Latin America’s shanty towns, as
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some residents have successfully adapted and commercialised traditional arts and crafts for tourist consumption. Altogether, hybrid culture can potentially bestow power to subaltern groups to create a new, more empowered political culture (Bhabha 1994;
Garcia Canclini 2005).
Cultural critiques in post-colonial studies such as the above have subsequently led to hybridity being celebrated in popular culture. The process of globalization, for instance, has had a significant impact on modern pop music; a music genre in which can be found many examples of hybrid cultural forms, as attested by the volume and nature of research undertaken in this area in Asia alone (Shim 2006; Dujunco 2002; Roberson
2001; Lockard 1995). Lent (1995) provides the example of the eclectic Japanese pop group Shang Shang Typhoon. Lent (1995) states that ‘Shang Shang Typhoon, mixes
Western rock, jazz, and reggae with Japanese enka ballads, folk, Okinawan melodies and Buddhist festival song’ (p. 5). Tomlinson (1999) points to the example of youth hip-hop music to demonstrate the notion of hybridity. Shim (2006) argues that in the world of pop music, hybridity facilitates ‘new practices of cultural and performative expression.’ (p. 27). The Korean popular music industry for instance represents the interaction of ‘local cultural agents and actors . . . with [new] global forms, using them as resources’ (Shim 2006, p. 38) to produce dynamic, localised cultural commodities that can be exported to other countries.
As has been previously mentioned, power struggles are often an unintended by- product of hybrid culture. Tomlinson (1999) argues that hybridity is not a ‘simple form of anarchic, unregulated culture’ (p. 146). Power struggles inevitably occur at the point at which imported cultural resources come into contact with local cultures. According to
Kraidy (2002), the use of critical hybridity theory is useful in highlighting the political potential of hybridity. He argues that ‘[p]olitically, a critical hybridity theory considers
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hybridity as a space where intercultural and international communication practices are continuously negotiated in interactions of differential power’ (p. 317). He further argues that ‘if hybridity consists merely of observing, cataloguing and celebrating multicultural mixture, the inequality that often characterizes these mixtures is glossed over’ (Kraidy
2002, p. 318). What Kraidy is suggesting is that hybridity is not simply a politically neutral phenomenon; rather, those that occupy hybrid spaces are inherently engaged in a political project.
It should not be assumed that in the confluence of cultural resources the
‘powerful’ does not simply absorb the ‘less powerful’ entity for the former’s benefit.
Nederveen Pieterse (2009) argues that power relations are dynamic and transformable.
He states that ‘hegemony is not merely reproduced but refigured in the process of hybridization’ (p.75). Hence, there is always the potential for power to be reconfigured within a new hybrid cultural site (Nederveen Pieterse 2009).
This is not to say, however, that hybridity cannot be garnered to serve the interests of dominant sectors within the state (Chow 1993). In criticising Bhabha
(1994), Chow argues that ‘Bhabha’s word ‘hybridity,’ in the masquerade of deconstructing anti-imperialism…[revives] an old functionalist notion of what dominant culture permits in the interest of maintaining its own equilibrium’ (p. 35). Ahmad
(1995) illustrates this view by arguing that transnational corporations, as hegemonic economic and cultural powers in their own right, clearly gain financial benefits from the process of hybridity.
I argue that the role of the Malaysian government’s censorship bodies is to filter and manage the process of hybridity. In this case, the reconfigured process of cultural synthesis is mediated by the state’s political interests. My argument is supported by
Shim (2006), who has demonstrated that the emergence of Korean media centres
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emerges the recent relaxation of government policy on imported popular culture. In the
Malaysian context, Frow’s (cited in Pieterse 2009) contention that the flow of global cultural commodities is unregulated is not always true. He claims that ‘[i]n popular culture, mixing of elements and styles may pass unnoticed, be taken for granted or welcomed’ (cited in Nederveen Pieterse 2009, p. 116). Both Nederveen Pieterse (2009) and Frow do not take into account state intervention in the formation of new, ultimately hybrid, cultural spaces.
My contention is that the Malaysian state’s censorship organisations, and some sectors of the political and religious Malay elite, enact mechanisms to filter hybridity.
Promiscuity, revealing clothing, and offensive lyrics from especially heavy metal and punk music are, for example, stringently censored. Meanwhile, foreign cultural elements that do not contradict the core values of Malay-Islamic culture are permitted.
Details of the nature of censorship in Malaysia, most significantly the active role of the state’s censorship bodies in shaping the hybrid process, are further explained in Chapter
4. Through this process the state attempts to protect the ‘purity’ of local culture from the cultural ‘contamination’ of the West. In fact, the maintenance of the so-called purity of
Malay culture is an important source of hegemony for Malay-Islamic political domination of Malaysia’s plural society.
Hybridity is employed by the Malaysian government in the service of the nation.
Locally produced popular culture programs are encouraged by the government as long as they incorporate, for example, moderate interpretations of Islam, Western modernity and other ‘suitable’ elements from imported popular culture. These portrayals reflect
Malaysian government policies, for instance, on bilingual languages. For Malaysians, the Malay language is for the purpose of national identity, whilst other languages allow citizens to connect to a global, more cosmopolitan identity. The English language is
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stressed because of its importance for Malaysian citizen for their involvement in business and education at the international level. However, other languages such as
Mandarin, Tamil and Arabic are encouraged as these languages reflect Malaysia’s multicultural society. Mandarin and Tamil are languages which allow ethnic Chinese and Indian Malaysians to retain their cultural identity. Meanwhile, Arabic remains the language of Islam, the religion of the Malays. Language, therefore, is viewed by the
Malaysian government as integral for the development of the nation, as well as to relate
Malaysian citizens with other cultures in the world. Language in this way has a significant role to play in contributing to a hybridised Malay culture. The Islamic
Development Department of Malaysia (JAKIM) is one such government agency involved in promoting hybrid values (Mohd Adnan 2010). The department takes the role of the advisor for television and movie scripts concerning Islamic issues. For instance, the department co-produces a youth television magazine on entitled
Reflections which is delivered in the English language. It depicts progressive and talented young Muslims who speak English and who are able to mingle in Malaysian multicultural society.
Tomlinson (1999) argues that, in the age of globalisation, the emergence of hybrid cultures has in fact been reinforced by deterrotarialisation. He states that:
[T]he idea that globalised culture is hybrid culture has strong intuitive appeal which follows directly from the notion of deterritorialization. This is because the increasing traffic between cultures that the globalization process brings suggests that the dissolution of the link between culture and place is accompanied by an intermingling of these disembedded cultural practice producing new complex hybrid forms of culture (p. 141).
Deterritorialization is a process that has been brought about by globalisation and occurs when ‘production, consumption, community, politics and identities become detached from local place’ (Kearney 1995, p. 554). Thompson (1995) further identifies the role of the mass media in conveying symbolic forms to distant locales. Thompson claims that 77
‘the development of new technical media may also have a profound impact on the ways in which individuals experience the spatial and temporal dimensions of social life’ (p.
22). Connell and Gibson (2004) highlight an example of deterritorialisation that is evident in the consumption of cultural commodities on television when they argue that,
‘[t]he ‘third world’ is now very much a part of the ‘first’, whether in terms of the content of television, music and literature consumed by audiences, or in terms of the populations of most major cities, now polyglots of indigenous peoples and diverse migrant groups’ (p. 342).
The existence of national and international television has meant that the ‘Third World’ is virtually connected to the ‘First World.’ Appadurai (1990) also highlights the role of communication and information technologies in repositioning and reimagining local cultural sites.
Garcia Canclini (2005) uses the notion of deterritorialization to point to the weakening of Western hegemony. He presents an example from Latin America, focusing on emigration in two locations in Mexico: Tijuana and Aguililla. Canclini
(2005) demonstrates in this study the rise of subaltern cultures at the centre of globalized culture. Tomlinson (1999) evaluates Garcia Canclini’s work, stating that ‘the example of Tijuana provides…. a place where identity is complexly forged out of a
‘local’ experience dominated by its relationship with other places: the rest of Mexico,
North America, the wider world – it is a ‘delocalized locality’’ (p. 140).
The emergence of new centres of television production has altered the global flow of cultural commodities which were previously dominated by Hollywood. The success of media centres including Japan (Iwabuchi 2004), Korea (Shim 2006), India
(Ganti 2002) and Brazil (Kottak 1990) allows buyers to choose from a more diverse range of television programs.
Hybridity in television programs can also be used as a form of protest or resistance. Kahn (2006), for example, demonstrates that foreign dances of cha-cha and
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samba in Malay films have been used to represent anti-colonisation. Kahn also claims that in post-colonial Malaysia, Malay hybridity has created the foundation for a cosmopolitanism outlook. Kahn (2006), for instance, demonstrates that the 1955 Malay film entitled Penarek Becha, (Trishaw Driver) juxtaposes Malay ‘authentic culture’ with Western ‘cosmopolitan culture.’ The year the film was produced coincided with the emergence of a heightened nationalism in the lead up to Independence in 1957. The cabaret-cum-night club scene in particular represented an unmistakable element of hybridity. Kahn (2006) states,
Ghazali and his friends are seen dancing a cha-cha with the hostesses. The music ends and Ghazali returns to his table and calls for another dance, this time a samba. Instead a young man stands up and announces that the next act will be an exhibition of Inang Baru to be performed by five male and five female dancers and a lead singer backed by a small Malay orchestra. Before the exhibition is allowed to proceed, Ghazali shouts out his displeasure, insisting again on samba. But he is politely rebuffed and the exhibition goes ahead, much to the delight of the rest of the audience, although when the camera pans to Ghazali he is looking angry and disgruntled (p.163).
Kahn (2006) argues the film symbolises ‘a plea for the decolonisation of Malay culture’
(p.163) through the presentation of a Malay dance called inang baru. The Malay dance called inang baru was fashioned after the South American samba and cha-cha. Kahn
(2006) contends that Malay ‘authentic’ culture embodied in inang baru is in fact hybridised. He states that these dances are ‘from older traditions of music and dance that were indigenised from Arabian sources, and subjected in turn to further outside influence –Portuguese, Latin and North America’ (p. 166). In short, the hybridised nature of Malay dance is used by Kahn to support his claim for the existence of cosmopolitanism in Malay culture.
Other research has brought to our attention the political project of resisting nationalism and supporting the identity of regionalism through the accommodation of imported popular culture (Abu-Lughod 2005; Moorti 2004; Mandel 2002). These works
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discuss the process of adaptation of foreign values in local programs. The resistance to nationalism occurs when producers of adapted television programs have the intention of projecting messages that support an identity which is not limited to the insular nationalism of the government in power (Moorti 2004). The question of whether resistance to insular nationalism by producers of television programs is associated with a rejection of censorship is not discussed in the works above. Due to the pervasive belief that hybridity can only occur in an unregulated environment, studies of hybridity in popular culture that include the role of government censorship bodies has rarely been undertaken (Frow 1992).
Moorti’s (2004) study, for instance, points to the way that popular British quiz shows, and Hollywood game shows,17 are adapted for Indian television. The copyright for Who Wants to Be a Millionaire? for example has been bought by Indian television stations and produced locally. The result has been a cultural fusion between Western and Tamil culture. Moorti’s (2004) study shows that the Tamil version of Who Wants to
Be a Millionaire? has added to the creation of an emerging Tamil vernacular identity, rather than a pan-Indian national identity. For instance, on the one hand the clothing of the hosts and contestants predominantly consists of jeans, t-shirts and sneakers. On the other, one of the requirements of the show is that the participants demonstrate their fluency in Tamil by refraining from using English loan words. The fusion created by the producers is not intentionally aimed at resisting Indian nationalism; rather, it is a commercial response to the demand of global popular culture by local audiences.
However, due to both Tamil and Western influence, the audiences are exposed to messages that do not support the maintenance of a pan-Indian identity. Moorti (2004) stresses that ‘commodities become the access route for the expressions of vernacular
17 This particular television game show is a version of the popular Who Wants to Be a Millionaire? program, renamed Kaun Banega Crorepati. 80
nationalisms, bypassing national discourses of Indian-ness’ (p. 550). In this case, indigenisation as a form of hybrid culture challenges the national identity.
Mandel’s (2002) research on the production of a drama serial from Kazakhstan investigates another example of ‘cultural fusion.’ The production of this drama serial in
Kazakhstan was overseen by a British film crew who were involved in the production of the well-known drama series Crossroads. The production of this successful
Kazakhstanian serial synthesised two cultural styles. The format of the show mirrored the glamorous lifestyles of the Hollywood Santa Barbara and Tropicana soap operas; whilst the content was centred on ‘past and present politics, genres, ideologies, and nationalism’ (Mandel 2002, p. 223) and local development issues. Mandel (2002) states, for instance, that ‘[t]he intertextualities of the products broadcast as Crossroads are variously understood by producers, sponsors, and audiences to be vodka, information on a new tax law, or a fashion statement’ (p. 223). In other words, both Moorti’s and
Mandel’s studies show that the popularity of these locally produced programs in India and Kazakhstan, at least in relation to audience reaction, are celebrated as they symbolise a desired Western modernity (Moorti 2004; Mandel 2002). These studies also confirmed the successful indigenisation of Western commercial cultural resources. For example, Moorti (2004) shows that the local reproduction of a popular Western television game show has enabled viewers in Tamil Nadu to become both cosmopolitan and vernacular subjects, bypassing the pan-Indian identity.
Abu-Lughod (2005) also highlights the influence of Western culture in locally produced drama serials on Egyptian television. This indigenisation emerges from the personal background of the writer of the drama serials. Abu-Lughod explains that whilst
‘her [al-‘Assal’s] political and social concerns are passionately focused on Egypt, her political vocabulary is international; she is well aware of foreign literature, film and
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media; she has grown children who work in Finland and France’ (p. 123). Al-‘Assal, who produced a drama serial entitled Mothers in the House of Love, states that,
In the retirement home itself, they started a class for teaching English, because one woman had been an English professor; another woman who had been a silversmith opened a small silver workshop and taught women the skills needed for this work. They participated in the eradication of illiteracy by teaching neighborhood girls to read and write. They also gave classes on household management, and even agriculture. (Abu-Lughod 2005, p. 39).
Al-‘Assal advocates a socialist-feminist ideology in the narrative of the drama (Abu-
Lughod 2005). The messages she promotes for women in this production focuses on education and skills development within the family which can be transformed into an income. The writer promotes an ideology which allows women some independence and, despite their old age, encourages them to take on more dynamic social roles. Western ideology is a vehicle which has the potential to contest women’s traditional roles and men’s authority in a patriarchal society. Although the Egyptian government promotes women’s’ education, it is used to maintain a national culture and tradition which preserves patriarchy. The Egyptian government’s ideology is in contrast with Al-
‘Assal’s Western ideology of women’s development.
Abu-Lughod (2005) justifies her research on ‘cultural fusion’ by arguing it provides a window through which to ‘view particular configurations of power, education, and wealth in particular places –like an agricultural village in the heart of the tourist industry in disadvantaged region in Egypt in the 1990s’ (p. 127).
Although Abu-Lughod’s (2005) work does not directly utilise the theory of hybridity, it does bring into focus the political power relationships that play out within the local culture. From the perspective of individual rights, for example, Al-‘Assal’s ideology is based on values that promote the democratisation of women’s rights and the relinquishment of men’s control over women. This shows that the indigenisation of foreign cultural values can be used to resist state and religious ideology. Most 82
importantly, these studies (Moorti 2004; Mandel 2002; Abu-Lughod 1997; 2005) have demonstrated that hybridity might not only be used in the service of the state, as in the case of Malaysia, but also to challenge the hegemony of the state.
Other than the work of Kahn (2006), content analysis studies of television programs that specifically employ the notion of hybridity as a conduit to facilitate cosmopolitans are scarce. Moorti (2004), Mandel (2002) and Abu-Lughod (1997;
2005) do not utilise the concept of hybridity. Rather, they label this phenomenon as cultural fusion, or indigenisation, both of which are terms not clearly defined. My view is that indigenisation is a form of hybridity. Moorti’s (2004) and Mandel’s (2002) studies, for instance, focus on the media text in order to demonstrate the
‘indigenization’ of Western global culture. In relation to television, cultural fusion or indigenisation are terms that refer to the process by which Western cultural products are adapted by media producers for commercial purposes and local consumption.
Indigenisation is celebrated because it provides ordinary citizens with access to images and values of modernity (Mandel 2002). Indigenisation also simultaneously enhances cosmopolitan identities by offering and alternative to, and in some cases challenging, national interests and identities (Moorti 2004; Abu- Lughod 1997; 2005).
Studies often ignore the role of censorship bodies, the state, or television proprietors, in imposing their authority to expurgate the content of television programs.
Taking this into account illuminates the process of hybridity and the manner in which it is being used by the state’s elite to maintain political power. This shows that hybrid culture not only benefits subaltern groups, but can also benefit the state.
CONCLUSION
Globalisation has brought foreign television programs into the homes of ordinary citizens in the developing world, affording them a degree of global
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connectivity which has the potential to transform their lives. Debate has centred on the impact these programs have on the local culture. There are two opposing perspectives; one which argues for the homogenising affect that especially Western culture has on non-Western, ‘traditional’ societies – sometimes referred to as the theory of cultural imperialism. The second perspective argues for the heterogenising impact on local culture. Proponents of this view point to the essentially dynamic and adaptive nature of socio-cultural systems which selectively appropriate foreign cultural elements. Overall, audience reception studies of foreign popular culture on television have not been convinced by the theory of cultural imperialism. In this chapter, cosmopolitanism has been explored as a means to explain the heterogenising impact of foreign television programs on local culture. The popularity of foreign television drama serials and international news broadcasts indicates local viewer’s openness to difference. In addition, the usefulness of the concept of hybridity is that it can bring into focus the critical issues emerging from the process of integrating foreign images and values into locally produced television programs. This chapter, therefore, has reviewed the published literature which examines the capacity of hybridity to weaken or strengthen the authority of the state. This literature review has also highlighted the dearth of studies which analyse the role of the state’s censorship bodies in intervening in the hybridization process.
This chapter has also identified the fact that travel has traditionally been the privilege of white, professional and elite men. Their ability to travel and ‘consume’ difference has enabled them to acquire a cosmopolitan outlook. Women, however, have traditionally been excluded from this privilege and thus from this pathway to becoming cosmopolitan. Yet the existing literature does illustrate that women are capable of acquiring a cosmopolitan outlook through their inherent feminine qualities. For
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instance, emotion and empathy are important qualities that allow for an interconnection with the Other. International news in particular has been demonstrated to nurture a moral connection with distant sufferers. My study proposes that openness to differences will occur through the viewing of foreign melodramas in the local setting. Television has enabled women viewers who lack mobility to engage – through foreign news and television programs including soap opera, telenovela, Bollywood movies, and drama serials – in a form of virtual travel.
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CHAPTER 4
TELEVISION COSMOPOLITANISM: AN ANALYSIS OF FREE-TO-AIR TELEVISION CONTENT AND THE POLITICAL FACTORS THAT HAVE SHAPED THE BROADCASTING LANDSCAPE IN MALAYSIA PRIOR TO 2006
INTRODUCTION
Television stations in Malaysia were established in response to the political and economic needs of the time. On the one hand, the public television stations, TV1 and
TV2, were established for the purposes of national development and racial unity after
Malaysia gained independence from colonial rule (Karthigesu 1994b). On the other hand, the first private television stationTV3 (and later the other private TV stations) was established in response to cultural globalisation and trade liberalisation (Badarudin
1997). The state was at the forefront of planning and decision-making in the establishment and objectives of these television stations (Nain 1996; Karthigesu 1995).
As briefly mentioned in the Chapter 1, Malaysian media scholars (e.g: Anuar & Wang
1996; Ibrahim 1989) identify television as a tool used by the government to instil national identity and pursue its development plans. Indeed, television has become instrumental in fostering a sense of national belonging in post-colonial countries (Abu-
Lughod 2002; Anderson 1991).
The presence of foreign television programs has been studied from perspectives other than cosmopolitanism. Some scholars, for instance, have looked at the role of foreign television programs in the project of nation building (Rahim & Pawanteh 2009;
Nain 1996; Karthigesu 1994b). Despite the association that has been made in media studies between Malaysian television and the nation-state project in Malaysia, I argue that FTA Malaysian television stations demonstrate a cosmopolitan outlook. In this case, cosmopolitanism is defined in terms of a dynamic relationship between the global and the local (Meeuf 2007; Tomlinson 1999) as outlined in the Chapter 3. In large part,
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television cosmopolitanism in Malaysia has been brought about by what appear to be two contradictory political ideologies in relation to broadcasting; ‘inward looking’ and
‘outward looking.’ For example, since the establishment of TV1 in 1963 significant proportion of its content have been foreign programs. At the same time, Tunku Abdul
Rahman (Malaysia’s first prime minister from 1957 to 1970) was striving to establish
Malay political and religious hegemony in the Constitution. Malay supremacy was enacted in the Malaysian Constitution18 through a bargaining process with other ethnic groups. Another example can be taken from the Mahathir administration (1981-2003).
Whilst at the time the government was perceived to be virulently anti-Western,
Malaysian television, both private and public, continued to air a significant proportion of Western programs; a fact that has been highlighted by Malaysian media scholars
(Karthigesu 1994a & 1994b; Hashim 1995; Nain 1996; Shriver 2003; Postill 2006). It is also clear that non-Western foreign programs, such as those from Taiwan, Hong Kong,
India, and Japan, have existed since the inception of TV1, the first government owned public television station in Malaysia. Moreover, in the 2000s, there has been a steady flow of Latin America telenovelas screening on Malaysian television (Hassan 2009).
The aim of this chapter is to investigate the dynamic interplay of what I have termed the ‘inward’ and ‘outward’ outlooks in Malaysian television broadcasting. These two outlooks become evident in the context of three factors: firstly, the political and economic circumstances which shaped the development of both free-to-air government and privately owned television stations in Malaysia; secondly, the continued presence of a significant number of popular culture programs from different countries; and finally, local productions of imported popular culture programs. Here, I shall use the term
18 The Federal Constitution of Malaysia was established in 1957 when Tunku Abdul Rahman was the first Chief Minister of the Federation of Malaysia. The term chief minister was later changed to prime minister. In 1963 the Constitution was amended as a result of another two Borneo states, Sabah, Sarawak and Singapore joined Malaysia Federation. 87
hybridisation of television popular culture to refer to a process in which the values embedded in foreign television products are adapted, filtered, critiqued and finally absorbed into locally produced popular culture programs broadcast by FTA Malaysian television stations.
APPROACH TO THE INVESTIGATION OF TELEVISION COSMOPOLITANISM
In 2006 there were three types of television offered in Malaysia; television which was government or privately owned (FTA television stations); satellite television and cable television (or the pay-TV stations) (Syed Ali 2005). The six FTA television stations are owned by two bodies; the government owns TV1 and TV2, whilst the private organisation Media Prima Bhd. monopolised TV3, 8TV, NTV7, and TV9.
Media Prima Bhd. established TV3 in 1984 and only later acquired the other three stations which were initially owned by various other private companies. In 2005, Media
Prima Bhd. acquired a 100% stake in NTV7 and TV9; and in 2007, in 8TV (Media
Prima n.d.). In 1996, a Malaysian satellite television company called Astro was established. It transmitted transnational television including HBO, the National
Geographic Channel, and CNN. In addition to these global channels, Astro also provided three domestic channels for national viewers which air both locally produced and imported programs. These channels are Astro Ria, Astro Wah Lai Toi, and Astro
Vanavil. These stations serve the three main ethnic viewer groups in Malaysia: the
Malays, Chinese, and Indians.
Because Prima Bhd., has a monopoly over all FTA private television stations there are grounds to claim that there may be limited freedom of speech available across the Malaysian television landscape (Nain 1996). Nevertheless, the purpose of my study is not to investigate television as a medium to provide a robust political democracy. My primary concerns, however, are related to the large percentage (compared to locally produced programs) of imported popular culture programs being screened on Malaysian 88
FTA television stations. In fact since the establishment of TV1 in 1963 almost 50% of broadcasting time has been filled with imported programs (Karthigesu 1994b). Twenty years later, Karthigesu (1994b) conducted a one-week content analysis of programming on TV1, TV2, and TV3. He found a ratio of 41.9: 48.2: 9.9 of broadcast time, consisting of locally produced programs, imported programs, and others (station announcements, advertising etc.) (p. 198). Since the 1990s FTA television has broadcast slightly more locally produced programs, however the screening time for imported programs is still significant. Nain (1996) conducted a content analysis study of one week’s airtime of TV1, TV2 and TV3 during 1994 in order to determine the ratio of local to imported programs. He found a ratio of 55.9: 44.1 of airtime comprising locally produced in relation to imported programs (p. 169). Media Guide (2006) provides an insight into the airing of local and imported programs during this time. The airing of local programs was concentrated on publically owned TV1 and the privately ownedTV3. These are the two mainstream FTA television stations. The numbers of imported programs were significantly greater on TV2, NTV7, and 8TV. The latter television stations aired 66 %, 63% and 92% of non-Malay languages programs respectively (Media Guide 2006, p. 91).
It has been argued that the existence of imported programs has been detrimental to both the national identity of Malaysians (Karthigesu 1994a; A. Rahim & Pawanteh
2009). In contrast, I would argue against this for two reasons. Firstly, whilst from the viewpoint of cultural imperialism Western values are believed to contaminate local identities (Ang 2001), the agency of viewers enables them to interpret media messages in different ways and also to actively filter television messages (Mankeker 1993;
Morley 1980).
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Secondly, media studies have tended to investigate citizen-identity in a nation- state from the perspective of a single national cultural identity (Morris 2002). Imported popular culture programs on television are feared due to their perceived effect of challenging one’s national identity. From a democratic, cosmopolitan perspective, citizens construct multiple identities and have multiple loyalties, which are derived from cultural diversity and international organisations within and between communities
(Osler 2005; Held 1995). Although national and ethnic identities are the often dominant, there is of course the possibility of other forms of identity. According to Morris (2002), for instance,
The identities felt to be threatened by imported media are commonly conceived of as territorially-based national or cultural identities deriving from membership in a political state, a stateless notion, or an ethnic group. The many other identities that every person simultaneously holds – gender, family position, occupation and so on – tend not to come into this discussion (p. 279).
Therefore, imported television programs might be used by citizens as a resource to define some aspects of their identities. Morris (2002) claims above that the way in which imported television programs influence identities, other than national or ethnic identity, are under studied. Above all, imported television programs aired on Malaysian television are no longer dominated by a single cultural industry; that being North
America. Contemporary foreign television programs in Malaysia have more recently been imported from countries within Southeast Asia, other parts of Asia, Europe and
Latin America.
The following section focuses on the inception and development of FTA
Malaysian television stations. Particular attention is given to the government’s multicultural policy for television and the commercialisation of private stations.
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THE GOVERNMENT TELEVISION STATION (TV1) 1963 – 1969
This section discusses the inception of the first Malaysian television station,
TV1. Within the first 6 years of its establishment (1963-1969), TV1’s program content was not strictly regulated by the government. According to Nain (1996) ‘[t]he early organisation of Malaysian television was a compromise between foreign expertise, norms, practices and values, and local ones’ (p. 168). Although TV1 was established by the government, it was not employed for the parochial purpose of Malay nationalism.
Rather, in the early years, public television was developed to serve and maintain the existence of a multicultural society. In addition to this, the establishment of a television service in Malaysia was engineered to allow Malaysians to connect to an increasingly globalised world.19
In support of my argument concerning the desire to establish a global, outward vision for Malaysian television viewers in the early days of TV1, I draw from a book by
Karthigesu (1994b), entitled Sejarah Perkembangan Televisyen di Malaysia (1963-
1983) (The Historical Development of Television in Malaysia). Here, Karthigesu presents a rich description of the early history of, and imported content screening on,
TV1.20 However, Karthigesu’s approach is to argue that television’s primary role was for the purpose of nation building.
Television Malaysia, or TV1, was established on the 28th of December 1963 under the auspices of the Ministry of Information (in fact a division of The Ministry known as Jabatan Televisyen, or the Television Department). The establishment of TV1 was based on The Blue Paper Report which had been prepared in 1960 by a cabinet
19 Marshal McLuhan in his book ‘Understanding Media’ published in 1964 introduces the concept of the global village due to the presence of electronic communication that simultaneously connects many parts of the world.
20 For other works regarding government broadcasting in Malaysia see Abu Bakar (1998) and Adhikarya (1977). 91
committee of 16 public servants (Karthigesu 1994b). Five recommendations came out of the Report which was designed to direct the foundation of a future national broadcasting service. Two of these recommendations concerned technical aspects; one concerned commercial advertising; one was a recommendation which related to the language used in television broadcasting, and the final one the need to create a national television service (Jones Report, cited in Karthigesu 1994b). In regards to language use, it was recommended that television should cater to the major ethnic groups’ interests by providing programs in both Malay and Chinese, as well as English (primarily for the benefit of the Malaysian elite). The Tamil language was only later included. The language ratio suggested was 45:30:20:5 made up of Malay, English, Chinese, and
Tamil language programs respectively.
Due to the specific multilingual broadcasting requirements of TV1, the government appointed the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation as advisor to oversee its new station with regards to technical requirements, the structure of television programming, and staff recruitment (Jones Report, cited in Darussalam 1988). The reason why the Malaysian government chose Canadian advisors over other foreign expertise was that they wanted to learn from Canada’s experience as a country which broadcasts in multiple languages. 21 At least Canada was then broadcasting in both
English and French on their television stations in Toronto and Montreal respectively.
However, Karthigesu (1994b) suggests that the Canadian advisors did not have experience in multilingual broadcasting from a television station. The Brickenden
Report (cited in Karthigesu 1994b) stated that multilingual broadcasting merely needed more staff than monolingual or bilingual broadcasting. In his view, Brickenden
21 Another significant reason for choosing the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation that is not related to multilingual interests is that Canada is a developed country member of the Colombo Plan of the Commonwealth Association. 92
commented that there were insufficient Malay language films to fill Malay broadcast time (which as has been mentioned had the largest share of airtime). However, another
Canadian advisor, E.C Mutimer, who later trained local Malaysian television producers, had a more optimistic solution to this problem suggesting that multilingual broadcasting provided an opportunity for local producers to create new and much needed programs in different languages – including Malay (Karthigesu 1994b). Moreover, G. H. Jones, one of the earlier Canadian advisors, pointed out that Malay or English subtitles could be provided for Chinese and Tamil language programs which could then fill Malay airtime
(Karthigesu 1994b). In the end, the government’s desire to implement multilingual broadcasting, with a fair representation for each ethnic group, remained unfulfilled in the 1960s. This was due to a lack of expertise and financial resources to produce enough local television programs in different languages to fill Malaysian television airtime.
As a result of the inability to fill Malay language airtime, TV1 ended up broadcasting more English language programs, which were readily and cheaply available on the global market. Karthigesu (1994b, p. 55) analysed total broadcast hours for one week, from 6th –12th January 1964, and found a ratio of 48.8: 48.1: 3.1 for locally produced programs, imported programs, and government and station announcements respectively. The locally produced, multilingual programming were comprised of English 16.2%, Malay 14.8%, Chinese 14.8%, and Tamil 3.0%. Although these figure show an altogether shorter broadcasting time for locally produced multilingual programs than the planned ratio in the Blue Paper, this figure is still significant enough to demonstrate the willingness of Television Malaysia to produce multilingual programs. Karthigesu (1994b) also demonstrates that the majority of the imported programs were produced in Britain and North America. The imported programs that were not in English included a Japanese drama series, which was dubbed
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in Malay language, and movies in Mandarin and Cantonese from Taiwan and Hong
Kong.
With regards to Malay language programs Karthigesu (1994b) points to the work of Ahmad Merican, the most prolific and creative producer of Malay musicals.
Merican had a vision of producing new styles of traditional music and dance drawn from a variety of ethnic groups. His aim was to show the work of Malaysian artists and how Malaysian and foreign music was composed and reworked by mixing cultural elements. For instance, Merican himself composed Latina music for the lion dance troupe (a traditional Chinese dance) which was broadcast on television. In short, even given the domination of television programs, TV1 demonstrated openness to diverse foreign popular culture as well as allowing local producers to create programs that contained dance performances set to hybrid music forms.
In fact, Prime Minister Tunku Abdul Rahman, in his desire to include more sports, entertainment, and documentary programs from foreign countries, was placing an emphasis on the entertainment value of television (Karthigesu 1994b). Similarly, in a
1964 speech, the Minister of Information Senu bin Abdul Rahman, stated that television functioned both to create a ‘social revolution’ for the purposes of national development, and to connect Malaysian citizens to the rest of the world (Karthigesu 1994b, p. 57).
CHALLENGES TO THE MULTICULTURAL APPROACH ADOPTED BY TV1 AND TV2
However, not all sections of Malaysian society supported the open, inclusive approach to television programming taken by TV1. In fact, the conservatives had solely anticipated that the establishment of TV1 would contribute to the project of nationalism, included fostering loyalty to the nation and promoting ethnic integration. Karthigesu
(1994b) reports that in 1962 the Deputy Minister of Information specifically assured conservatives that television would not become a ‘tool to disseminate foreign values 94
and cultures’ (pp. 43-44). Television programs were closely monitored by conservative politicians and parochial sections of the middle class who occasionally voiced their opinions in the parliament or newspapers. For instance, in 1965 a local television drama called Awangku Sayang was criticised by the University of Malaya Student Association because it included taboo issues such as pre-marital sex and pregnancy outside of marriage; issues then considered inappropriate for public discussion in Malay-Islamic society. Their protest was taken seriously by the Minister of Information and screenings were postponed so that the producer could revise the content (Karthigesu
1994b).
Criticism was also directed at TV1 in light of its perceived ineffectiveness in containing the bloody Malay-Chinese riots in 1969 (Karthigesu 1994b; McDaniel
1994). One of the expectations built into the establishment of TV1 was that it would promote multiculturalism in Peninsular Malaysia. However, the 1969 riots led government officials to believe that television had failed to fulfil this objective. There is an inherent contradiction then in the anticipated roles of television in Malaysia during the 1960s. On the one hand, TV1 was expected to support the formation of an inclusive, pluralist society. However, on the other hand TV1 was expected to be used to establish the political and religious hegemony of the Malays. For instance, it was widely claimed that TV1’s locally produced programs were being broadcast in support of the Malay ruling political party (UMNO) during election campaigns (Karthigesu 1994b). Of course most of this criticism came from non-Malay ethnic groups; who presumed that
TV1 would be used in bipartisan fashion and not as a political tool by the ruling party.
There were two implications for the development of Malaysian broadcasting arising from the ethnic riots of 1969. Firstly, there was an assurance from the government that the preservation of multicultural society would be upheld by the
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addition of another television station. Far from abandoning hope in television to be used as an instrument of ethnic integration, a second government owned television station,
TV2, was established in 1969. The catalyst for the creation of TV2 was the intense racial violence sparked by the political instability of the shared power arrangement between the Malays and the Chinese in West Malaysia. The Malaysian government, in an attempt to bring Malaysia’s diverse ethnic minorities to the centre of public life, decided to broadcast programs on TV2 in languages other than Malay, Mandarin,
Tamil, and English. TV1 was then free to take on the role of serving the interests of
Malay Muslims and espousing government messages for Malay viewers. Through TV2, multicultural values were promoted in Malaysian society by ensuring the cultures and languages of each dominant ethnic group in the country were represented on television.
Of course many other ethnic groups were still not receiving any representation on television despite some significant minority groups, such as the Iban in Sarawak and the
Kadazan in Sabah, having their languages broadcast on radio.
The second implication of the riots for Malaysian broadcasting is that the government began to more systematically regulate broadcasting. TV1, TV2, and
Malaysian radio were managed under a department in the Ministry of Information known as Radio dan Television Malaysia (RTM). The government strengthened its commitment to more stringently monitor programs and information being broadcast on these channels. These changes were due to the government’s renewed focus on nation building. The operation of RTM was guided by a nationalist broadcasting policy established in 1971, which was formulated to:
i. Explain in depth and with the widest possible coverage, the policies and the programmes of the government in order to ensure maximum understanding by the public.
ii. Stimulate public interest and opinion in order to achieve changes in line with the requirements of the government.
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iii. Assist in promoting a civic consciousness and foster the development of Malaysian arts and culture.
iv. Provide appropriate popular education, general information, and entertainment.
v. Aid national integration efforts in a multi-ethnic society through the use of the national language (Nain 1994, p. 185).
The 1971 broadcasting policy was overtly aimed at fostering loyalty to the state through the efforts of a paternalistic government. In fact producers were advised to revisit their approach to creating programs to ensure they were not being influenced by Western cultural values (Lowe & Kamin 1982). The previous tendency among policy makers to favour the importing of programs from North America was now being countered by efforts to diversify the origins of television programs. However, as Lowe and Kamin
(1982) point out, a globalised outlook was not totally absent from TV1 after the ethnic riots in 1969:
A concerted effort [was] made not to allow imitations of the fast paced action dramas of most U.S. imports. To counter-balance this bias, drawing room dramas [were] imported from England. A series like the commercially-produced Australian soap opera, The Sullivans, [was] transmitted so that audiences [were] fed a varied diet (p. 14).
Despite local producers being pressured to serve national interests and identity in their film making, Lowe and Kamin (1982)22 have report that TV1 and TV2 were also being guided by unofficial political philosophy that was unrelenting in its support for a multicultural society. Two principles remained in place which promoted multicultural values:
One such rule is that local programmes should reflect the multi-racial composition of the population. In general, this presents few problems. As far as possible, cameras would focus on shots showing mixed audiences. . . . Coupled with this are also the requirements that there should be no stereotyping. There
22 Jaafar Kamin, co-author of the monograph ‘TV Programme Management in a Plural Society’ is a Controller of TV Programs at the Malaysian Department of Broadcasting. 97
should also be no insinuations of colour or race. For a time this rule was followed pedantically. (Lowe & Kamin 1982, p. 7)
By the end of the 1970s, however, RTM was beginning to receive heavy criticism from diverse sections of Malaysian society. These sections wanted television to stringently fulfil the dictates of nationalism. The criticisms that appeared in newspapers and that came before the parliament challenged the place of Malaysian television as a balanced medium for the service of both Malay-Islamic identity, and a multicultural society. In this sense, by the close of the 1970s, there came into existence a clear debate focused on the the role of television in Malaysian society.
The nationalists were especially critical of the purported lack of morality they felt was inherent in both local and imported programs (Karthigesu 1994b). Religious groups wanted more Islamic programs and in particular reproached locally produced programs which they claim presented inaccurate teachings of Islam (Karthigesu 1994b).
Some opposition and government politicians even put pressure on Malaysian Television to eliminate all vernacular programs (Karthigesu 1994b). Moreover, the government continued to use television to bolster its own political power by censoring dissent.
Clearly the criticisms being thrown at RTM emanated from a number of sectors within
Malaysian society. These criticisms demonstrate what I have termed an inward outlook, which was bolstered by the parochialism and propaganda of the ruling party.
However, there was at the time a counter to those on the right in the form of an elite, urban, educated Malaysian middle-class who was simultaneously asking
Malaysian television to be more liberal. This view was echoed by former Prime
Minister Tunku Abdul Rahman who declared that:
[t]he quality of Malaysian television has dropped to the lowest point before the eyes of the progressive minded of the Malaysian people. . . . Everyday we are told about the government’s achievements. In my opinion, if we are bombarded and forced to listen to too much about something, sooner or later we will lose interest in it (Tunku Abdul Rahman 1978, p. 123).
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According to Karthigesu (1994b) whilst it was under the control of the Ministry
Malaysian television lost its capacity to produce fair, balanced, and progressive local programming. As a reaction to the government’s tight control over Malaysian television broadcasting, there was a suggestion in 1977 by the newspaper The National Echo that a private television station be established.
TV3
The private television station TV3 was established in June 1984 in response to the trade liberalisation that occurred in Malaysia during the early 1980s. During this time, Malaysia, like many other countries in the world, experienced a pronounced economic slowdown. In response the Malaysian government began to sell-off some government enterprises. Rather than establish another public television station, which could possibly be an economic burden for the government, TV3 was planned from the beginning as a privately owned station. The nature of Malaysian privatisation, as was the case with TV3, was in accordance with a ‘policy of seeking private investment in public enterprises’ (Means 1991, p. 99). Essentially, this meant that ownership of TV3 was granted to several stakeholders who had strong connections to the political parties that formed the ruling coalition government. Hence, it has been argued that TV3 was never a purely commercial enterprise, but rather continued to be used to disseminate government ideology (Nain 2003).
However, since TV3 stakeholders also had a fundamental interest in making profit, they relied heavily on imported popular culture programs to satisfy those
Malaysian viewers who wanted the latest and most popular entertainment media from abroad. The appeal of TV3’s imported programs was their ability to connect viewers to global events and popular culture. Prior to TV3’s launch it was publically announced that the ratio of imported to local content would be 70:30 (Robinson, cited in Foo 2004,
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p. 141). One month after TV3’s inception, the station broadcast a live telecast of the Los
Angeles Olympic Games. Karthigesu (1995) reports that TV3, in a full-page newspaper advertisement exhorted its viewers to tune into TV3 if they wanted all that was new on
American television. For instance, in an advertisement for a new television series entitled ‘Murder in Space,’ TV3 boasted that Malaysians were privileged to witness a murder scene in America even before the Americans themselves were able to view it on their televisions (New Straits Times, cited in Karthigesu 1995).
Karthigesu (1994a) contends that in the late 1980s RTM was drawn into competition with TV3 to attract viewers. Since the arrival of TV3 there had been increasingly stiff competition with RTM to gain an audience share. At the time, TV1 and TV2 were gradually losing viewers to TV3, and as a result advertisers were also being lured to TV3. These situations influenced not only TV3, but also RTM, to use imported programs to increase audience ratings for their shows (Karthigesu 1994a).
Seeing TV3’s popularity increase over time, RTM gradually allowed TV1 and TV2 to broadcast more entertainment and commercial programs; albeit still with a stricter degree of censorship. Moreover, in regards to locally produced programs, TV3 developed a high quality magazine program in 1985 called Majalah 3 (initially called
Berita 3, or Magazine 3) (Yassin 2004). Majalah 3 became TV3’s flagship program and in fact still screens today. In the late 1990s, and with 2.2 million viewers, TV3 also received the highest ratings for a local drama serial called Cinderella. The drama portrayed a cosmopolitan, middle class Malay business woman living abroad. With such programming TV3 increasingly gained popularity which was evidenced by its high ratings. In light of this trend, it became clear to RTM that its effort to provide ‘quality’ home-grown programs, rather than the more popular foreign programs, was not
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appealing to many viewers who were increasingly turning to commercial television
(Utusan Online 2006).
The public and private television stations had different approach toward cultural diversity at both the national and global levels. The public stations, TV1 and TV2, demonstrated their commitment to multiculturalism through their broadcasting policies.
TV3, however, as a commercial broadcaster, lacked a similar commitment to multiculturalism because the station’s main objective was profit-making (Karthigesu
1995). However, through its commercial interests TV3 was committed to providing for its viewers imported popular culture. Nevertheless TV3 remained obligated to respect
Malaysia’s sensitivity to cultural diversity by adhering to specific broadcasting rules and Acts, particularly the Content Code, Special Licence Conditions, and the
Communications and Multimedia Act of 1998 (Ahmad 2007).
During the early years of TV3 in the 1980s global popular culture was almost exclusively found in television programs imported from North America (Karthigesu
1995). However in 1986 this situation changed when television programs from more diverse origins began to emerge. It was during this year that TV3 broadcast its first telenovela from Brazil, Isaura la esclava. In 1988, the station screened Oshin, the first drama serial from Japan. This drama series was popular in Malaysia and in other countries. The popularity of Latin American telenovelas among Malaysian viewers led
TV3 to screen them in the prime 3:30 p.m. to 4:30 p.m. time slot from Monday to
Thursday. Drama serials from the Philippines and Korea were also screened during the telenovela time slot. At this time TV3 also established another drama serial slot called
Sinetron from 2:30 p.m. to 3:30 p.m. to screen drama serials exclusively from
Indonesia.
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IMPORTED POPULAR CULTURE ON MALAYSIAN TELEVISION STATIONS
The second argument supporting the notion of Malaysian television cosmopolitanism is the substantial proportion of imported programs broadcast on all
FTA television stations (with the exception of TV1 after the establishment of TV2).
Because locally produced television programs could only be created under a number of restrictions, television stations imported programs from overseas to satisfy the need of viewers for more liberal entertainment. Foo (2004) points out the double standard applied to local productions and foreign programs. For instance there have been many instances in Malaysian broadcasting history where locally produced dramas and television magazine programs have been banned by the LPF. However, the same rigid censorship restrictions applied to local productions have not been applied to imported programs (for specific cases see Yassin 2004, p. 160-161). The latest case involved a
Malay drama serial screened by TV3 called Sakti Delima. This television series was banned by the LPF after four episodes.23 The LPF states that the drama contained superstitious elements that were in conflict with Islam (Mohd. Faizal 2011). Sheila
Rusly, the producer of Sakti Delima, argues that the LPF did not have a balanced approach to local productions because Indonesian drama serials in particular contained elements of superstition but were nevertheless allowed to be screen on Malaysian television (Mohd Faizal 2011).
23 Sheila Rusly, the producer of Sakti Delima, questions why it was banned after initially being allowed to air. She submitted her serial to the LPF, and the serial passed and was allowed to air. There was no explanation by the LPF why this permission was revoked. I presume that there are two reasons for the LPF revoking the earlier permission. Firstly, the LPF initially overlooked the restricted elements due to its relaxed approach to mystical and horror films since 2009 (Abd. Muthalib & Eddy Yusof 2009). Secondly, there was pressure from certain sections of society after LPF’s relaxed its approach due to the influx of locally produced mystical and horror movies and films. Putri Umno, the young women’s wing of the ruling party UMNO, urged the LPF to restrict this type of fiction (Mustaza 2009). An Islamic MP from the opposition political party PAS brought a similar issue before the parliament (Utusan Online 2010). The pressure had thus reached its climax, and the LPF was required to take action. Coincidently, Sakti Delima was again on the air in early 2011, however the series was again highly criticised and banned. 102
The impact of these unwritten policies regarding the different freedoms given to local and imported programs allowed Malaysian viewers to understand, recognise, and in most instances respect diverse cultures and values. For instance, the female respondents in my field location of Kampung Tabuan had little formal education but were well aware that local Malay drama serials and movies were rigidly scrutinised by the government. The respondents viewed locally produced dramas and programs as being ‘safe’ and educational. Many women television viewers in Kampung Tabuan turned to pirated, imported CDs and programs because they contain more open depictions and storylines. Tabuan women provide an example of Malaysian viewers who consume both locally produced and imported popular culture programs with an awareness of cultural difference.
In 1993, Georgette Wang, a professor of communications from Taiwan’s
Chengchhi University, conducted a study of seven Asian countries, including Malaysia, which examined the ratio of local to imported productions among the top 20 television programs in each country. The study found that, ‘Malaysia was the only country whose television viewers preferred imported programs to locally produced ones’ (The Straits
Times cited in Foo 2004). Moreover, in interviews with 200 teenagers conducted by journalists from The New Straits Times in 1995, it was discovered that 128 teenagers provided unfavourable responses when questioned about locally produced shows. The newspaper published verbatim quotes from some of the teenagers, including the following:
predictable, artificial, biased, over-dramatic, lousy and simplistic; condescending, sometimes they make me want to throw out [sic]; very poor quality and underestimating Malaysian viewers’ mentality; bordering on amateurish but getting there; some are good but some are just plain stupid (The New Straits Times, cited in Foo, p. 176).
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I argue that the relaxed approach to allowing a substantial number of imported programs to air on Malaysian television is also a way for the government to fulfil the needs of each ethnic group, with their different values and religions. In this way, alternatives to the collective national identity in Malaysia are provided by imported programs. With the presence of imported popular culture on television, viewers are exposed to different standards of morality and even to controversial issues that are forbidden in locally produced television programs. Other non-Malay, indigenous
Malaysian viewers, including the Iban in Sarawak (Postill 2006) and the Kadazandusun in Sabah (Barlocco 2009), recognise the cultural differences that exist between Malay and imported drama serials.
The government’s vision for an outward looking, pluralist Malaysian society aligned with the values inherent to imported popular culture from the West in late
1960s. During this time there was a one-way flow of British and North American popular culture to developing countries (Nordenstreng & Varis 1974) like Malaysia.
Simultaneously the influx of Western television programs in RTM was pragmatically justified for economic reasons. For instance, at the time there were limited funds and few experienced local film makers. In addition, most of the low budget, low quality imported programs was inexpensive to buy, and it was more cost effective to air them than it was to produce local programs (Karthigesu 1994b).
The broadcast of Western imported programs was more acceptable to urban
Malaysian audiences when compared to other vernacular and non-Western imported programs. Karthigesu (1994b) reported that in the 1970s Malay nationalism was running high after the ethnic riots of1969 and there was Malay-Muslim pressure to remove all Chinese and Indian television programs from the mainstream station (TV1)
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to (TV2). Meanwhile, Western imported popular culture continued to be broadcast on both TV1 and TV2.
Although RTM depended heavily on North America and Britain for purchases of imported programs, RTM also tried to ensure that imported programs brought the educational benefits of universal values rather than being shown purely for entertainment. According to the 1971 Deputy Information Minister, Sharif Ahmad:
It is why we stopped screening movies such as Garrison’s Gorillas, where the Germans are always depicted as losers. The film glorifies a certain race. Mission Impossible and the like are also unsuitable for Malaysian audiences. We prefer to air movies such as Law of Plainsman, where an Indian is appointed as a sheriff. This program shows equality. (My own translation from the Malay language) (Cited in Karthigesu 1994b, p. 109)
Thirty-five years after Sharif Ahmad made this statement, TV3 continued to claim that their imported drama serials have an educational role to play for the family.
This claim was made when TV3 was defending itself from criticism relating to the broadcasting of the Indonesian serial Bawang Merah Bawang Putih, or BMBP (Mohd
Faizal 2006). Some sections of Malay society claimed that the serial would divert
Muslim believers from the true teaching of Islam. Whilst Santokh Singh, the then senior manager of TV3, claimed to have understood the sensitivities of Malay viewers he nevertheless suggested that BMBP represented Indonesian culture and beliefs rather than those of the Malays, and therefore urged TV3 viewers to keep an open mind
(Mohd Faizal 2006).
Imported Chinese drama serials and movies, first from Taiwan and later in the
1980s from Hong Kong, ended the monopoly of Western imported programs. These were originally broadcast to cater for ethnic Chinese viewers, but have since also become popular among non-Chinese viewers. It was also discovered that the most cost- effective way to fill Malaysian TV airtime was to import programs from Chinese- speaking countries. According to Karthigesu (1994a), Chinese-Malaysian viewers’ taste
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was ‘for both Western action-oriented programs and similar programs from the Chinese world of Hong Kong and Taiwan’ (p.85). Thus, TV3 introduced a segment called
Chinese Belt that aired Chinese drama serials from 7:00 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. on weekdays.
On the one hand, Karthigesu (1994b) has established two standpoints (as explained in the previous paragraphs) to explain the presence of imported popular culture on Malaysian television stations. His two standpoints relate to firstly market forces, and secondly the financial gain desired by television stations such as RTM and
TV3. On the other hand, I have argued that the Malaysian government has permitted the presence of imported popular culture on Malaysian television stations because they see it as serving the needs of different ethnic groups and thus strengthening multiculturalism. On the surface, Khartigesu’s claims seem to weaken my substantive argument that public television serves the government’s commitment to multiculturalism. However, Karthigesu’s arguments for the presence of imported popular culture are developed from the intrinsic worth of financial gain.
Simultaneously, however, imported popular culture on Malaysia’s television stations reflects the existence of a multicultural society. The extrinsic worth in absorbing imported popular culture is that it assists in fulfilling the Malaysian government’s vision to engineer a pluralist, ethnically inclusive state.
In addition, Bollywood movies are broadcast on Malaysian televisions due to the existence of Indian-origin population. For instance, the editor of Malaysia’s influential
English-language newspaper The Star claims that ‘60 percent of Malaysians are fans of
Bollywood’ (Seneviratne 2001). Even though Chinese and Bollywood shows were initially targeted at non-Malay viewers, they have also become popular among the
Malay audience.
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Aziz, who compiled 1998 statistics related to imported programs on Malaysian television (see Table 2), found that the total number of programs from English speaking countries was 5,704 (cited in Yassin 2004, p. 114). After North America, imported television programs originated from countries which included Hong Kong, Japan, and
Indonesia. In 1998, these countries contributed 4,050 programs to Malaysian television.
During the same year locally-produced Malaysian films, documentaries, drama series, and telemovies numbered only 174 (Aziz cited in Yassin 2004, p. 113) (see Table 2).
Table 2 Imports of films, animation, and documentaries by Malaysian TV stations, 1998
Genre Feature films Animation Documentaries US 4937 50 507 Australia 1 0 14 Canada 3 0 1 China 12 0 1 Hong Kong 1653 10 507 India 187 0 6 Indonesia 33 0 35 Japan 975 18 487 Taiwan 100 0 3 Thailand 20 0 3 U. Kingdom 124 0 67 TOTAL 8045 78 1631
Table 3 Programs produced by independent production companies in Malaysia, 1998-2000
Genre 1998 1999 2000 Total Films 8 3 4 Documentaries 7 10 67 Drama Series 92 96 135 639 Tele-movies 67 27 87 SUBTOTAL 174 136 293
From the early1990s, and primarily due to the rise of exporters of television programs other than North America, Malaysian television stations increasingly bought television programs from these countries. During the 2000s, for instance, Malaysian viewers were captivated by the Korean drama serial Winter Sonata and the Mexican 107
telenovela Rosalinda. Both are among the highest rated to date for imported drama serials, recording 1.2 and 1.1 million viewers respectively (Tengku Bidin 2003).
Unsurprisingly, TV3 is bolder and more active in selecting imported drama serials for broadcast than are the government stations. The government stations demonstrate more caution when purchasing imported drama serials because they are accountable to national interests. For instance, TV3 screened the Indonesian drama serial Bawang
Merah Bawang Putih (BMBP) in 2006 fully aware that, because of the presence of a pari-pari, (angel character) 24, the series would trigger controversy among Muslim viewers (Mohd Faizal 2006). In fact, before TV3 decided to buy BMBP, RTM initially had an interest in the purchase but rejected the serial because it knew it would offend the sensibilities of its Muslim (i.e. Malay) viewers. RTM’s decision reflects the tension that exists in serving both conservative and liberal viewers. Maintaining political integrity was deemed to be more important than commercial success. BMBP went on to become a national hit with ratings of 2.9 to 3.1 million viewers, exceeding Winter
Sonata and Rosalinda in the early 2000s (Mohd Faizal 2006).
THE HYBRIDISATION OF TELEVISION POPULAR CULTURE PROGRAMS
Finally, the cosmopolitan outlook of Malaysian television can be illustrated through the process of hybridisation which has occurred between imported popular culture, and local programs. A cosmopolitan outlook comes into existence through hybridisation. According to Wang (2010) the number of adapted programs broadcast on
Malaysian television is increasing. In the case of Malaysian television, hybridisation occurs when locally produced popular culture programs are encouraged by the state to incorporate moderate Islam, selected appropriations of Western modernity, and other elements deemed suitable from imported popular culture into the production of local
24 Muslims believes that pari-pari (angels) should not be depicted. 108
popular culture programs. Meanwhile, imported popular culture programs are filtered and monitored to eliminate material which is thought to be unsuitable for Malaysian audiences. My argument is that government censorship bodies which edit foreign programs and censor local adaptations of foreign programs are two significant forms of hybridisation.
The term adaptation (as distinct from hybridisation) is commonly used to describe the process through which global programs become localised. The term adaptation means ‘to change (something or yourself) to suit different conditions or uses’ (Cambridge International Dictionary of English 1995, p. 14). Hybridisation, on the other hand, is a term originally used in biology. A hybrid refers to ‘a plant or animal that has been produced from two different types of plant or animal, esp. to get better characteristics, or anything that is a mixture of two different things’ (Cambridge
International Dictionary of English 1995, p. 696). In post-colonial studies, hybridity symbolised power (see the discussion on hybridity in Chapter 3).
In response to globalisation, the Malaysian government enforced hybridity in popular culture to produce a ‘third space’ (Bhabha 1994). This third space created the opportunity for a new cultural identity formed from the complex interplay of an inward and outward outlook. Taken from this view, the government’s censorship policies are a pro active strategy to confront the effects of globalization.
The adaptation of imported popular culture is practiced in two ways. Firstly, it is carried out through the purchase of copyright (Wang 2010). In such cases, the format of the original programs is retained. However, these programs are modified to reflect the local culture through, for instance, the incorporation of local actors, languages, and settings (Moorti 2004). The purchase of copyright from foreign culture industries has occurred globally. Malaysia purchases the copyright to programs including Who Wants
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to Be a Millionaire?, or Siapa nak Jadi Jutawan?; Wheel of Fortune, or Roda Impian; and American Idol, or Malaysian Idol; and a popular and controversial Mexican reality program called Akademi Fantasia, or La Academia. The latter was adapted in 2003 by the Malaysian Satellite television Astro (Maliki 2008) and is still airing on Malaysian television. The first Malay version of a Venezuelan telenovela was Mi Gorda Bella
(Manjalara in Malay title) which screened on TV3 in 2007 (Ghazali 2007).
The diverse origins of imported popular culture are celebrated. Since the late
1990s Malaysian television stations have benefited from a growth in global popular culture from other than English speaking countries. For instance Malaysian audiences are exposed to adapted programs from United Kingdom (Siapa nak Jadi Jutawan?),
North America (Roda Impian and Malaysian Idol), Mexico (Akademi Fantasia) and
Venezuela (Manjalara). In such instances the LPF does not interfere in the production decisions taken by local television stations. In this sense, the government does not enforce any preference for the particular origin of imported cultural elements to be shown on Malaysian television as long as they have been through a process of adaption.
The second process of adaptation occurred when the local culture industry incorporated certain foreign values in the production of its local programs. Wang
(2010), refers to this form of adaptation as ‘cloned’ or ‘copied’ television programs (p.
28). This process does not involve the acquisition of copyright. Karthigesu (1994a) contends that:
Local artistes now have to dress, sing, sway and rock in Hollywood style. Local drama writers have to incorporate a certain amount of violence and sex so that their dramas will catch the attention of the audience trained in the Hollywood model. (p. 88).
In the 1990s Karthigesu observed that locally produced musical and drama programs needed to incorporate representations of Western culture if they wanted to attract the
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interest of Malaysian audiences. For instance, North American popular culture depicts a far greater degree of freedom and creativity with regards to costumes and actor behaviour, which seems to appeal to certain Malaysian viewers, but not the nationalists, who strongly uphold Malay-Muslim cultural identity. Whilst criticisms of these
‘unsuitable cultural elements’ are given voice by concerned Malay-Muslim citizens in the editorial columns of newspapers or are debated in the parliament, these views have never caused the government to prohibit the production of adapted television programs.
The government often reacts to this criticism by ‘counselling’ the program directors if some concerned citizens or politicians are of the opinion that the program may be violating certain codes or offending local cultural sensibilities. Because of this foreign culture elements adapted to the Malaysian context have generally flourished. They also inevitably follow global popular culture trends patterned on MTV, action dramas, game shows, drama serials, reality TV shows and telenovelas.
Some copied programs are recognisable. For instance, the police drama Chips has been adapted in Malaysia to Gerak Khas, or Special Force, and SWAT to Skuad Elite.
According to Wang (2010) 80% of adapted programs are in the form of copied programs (Wang 2010, p. 30). These action programs have less depictions of overt sexual behaviour, and tend not to be too controversial. In fact, they promote a favourable image and highlight the service of the Malaysian police task force and offer an insight into their work and life which are rarely seen by the Malaysian public.
FILTRATION IN MALAYSIA
The filtration of popular culture in Malaysia of both locally-produced programs and imported popular culture is pervasive. The most prominent of the five regulatory censorship bodies that monitor and filter popular culture content is the LPF (The Film
Censorship Board of Malaysia). The LPF is the authority whose regulations all
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television producers, filmmakers, and program importers must abide by. The LPF was formed by the Malaysian government under Section 3 of the Film Act (Censorship) of
1952 (revised in 1971) (Foo 2004). With regards to the preservation of national identity, the LPF censors those elements of popular culture which might contradict national aspirations and Malay-Islamic values (Abdullah 2001). With regards to fostering good relationships between countries, the LPF censors those elements that are perceived disrespectful to foreign leaders (Abdullah 2001).
The LPF board’s chairperson, deputy chairperson, and its 63 members are recommended by the Ministry of Home Affairs and appointed by the Supreme Ruler of
Malaysia, or Yang DiPertuan Agong. The Yang DiPertuan Agong is the highest patron of Islam and protector of Malay customs in Malaysia. To ensure that the LPF’s decisions conform to government policy, the majority of its appointees are retired
Malay senior civil servants (New Straits Times cited in Foo 2004, p. 114). The LPF draws on a substantial number of rules, policies and guidelines to vet television programs, including the Federal Constitution, Internal Security Act, Printing Presses and Publications Act, Seditious Act, Police Act, Penal code, Defamation Act, Official
Secret Act, Broadcasting Code of Ethics, National ideology (Rukunegara), Islamic
(Sharia) law as well as recommendations from various government organisations (Foo
2004, pp. 123-124).
The LPF in-house censorship guidelines are known by their acronym VHS which refers to violence, horror, and sex. These three elements are censored if the LPF authority finds any images, offensive scenes or conversations deemed offensive to
Malay-Islamic culture. Sexual references are a significant element of popular culture shows, and are a major concern of LPF and certain sections of the Malaysian public alike. Malaysian attitudes towards open references to sex are more conservative than in
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Western countries. For the LPF, physical intimacy (for example, bedroom scenes, kissing, and hugging), revealing clothing, and open discussions about sex are generally prohibited. Because sexual references frequently occur in imported popular culture shows it is difficult for them to be completely censored. For instance, it is impossible to censor women characters attired in a revealing manner. This example illustrates the fact that LPF censorship of imported popular culture shows is often limited. Foo (2004) highlights an interesting newspaper report about the LPF censoring a sexual reference in the film Nine Months. The word ‘penis,’ spoken by Hugh Grant when he wanted to know the sex of his child, was censored by the LPF. Foo (2004) regards this is an extreme case of misjudgement between what is a stated fact and sexual conversation.
The second regulatory censorship body includes government agencies such as the Religious Department and the Ministry of Home Affairs, both of which must be consulted by local producers before filming can begin. For shows that involve sensitive issues; such as those associated with religion, crime, and law, producers must seek approval for the script.
The third regulating body is the television station itself. Each station has a policy of allowing its producers to self-censor. Most conform to this in order for their work to be bought and broadcast on television. For example, although all television stations are careful when depicting or discussing racial issues, TV1 and TV2 are stricter in their handling of these issues. The preference of TV3 is to portray urban, modern, and wealthy lifestyles and to limit the depiction of poverty in society due to its target urban demographic. Wealth is depicted through expensive houses with elaborate furniture, luxury cars, Western overseas education, and fashionable clothes. Thus, it is common to watch Malay dramas with a plot that revolves around wealthy, urban and westernised families.
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The fourth regulating body is the laws governing the mass media. Since the spread of satellite television and the Internet in Malaysia from the mid-1990s, the government has shifted its attention from the regulation of conventional broadcasting
(i.e. radio and television) to the regulation of new and more diverse technologies of the communications and multimedia industry. The communications and multimedia industry refers to the Internet, conventional broadcasting and mobile phone technologies. The creation of new mass media technologies led the Malaysian government to repeal the Telecommunications Act of 1950 and the Broadcasting Act of
1988. Whilst in existence these governed conventional telecom operators and broadcasters respectively (Kitley & Nain 2003).25 The government then proclaimed the
Communications and Multimedia Act of 1998.
On the one hand, these new communications and multimedia technologies have re-positioned Malaysia’s television industry, allowing it to embrace dynamic convergence technologies such as the 3G mobile television service which allows users to view programs on their mobile phones. On the other hand, these advances in technology have not lessened the degree of government control over the broadcasting industry (Kitley & Nain 2003).
The fifth regulatory censorship body is the prime minister of the ruling Malay political party (UMNO) who speaks on behalf of the ruling coalition party Barisan
Nasional. UMNO enforces the highest level of censorship and is capable of overriding all the other previously mentioned.
25 According to Kitley & Nain (2003) [t]the Communication and Multimedia Act of 1998 (C&C Act) speaks a new language. The Act is written in the globalised language of the cyber sphere, the language of information and communications technology. Familiar words such as television, radio and broadcasting are not mentioned in the Act. It speaks of ‘network facilities’ and network service providers,’ and of ‘content applications service providers’ (p. 88).
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Despite the official regulatory censorship body, there is an informal monitoring body consists of members of the public as well as opposition political figures.
Criticisms of imported television programs often come from Malay politicians and religious leaders. These critics are often supported by the print media – which is again owned or managed by people who have a close relationship with UMNO. This sort of criticism can be used to advantage by the government in its role as censor. For instance, many of the critics of imported television content derive from the ranks of UMNO,
PAS, and government-run Islamic agencies and departments who garner support from conservative sections of the public.
However, not all criticism of foreign films results in action. The council of
Islamic Jurists, or Mufti, has suggested that Bollywood movies should be limited due to their negative influence (Seneviratne 2001). In this case, the then Prime Minister
Mahathir Mohamad was asked whether Bollywood movies had contributed to a high- profile rape case (Utusan Online 2001). He responded by suggesting that there should be a detailed study to justify the claim (Utusan Online 2001) and that he disagreed with the recommendation by the council to boycott Bollywood movies. Ironically, during the same press conference, Mahathir condemned the negative influence of lyrics in Western songs on Malaysian youth. Another criticism which did not result in any censorship action being taken was directed at one of the most popular imported drama serials among female Malaysian viewers, the Indonesian production Bawang Merah Bawang
Putih, which aired from 2006 to 2007 on TV3 during the 2:30 p.m. to 3:30 p.m. time- slot. A Member of Parliament named Rahmah Idris raised the issue during the UMNO
General Assembly,26 arguing that Bawang Merah Bawang Putih was becoming an addiction for women, who because of it were neglecting their household duties. Idris
26 The UMNO General Assembly is held annually. It is a political gathering of UMNO members to address the challenges faced by the party. 115
urged the Ministry of Information to look into the matter. A local newspaper reported her speech:
Our women are so engrossed in watching the drama serials that they cannot go anywhere and those at work don’t pick up their telephones. (New Straits Times, 18th November 2006).
HYBRIDITY IN THE MALAY MINI DRAMA SERIAL: SEPUTIH QASEH RAMADHAN
In the following section, I further explore the cosmopolitan outlook of modern
Malaysian television through a locally produced Malay mini-series that was broadcast on TV3 in September 2006. The drama, Seputih Qaseh Ramadhan (SQR) was first mentioned in Chapter 1 and was chosen for analysis in this section because it was one of the most popular dramas watched by Tabuan women during the course of my fieldwork. As a locally made Malay drama production it contained appropriate (i.e. moderate) Islamic values and promoted multiculturalism and Western modernity. SQR conformed to censorship guidelines and did not invoke any public criticism from its viewers. Since SQR was set during Ramadan, the holy month for Muslims, the drama depicted the religious practices of Muslims in the fasting month.
The storyline
Qaseh is the female protagonist in the Malay drama serial Seputih Qaseh
Ramadhan. Qaseh is a young, naïve, an ordinary young woman who marries Ridzuan, the son of a wealthy business woman. Ridzuan’s mother Umi opposes their marriage.
Whilst trying to protect her husband from charges of drug possession, Qaseh provides a false confession to the police and is imprisoned for several years. When she is finally released, she is unable to see her husband and children again because Ridzuan has married another woman. Qaseh’s story is of a loyal, suffering wife and mother who has been abandoned by her ungrateful husband and mother in-law. However, with the
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assistance of her best friend, an Indian woman who was her former neighbour, Qaseh starts a new life. She also receives the sympathy of her lawyer Johan, who helped Qaseh to prove her innocence. Johan falls in love with Qaseh, but she does not accept his proposal of marriage. The story ends when Qaseh dies after being diagnosed with cancer.
Inward and Outward Outlooks in Seputih Qaseh Ramadhan
Throughout the drama Qaseh was dressed in baju kurung and loose headscarf – traditional dress which symbolises an uneducated, rural Malay woman. In fact it is uncommon to see an urban Malay woman in other television dramas wearing authentic traditional Malay attire.27 In the role of wife and daughter in-law, Qaseh was afforded stereotypical Malay-Muslim woman’s qualities: blind loyalty to a husband, non- assertiveness, naivety, and humility. Qaseh also takes a firm stance against the lure of an extramarital relationship. Although Qaseh’s appearance is typical of an uneducated rural woman, she nevertheless demonstrates confidence in managing her life in different contexts: alongside her wealthy mother in-law, in an urban law firm, and in her friendship with her Indian neighbour. As a mother, Qaseh shows her assertiveness and fights tirelessly to get her children back.
The main characters in SQR are depicted as having different lifestyles. In contrast to Qaseh’s working class background, Maria, Ridzuan’s second wife, wears a blonde wig and Western fashions. Maria is depicted as speaking English in some conversations and dines in upmarket hotels. However, her husband Ridzuan is depicted as a devout Muslim who observes all the religious practices of Ramadan. Qaseh’s best
27 I consider the baju kurung and a loose headscarf, which exposes part of a woman’s hair, to be an authentic traditional Malay costume. Today, Malay-Islamic women commonly wear the Arab-style hijab, which covers the hair, neck, and shoulders. 117
friend, Dewi, wears a sari to demonstrate her Indian ethnicity. In fact it is uncommon in
Malay dramas to have people of different ethnicities form close friendships.
Based on both her appearance and personality it is clear Qaseh is not being portrayed as a cosmopolitan woman. She has no broad vision for humankind as is commonly attributed to cosmopolitans.28 Qaseh is a humble wife who represents an authentic Malay woman. Although Qaseh’s character illustrates more of an inward outlook, she still embraces ethnic difference in her relationship with Dewi. An outward outlook, however, can be detected through both the juxtaposition of the different lifestyles of the supporting characters, and through the hybridisation of Malay, Islamic, and Western values which are contained in the drama. Another example of an outward outlook is the portrayal of Maria’s character Maria epitomises the hybrid identity which straddles Western and Malay ways of life, elements of which have given birth to ostentatious Malay middle-class lifestyles.
The government, through its agencies and departments including the LPF and
JAKIM, monitor the adaptation of foreign popular culture in the local production of
Malay dramas aired on Malaysian televisions. For instance, the adaptation of cultural elements, such as in the drama serial Seputih Qaseh Ramadhan, is used to enhance the government’s ideology on Islam, multiculturalism and national development. The government’s intervention in the drama’s hybrid process that my study has pointed out adds to the existing practices of ‘borrowing’ in Malay culture. Whilst Kahn (2006) demonstrates that Malay hybrid culture is used by a non-government interest; a Malay film director in the wake of anti-colonisation movement of Malaya, in 1950s.
28 A cosmopolitan man attribute includes having a stance towards a world problem. Turner (2007) stresses this point through an example of an Indonesian artist, Dandang Christianto. He (Dandang Christianto) said, ‘I am concerned with suffering anywhere in the world . . . yesterday Kosovo, today East Timor’ (p. 79).
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In addition, Kahn (2006) also contends that Malay culture is cosmopolitan through the recognition of hybrid elements that exist in Malay culture through a continuation of social processes that have always characterised Malay culture. His further contention is that hybridity is the process which breeds cosmopolitanism.
CONCLUSION
Free-to-air Malaysian television stations are sites of cultural diversity. Their openness in embracing other cultures reflects a cosmopolitan outlook. Western programs, including movies and dramas series, are aired on FTA Malaysian television stations in significant numbers. The entertainment needs of the Indian and Chinese ethnic groups in Malaysia have resulted in Bollywood and Chinese movies, and dramas from Hong Kong and Taiwan, becoming increasingly popular among Malaysian viewers. In addition, the non-Western telenovelas and drama serials from Latin
America, Indonesia, Japan, Korea, the Philippines and Thailand have emerged since in the middle 1980s. The least degree of foreignness characterises popular foreign programs adapted to the local environment.
This chapter has demonstrated the tension brought about by foreign programs in some sections of Malaysian society. There are different opinions within Malaysian society regarding the impact of imported programs, especially in terms of the values they transmit to Malaysian audiences. The inward looking nationalists have consistently pressured the government to more strictly monitor both imported and locally produced programs. Although imported programs are monitored and censored by several government bodies, this does not mean that imported popular culture is rejected in a wholesale manner, for there are some elements that are highly valued in Malaysian society. The FTA public and private television stations embrace selected Malay,
Islamic, Western, Southeast Asian, Asian and Latin America values, balancing
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government control with the need to gain commercial benefits by serving viewers from diverse ethnic groups, classes, and educational background.
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CHAPTER 5
CHANGES IN THE SOCIAL STRUCTURE AND TENSION IN WOMEN’S ROLES IN KAMPUNG TABUAN MELAYU
INTRODUCTION
Kampung Tabuan Melayu (popularly known as Kampung Tabuan) expanded rapidly in the 1980s as a settlement of coastal Sarawak Malay migrants, particularly from the suburban areas of Kuching and Kuching Division, as well as Malays from other coastal areas in Sarawak. The capital city of the state of Sarawak is Kuching.29
Coastal Sarawak Malays (Melayu Pesisir) are also known as orang laut (people of the sea) or orang hutan (people of the forest). Both terms have negative connotations as they commonly refer to ‘backward people’ from the coastal areas and the interior of
Sarawak (Puteh 2005). Within the Sarawak Malay community, coastal Malays are thought to hold a low status. This labelling is prevalent among the small number of more established Kuching Malays who have resided in the city since the pre-colonial period, and who gained power and privilege during the Brooke family rule from the1840s.
This Chapter has two aims. The first aim is to investigate the factors that have contributed to tensions within women’s roles in Kampung Tabuan. The primary factor contributing to this tension is the marginalisation of coastal Sarawak Malays, in particular men, in Kampung Tabuan stemming from urbanisation. For example, one of the negative impacts of rapid urbanisation has been the involvement of Tabuan men and youth in illegal activities, including theft, drug addiction and trafficking, and gambling.
Despite the existing low status of coastal Sarawak Malays in general, Tabuan men’s involvement in crime, high rates of under-employment and their relative poverty have
29Kuching is the name of the capital city of the state and the name of one of eleven divisions in Sarawak. Kuching Division encompasses three districts, namely Kuching, Lundu, and Bau. 121
led to their stigmatisation in Kuching. Here, stigmatisation is a contributing factor to the marginalisation of the residents of Kampung Tabuan.
The stigmatisation of Kampung Tabuan settlement and the population occurs within two levels. The first level is in the broader context of Kuching society. Due to their involvement in crime, sometimes aggressive behaviour and status as squatters within their village, Kampung Tabuan settlement is labelled by outsiders as being populated by unpredictable and violent people. Most of the Tabuan residents whom I met were aware of the negative image attached to their community. In some cases it is an image which contributes to feelings of shame, isolation and anxiety. The second level of stigmatisation occurs from within the community, in instances when villagers themselves employ the same stereotypes to condemn those in the community who are directly involved in crime and as a result tarnishing the village’s reputation. In other words, villagers reproduce the label within Kampung Tabuan community. This chapter describes both levels of stigmatisation of Kampung Tabuan by outsiders. The type of stigmatisation occurring from within the community is detailed in Chapter 8, where
Tabuan mothers engage in the process of enacting stigma to abjectify those in their neighbourhood who are the carriers of social problems.
The second aim of this chapter is to examine the impact of the marginalisation of Kampung Tabuan on women’s roles, specifically the impact it has had on the role of housewife in the village. In addition, the television viewing among Tabuan housewives is identified as a source of learning and support in negotiating social and economic change in the community.
The following section provides a brief historical background to the expansion of
Kuching town during British rule. This short period was characterised by rapid urbanisation from which new settlements emerged, including Kampung Tabuan. These
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new urban migrants created a pool of unskilled labour to further fuel Kuching’s development. Kampung Tabuan became a settlement housing rural-to-urban coastal
Sarawak Malays migrants who were seeking employment in Kuching. Based on previous research on Malay communities in Peninsular Malaysia (Raymond Firth 1966;
Rosemary Firth 1966) and the Sarawak Malays (Harrisson 1970), I examine coastal
Sarawak Malays in the context of the peasant economy in order to explain the economic and social changes that shaped the lives of coastal Sarawak Malays have experienced.
The primary focus of this historical exploration is on coastal Sarawak Malay women’s roles as mothers and wives.
RURAL-URBAN MIGRATION: KAMPUNG TABUAN AND ITS RELATIONS WITH THE DEVELOPMENT OF KUCHING
The Sarawak River basin was the centre of three generations of Brooke family rule in Sarawak. The Brooke family’s administration lasted for 100 years, from 1841-
1941. On the 11th of September 1941, Sarawak fell under the control of the occupying
Japanese Army. After the Japanese surrender in 1946, Sarawak again came under the administrative control of the Brooke family. However, due to their inability to manage the economic and political situation in Sarawak after World War II, Vyner Brooke ceded Sarawak to the British in the same year. In 1963, Sarawak gained independence from Britain by joining the Federation of Malaysia.
During the 17 years of British rule Kuching experienced rapid development
(Reece 1982). During this period, community development projects, such as the building of schools and hospitals, the installation of a public bus service, the expansion of Kuching airport and its runway, and the establishment of postal and telecommunications services, were improved and expanded as a result of increased government funding allocated to public services (Porrit 1997). Commercial development in the forestry, industrial, and mining sectors also contributed additional 123
capital to infrastructure in Kuching town. For instance, Kuching Port at Tanah Puteh, which is located close to Kampung Tabuan, was built under the 1955–1960
Development Plan (Porrit 1997).
Kampung Tabuan is situated within the industrial and commercial area of
Pending suburb. In 2006, Kampung Tabuan had an estimated population of 10,808.30
The village, or kampung, is located to the south-east of Kuching city. It is a suburban village of rural migrants of coastal Sarawak Malays from different coastal regions of
Sarawak. In order to collect basic demographic data (see a detailed discussion about the survey in Chapter 2) I conducted a three-part survey of 30 Tabuan women. Of these 30 women, 56.6% (17 participants) identified their birth place as being either Kampung
Tabuan, Kuching or elsewhere in the wider Kuching Division. The remaining women originated from either Samarahan Division (a neighbouring division close to Kuching) or another division in Sarawak. Those women who identified Kampung Tabuan as their place of origin were the second generation of earlier rural migrants.
30 The Department of Statistics Malaysia conducts an official census every ten years and the latest was in 2000. According to the 2000 census, the Tabuan Melayu population was 9,544. The population in 2006 was calculated based on the rate of increase of the Sarawak population of 2.1% per year. 124
Map 2 Sub-kampung within Kampung Tabuan Melayu: Tabuan Hilir, Tabuan Tengah, Tabuan Lot and Tabuan Dani, and their neighbourhoods
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Tabuan Lot31 emerged as a suburban settlement of Kuching city in the early 1960s. It is one of four villages that exist within a larger settlement known as Kampung Tabuan
Melayu. In other words, it is a village within a village. The other three kampung in
Kampung Tabuan Melayu are; Tabuan Hilir, Tabuan Tengah, and Tabuan Dani. These villages are located on the banks of the Tabuan River (see Map 2). The oldest village,
Tabuan Hilir, was established in the 1900s. Kampung Tabuan Melayu is distinct from any of the previously established Malay settlements in the Sarawak River basin that have existed since the 1800s. Kampung Tabuan is a more recent settlement further to the south-east of the Sarawak River basin.
According to Rosli Sibli, the village headman of Tabuan Lot, the first settlers of
Kampung Tabuan were in fact not Malay at all but Iban. The new settlement, Kampung
Tabuan Hilir, was later granted to the Malays as a gesture of friendship. However, during the 1960s, Kampung Tabuan Lot saw an influx of Sarawakian Malays who had become dislocated from other areas of Kuching town. This dislocation was primarily due to the enactment of the Town and Country Planning Ordinance (1952) and the Land
Ordinance (Control of Subdivision) of 1954. Both these enactments were aimed at achieving more systematic and controlled township development in Kuching (Porrit
1997, p. 255). For instance, some of the land in Kuching town was appropriated by the
British administration in order to develop commercial and government office complexes, as well as to increase the proportion of available residential land. As a result, those who had occupied the land in Kuching town that the government wanted to develop were forced to leave. This is precisely what happened to Sulaiman’s family, one of the earliest families to settle in Tabuan Lot. He was seven years old when, in the early 1960s, about 10 families, including his own, were ordered by the government to
31 I spent more time doing participation observation in Tabuan Lot than in the other villages of Kampung Tabuan Melayu.
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move out of their squatter residences in Bukit Sabun. Bukit Sabun was appropriated by the government in order to develop a planned housing estate – and so any squatters living in the area were evicted. These families, however, did receive permission to relocate; although according to Sulaiman, they did not receive any form of compensation or were not automatically entitled to a title of land elsewhere. The squatters were ultimately directed by government authorities to relocate further south of
Kuching town across the Tabuan River.
In a similar manner to the development of Kuching city centre, the flow of migrants to Kampung Tabuan from other divisions of Sarawak has steadily increased since1960s. These were, for the most part, non-skilled male workers looking for job opportunities in the newly emerging and fast-developing Kuching urban centre.32 The early development projects in Kuching town under British rule accelerated with post- independence development under the Malaysian Federation. This further created job opportunities for migrants in Tabuan Melayu, who were by now increasingly finding employment in the security services, transportation, and small-scale business sectors.
Traditionally, however, public servants under the Brooke administration had been sourced from established Sarawak Malay families who resided in villages in the
Sarawak River basin and Kuching town area. This privilege had raised their socio- economic status above that of the more recently arrived coastal Malays. According to
Puteh (2005), for instance, the more established Kuching Malays ‘have always prided themselves as being at the pinnacle of Malay culture’ (p. 25). He adds that Kuching
Malays differentiate themselves from coastal Malays through ‘sophisticated elevation in dress, dialect, education, economic status, and social etiquette’ (Puteh 2005, p. 25).
32 The Local Authority Ordinance was passed in 1948 to give the Governor of Sarawak the power to form local authorities for governance and administration purposes. Kuching Municipal Council emerged as the first local authority in Sarawak in 1956. Despite its then recent establishment, many significant community projects were carried out in late 1950s (Porrit 1997). 127
THE MALAYS: GENDER RELATIONS AND THE ROLE OF WOMEN IN MALAYA AND COASTAL SARAWAK MALAY PEASANT COMMUNITIES
Because of the economic structure of traditional Malay communities in
Peninsular Malaysia, many anthropologists had initially come to the conclusion that the
Malays typically constitute a peasant society. This is evident, for instance, in studies undertaken in Malay fishing communities in Kelantan, North Terengganu (Firth,
Rosemary 1966; Firth, Raymond 1966), and Langkawi Island (Carsten 1997). Peasantry is a term which refers to communities that make a living from either fishing or agriculture (Scott 1985; Swift 1965). A peasant economy is one which demonstrates
‘relatively simple, non-mechanical technology; small-scale production units; and a substantial production for subsistence as well as for market’ (Firth, R 1966, p. 5). A peasant economy, therefore, is one that does not typically depend on foreign markets.
Because of the nature of their economic activities, scholars have associated coastal
Sarawak Malays with peasantry (Said 1985; Ishikawa 1998); in particular fishing and petty riverine trading33 (Said 1985).
The Kampung Tabuan community can also be identified as a ‘peasant society’ because of its ‘hierarchical arrangement’ (Xaxa 2010, p. 86) when compared to the wider society. Kampung Tabuan has a lower social status compared with other Malay communities in Kuching. This has been acquired through the work they are involved in where the type of work that characterising peasantry is manual labour (Xaxa 2012).
Most of Kampung Tabuan dwellers work as manual labours for the service industry, construction and manufacturing in Kampung Tabuan’s neighbourhood city centres, including Kuching and Pending.
33 Riverine Malay petty traders exchanged beads, salt, and brass for Dayak rice and jungle products upriver, as well as for sago with the Melanau (Lockard 1987). This traditional barter trade had gradually diminished by 1900 due to the presence of Chinese commercial traders (Lockard 1987).
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In Malaya during the 1940s, the subsistence economy of the coastal Sarawak
Malays – unlike the fishing communities in Kelantan and Terengganu – was more diverse. For example, coastal Sarawak Malays participated in a variety of aquatic as well as land and swamp-based economic activities.34 The most significant anthropological study of the everyday lives of coastal Sarawak Malay men and women was conducted by Harrisson (1970).35 According to Harrisson, fishing took place at riverbanks, river mouths, and offshore. Land-based economic pursuits included rubber tapping, the cultivation of coconuts, rice, bananas, and tapioca on plantations, and the collection of edible produce from jungles and swamps. The latter included mangrove wood, nipah (from the nypa tree), bamboo, rattan, and seasonal jungle nuts, including illipe and chestnut. Most of these activities were seasonal and primarily undertaken for subsistence, with only a small surplus for sale. Harrisson reported that women assisted men in rice cultivation and the gathering of palm leaves and jungle fruits.
Harrisson suggested that at the time of his research women in coastal Sarawak
Malay villages spent 90% of their time performing their duties as housewives and mothers. He reported that a great deal of their time was spent at the ‘washing-place.’
At the present time, then, a very large part of most women’s lives is spent around and largely inside the house, or in the immediate vicinity, with the maximum ordinary range as far away as the village well or washing-pool, where almost every day there is intense activity on their own laundry. . . . This washing-place is the centre of feminine communal activity. Hours are spent there, in gentle massage of sarongs and vests, while all the topics that women talk about are talked about and talked about again. The idea of getting anyone else’s household to take in your laundry is unthinkable (except in the period after childbirth) (Harrisson 1970, p. 349).
34 Depending on the geographical environment of the village, every village specialised in two or three economic activities.
35 This published research was the result of fieldwork from 1958 to 1968, during which Harrisson investigated eight Malay villages in the Lundu and Kuching districts of south-west Sarawak. 129
According to Harrisson, laundry is not merely a woman’s chore for it allows them to socialise with others from their neighbourhood. The washing-place exists as a public forum for women to meet and discuss issues that they find important in their daily lives.
In respect to woman’s role as mother, Harrisson (1970, p. 351) contends that,
[a]lthough Malays by no manner of means think of women merely as potential mothers, in Sarawak this motherhood role is elevated to an exceptionally high position among them. Being a Malay ‘housewife’, in usually a simple home with a simple diet and a family largely working away and used to simple things anyway, is not a quarter so onerous as being a Malay ‘mother’. Yet no one is so sorry as a Malay non-mother, who will eagerly adopt other children including Chinese by purchase ($80-$160; 1952-6).
Motherhood is highly regarded in Sarawakian Malay society and the presence of children is an asset for the family. The preoccupation coastal Malay women often display in caring for their children and performing household duties is directly related to the status they gain by raising children.
The considerable amount of disposable time women have to devote to their children and to household chores is also a consequence of the emergence of consumerism in Sarawak during the British administration in the 1960s. Harrisson has claimed that prior to this housewives were engaged in the time consuming tasks of
‘weaving, mat and basket-making, and preparing special foodstuffs, spices pastes and so on’ (p. 354). These were laboriously prepared for consumption in the home. However, at the time of Harrisson’s study, these items, including ‘clothing, cooking-fats, illuminants and many items of food’ (p. 354), could be easily and cheaply purchased.
During this period of rapid socio-economic change in the 1960s, women in ethnic communities, such as the (urban) Chinese and (high status) Kelabit, took the opportunity to gain more education and become more involved in the formal economy
(Harrisson 1970). In contrast to these ethnic groups, coastal Malay women lacked the self-determination to embrace these same opportunities and remained trapped in what
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Harrisson considered to be devalued activities within the household. The substantial amount of time spent at home was thus criticised by Harrisson, who argued that coastal
Malay women do not contribute to the economic or social development of their communities. Harrisson was astounded that coastal Sarawak Malay women were able to spend a day without doing anything ‘beneficial.’ For instance, he argued that:
It astonishes, it bewilders, it infuriates educated Chinese or European females of my acquaintance (including my understanding wife) to see and hear the way in which a Malay woman can and does spend her day in the delta, if no reason for spending it otherwise operates. For it is true enough that most of those good ladies are perfectly capable of ‘spending all day doing nothing’ (in my wife’s sense of that, to use her uncomplimentary term) (Harrisson 1970, p. 357).
He also makes the observation that coastal Malay women never read books at home – commenting that ‘we have not seen an adult woman read a book here in over ten years’ (p. 352). Harrisson‘s assumption was probably that book reading and education more generally are indicative of a progressive society and as a means to empower individuals to embrace change in society. Whilst Harrisson suggests that both
Malay men and women were comfortable in a subsistence economy, there was some evidence to suggest that some of the women in his study wanted to change their life conditions to gain higher levels of education and participate in the workforce. He claimed, that ‘women want to live new and different lives’ (Harrisson 1970, p. 356).
However, he cites Islam as of the primary reason for Malay women’s inability to grasp the opportunities being taken by women in other ethnic communities. In this regard, he blames the conservatism of Islamic teaching and religious institutions, dominated by men, who failed to inspire women to seek social and economic advancement. What is clear is that at this time no direction or policy initiatives were implemented by either the
British administrators, or local religious authorities, to advance rural Malay women.
It was not only Malay women, however, who found the transformation from subsistence to market economy to be problematic. Men similarly found this to be
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challenging as they had typically maintained lives where they would ‘work on the basis of satisfying fairly simple needs, with [the] occasional ‘spree’ within the sane moderate limits of cash expenditure (Hari Raya, [religious celebration for Muslims] clothes, kids)’ (Harrisson 1970, p.168). In short, Harrisson argued that during British rule the livelihood and lifestyles of coastal Sarawak Malay still centred on subsistence production and they had not begun to adapt to, or plan for, a market economy.
In another community study of coastal Sarawak Malays, this time in the frontier region of the western border of Sarawak and Kalimantan (in Indonesia), Ishikawa
(1998) has argued that this peasant community had been marginalised through the introduction of a market economy. Their exclusion stemmed from an inability to participate in commercial agricultural production during the Brooke family’s rule. He further contended:
Their exclusion from capitalist agriculture led to further differentiation within the Malay ethnic category and the class structure. This economically marginalised population on the fringe of state territory then became culturally stigmatized, being pushed to the outer rim of the ethnic category “Sarawak Malay.” (Ishikawa 1998, pp. 1-2).
Ishikawa’s study adds support to the argument that the emergence of a market economy in Sarawak led to the economic marginalisation of coastal Sarawak Malay communities; not only in relation to other ethnic groups, but also between Sarawak
Malay communities. The market economy further entrenched the unequal relationship between the established Kuching Malays and the rural coastal Malays (Ishikawa 1998).
In contrast to Ishikawa’s (1998) claim, Harrisson’s (1970) view was that the marginalisation of coastal Malays was primarily due to their lack of self-determination; their incapability to cope with socio-economic change; and a lack of assistance from political and religious authorities to advance their position.
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The following section investigates the particular situation of Kampung Tabuan and the dynamic commercial and industrial area of Pending. The development of
Pending has depended on the cheap, unskilled labour provided by men such as those from Kampung Tabuan.
GEOGRAPHIC LOCATION AND SOCIO-ECONOMIC CONDITION OF KAMPUNG TABUAN
Kuching is divided into two city municipalities: the North Kuching City
Municipal Council (NKCMC) and the South Kuching City Municipal Council
(SKCMC). The NKCMC is the administrative centre of the state of Sarawak and predominantly populated by the more established Sarawakian Malays. The SKCMC is where most of the business and industrial areas are located and contains a high proportion of ethnic Chinese. Kampung Tabuan Melayu is situated approximately five kilometres from Kuching city centre and within the SKCMC. The size of the SKCMC, in terms of land area, is about one sixth that of the NKCMC. However, the population density is higher in the SKCMC.36 Pending is the SKCMC’s town centre and is largely reserved for commerce and trading. The types of service providers that exist in the
SKCMC include printing companies, couriers, and legal and banking services. These businesses support the industries located in the SKCMC, which are shipping and manufacturing. As a major industrial and commercial area, the SKCMC provides many blue-collar work opportunities.
The settlement of Kampung Tabuan is ringed by the Tabuan River to the north and the west (see Map 2). The village is surrounded by industrial and business areas, as
36 Based on the Department of Statistics Malaysia, Sarawak, 2000 census, the population of the North Kuching City Municipal Council was 152,475. The South Kuching City Municipal Council had a population of 163,134 (Department of Statistics Malaysia, Sarawak 2009, p. 11). 133
well as planned and unplanned37 residential settlements. The planned settlements generally consist of low-cost public housing properties and commercial housing areas.
The unplanned settlements refer to the villages. To the north is the Pending town centre and to the east is a highway (see Plate 2). Close to the eastern entrance of the village is an industrial area that includes a large, privately-owned cement plant. To the south-east there is a Free Trade Industrial Zone. The southern border of Kampung Tabuan opens onto the planned and unplanned residential areas populated by Ibans, Malays, and
Chinese. To the north is the older entrance to the village, which is located across the
Tabuan River (see Plate 3).
Plate 2 The eastern entrance to Kampung Tabuan is accessed from the busy Setia Raja Road that connects the industrial areas and other districts in Kuching with Pending town centre and Kuching Port.
37 I use the term planned settlement to refer to houses built by the government or commercial developers, while the term unplanned settlement refers to the individual efforts to build houses on land with acquired titles or without land titles (those without land titles are hoping that the government will later grant them titles having occupied the land and built their house). The unplanned settlements are often known as kampung or village. 134
Plate 3 The northern entrance to Kampung Tabuan. A private boat transport passengers from business centres back to the village. This simple landing platform is called pengkalan sekolah (the school landing).
Kampung Tabuan is located 3 kilometres from the only Free Trade Industrial
Zone in Kuching Division. Established in 1991, it was named the Sama Jaya Free Trade
Industrial Zone (Kuching Port Authority n.d.). It houses four multinational and a
Malaysian owned electronics factories. These five factories employ an estimated 3,000 workers. Most of the production workers are young, single females from across
Sarawak and many reside in workers’ hostels situated within the industrial area. The majority of married factory workers live with their families in areas outside the industrial zone, including Kampung Tabuan. In all, Kampung Tabuan is strategically located close to both thriving services businesses and industrial areas.
The earliest settlers to Kampung Tabuan were initially squatters who settled on non-arable, littoral marshland located along the muddy riverbank of the Tabuan River.
Even though part of this riverbank has been reclaimed (see Plate 4), flooding still occurs in lowland areas of the Tabuan Melayu settlement, especially during high tide. The houses that are situated on marshlands close to the riverbank, and particularly in those areas that have not been reclaimed, are only able to avoid tidal flooding because they
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have been built on tall stilts. These houses are connected to each other by long wooden bridges, which also act as pathways to those parts of the village that are situated on higher ground further from the riverbank. The wooden bridge pathways are used by pedestrians, cyclists, and motorcyclists (see Plate 5).
.
Plate 4 Reclaimed housing area of Kampung Tabuan Tengah that is close to the pengkalan sekolah landing platform.
Plate 5 The wooden pathways that connect the houses in the lowland areas of Kampung Tabuan. 136
By modern standards the environment of Kampung Tabuan Melayu is unattractive and unhealthy. It is because of this that Kampung Tabuan had, and still has, very little value in terms of property development. In addition, because of the nature of the natural environment surrounding the village, the government has difficulties in providing basic facilities, including proper bitumen roads to connect each house, rather than the wooden bridges, and a proper sewage system. Furthermore, most of the title deeds held in the sub-villages of Kampung Tabuan only provide enough land for a house plot and some residents have yet to receive their title deeds. Hence, the unfavourable geographic environment of the settlement, and the uncertainty surrounding land ownership, are two of the reasons why Kampung Tabuan is stigmatised as squatters or ‘man with no land’ and marginalised by outsiders. However, from the cultural perspective of coastal Sarawak Malays, the littoral marshland is a familiar environment that, in the past, has provided them with much of their daily food requirements, wood for building, nypa leaves for shelter, and a river for water transportation (see Plate 6).
Plate 6 Pokok apong or nypa frutican, (see the far bank of the river), the river, and boats are the traditional elements of the lives of coastal Sarawak Malays that are still present in Kampung Tabuan.
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Most riverbanks in Sarawak, including the Sarawak and Tabuan Rivers, are littoral marshland areas. On the banks of the Tabuan River grow lush and abundant nypa trees, locally known as pokok apong. 38 The inner part of the trunk of the apong is edible and prepared as a delicacy during festival times. Nypa sugar, or gula apong, can be extracted from the flower of the tree and is an important ingredient in traditional cakes and other foods. Its fruit can also be pickled. Tabuan has a central place in the history39 of Kampung Tabuan. In the Malay language the word Tabuan means bee.40
When Kampung Tabuan was first established in the 1900s, the settlement took its name from the abundance of bees in the area that were attracted to the flowers of the pokok apong.
The earliest settlers built their houses in Kampung Tabuan in the hope they could later claim an official title of ownership to the land they had come to occupy.
There was an abundance of uninhabited marshland nearby which sparked a process of chain migration to the area. Through the arrival of relatives the settlers stamped their own kinship networks onto the new environment. Some of the first generation male settlers were successful in obtaining title deeds to land or purchased land to build their house from property owners with valid title. Where possible, parents often allowed their eldest child to build a separate dwelling on the property. The rest of their married or unmarried children generally lived with their parents or, if financially capable, purchase or rent their own house.
Kampung Tabuan is dynamic in terms of the flow of people settling in and leaving the village. New arrivals are drawn to Kampung Tabuan for the low rent and the work opportunities in nearby industrial areas. Some earlier landowners claimed
38 The scientific name is Nypa frutican Wurmb. 39 This is Awang Nusi’s (the village headman) account of how Kampung Tabuan Melayu was named. 40 Tabuan is a common name that has been adopted for neighbourhood areas in other villages, as well as commercial businesses and residential areas. 138
unoccupied land and built smaller houses which are now tenanted. Generally, new arrivals to Kampung Tabuan have little education possess limited work skills. They are, however, suited to the type of manual work available in the service, shipping, and manufacturing businesses located close by. Those leaving the village often do so because of conflicts with neighbours, or their circumstances change such that they can afford to reside elsewhere. In fact evidence suggests that the second generation are increasingly experiencing upward social mobility. Greater access to education has meant that they are able to gain better jobs and earn enough money to leave Tabuan
Melayu. Nevertheless, some relatively well-off families still live in Kampung Tabuan because they have inherited their parents’ houses, or they are caring for their elderly parents. Some of the families who have been living long term in rented houses have been able to afford to buy their own land from earlier settlers and build a house in the village.
Table 4 below outlines a sample of Tabuan men’s occupations. The data was gathered from the previously mentioned survey conducted with their wives. Men are typically the breadwinners of the family, and their occupation is a significant indicator of the family’s social status within Sarawak Malay society.
Table 4 The occupations of Kampung Tabuan men Number Category of Work Earnings per Month of Men 4 Security guard 7 Manual workers in private companies, RM 700 – below RM 1000 including goods handler for companies in (AUD 150 – AUD 266) Kuching Port, semi-skilled painter, welder, and carpenter. 1 Factory worker 5 Company driver/delivery driver/dispatcher 2 Van taxi owner-driver RM 1000 – RM 1800 (AUD 1 Cook 333 – 600) 1 Teacher
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2 Mechanic 1 Technician 2 Driver of large lorries 1 Bank marketing officer 2 Owner of small-scale businesses Total = 2941
Plate 7 One of the marginalised occupations for Tabuan men: a small scale terubok fish seller (Tenualosa toli). (Hamzah, the seller is in white shirt). Hamzah’s father, who owns the business, rents a parcel of veranda space on the pathway in front of a Chinese grocery shop in Jalan Gambier, Kuching. Many of the married men that I surveyed worked as delivery drivers around the city and in the broader Kuching Division. Most drive small lorries and deliver goods such as mineral water to offices. Security guards working for private companies generally earn the least money, followed by unskilled manual workers. There are, however, a handful of Tabuan men who, relatively speaking, are better paid. They include cooks, technicians, and mechanics.
Most Tabuan men work in the private rather than public sector. The lowest wages are paid by smaller private businesses. Large private companies offer slightly higher salaries and other work benefits and offer more social prestige, social security benefits, and a stable income. It is a privilege to work in more established local
41 The total number of husbands included in the survey was 29. This is because one of the women who took part in the survey was widowed. 140
government agencies such as the Kuching Port Authority, South Kuching Municipal
Council or more established private organisations. According to Rosli Sibli, only four
Tabuan men are chosen by the Kuching Port Authority to work full-time as manual workers in the Kuching Port Authority. To secure even a manual labour job in such organisations, it is a common yet unofficial practice for the applicant to obtain a verbal recommendation from an important person in the community, such as a Member of
Parliament or a person with a higher post in the organisation. Given the poor reputation of the village it is difficult for Tabuan men to acquire a recommendation from influential figures in Kuching. The way some of these local government agencies treat applicants from Tabuan men is an example of marginalisation of Tabuan men. Their right to have an equal opportunity with others to work in these organisations are ignored.
On the one hand, Tabuan men are marginalised economically and socially. They are generally employed by informal sectors and are lowly paid, and some of them are casual workers. In terms of social standing, Tabuan men have a reputation for violence in the eyes of Kuching population, primarily because of their involvement o in crime and other illegal activities. On the other hand, it is argued in this study that Tabuan housewives are not so much affected by the negative image as compared to the violent image of Tabuan men. Tabuan housewives are also sustained from economic deprivation of daily expenses due to their roles and activities. They achieve these in three ways: firstly, as managers of domestic finances; secondly, as supplementary income earners; and finally, through their engagement with television. These women’s roles and activities are confined within the kampung. Meanwhile, Tabuan men are marginalised because they have to venture outside the kampung and work in the wider urban setting.
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Although this research does not focus on men’s roles, women’s status in the family and the community is conditioned by the nature of the relationship they have with their husbands. Thus, the nature of housewives’ roles, to some extent, is conditioned by men’s ability to maintain their position as breadwinners of the family, their effectiveness as leaders in the public domain, and their capacity to deal with social problems within their community.
THE IMPACT OF MARGINALISATION AND STIGMATISATION ON THE TABUAN MEN AND WOMEN
My own experience serves to highlight the use of derogatory terms by middle- class Kuching Malays and administrators when speaking of the people of Kampung
Tabuan. For instance, when I told a middle class Kuching Malay, a director of an education foundation, that I intended doing research in Kampung Tabuan, he frowned and bluntly asked: ‘Aren’t the people over there criminals?’ A male colleague at my university was only slightly more restrained: ‘They are bad people, aren’t they?’
Kuching Malays associate Tabuan men with brutality, terror, and crime. Tabuan men are accused of committing murder, assault, being involved in gang activities, vandalism, and stealing. The story of a police car being pelted with stones by Kampung Tabuan residents in the past is still told in the village. Kampung Tabuan residents are also referred to as the ‘people living on land without titles.’ According to a former South
Kuching City Municipal Council councillor, Jolhi Sebi, a local English-language newspaper had recently labelled the village a ‘slum area.’ He was infuriated by the label and made a complaint to the newspaper. Joli stated in my interview that while he admits that there are squatters and criminals in the kampung, the label was still offensive.
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Plate 8 Tattooing is a traditional practice for the indigenous people of Borneo. Although it is uncommon and religiously prohibited among the Malays, this Tabuan Malay man tattooed his arm.
The village’s negative reputation is fuelled by the involvement of a number of the Kampung’s men and youth in petty crime, drug addiction, and violence. According to a newspaper report on perceptions of safety in South Kuching City Municipal
Council, 50% of the respondents felt unsafe because of the high crime rate (Majlis
Bandaraya Kuching Selatan 2008).42 Another newspaper article inferred that Tabuan residents are particularly violent when it stated that ‘The shopkeeper was not sure whether to go ahead and lodge a police report on the matter because for one thing he did not really have the heart to do it, and he feared retaliation by the boy’s family and the villagers’ (The Borneo Post 2008).
There are three types of social problems prevalent in Kampung Tabuan. The first and most common are stealing and extortion. The latter includes physical intimidation and vandalism. For instance, Balang’s family was a victim of extortion by male members of a neighbouring family in Kampung Tabuan. Balang was forced to pay money to a man whose younger brother was killed when Balang accidentally hit the boy
42 This is a news report that was posted in the SKCMC website. The news further reports that in a six- month period, there were official police reports tabling 52 break-ins and 32 car thefts. 143
while driving his school bus. Petty theft occurs frequently and includes stealing sound systems, televisions, and valuables from cars and houses. In addition, my own experience provides evidence that stealing and breaking into vehicles is common. A few women that I interviewed were distressed because their husbands’ cars, their houses, or their relatives’ homes had recently been broken into. If there are no items of any real value present, thieves will take anything, including slippers, shoes, and even cups and saucers. It is known that drug and glue addicts and the unemployed commit these thefts.
Outside the confines of the village, a number of Tabuan men not only engage in petty theft, but also commit more serious crimes, including stealing luxury cars and committing burglaries in commercial premises.
The second type of social problem in Kampung Tabuan is drug and glue addiction, and the trafficking of drugs. Drug addiction is mostly confined to men and male adolescents. The most common drug is syabu (methamphetamine), commonly known as ice. Glue addiction commonly occurs among youth aged between 12 and 14 years. It is a cheap and readily available substance. The third most common social problem in the village is alcoholism. It is the primary catalyst for fights between Tabuan men.
Many teenagers residing in Kampung Tabuan, both boys and girls, drop out of school at a young age. Tabuan teenage girls tend to engage in unprotected sex and as a result become pregnant as early as 15 years old. These girls are commonly forced into marriage by their parents. Interestingly, the sexual behaviour of teenage girls is not considered by villagers or the local authorities to pose any serious threat to the community, at least when compared to the problems created by glue and drug addiction and the crime associated with these practices
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At the time of this study, the Deputy Mayor of South Kuching, Hadi Bujang was particularly unhappy with the residents of Kampung Tabuan. In this instance his disappointment was related to the unreceptive attitude of Tabuan residents towards government development projects. He said that:
There is something not quite right. It is about the attitude of the people over there. They are not showing a proactive manner to the development programs that the government initiates for the village. Part of the deputy mayor frustration arises from what he sees as a lack of initiative and enterprise within the community. I talked about this with Rosli Sibli. It was his opinion that the residents, who themselves are frequently locked in disputes over property boundaries, had become disillusioned with the South Kuching City
Municipal Council (SKCMC) because the granting of title deeds had recently been put on hold. In addition, according to Rosli, the local authority is unable to build a proper bitumen road because the villagers do not want to surrender some of their land for road construction. SKCMC then put the blame on villagers due to their failure to provide adequate physical infrastructure for the village.
Wan Alwi, the village headman, also believes this is an issue and believes that some Tabuan men neglect their responsibilities as breadwinners for the family. He was disappointed with the attitudes of such men and believes they simply lack the motivation to earn a decent living for themselves and their families. On the other hand, he applauds those Tabuan women who are working to support their families, especially when their husbands are involved in crime, alcoholism or drug addiction. At one of our interviews he drew my attention to a man and his pillion passenger who was passing by on a motorcycle:
Wan Alwi: Look at that man. Zana: Why? Wan Alwi: The man with the long hair does not have a proper job. Some men do not work hard enough to feed their families. Women in turn have to work hard.
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Zana: Perhaps these people do not know how to manage their lives, including how to find jobs. Perhaps they need help. Wan Alwi: The problem when we help is that they will depend on us and continue to ask for more assistance. When I help one family, the tendency is that 20 more families will come and demand the same aid that I provided for the first family.
Wan Alwi believed that some men in the village were capable of gaining full-time employment but instead relied on financial assistance from the government.43
Of course Tabuan women feel their role as ‘good mothers’ is also affected by the social problems which embroil their sons and husbands. Often Tabuan mothers try to protect their children from the social problems which beset the village. This includes prohibiting them from mixing with their peers, sending them to schools outside
Kampung Tabuan, and encouraging them to work away from the village during school vacations. These measures seem never enough to alleviate their anxiousness for their children’s future. Securing a promising future for their children is a way to maintain filial piety: the reciprocal relationship of parents-children (The detailed is in Chapter 8).
Similarly, Tabuan housewives worry that their husbands might also become be tempted to stray into serious gambling, alcohol and drug addiction. In response to this fear, some women visit a shaman to ask for a pugei (charm) to increase their husband and children’s loyalty towards the family and to encourage them to spend more time at home. Besides visiting a shaman, although rare, some Tabuan women report their husbands’ unlawful activities to the police.
43 There are a number of financial assistance programs that the poor can apply for, including from the Department of Social Welfare. The purpose of these programs is to give financial assistance for education, disability, serious illness and elderly care. However, the amount of money is small. For example, a family in which the father is bedridden receives RM 200 per month (about AUD 65.00). Other government agencies that provide financial assistance include Islamic agencies such as Majlis Zakat Islam Sarawak (the Islamic Tithe Council of Sarawak) and Baitulmal Sarawak (Islamic Wealth Management). The financial aid is distributed in the form of cash or government trust shares. The Ministry of Rural Development also has a program called PPRT (a housing scheme for poor people), whereby poor people are eligible to have a house built for them. The role of the village headman and the sub-village committee members is to recommend and facilitate the allocation of resources from the government to the village. They often make recommendations to the Department of Social Welfare as to whether or not claims are genuine. 146
Tabuan women whose husbands are involved in a variety of social problems naturally feel a keen sense insecurity and fear. One thing they are fearful of is financial insecurity. Added to this is the fact that single mothers and widows within the community often endure accusations of immorality. Widowed women and single mothers whose husbands are in prison or drug rehabilitation centres are stigmatised.
Widows, for instance, are commonly accused of flirtatious behaviour. Other women in particular believe that widowed women and single mothers have the potential to ‘steal’ their husband.
There are Tabuan women who have lost confidence in those whose role it is to ensure the safety of the community, namely, the village leadership and the police. This lack of confidence is exacerbated by the fact that the police regularly avoid entering the village. According to Tabuan women, the police are reluctant to investigate crimes in the village because these activities are so well entrenched in the community that they feel any attempt to change the situation would be futile. Tabuan women express their criticism of village leaders who are perceived not to be fulfilling their duties. Most of the criticism levelled at Kampung Tabuan’s community leadership is directed at the village headman who, according to many women, does not take the issues of social disorder seriously. Anjali, a housewife, is dissatisfied with the lack of solutions to these social problems. Anjali voiced her disdain of the village headman (ketua kampung) when she said that:
There is no meeting. The Ketua Kampung should gather ‘brothers and sisters’ in a meeting. But [there is] no meeting. He should consider some of our brothers’ and sisters’ opinions. . . . Even I tried to help my neighbour. I experienced a winding road to meet the state representative. I did meet him. I told him that my neighbour [an Indonesian permanent resident] needs a house to stay in. My neighbour’s husband was in jail. The state representative didn’t listen to me because the Ketua Kampung did not support me.
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Whilst Tabuan women’s involvement in community and religious leadership is rare, there are some exceptions. The following is an example. Korina is a Tabuan woman who, because of the mismanagement of previous committee members, successfully challenged the patriarchal management of the surau (prayer room, or musolla) committee in the sub-village of Tabuan Dani. Korina’s involvement in the public life of men was motivated by her perception that men in positions of religious leadership were at the time failing the community. Korina is a 32-year-old wife and mother, and an active member of a lobby group that represents the people of Tabuan
Dani who were unsatisfied with the performance of the previous surau committee.
Korina explained to me that the previous committee mismanaged surau finances, which had been collected from various fund-raising activities. The previous committee also failed in its duty to conduct appropriate religious activities for the surau. In the elections for the 2006 committee, Korina was appointed secretary, which is unusual given that women generally do not occupy what is considered to be a relatively important position in surau committees. Korina’s appointment stemmed from the fact that she is well known for being proactive in the welfare of Tabuan Dani’s residents. Korina’s and
Anjali’s experiences are examples of confident women who took action against the ineffectiveness of patriarchal institutions.
TABUAN HOUSEWIVES AND DOMESTIC SPACE
Housewives commonly hold a lower status than ‘career women.’ For example, as homemakers, the primary chores of Tabuan women include the laundry and childcare. Traditionally, housewives have been associated with a lack of self- development (de Beauvoir 1949; Friedan 1963; Oakly 1974). My examination of the roles of Tabuan housewives, however, demonstrates that in this capacity they are able to acquire a degree of financial autonomy through their positions as financial managers of
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the household and their involvement in petty trading. In addition, the presence of television at home has been a source of moral guidance (including government messages) in dealing with social problems within their community, and of information on the latest trends in consumption.
Although many Tabuan housewives own a washing machine, ‘doing the laundry’ (nyesah pakaian) is always given as an example by Tabuan women of the most arduous of domestic chores. For this reason, the modern electric washing machine is perceived to be one of the most important domestic appliances a Tabuan woman can possess. Other than this, however, I did not hear any complaints from Tabuan housewives about being overburdened by home duties. For those who have young children, their daily routine includes sending their children to kindergarten and collecting them up at noon. Because their cuisine is simple, and they frequently buy cooked food from neighbouring food stalls, the least time consuming of tasks for
Tabuan is cooking. Furthermore, they commonly cook just once or twice a day, in the early morning and evening. This covers meals for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. Some husbands bring their lunch to work and have dinner at home. The poorer families spend less time cleaning the home because their houses are small. Extended families who live in the one house may also share the chores. Rarely do they have a garden or vegetable patch to care for. In all, the simplicity of their tasks as homemakers has left them with surplus free time.
In managing the money that is provided by their husbands, one of the most important roles assigned to Tabuan housewives is manager of domestic finances. With the limited money earned by their husbands, they have to make critical decisions about spending, including balancing the necessities for the family and the desire to spend for lifestyle goods. In the first instance, Tabuan housewives’ primary managerial task is to
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budget for household expenses. This includes spending on the necessities; including food, paying instalments for goods bought on credit, utility bills, motor vehicle repayments and repairs (especially in the case of husbands who are owner-drivers or van-taxi operators, or own motorcycles), school expenses and spending for festival seasons. The most costly expense is generally the husband’s motorcycle or car, as well as television sets and washing machines. Most Tabuan housewives now have three electrical devices that are considered necessities: the television set (including the DVD player), the fridge and the washing machine. Nevertheless, both television sets and washing machines need to be replaced when they become old or breakdown; so many
Tabuan households are continuously paying instalments for these electrical appliances.
If they are careful in budgeting money for household necessities, Tabuan women may also have the privilege of spending on lifestyle commodities. The consumption of lifestyle goods allows them to project a desired identity. However, it is a challenging task for Tabuan women to find the resources to spend on both necessities and lifestyle goods. In the second instance of spending of lifestyle goods, they have to carefully manage household money. Participating in rotating community credit schemes is one way for Tabuan women to afford lifestyle goods, as well as through their occasional and continuous earnings from petty trading. The detailed is in Chapter 6. Some Tabuan women put considerable effort into saving money to achieve their consumption ambitions. There are Tabuan women who like to travel to Kuala Lumpur for vacations, sightseeing, shopping, or visiting relatives. Travel to Kuala Lumpur, however, is considered an expensive activity; yet it provides them with a connection to a cosmopolitan lifestyle. There are also women who like to spend money on emulating the latest fashions and personal grooming habits of celebrities.
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It is possible then to identify three types of domestic financial manager in
Kampung Tabuan. Firstly, there are those who have an absolute say in the spending of the household income. In this instance, their husbands give carte blanche consent to determine household spending patterns, including both for necessities and, if there is any surplus, for lifestyle commodities. It may be the case that some of these women disregard their husband’s protests about their spending decisions (one such case is mentioned in Chapter 7). Some Tabuan housewives attempt to gain greater control of domestic money through pugei (charm). More often, the Tabuan housewives who chose to do this have ‘problematic’ husbands who spend their earnings on gambling, womanising, or alcohol. The second type of domestic financial manager is one who negotiates with her husband in managing the household finances. The third type of domestic financial manager is the housewife who has no financial power because household budgeting is dominated by her husband. In this category there are many husbands who do not provide enough money for spending on necessities.
TABUAN HOUSEWIVES’ ENGAGEMENT WITH TELEVISION
The government’s development ideology is embedded in locally produced television programs. The National Economic Policy (NEP) introduced in197244 has become the policy foundation of Malaysian state policy to date. Through television viewers are exposed to government messages relating to national development. It is a policy which has had a significant influence in the domestic unit (Ong 1990). These messages emphasise the maintenance of a harmonious multicultural society, modernisation, the promotion of women’s participation in the formal economy, and the preservation of Malay and Islamic values. This information is a source of knowledge for
44 The goals of the NEP were to eradicate poverty and restructure the Malaysian economy. An important aim was also to eliminate the identification of ethnicity with economic prosperity. 151
Tabuan women, and they employ it to become ideal mothers and wives. The government also incorporates into local television production its ideology of Western modernity and Islamic revivalism (see Camroux 1996).
The survey that I conducted among Tabuan housewives shows that they spend a significant amount of time every day watching television (see Table 5). Some participants claimed that they are not particularly keen on watching television and estimated the average amount of daily viewing time to be 1 hour. Since Tabuan housewives spend a lot of time at home there is plenty of opportunity for them to watch television. The greatest time spent on watching television was 6 hours and this was recorded for three of the participants. According to Sidney et al. (1996) youth who spend more than 4 hours per day watching television are prone to health problems.
George Garbener’s (1976) classic study on heavy television viewing demonstrates that the more viewers are exposed to violence on television, the more accepting they are of violence in the real world. Both studies suggest that significant amounts of time spent watching television have an influence on people’s physical health and perceptions of the world. There were 10 Tabuan participants (33.3% of the total sample) who spent an average of 4 to 6 hours each day watching television. However, most participants
(40%) spent an average of 3 hours each day watching television.
Table 5 Daily time spent watching television
Time Spent No. of Percentage Watching TV Informants of Total (hours) (%) One 1 3.3 Two 7 23.3 Three 12 40 Four 4 13.3 Five 3 10 Six 3 10 Total 30 100
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During the course of my fieldwork it became evident that women find inspiration in television messages. In the survey, I asked participants to rank the role(s) of television according to four categories (see Table 6). I presented three roles that television might perform; to entertain, to inform, and to educate. Alongside these roles,
I added another: ‘social activity.’45
Table 6 The Role of Television perceived by Tabuan housewives
Role Very Important=1, Important=2, Least important=3, Not important=4 Very Important Least Not Total Important important Important Entertain 16.7 (5) 26.6 (8) 46.6 (14) 10 (3) 100 (30) Educate 13.3 (4) 50 (15) 33.3 (10) 3.3 (1) 100 (30) Inform 76.6 (23) 13.3(4) 10 (3) 100 (30) Social Activity 3.3 (1) 6.6 (2) 90 (27) 100 (30)
The findings suggest that the most important role of television for Tabuan women was ‘to inform’ (76%). The next most important role was ‘to educate’ (50%).
The least important role of television was ‘to entertain’ (46.6%). Finally, the role considered to be least important was that of ‘social activity’ (90%). These findings were consistent with the responses to another survey that asked participants to choose the most watched television program (see Table 6). The most watched television program was the Malay news bulletin (83.3%). The second most watched television program was
Malay dramas (73.3%). The least watched television program was musical entertainment (26.6%). In my conversations with Tabuan housewives, the role ‘to inform’ related to the importance of keeping abreast of current local, national and international issues and events. One Tabuan housewife, Khairina, claimed she watched the news to understand what was happening across Malaysia. However, she was also
45 My aim is to find out if television viewing is regarded as a social activity among family members and neighbours. 153
interested in natural disasters that occur globally and the wars in Muslim countries which are frequently depicted on television. Tabuan housewives emphasised that without television at home they became ‘bodo’ (stupid) – a derogatory term meaning ignorant, or which is used to describe someone acting irrationally. They claim that without television, they would be ignorant of what is happening beyond Sarawak.
Table 7 Television genres watched by Tabuan housewives by frequency
TV Genre Often Sometimes Occasionally Never Foreign Drama 46.6 46.6 6.6 Malay Drama 73.3 23.3 3.3 Malay News Bulletin 83.3 16.7 Malay Magazine TV 63.3 23.3 13.3 Malay -Islamic forum 50 46.6 3.3 Musical entertainment 26.6 43.3 23.3 6.6
Interestingly, television’s educational role was commonly attributed to both local and foreign television dramas. Engagement with these programs was treated as part of a broader learning experience. Tabuan housewives assert that the role of television drama is pakei pengajaran or teladan, which means ‘to teach us a lesson.’ In relation to television drama serials, Tabuan housewives take a special interest in issues surrounding domestic conflict.
Drama serials produced in foreign countries enrich their ideas and inspire solutions to problems associated with their roles as both wives and mothers. For instance, Balkish claims to have learnt to acquire an attitude of patience from Hikmah, an Indonesian drama serial. In the drama, the daughter Ana has strong religious convictions and is dutiful and humble in the face of family and marriage problems.
Another Tabuan woman, Bella Dally, was engrossed with a Chinese drama serial set during the dynastic rule. I was curious to know why.
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Zana: Do you really like to watch Chinese drama serials? Bella Dally: It depends on the story. Zana: Why do you like to watch this particular drama serial? Bella Dally: I want to know the story about a dignitary who has four concubines. He loved the youngest woman; there was also jealousy and competition among these women.
Both Balkish and Bella Dally have their own reasons as to why they engage with certain themes in foreign drama serials. This engagement is informed by what they want or need to know, not only in terms of reflecting on their own lives, but also to inspire them to overcome their problems in their family and community.
Tabuan housewives are well aware that television programs that are broadcast in
Malaysia are censored by the government. This has in fact strengthened the perception that television has an educational role to play in their lives. Tabuan women recognise the government’s intervention role through censorship and therefore do not denigrate
Malay dramas, unlike urban viewers, who often condemn Malay dramas (as discussed in Chapter 3).
Confident that television programs have been ‘cleansed’ of any undesirable elements, Tabuan housewives feel that watching television is a healthy activity for their children; especially when compared to playing outside or mixing with their peers in
Kampung Tabuan. Nevertheless, Tabuan housewives also have a strong sense of self- censorship. For example, Bella Dally said, ‘It is true that television has all; it depicts good and bad values. Do not follow the bad ones.’ A keen interest in values comes naturally to Tabuan women who have not lost sight of the so-called ‘sacred’ role of the mother in Malay culture (this will be elaborated on further in Chapter 8). Becoming a guardian of good values and promoting correct behaviour are intrinsic to being a ‘good mother’. As a result of their exposure of foreign and locally produced drama serials and movies on television, Tabuan housewives are exposed to diverse value-systems. Tabuan housewives are able to make comparisons between local (Malay) and foreign popular
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culture. For example Rani, another participant in the study, contends that both
Indonesian and Filipino drama serials include more cruelty than Malaysian drama serials. Juliana, however, feels that foreign drama serials and movies have more interesting plots and better-looking actors. She has a collection of about 200 pirated and original VCDs and DVDs (see Plate 8). In my survey, 90% of the 30 participatingTabuan households owned a DVD player. These were used by the family to watch movies for karaoke, or simply to listen to music. Other than television, Khairina watches a diverse range of uncensored movies from pirated DVDs which would generally not be broadcast without some form of censoring. She watches these at night with her husband and mother in-law after her children have gone to bed. Similarly,
Amor, Khairina, Priyanka, and Salehah watch pirated movies on DVD.
Plate 9 Juliana catalogues her collection of over 200 VCDs, including local and foreign movies, drama serials, and karaoke and music albums. The photo also shows that Juliana wears the T- shirt of Mickey Mouse. Merchandise bearing animated characters, particularly from North America and Japan (see also Plate 10) are easily available in Kuching. It is common for Kampung Tabuan residents to arrange their lounge room in such a way that the television has central place, often close to a framed verse(s) from the holy Quran (see Plate 10). This arrangement may imply that Tabuan housewives identify television – as an informational and educational resource – as an instrument for
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moral guidance in the same way as are the Quranic verses that hang on the wall and symbolise an Islamic identity.
Plate 10 Priyanka’s lounge room has a complete entertainment unit, including television, DVD player, radio, and speakers. There are also two framed Quranic verses hanging on the wall. Some of her hundreds of DVDs, and a mascot of Doraemon, a popular animation series from Japan on Malaysian television. The lounge room, complete with religious artefacts, is where Tabuan housewives spend much of their time. Most Tabuan women have completed their household chores by mid-afternoon (or postpone such activities during this time), to watch their popular drama serial airing on Malaysian FTA stations (see Plate 11).
During this time, the station broadcasts a number of drama serials from countries such as Latin America, the Philippines and Japan. Since early 2005, a drama serial slot called
Sinetron on TV3 has also broadcast drama serials from Indonesia. The most popular local Malay drama serial, which at the time of this study was broadcast on Sundays, was
Sembilu kasih.
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Plate 11 Norish (left) and Dania (right) doing their seamstress homework at around 1:00 p.m. before watching popular Indonesian drama serials at 2:30 p.m. on TV 3’s Sinetron slot. Both women are learning seamstress skills at the Youth Centre in Pending.
THE PETTY TRADING ACTIVITIES OF TABUAN HOUSEWIVES
Tabuan women often need to negotiate with their husbands if they want to enter the formal economy. Some receive encouragement from their husbands if he feels they can cope with paid work and not neglect their primary roles as wives and mothers. In my study there were a relatively small number of husbands who refused to allow their wives to work. Still, Tabuan women are commonly unable to participate in the formal economy. The reasons for this include a lack of educational qualifications and skills, lower wages compared with men, and the general competition for available work.
Petty trading is a more realistic option and it is encouraged and supported by the government. The Ministry of Rural and Regional Development provides initiatives to improve the earning capacity of families in the lower income category nationwide.46
Some of these initiatives allow women to apply for grants or loans to set up small-scale business ventures. In Kampung Tabuan there is a very active national trust body called
46 In Sarawak, the Sarawak Economic Development Corporation and the Department of Agriculture are the two state bodies that provide monetary assistance to lower income earners so that they can become involved in small-scale entrepreneurship. 158
Amanah Ikhtiar Malaysia (or AIM - Malaysian Effort Trust Fund)47 which is comprised wholly of women members. This trust was set up by a non-government body to help less privileged men and women to establish their own small-scale businesses.
In part because of such schemes petty trading is at the centre of the economic activity of Tabuan housewives. This sort of income generating activity affords women the flexibility to maintain control over household duties and earn an income to supplement that of their husband. Many Tabuan women traders are therefore part-timers or trade for a limited time each day. There are predominantly three types of trading activities: retailing, food vending, and tailoring.
In terms of retailing, Tabuan housewives act as middle sellers who buy goods in large quantities outside Kampung Tabuan, including from Kuching city, Kuala Lumpur, and the border towns of Sarawak and Kalimantan (Indonesia) for resale within the community. The items they sell include ready-made garments and textiles; products via catalogues (commonly known as multilevel marketing); bakery products (especially those for which the expiry date is close so that the price is marked down); and seasonal and jungle fruit and vegetables. Whereas retailing is often sporadic, grocery trading is often a more permanent venture and is conducted on a larger scale than other forms of petty trading. Tabuan women who run grocery stalls sell staples such as rice, sugar, cooking oil and flour; albeit in small quantities. If Tabuan consumers want to buy these items in bulk, they buy them in Kuching. In terms of shop space it is common for traders to annexe part of their living rooms or adds separate structures that are attached to their houses.
47 AIM is a trust body that operates nation-wide to assist underprivileged men and women to access credit for which they would not otherwise qualify at a bank. In Kampung Tabuan, a representative officer from AIM administers all aspects of the program. Currently, there are approximately 20 members each in both Kampung Tabuan Tengah and Kampung Tabuan Hilir who have taken out loans under this scheme. The members are required to make repayment instalments on the money they have borrowed at weekly meetings.
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Plate 12 Part of a living room of a house has been turned into a small grocery shop.
Food vending always flourishes during the festive seasons. Some Tabuan housewives, for instance, make and sell festive biscuits and cakes for customers both within and outside the Kampung. The most popular cooked food sold by Tabuan housewives is nasi lemak (coconut rice), burgers, banana fritters, fried noodles, and kuih
(finger food).48 Some women supply middle sellers but most make and sell the food in front of their house, or they organise their children to sell their products around the village. Rather than being an activity that takes up the whole day, the selling of home- made food tends to be limited to a certain time; breakfast, lunch, tea time, or dinner.
Of all the trading activities, home-cooked food vendors receive the lowest profits. This is because the price of cooked food in Kampung Tabuan is relatively less than the same food sold in other Malay villages around Kuching city. For example, I bought a doughnut for 20 cents from a 12-year-old girl who was selling door-to-door.
The same product was sold for 30 or 35 cents outside Kampung Tabuan. These prices are a reflection of the villager’s purchasing capacity.
48 Kuih is a type of traditional food that is cut into small portions and eaten as a snack. 160
Tabuan housewives have also been successful in providing seamstress services from their homes (see Plate 11). In fact, Tabuan housewives have being praised for their excellent seamstress work by the Director of the Women’s Bureau of Sarawak,
Norjanah binti Haji Razali.49 It is an important service since traditional dress for men, women, and children are made by the seamstresses within the village. Their service is in greatest demand during Hari Raya and before the start of the first school term. Villagers wear traditional dress during festival: baju Melayu for men and boys, and baju kurung or kebaya for women and girls. Whilst school uniforms are often bought ready-made from established businesses, there are some mothers who prefer to buy the fabric and have them made by Tabuan seamstresses. Many parents cannot afford to pay cash in a department store. A seamstress will allow a close friend to pay for the school uniforms by instalments.
CONCLUSION
The residents of Kampung Tabuan are unskilled migrants and who have settled in the village from other areas within Kuching city and the greater Kuching Division.
Those within the community are labelled by outsiders as being prone to violence, substance abuse and crime, and lack of initiative and enterprise. They are also recognised as being property less and inhabiting valueless land in what is undoubtedly an inhospitable geographic environment. Because of this the population receives little in the way of infrastructure development from the SKCMC and the police are reluctant to take a stand on public order in the community. However it is not only outsiders who are contemptuous of Tabuan men. The women of the village have little faith in the ability of community leaders and male dominated institutions to find solutions to the social ills
49 I interviewed Norjanah binti haji Razali on 28 January, 2010 about the role of the Sarawak Women’s Council in relation to Sarawak women’s development. 161
which plague the village. These same social problems have a direct affect on the wellbeing of their children, in particular sons. The presence of crime, drug addiction, alcoholism and violence threatens to disrupt the stability of traditional family roles and values. Although Tabuan housewives have been affected by a similar process of marginalisation as men, they have found opportunities and strategies to gain greater financial autonomy. Their position as supplementary income earners is fully supported by the government. What is more, Tabuan housewives are interpreting television messages in such a way that facilitates their embracing of globalisation, consumption, and modernity.
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CHAPTER 6
IMAGINED COSMOPOLITANS: HOUSEWIVES’ PETTY TRADING AND CONSUMPTION
INTRODUCTION
This chapter has two aims. The first is to examine the involvement of Tabuan housewives in petty trading. There are different ways of practising petty trading among the housewives and differences in their degree of involvement. I argue that petty trading has allowed for the consumption of lifestyle commodities. With this in mind, I investigate Tabuan housewives in relation to their roles of trader and consumer. I also investigate Tabuan housewives’ social-trading networks and conceptualise them as market spaces for selling goods and services and for acquiring lifestyle commodities.
The second aim of the chapter is to investigate these processes of petty trading and consumption as a means for creating the modern self (see Besnier 2004). Petty trading is conducted with an objective in mind, this being the accumulation of capital for the consumption of lifestyle commodities. My research confirms that the spending patterns of Tabuan housewives reflect the emergence of a consumer culture among these petty traders. According to Slater (1997),
[c]onsumer culture denotes a social arrangement in which the relation between lived culture and social resources, between meaningful ways of life and the symbolic and material resources on which they depend, is mediated through the market (p. 18).
Miller (1998), in his theory of shopping, argues that consuming goods has allowed women to create a particular sense of self and to structure their relationships with others. In the case of Tabuan housewives, the money they posses and the role of trader they perform has allowed them to consume, if not as much as middle class women but not as little as what Gerke’s (2000) terms as ‘lifestyling’ (p. 137). Gerke (2000) defines
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lifestyling as ‘the display of a standard of living that one is in fact unable to afford’ (p.
137).
Following from Habermas (1987), Miller (1995b) contends that consumption is an integral aspect of modernity. Miller points out that in consuming goods one is ‘living through objects and images not of one’s own creation’ (p. 1, emphasis added). In relation to cosmopolitanism the consumption of goods connects consumers with images that transcend national boundaries. Gerke (2000), for instance, found that lower-middle class Indonesians consume global food, drink, and branded fashion from North America to demonstrate their preference for modern, urban lifestyles. This type of consumption may lead to connection with the Other. According to Delanty (2006) ‘the cosmopolitan imagination occurs when and wherever new relations between self, other and world develop in moments of openness’ (p. 27). Besnier’s (2004) ethnographic research in the second-hand marketplace in Nuku’alofa, Tonga unearths a process whereby traders in the market sell overseas goods from their diasporic relatives who reside, for instance, in
North America and New Zealand. Besnier uses his field site to highlight the performative nature of modernity, cosmopolitanism and identity. I use Besnier’s (2004) work as a basis to examine Tabuan women traders in the context of what Ong (2008) and Beck (2004) have termed banal cosmopolitanism (see Chapter 3).
In addition, this chapter illustrates the response of the housewives to television’s depiction of modernity, which is part of the cosmopolitan project of Malaysian free-to- air television. The imagination of cosmopolitans is due to Tabuan housewives’ ability to emulate certain characteristics of middle class women depicted on television – mobility, economically independent and opportunity to socialise with wider society. The outward outlook is demonstrated when Tabuan housewives involve in the activity of consumption and trading. Therefore, this chapter is to highlight the ‘moment of
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openness’ to others (Delanty 2006, p. 27) that characterised Tabuan housewives’ cosmopolitan imagination. This chapter does not discuss the selected modelling of television cosmopolitanism images by Tabuan women in any detail as this question will be dealt with further in Chapter 7. Many of the housewives traders mentioned in this chapter will be discussed again in Chapter 7 on their connection with cosmopolitan outlook.
OVERVIEW OF PETTY TRADING AND THE CONSUMPTION OF LIFESTYLE COMMODITIES
In interviews with the housewives of Kampung Tabuan it was clear that most characterised themselves primarily as diam rumah ajak (staying at home only) or surirumah (a housewife). They accept their primary status as housewives. Nonetheless, the term ‘housewife’ in Malaysia, and I would argue in other parts of Southeast Asia
(see for example Illo 1995 in the Philippines), has a broader application than what it suggests in the West. In the Malay context, the notion of a surirumah (housewife) has been inherited from peasant society. It refers to both full-time housewives, and housewives who are to some degree or another involved in food production or income- producing activities. As in times past, their involvement in petty trading is today not conceptualised as being a part of the formal economy, because their business ventures are not subject to regulation by the government, such as the requirements to obtain licences and to pay taxes.
Manderson (1983) provides historical evidence from the local chronicler,
Mohamed Ibrahim in 1871, who noted that Malay women were actively involved in food production for the family. A number of more contemporary studies have since provided evidence which demonstrates the involvement of Malay women in activities that generate additional income, or in producing rice for the family in Kelantan (Rudie
1994); Terengganu (Strange 1981; Firth 1966) and Kedah (Carsten 1998). According to 165
Li (1989), Singaporean Malay women who contribute financially to the household through their involvement in the formal economy primarily provide a supplementary income to that of their husband. Her earnings rarely contribute to core household expenses. The earnings of Malay women, whether through their involvement in the formal or informal economic sector, are secondary to their husband’s income.
Furthermore, Malay women are often responsible for managing the money earned by their husband (Firth 1966). Although the management of household finance includes budgeting and spending, studies undertaken on the spending habits of Malay housewives has only focused on that of essential commodities for family consumption - for instance, in an urban community in Singapore (Li 1989); or in a rural community in
Malaysia (Ong 1987). Feminist studies of gender and consumerism neglect women’s participation in consumption (Casey & Martens 2007; Schroeder 2003). In the
Malaysian context, and more particularly in relation to the rise of the middle class in the
1990s, studies have highlighted the increased consumption of luxury goods and services
(Talib 2000). Only in recent years have studies begun to focus on Malaysian women’s consumption of lifestyle commodities. One such study (Yusof & Duasa 2010) investigates decision making processes between husbands and wives in Peninsular
Malaysia in their spending on household items and lifestyle goods.
In the 1960s, the consumption of commercially manufactured goods was beginning to influence patterns of family consumption among south-west Sarawak
Malays in Kuching Division (Harrisson 1970). The conspicuous consumption of luxury items commonly occurred during the Muslim religious festival of Hari Raya, but in fact that was in the interests of the family (Harrisson 1970). In the latter years of Harrisson’s study villagers began to buy sewing machines which might be considered a luxury (or convenience) item. The purchase of a sewing machine is an example of the acquisition
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of a relatively expensive item that could also be used to generate additional income.
Harrisson implies that at the time the sewing machine was symbolic of a luxury good.
Harrisson (1970) further notes that purchase of personal lifestyle commodities, such as
American-style sports shirts and jewellery, were undertaken by young men and women, but not housewives.
Although Ong’s (1987) work did not focus on consumption, she observes that in a rural area in Selangor, West Malaysia, money was spent on television sets and expensive furniture. These two luxury commodities were desired by young men and women who, because of their jobs in multinational factories, could afford them. The housewives in Ong’s (1987) study assumed the role of household managers who diligently pool money from their husbands’ earnings, their own earnings, and their children’s cash remittances, to spend on essentials and if at all possible luxury goods for their families, rather than for themselves.
The following section investigates the specific nature of petty trading and consumption among the housewives of Kampung Tabuan. I explain how petty trading and the consumption of lifestyle commodities leads to Tabuan women’s attempted engagement with modernity.
TABUAN HOUSEWIVES, PETTY TRADING AND CONSUMPTION
Petty trading refers to those activities that are conducted by the women within the village that lead to the accumulation of financial resources. Tabuan housewives demonstrate differing degrees of involvement in petty trading. Most are involved periodically or part-time, for instance during the evenings, on weekends, or during festival seasons. However, more time is devoted to business activities if they are involved in enterprises such as in grocery selling or sewing from home. The items traded are typically seasonal fruits, vegetables, and home-cooked foods; as well as
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lifestyle commodities, such as ready-made dresses, other garments, personal beauty products, handbags, jewellery (gold, crystal, and silver) and furniture. There are fundamentally two forms of petty trading: a social-trading network, which is more mobile and permanent (often home-based) trading. Both are explained in more detail in the following section.
Besnier (2004) highlights three characteristics of trading-consuming activities at the second-hand marketplace, called a fea, in Tonga. He also comes to the conclusion that a fea ‘embodies all the complexities and contradictions that arise in the construction of modernity and of the traditional order’ (p. 9).
First, the definition and control of modernity in this highly stratified society are a privilege of the elites, yet the marketplace is dominated by the non-privileged and socially marginal, busy claiming a stake in how modernity is to be defined and incorporated in the local context. Second, the (relatively) shabby appearance, indecorous character, disorderly social composition, and geographical marginality of the fea contradict the dominant association of modernity with cleanliness, order, hierarchy and centrality. Finally, the varied ways in which participants orient themselves to modernity display its multiple layered natures, which is at once moral, psychological, material, interactional, and political, despite dominant local understandings of modernity as a reasonably unified phenomenon (p. 9). Besnier contends that the fea is a place where traders and consumers practice modernity. The term practice highlights the ‘tentative, developmental, performative, and constructed nature of [an] activity’ (Besnier 2004, p. 8). In the case of Tabuan housewives, I investigate modernity as a self-reflexive project that creates self-identity through trading and consuming. According to Gauntlett (2008) the self-reflexive project of self-identity is ‘an endeavour that we continuously work and reflect on’ (p. 107).
Here, I shall illustrate an example of the interplay of Tabuan household earning and spending on a lifestyle commodity. Fasha, a Tabuan housewife and trader provides
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an example of the selling and buying of hair care treatments.50 Fasha was not happy with her natural hair, which she claimed was jaek (ugly) because it is full of body and wavy. She insisted she would rather have long and straight hair. Although she is happy with the look of her newly acquired straight hair, she complained that it is expensive to maintain.
Fasha goes to a hair salon twice a year to straighten and sometimes colour her hair. She also buys relatively expensive hair care products. Every six months, she spends RM 250 on straightening, hair care products, and hair colouring. Altogether she spends 37% of her total net RM132 monthly income (RM41) on her hair.
Fasha’s husband, Aaron, has a take-home income of RM1000 (AUD333).
Aaron’s major expenses are the van instalments and petrol, which leaves him with only
RM300 (AUD100) per month for household spending. Fasha’s take-home income is
RM220 (AUD73). The income came from selling weekend breakfasts and snacks on the school bus. After spending on the food ingredients, her net earnings are RM132
(AUD46).
50 Although the spending of housewives on hair care is not as common as their spending on clothing items and gold jewellery, I chose Siti’s case because of her focus on one type of lifestyle commodity. Moreover, Siti’s revelation on her family’s earnings and her consumption are reliable and consistent with my observations. 169
Table 8 Aaron’s and Fasha’s Approximate Monthly Household Earnings and Fasha’s Lifestyle Commodity Consumption
Summary
Aaron’s take-home income RM1000.00
Aaron’s net earnings RM300.00
Fasha’s net earnings RM132
Total net household earnings RM432.00
Fasha’s hair care per month RM41.00
Fasha’s hair care spending as a percentage of her earnings 37.1%
Fasha’s hair care spending as a percentage of total household earnings 9.4%
Fasha’s earnings were not intended to erode her husband’s responsibility for the provision of money to support their family. The earnings of Malay housewives are typically used to purchase minor household goods (Abdullah Yusof & Duasa 2010; Li
1989). According to Li (1989) in her study of urban Singapore Malay households:
The idea that the husband should be the one to provide for the needs of his wife and household can be seen to operate in the household’s budget even where husband and wife are both working. The husband’s wage is used for essentials such as rent, utilities, education, the monthly order of rice, oil, and milk, and major consumer goods such as the refrigerator, furniture, and television set. The wife’s income is used for items that are perceived as supplementary, such as her own and the children’s clothing, smaller consumer goods, or goods in her own domain such as a washing machine and special kitchenware, children’s tuition, snacks for the children, and to augment the food budget if it runs short at the end of the month (p.18). A husband’s earnings are spent appropriately on household essentials and his children’s needs, not, unless the money is a gift from the husband, on his wife’s (Li 1989). Tabuan housewives too are not obliged to be responsible for the provision of household essentials. Tabuan women commonly say that, in relation to the money they reserve for their personal spending, bagus agik pakei duit sendiri (it is good to spend with our own money). Even if a Malay husband spends money on his wife’s personal non-essential
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wants, she will not feel comfortable in taking the money from his earnings. According to Li (1989), this feeling emerges from a ‘sense of debt and dependence’ (p. 22). Li explains that Singaporean Malay women feel that way because ‘[t]he wife fears she could be criticized for demanding, and then spending, money that someone else has laboured to earn’ (p. 22).
Hence, gendered norms in relation to economic responsibility in the Malay family influences the way Tabuan housewives use their money for two competing requirements: supplementing the household budget and consuming lifestyle commodities. The amount that Tabuan housewives spend on household essentials depends on individual circumstances and preferences. For instance, Balkish (nickname
Bibi) is a home seamstress who has saved almost all her income for over ten years to assist her husband in building their own house. In contrast, Sofea Jane and Zulaikha prioritise the money they earn for their personal consumption. They earn money but it is spent on themselves rather than on the household. In contrast to Balkish’s commitment to her husband, another Tabuan housewife, Sofea Jane, saves most of her earnings to go for haj. Although she desperately needs to renovate her old kitchen, rather than spending all her personal savings, she pooled money from her own savings, her children’s savings, and her husband’s savings to pay for the renovations. In addition, the spending decisions of Tabuan housewives are also influenced by the amount of their husbands’ incomes, and, if applicable, their children’s remittances.
The characteristics of Tabuan housewives petty trading has affinities with both
Geertz’s (1963) and Dewey’s (1962) classic studies of petty trading in Indonesia.
Although these studies were conducted in different economic settings –the former was conducted in urban towns, whilst the latter was conducted in a rural peasant community
– both demonstrated that petty trading was shaped by social and cultural influences
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rather than the more homogenous (and anonymous) business practices that are associated with the free market economy. Risk avoidance was one of the features highlighted by Geertz (1963) since the profits associated with these businesses are low.
In the case of Tabuan housewives, a further feature of petty trading is the involvement and support of close kin. For instance, a father in-law provides an annex space in his house for a grocery shop run by his daughter in-law.
Malaysia’s National Economic Policy has encouraged women from rural and underprivileged backgrounds to become involved in the economy through the provision of micro-credit schemes (Masud & Paim 1999). The involvement of Tabuan housewives in petty trading, however, differs somewhat from other Malay women’s involvement in small-scale marketplace entrepreneurship. Malay housewives in
Kelantan state,51 for instance, dominate trading at the Kota Bharu market (Rudie 1994).
Kelantan Malay women have also been successful in the formal business sector through their common involvement in wholesaling, retailing, and manufacturing (Idris &
Shahdan 1991). The authors also show that the objectives of Kelantan Malay businesswomen are to create wealth and reinvest it in order to generate even more profit. In comparison to Kelantan Malay businesswomen, the petty trading of housewives in Kampung Tabuan is generally motivated by the desire to earn extra money to spend on personal lifestyle goods. Moreover, unlike Kelantan Malay businesswomen, Tabuan housewives have yet to extend their trading to the busy marketplace in Kuching city.
In this regard, Tabuan women explain their involvement in petty trading as either cari duit lebih (to earn additional income) or pakei isi masa lapang (to fill in free time). This suggests that the housewives see themselves as supplementary rather than
51 Kelantan is one of the Malaysian states located in eastern Peninsular Malaysia.
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primary income earners for their families. The first of these responses was typically given by Tabuan housewives who were endeavouring to supplement their husband’s inadequate earnings. The second answer was typically given by Tabuan housewives whose husband’s earnings were sufficient to meet the basic needs of the household.
This implies that such women have more liberty to spend on personal lifestyle commodities.
Social-Trading Networks
I use the term ‘socio-trading network’ to refer to the activities of buying and selling that utilise for this purpose social networks among Tabuan housewives. They encourage their friends, neighbours, and relatives to buy from them rather than from anonymous others. In fact the aim of many Tabuan traders is to maintain cash flow, favours and mutual obligation among their social network with sometimes little concern for profit.
There are two modes of buying and selling which exploit social networks. The first is through community rotating credit schemes (CRCS). In these schemes, members accumulate money to buy more expensive goods. It is a process that will be explained in the following section. The second type of social network trading occurs when Tabuan housewives both buy and sell goods from each other both for daily essentials and lifestyle commodities. Tabuan housewives are simultaneously consumers and sellers for certain types of goods that are traded in the village. For example, Aleza is one of
Yatimah’s regular customers. She buys her home-cooked food. In turn, Yatimah buys garment from Aleza. Regardless of the value of the items being traded, the selling and buying activities are often the basis for the development of long-term relationship between members of the network.
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In order for Tabuan housewives to be able to maximise their chances of selling goods, they depend on cultivating a sense of mutual obligation among those in their social network. This has been a recognised practice in rural Malay society when organising social and religious activities in a spirit of ‘co-operation’ (gotong-royong) among neighbours and close friends. The concept of gotong-royong is, for example, commonly demonstrated in the organisation of wedding functions. However, the concept of gotong-royong has evolved in the urban setting of Kampung Tabuan.
Through CRCSs, Tabuan housewives utilise social networks as much for economic reasons as social ones.
Mutual obligation is facilitated through housewives’ discipline in controlling the price of certain goods. For instance, Tabuan traders commonly set a relatively low price for the food that they produce and sell. As such, the products that are sold in the village are kept at a minimum so that members of their networks can afford to buy them.
Another way to enable their members to afford more expensive goods is to offer payment through instalments. In setting a lower price sellers are demonstrating compassion for their customers. In the Sarawak Malay dialect, they talk about sik kempang ati (not having the heart) to sell the food at the standard retail price. This is an important characteristic of trading in Kampung Tabuan; through the recognition of a common or shared economic status a sense of unity prevails. The traders who do not follow this convention are said to display behaviour that is sik patut (inappropriate). In daily conversation, the phrase sik kempang ati is used to empathise with a person who is facing hardship.
CRCSs are another type of social network trading that allows Tabuan housewives’ to participate in the consumption of lifestyle commodities. CRCSs are well known and still practised in many communities in developing countries, such as the
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Philippines and Indonesia. It is the collective action of a group of people who agree to meet for a defined period in order to save and borrow money together. Geertz (1963) explains the activity thus:
The basic principle upon which the rotating credit association is founded is everywhere the same: a lump sum fund composed of fixed contributions from each member of the association in turn. Thus, if there are ten members of the association, if the association meets weekly, and if the weekly contribution from each member is one dollar, then each week over a ten-week period a different member will receive ten dollars (i.e., counting his own contribution). If interest payments are calculated, by one mechanism or another, as part of the system, the numerical simplicity is destroyed, but the essential principle of rotating access to a continually reconstituted capital fund remains intact. Whether the fund is in kind or in cash; whether the order the members receive the fund is fixed by lot, by agreement, or by bidding; whether the time period over which the society runs is many years or a few weeks; whether the sums involved are minute or rather large; whether the members are few or many; and whether the association is composed of urban traders or rural peasants, of men or women, the general structure of the institution is constant (p. 243).
CRCS acts in much the same way a bank does: people deposit money for a certain period. The underlying features of such payment arrangements are mutual obligation, trust, and co-dependence by both members and the leader (who acts as an organiser and seller). CRCSs draw on the community’s cultural disposition toward mutual aid.
In Kampung Tabuan, a CRCS is known as main hoi, literally main means ‘play’ and hoi means ‘a cycle of time.’ Thus, main hoi translates to the doing of an activity which has to be completed in one cycle of time. In women’s groups main hoi is managed by a so called trustworthy leader. Success in main hoi depends on the trust between its leader and the group’s members. Some members are involved in main hoi on an ongoing basis, whilst some members’ participation is sporadic. Because of this it is crucial for a leader to continually recruit new and trustworthy members. This activity fosters trust among women within the community, and permits the consumption of goods which might normally be too expensive to acquire through cash. The practice of arisan, which occurs among the the Modjokuto community in Java, shares similarities
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with main hoi in Kampung Tabuan in that it has both consumption and a communal motives rather than just a communal motive. Geertz (1963) has argued that the motive behind arisan ‘is not the money you receive, but the creation of rukun (communal harmony) . . .’ (Geertz, 1963, p. 243).
Technically, there are two types of main hoi: hoi duit and hoi barang. Hoi duit means ‘doing an activity for a certain period to save money.’ Similarly, hoi barang means ‘doing an activity for a certain period to save money to buy goods.’ In Kampung
Tabuan, Rita is one of the women who has, since 2002, been successfully organising both types of main hoi. Rita is the eldest daughter of Rosli and Doris. She married when she was 15 years old and has 6 children aged between 5 and 25 years. Her husband,
Awang Osman, is a sub contractor who installs awnings on commercial buildings. Rita,
Awang Osman and their children family live in a house only a few metres from the back of her parents’ house.
Plate 13 Rita is in the furniture shop, trying to calm down her grumpy son. She is caring for her son while organising hoi barang. For hoi barang Rita collects money from the network’s members each month.
Each month, a member of the network takes her turn to purchase goods of her own
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choice from the pot of money. The most common goods purchased through hoi barang are gold, crystal jewellery or furniture; such as beds, wardrobes, sofas, and display cabinets. However, most of these goods, except jewellery, are for family consumption.
Rita’s role is to collect the monthly payments and identify the jewellery or furniture, the cost of which equals the value of that contributed by the network members. There is of course some benefit for Rita who, as the middle person in the purchase receives a commission from the shop owners when she makes the purchase on behalf of the network member. Rita also arranges for the goods to be delivered to her customers in
Kampung Tabuan. The value of the discount received from the shop owner is profit for
Rita. She also provides other forms of support to her close network members, including providing interest free loans and how to pawn gold.
As the organiser of CRCS for hoi duit, Rita acts as the ‘banker’ who saves the members’ money. The way hoi duit is organised is similar to that of hoi barang. Rita decides on the sum of money that is to be collected every month from her network members. Prior to the collection of the money, members in the group will draw numbers to determine their turn to receive the pot of money. Number one will have the first turn; number two will have the second turn, and so on. However, the organizer or ‘leader’ must also participate in main hoi duit, and the number one allocation is always given to her as her privilege. She is the first person to receive the pot of money. Therefore, the activity does not seem at first to yield any clear monetary profit for the leader, certainly no more than the other network members. However, Rita points out that the benefit is she is able to invest the large sum of money she has collected before she hands it to the recipient at the end of the month.
When a member complains about the turn they receive from the draw for the pot of money, there may be some form of compromise among members, who may elect to
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exchange their turn. In the negotiations, there will be stories to be shared among members explaining why they need the money at a particular time. The stories allow each member to get to know the life situation of the other. This is especially the case with new members. At the end of the time cycle that is agreed, either monthly or weekly, the leader will hand the pot of money to the recipient. The typical amounts that the members receive for yearly main hoi are RM300 (AUD100) or RM500 (AUD166).
When I ask why they participate in main hoi duit, Tabuan housewives have a common answer; monetary gain. As Maya Karin said to me, ‘I will never have the chance to hold such a large sum of money if I do not participate in main hoi duit.’
Thus, main hoi duit is a way for women to possess a large sum of money at one time to spend how they wish. The spending can be for daily use for their family, or for non- essential lifestyle goods. For instance, Maya Karin told me that she spent the pot of the money for the Hari Raya celebration, buying new dresses for herself and her children, and preparing special food for her family. Without the money from main hoi duit she believes that she would not have been able to celebrate in such style. Rita, on the other hand, saves money from main hoi duit to spend on travel to Kuala Lumpur.
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Plate 14 One of the main hoi activities is to draw numbers to determine the members’ turn to receive their pot money.
There are two consequences associated with the social-trading networks, main hoi duit and main hoi barang. Firstly, consumption becomes a significant way to establish and consolidate social relationships among housewives in Kampung Tabuan.
Secondly, Tabuan housewives perpetuate the village’s communal values by choosing to buy from local community networks. This form of trading allows for the creation of relationships with others (Grumpert & Drucker 1992). Miller (1987; 1998) sees the desire for goods as a way for people to escape poverty and to express love for one another. This notion, as demonstrated by Tabuan housewives, contradicts the long-held view that materialism is problematic. This view holds that the more people become concerned with acquiring material possessions, the less concerned they become with each other.
Most Tabuan housewives are typically locked out of accessing loans because
they have no guarantors or permanent jobs. The social networks provide them with
economic purchasing power that they would not otherwise have if they were
dependent on conventional financial institutions. Tabuan women’s social-trading
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network is an example of the process of modernity being able to operate in a marginal
community.
Permanent Petty Trading
Permanent petty trading shows more commitment from traders and the degree of involvement is more consistent. This form of petty trading requires more time, capital, and business skill. An example of this type of trading is the seamstress business, grocery shops and permanent cooked-food vendors; but includes any form of petty trading which is practiced consistently. Rita, for instance, can be considered a permanent petty trader because she has been involved as a permanent leader of main hoi for many years. I applied Besnier’s (2004) framework of modernity to analyse Tabuan housewives’ involvement in trading and consumption. Tabuan housewives’ trading ventures are a process of creating the modern self because trading requires they learn management skills and to possess knowledge of the latest trends in goods, services and fashions.
Tabuan housewives’ involvement in permanent petty trading depends on their ability to efficiently manage their primary task as housewives; the availability of start- up capital; having adequate family support; an entrepreneurial inclination and opportunities. In the following section I present five case studies of Tabuan housewives’ permanent petty trading activities.
Fasha
Fasha is 36 years old and began her married life 17 years ago in possession of one single bed and a few boxes of personal belongings. Since her wedding day she has lived with her parents-in-law. Her husband, Aaron, is the owner-driver of taxi-van. In
2005, Fasha still did not possess a washing machine, which for many Tabuan housewives is considered to be a household necessity. In that same year Aaron bought 180
his own taxi-van and as a result began to increase his earnings. Fasha’s petty trading earnings now help with meeting the cost of household necessities (Fasha’s activity was described in the earlier section). In order to maximise her profit Fasha has to know and monitor the precise cost of the ingredients she uses in her cooking. As also mentioned,
Fasha’s major lifestyle commodity spending is on her hair care.
Sofea Jane
Sofea Jane is 40 years old and has 11 children. She makes kuih kering (dry cakes or snacks) daily and runs a seamstress business during festival seasons. When she first established her business ventures her motivation was to earn some extra money for household spending. Presently Sofea Jane has to travel to the market in Kuching to buy her ingredients for kuih kering. Her husband works as a goods handler at Kuching Port.
Her financial condition has improved since some of her children began sending her remittances. For the past 11 years she has been saving her earnings from selling home- made snacks to perform the haj in Mecca. She often imagines her journey on the aeroplane and performing the rituals in a foreign country. Since she is illiterate, Sofea
Jane worries that she won’t be able to travel and perform the appropriate rituals in the
Arabic language.
Yatimah
Yatimah is 50 years old has been making and selling kuih (traditional finger food or cakes) from her home for the last 15 years. Her husband works as a lorry driver, delivering goods to boarding schools around Kuching. Although Yatimah no longer has a pressing need to earn money to spend on household necessities, she continues making and selling kuih so that she can travel to Kuala Lumpur twice a year. Every morning at
6:00 a.m Yatimah sends the kuih she has made to two regular stalls which sell them for her. Yatimah talks about making kuih and reflects on a Malay film: 181
I always remember Sarimah in one of her films. She was poor. Sarimah made kuih to earn money. Her son Jamil went to school in KL [Kuala Lumpur]. Jamil did not know Sarimah worked so hard. She made sacrifices for her son. The other son studied overseas. Sarimah’s house did not have electricity, so she had to use pelita [oil lamp] at night when making kuih. Yatimah reflects that her work as a kuih maker is similar to Sarimah’s in the film
(entitled Dia Ibuku - She is my Mother). Dia Ibuku is a Malay film which was produced in 1980. In the film Sarimah52, was a single mother who worked hard to support her sons after her husband was killed in a car accident. In the film Sarimah had three jobs; she was a rice farmer and rubber tapper during the day and a kuih maker by night.
Sarimah was portrayed as a dedicated mother who saved money to provide an education for her two sons. Yatimah identifies strongly with the poor but beautiful Sarimah.
Moreover, Yatimah associates her image of a kuih maker with Sarimah in the film, believing that, since it is depicted in the movie, a kuih maker carries some prestige.
Zulaikha
Zulaikha’s husband works as a taxi-van driver. Because Zulaikha (47 years old) resides with her relatively well-off parents-in-law, she similarly has no pressing financial concerns:
Zulaikha: I have opened a small grocery shop, which is attached to our house, in order to fill in my time. Without the shop, I do not have much to do other than watch television and take a nap in the afternoon. If I sleep too much or sit in front of the television all day, I worry that I will get sick. Zana: What about looking after your children and husband, and cooking? Zulaikha: I have two sons. The eldest is in Polytechnic Secondary School, and the youngest is 15 years old. They are very independent. They prepare their own lunches. I cook once a day, in the morning, and that is for lunch and dinner. Sometimes my mother in-law cooks for everybody. If we do not feel like cooking then we buy cooked food from stalls.
Zulaikha and her in-laws share meals, which mean that she alone does not have to manage all the cooking and chores. Consequently, she feels that being a full-time
52 Sarimah is one of the queens of the Malay silver screen. Awa resembles Sarimah in appearance. 182
housewife would not by itself provide her with enough productive work to fill her day.
Her opinion regarding the ideal housewife reflects the government’s ideology on women and work.
Zulaikha has, in fact, been involved in many kinds of smaller petty trading activities other than as a grocer during the course of her married life. She established her small grocery shop two years ago, despite the fact that some Tabuan women had argued there were already too many grocery shops in Kampung Tabuan Tengah. Nevertheless,
Zulaikha has done well and was enthusiastic about expanding her grocery shop to increase the variety of items she has for sale. She has even applied for credit to do this by joining the Amanah Ikhtiar Malaysia (AIM). Zulaikha borrowed RM5000
(AUD1600) from AIM in order to buy more stock for her shop. She diligently attends
AIM’s weekly meetings to learn how to better manage her store and perhaps repay the loan sooner. The profit Zulaikha makes from the grocery store is diligently deposited in the bank. With the savings she plans to go for the haj to Mecca.
Zulaikha’s story is one example of a Tabuan housewife’s entry into petty trading. Because her shop is open seven days a week she spends more of her time managing the grocery shop than doing home duties. I observed that she particularly enjoys interacting with her stock suppliers who are Chinese and Pakistani. Besides taking care of the business transaction, she laughs and chats with them when they come to deliver goods to her shop. With Zulaikha’s customers too she often takes the opportunity to keep abreast of the latest news. The grocery shop business allows
Zulaikha to interact with a variety of people in the confines of her own commercial- domestic space.
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Kareena
Kareena is 32 years old and has five young children aged between 1 and 15 years. Kareena’s story is different from Zulaikha’s in that she had been encouraged by her husband to devote more of her time than she would like to the business. The latest venture is a meat and poultry delivery service for local food stalls and cafes around
Kuching, as well as for Kampung Tabuan customers. Kareena’s routine is to pick up meat or poultry ordered by her customers at the wholesale store in Kuching and deliver it to them. Since the time she was married, Kareena has juggled her duties as homemaker and mother with her involvement in petty trading. She feels anxious in having to cope with the dual roles of housewife and business owner.
Kareena’s husband previously worked as a driver for a wealthy Sarawakian-
Chinese businessman but now works as a security guard at a government office. His employer has a great influence on Kareena’s husband entrepreneur skills. Kareena says that it was her husband who pushed her to become an entrepreneur:
I married when I was 16 years old. My husband is very strict. People said that sixteen was a tender age and that I could easily be influenced….and my husband is a great influence. I learnt [entrepreneurial soft skills] from him. He would be infuriated if I said I couldn’t do it. When I said that I didn’t want to learn how to drive, he was infuriated. Any job that I say ‘I can’t do’, like going to a particular shop or going to the bank, he becomes furious. ‘You have to do it.’ ‘You have to learn,’ he says.
Despite her protests about her husband’s strictness, she has learned many skills and become a confident trader. She now owns a van and has borrowed money from
AIM to expand her business. Both demonstrate some degree of confidence in growing her business, unlike many other Tabuan housewives involved in petty trading. Whilst some would like to expand their business, they are hesitant to borrow money from AIM because of the fear they may not be able to meet the repayments. Kareena told me that borrowing AIM money was her idea and her husband encouraged her to do so.
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She told me that on one occasion when she was parking her van, she accidently hit another car. This accident left a tiny scuff mark on Kareena’s van. The man, whose car was also slight scuffed, was outraged and demanded a cash payment from Kareena but she refused to pay. The man threatened to call the police, but she said to him: ‘report this accident to police if you want - they won’t listen to you!’ She then left the scene as she was in a hurry to get to the bank. This sort of assertive behaviour is uncommon among Malay housewives, including those in Kampung Tabuan. The story that Kareena told me demonstrates both her confidence and desperation in facing the everyday trials of a housewife turned trader.
While Kareena’s husband discourages her from spending money frivolously, she disclosed to me that she likes to donate money to the unfortunate featured on the television reality program Bersamamu (Together with You). Without her earnings from her small business she would be unable to donate money to this program.
Besnier (2004) contends that the practice of buying and selling in the fea is characterised by a reconciliation of the traditional and modern self. These two contradictory orders are manifested by the fea participants in several ways. Firstly, modernity is reflected in buyer-seller interactions. The interactions are personalised and sociable compared to anonymous and impersonal business transactions. Secondly, buyer-seller interaction uses English as the lingua franca of business in the fea; defying the common practice of English being used by only elite groups. Thirdly, foreign fashion is appropriately worn in the fea. Fourthly, ‘being modern’ is demonstrated by resisting the colonial discourse that ‘Tongans are lazy.’
Through their patterns of spending the housewife traders of Kampung Tabuan have demonstrated a similar reconciliation of the traditional and the modern orders, as shown by Besnier (2004). For instance, Besnier claims that impersonal transactions are
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a practice of the traditional economy. This contrasts to a more personal and sociable
(i.e. modern) trading environment which emphasise customers’ loyalty and mutual obligation. Kampung Tabuan trading also demonstrates personal business transactions, particularly among social-trading networks.
Kampung Tabuan traders also differentiate between business conversation and ordinary, everyday interactions with neighbours. Although Besnier (2004) uses the
English language as an indicator of modernity, I use the diversity of communicators as a way to show the modern self. As previously mentioned, Tabuan women traders are required to meet wholesalers and distributors from different ethnic backgrounds during their business transactions. Some of them also attend AIM meetings. This means that their contacts are more diverse than those of most mothers and housewives. Kareena would not have displayed such urgency and confidence when the minor car accident occurred had she not been emboldened by her many years of dealing with her business contacts. In other words, traders must, in order to survive in business, consciously apply communication strategies, such as assertiveness and persuasion, in the business setting when needed.
Modernity is characterised by standardisation. For instance, traders such as
Fasha who are involved in food selling have to differentiate between food preparation for the business, and for the family. Food preparation for the business necessitates the accuracy of measurements, as well as the consistency of presentation. In contrast, food preparation for the family is inconsistent in quality, size, and presentation.
Besnier investigates the colonial discourse which was used to stereotype all
Tongans as being lazy. The British also created a colonial discourse of the ‘lazy Malay’
(Alatas 1977). However, as Zulaikha notes, her involvement in petty trading is motivated by her awareness that doing ‘nothing’ at home – since she has spare time – is
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‘wasting’ time. Zulaikha demonstrates a moral responsibility, which conforms to both the expectations of women in a peasant economy, and the government’s development philosophy that women should earn an income. Still, there are many other Tabuan housewives who choose to be full-time housewives, despite having free time.
CONSUMPTION: THE CONNECTION WITH, AND IMAGINATION OF, OTHER CITY LIFESTYLES, AND THE MEANING OF CLOTHING ITEMS
In this section I explore the meaning of Kuala Lumpur to Tabuan women and their desire for the urban lifestyle(s) of the Other. They want to be connected with the people and goods of Kuala Lumpur. This desire reflects Tabuan women’s imagined connection with modern and cosmopolitan lives. I also outline briefly the way in which television depicts images of Kuala Lumpur. One of the more significant lifestyle commodities for Tabuan housewives is ready-made clothing. Tabuan traders acquire clothing from various places outside Sarawak, including Kuala Lumpur. I illustrate the meaning of the lifestyle commodities, particularly clothing items, sought by Tabuan housewives.
As well as being the capital city of Malaysia, Kuala Lumpur (popularly known as ‘KL’) symbolises for Malaysians development and modernity.53 For economic reasons, including the presence of foreign labour and goods, Kuala Lumpur is a place that can be considered a cosmopolitan city parallel to neighbouring Singapore.
Most Malay popular culture genres, including TV dramas, films, and musicals are produced in Kuala Lumpur. Tabuan housewives enjoy watching TV3 for depictions of wealthy, middle-class lifestyles of Malays in Kuala Lumpur. One such drama series is Sembilu Kasih, (Thorny Love), a story about a wealthy Malay family who own a luxury home replete with swimming pools, expensive cars and chauffeurs. This type of
53 Kuala Lumpur can also refer to any place in Peninsular Malaysia if the name of the place is unknown.
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subject matter is in fact common in Malay dramas aired on TV3. They also feature scenes depicting corporate work places where ‘professionals’ appear in smart Western dress, as well as contemporary city shopping complexes, hotels, and luxury restaurants.
The majority of the characters in these Malay dramas reflect cosmopolitan, middle-class people who are mobile, wealthy and highly educated; and as such do not represent the ordinary Malay.54
Images of this sought are immensely attractive to Tabuan housewives. They enjoy watching representations of cosmopolitan lifestyles on TV3 more than other programs on the government channels (TV1 and TV2). The government channels tend to present a more balanced portrayal of Malays, depicting both urban and rural lifestyles in their dramas. This contention finds support in the answers provided to my interview questions. For instance, when I asked ’what is your favourite television channel?’ 23 of a total 30 respondents (or 76.7%) responded with TV3 (see Table 9). When pressed further during more informal conversations the typical answer was ‘cerita/rancangan ya kacak’ (the dramas/programs are good). Priyanka explains that in saying the dramas are kacak she means that the situations and people depicted on TV3 drama serials are
‘real.’ In contrast to the popularity of TV3, only one respondent chose the longest established government television channel, TV1. TV2, another government channel, was chosen by 5 respondents because, according to those housewives, the channel offered dramas as good as those aired on TV3. As Table 9 shows, TV7 and Astro were the least watched stations.55
54 The Iban have been critical of Malay dramas because they depict the Malay wealthy urban lifestyle (Postill 2006). They see the Malays benefiting from government support (Postill 2006), unlike themselves, who largely live in deprived conditions in the rural areas. Similarly, the Kadazandusun in Sabah view urban Malay lives on drama serials as not representing their rural life experience (Barlocco 2009).
55 There is a reception problem for TV7 in Kampung Tabuan, and Astro is the paid satellite station. 188
Table 9 Favourite Television Stations among Tabuan Housewives
Favourite TV TV3 TV2 TV7 Astro Total Stations No. of Informants 23 5 1 1 30 76.7 16.7 3.3 3.3 100
The lifestyle aspects of the Other that Tabuan housewives desire are affluence attractive people, a choice of modern commodities and affordable shopping destinations. When I asked what the housewives thought about the people and places in
Peninsular Malaysia, Hasliah who has never been to Kuala Lumpur thought that Malays living there are generally wealthier and have a better quality of life than those in
Kuching. A young woman named Neelofa56 expressed her view of the appearance of men in KL:
Neelofa: What do guys in KL look like? Zana: Well? Neelofa: Hmm . . . They’re tall, lean, and fair-skinned, aren’t they? Zana: Not really. Some do have the features you mentioned. Neelofa: I think they are all good-looking. I assume that Neelofa’s assumption about men’s appearance in Kuala Lumpur is what she imagine from the characters in Malay drama serials and movies. There are many instances that Tabuan women see their family members in Malay drama serials and movie characters. Amor sees her mother in-law in a well-off woman character in Mami
Jarum, whilst Meilan sees Zed, Rita’s son in a handsome and well-off male character in
Sembilu Kasih.
Kuala Lumpur is only accessible to Sarawakians by plane travel. There are several domestic airports connecting Kuching with other cities in Sarawak, however
Kuala Lumpur and other destinations in Peninsular Malaysia, together with direct
56 Neelofa is 19 years old had at the time just completed her upper secondary school certificate and was looking for a job. Her mother initially thought I was an employee of TV3 (see Chapter 2 for further explanation). 189
flights to foreign countries, are classified as ‘international departures’ and thus leave from the international airport. First time visitors from Peninsular Malaysia to Kuching who want to return to Kuala Lumpur, for instance, often become confused when ushered to the international departures gate. Whilst the nomenclature has been applied for technical purposes, it perhaps reinforces the symbolism of Kuala Lumpur as a foreign or international destination.
Tabuan people often use travel to Kuala Lumpur to visit family to show that they are connected to modern and cosmopolitan people. If they do not have that connection, some visit their ‘adopted’ relatives. For example, Yatimah told me that her visit to Kuala Lumpur always starts with sightseeing and then visiting her ‘adopted relatives.’ The primary reason, however, was to buy wholesale garments to be sold in
Kampung Tabuan. A visit to Kuala Lumpur demonstrates Tabuan women’s social status, in that they have connections with Kuala Lumpur. Many Tabuan housewives prioritise visiting Kuala Lumpur if they have the opportunity, the money, and the ability to access the knowledge necessary to travel there. In the case of Meilan and her daughter Diana (whose detail backgrounds and their relationships will be explained in
Chapter 8) the opportunity to visit Kuala Lumpur came when Rita invited them to join with her family’s trip. Meilan was willing to pawn her only precious asset, her gold necklace, to purchase the air ticket. Meilan’s aim, firstly, was to visit her daughter who works in a factory near Kuala Lumpur; and secondly, to go shopping and sightseeing.
Tabuan housewives are often unable to purchase special dresses for weddings or religious celebrations directly from Kuala Lumpur. Instead, they acquire these from a social-trading network. Clothes purchased within a social-trading network provide a connection to Kuala Lumpur through the seller who has travelled to the city. When
Aleza sold a dress to Julia she told her that the dress was bought in Kuala Lumpur by
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her grandfather, Rosli. However, Rosli’s motive for visiting Kuala Lumpur was not solely to buy dresses for resellers in Kampung Tabuan. Rather, his primary motive was to visit relatives in the state of Johor. A ‘visit to relatives’ was an integral topic of conversation in business transactions. Julia felt special in having obtained a dress from
Kuala Lumpur, even more so because she had bought it from a family with relatives in
Peninsular Malaysia. The dress that Julia bought from Aleza is called baju kelawar (or bat dress). It is a popular dress among Malay women and is often worn at home in the evenings. Julia has a collection of seven baju kelawar. Another Tabuan housewife,
Chae-rin, bought ready-made dresses from Kuala Lumpur – rather than from sellers in her social-trading network in Kuching – because she thought Kuala Lumpur offered more choices in design.
Although social-trading networks are critical in enabling the purchase of lifestyle commodities, Tabuan housewives also ask relatives with connections in Kuala
Lumpur to purchase goods. Anita, for example, asked her sister-in-law to buy a stylish fabric for her called kain brokat. Anita told me that her sister-in-law is a singer in a nightclub in Kuala Lumpur. She proudly told me her sister-in-law’s occupation, feeling that the job represented an affluent and glamorous city lifestyle (and therefore her sister- in law would know the most fashionable fabric design). Other lifestyle commodities from Kuala Lumpur are also sought after by Tabuan housewives. Bella Dally, motivated by a television advertisement, wanted me to purchase for her a CD player in KL so that she and her five-year-old daughter could listen to recorded verses of the Quran.
Although Bella Dally is not overtly religious, she talked a lot about raising her daughter with Islamic values. Here is the conversation in response to my failure to purchase the
CD player in Kuala Lumpur:
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Bella Dally: I saw it in the ad on television. It must be sold in Kuala Lumpur. Zana: Kuala Lumpur is a big city. If you had told me where to find it, I might have been able to buy it for you. Bella Dally: It must be there because I saw it on television.
I was often asked by Tabuan housewives who have never been to Kuala Lumpur whether goods are cheaper in KL than Kuching. In fact, since they incur extra transport costs when shipped from Peninsular Malaysia, goods are generally more expensive in
Sarawak. Their concern with price is further evidenced in day-to-day conversations between Tabuan housewives who exchange information about where to find the cheapest necessities. The concern regarding price assists the women in maximising their spending on personal, non-essential items. Despite Jalan Masjid India (Indian Mosque
Street) in Kuala Lumpur being a famous and affordable shopping destination for
Tabuan people, they also regularly visit popular shopping destinations at the two border towns of Tebedu (about 35 km south of Kuching) and Serikin (about 40 km south-west of Kuching) on the Sarawak and West Kalimantan (Indonesian) border. These two destinations have, since the late 1990s, been developed by the Sarawak state government. Indonesian traders sell cheap products to Sarawakian consumers, including garments, batik sarongs, textiles, wooden furniture, household items, and food items.
Although not well known to Tabuan people, Amor and her husband, Jihob, told me about Bukit Kayu Hitam, a town on the border of Malaysia and Thailand. Both Amor and Jihob talked about opening a second-hand clothing store in Kuching to sell jeans and shirts from Thailand.
Tabuan sellers and consumers are able to afford lifestyle products such as fashionable dresses through social-trading networks. These fashions symbolise what is both modern and cosmopolitan. The choice of lifestyle commodities is influenced by the image of the affluent city of Kuala Lumpur (for example Anita and Julia); the Islamic
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connection (for example Bella Dally); and the pleasure of obtaining commodities from other countries (for example Amor and Jihob).
CONCLUSION
The primary strategy of Tabuan housewives seeking to acquire a modern self- image and cosmopolitan outlook is through economic participation as traders and consumers. Their social networks are particularly important in this regard as they provide a means for affording expensive lifestyle goods, and create a marketplace for those selling goods bought often in Kuala Lumpur or in Sarawak. Their consumption includes clothing items, jewellery, personal care items, furniture, and electronic devices.
Kuala Lumpur is imagined as a foreign place that is different from Kuching. The city is regarded as a model for the affluent lifestyles that Tabuan housewives aspire to.
Television has contributed to the construction of cosmopolitan images of Kuala Lumpur as a prosperous place, a shopping haven, an Islamic centre, and a travel destination.
Some Tabuan women and men talk about lifestyle commodities from the border towns with Indonesia and Thailand to consume outside goods. Tabuan women’s trading and consuming activities as well as imagining their connection with Kuala Lumpur and its affluent people and lifestyles allow them to acquire a banal cosmopolitan outlook.
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CHAPTER 7
TELEVISION COSMOPOLITANISM AND CONSUMPTION: NEGOTIATING MODERN MALAY HOUSEWIVES’ WOMANHOOD IN DOMESTIC RELATIONSHIPS
INTRODUCTION
While Tabuan housewives may be less exposed to first-hand experiences of globalisation and modernisation than working women, they do witness these processes.
Housewives observe the diverse lifestyles of people from other countries through television (Abu-Lughod 2005; Silverstone & Hirasch 1994). The aim of this chapter is to analyse Tabuan housewives’ construction of modern womanhood through their engagement with television, and through the consumption of lifestyle commodities.
This process has an influence on women’s roles and the relationship they have with their husband and other family members. According to Ong (1990) ‘Malay womanhood is defined by adat but always within the Islamic construction of their relation to men’
(p. 261). Masculinity, however depends ‘on a man’s economic power and moral authority over women in his household’ (Ong 1990, p. 261).
Islam has a significant influence on shaping the women’s roles and identities of
Malay women in many ways. Peletz (1996) for instance, claims that Islam has contributed to the view that rural Malay women are perceived as subordinate to men because of their excessive and emotionally unstable passion and the fact that they require the protection of men. Under the influence of Islam, middle-class Malay women typically wear the headscarf and dress modestly (Mouser 2007; Stivens 1998; Nagata
1995). Islam also contributes to the tension experienced by Malay middle-class women in fulfilling their roles as good mothers and housewives, and working women (Ong
1990; Stivens 1998). Research also suggests that contemporary middle-class Malay womanhood has been conditioned by the experiences of the Islamic resurgence of the
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1970s (Anwar 1987). However, I argue that housewives from the marginal community of Kampung Tabuan challenge each of these stereotypes of pervasive Islamic influence, and use global and local television content, and the consumption of lifestyle commodities to construct notions of cosmopolitan womanhood.
Urry (2000) contends that a cosmopolitan outlook exists in global television.
Global programs as well as the local adaptation and hybridisation of foreign television programs, results in the transmission of cultures across geographical borders. Three significant themes emerge from the engagement of Tabuan housewives with television; beauty, Islam and fashion. These themes offer specific pathways for Tabuan housewives to connect to global cultural diversity.
THE PORTRAYAL OF PHYSICAL AND INNER BEAUTY ON TELEVISION
In Malaysia, foreign drama serials from the Philippines, Indonesia, Korea,
Japan, and Hong Kong, and telenovelas from Latin America, draw an enormous numbers of viewers. Moreover, Bollywood movies have their own loyal fans base and are a staple of Malaysian television. These dramas, telenovelas and movies have the characteristic of melodrama. According to Singer (2001), melodrama invokes the emotions of viewers. Women viewers intimately engage with televised melodramas57 due to this genre’s ‘placing of strong emotion in the everyday interpersonal world’
(Abu-Lughod 2002, p.117). Williams (1998) explains that a television melodrama will stir the emotions of its viewers if:
emotional and moral registers are sounded, if a work invites us to feel sympathy for the virtues of beset victims, if the narrative trajectory is ultimately more concerned with a retrieval and staging of innocence than with the psychological causes of motives and action, then the operative mode is melodrama (p. 42).
57 The term ‘televised melodrama’ is borrowed from Abu-Lughod (2002, p.117) to refer to drama serials, telenovelas, and Bollywood movies broadcast on Malaysian television. 195
The way in which melodrama invokes feelings of sympathy is through the suffering of the protagonist. However, my view is that physical appearance plays an important role in constructing sympathy for the good character and loathing for the evil character. Tabuan housewives often weep and relate their personal experiences to the suffering of the beautiful, kind, and innocent protagonist in the drama. Bollywood movies, for instance contain story lines which are based on the polarity of good and evil characters. Physical attractiveness is linked to the good character – the beautiful or handsome hero. Tabuan housewives talk about the physical attractiveness of
Bollywood actors and the positive characteristics they display, such as kindness, patience and loyalty. For instance, Shah Rukh Khan and Kajol, the handsome male and beautiful female Bollywood actors respectively, always play the roles of good characters and are greatly admired by Tabuan housewives.
Scholars agree that the media disseminates popular images of women’s beauty in society (Berry 2007; Goodman, Morris & Sutherland 2005). In turn, some viewers who are attracted to these images consume personal care products or clothing items to model their appearance on the female characters in television dramas. Avid Tabuan viewers also in fact, model the good morality of these protagonists. Tabuan housewives recognise the beauty of foreign women in these drama serials. For instance they talk about beautiful Bollywood, Filipino, and Korean actors. The beauty of Bollywood actors influences many Kampung Tabuan women and in general Sarawak Malays more than the beauty of others. In addition to watching Bollywood movies on television, the housewives also buy VCD movies.
Indian actors who appear in Bollywood movies represent a particular type of male and female physical beauty desired by many Tabuan housewives. The physical features they admire the most are their dark skin and sharp nose. Tabuan housewives
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demonstrate their familiarity with Bollywood images in the local context through business transactions with male Pakistani or Indian traders who share similar physical features with the Bollywood images. In Kuching, the Pakistanis and Indians are often textile traders and restaurant operators. In Sarawak, the Indian ethnic group includes
Tamils and Sikh/Punjabis; but there are also Bangladeshis and Pakistanis. In 2000 the population of this group numbered 3, 851 (Monthly Statistical Bulletin 2000). Besides the influence of Bollywood movies, the prospect of marrying an Indian or South Asian man in Malaysia contributes to the desire for Bollywood beauty among Sarawak Malay women. Harrisson (1970) notes that in the past, mixed marriages were embraced in
Sarawak:
[m]ost can and will at once say that one grandparent or at least great- grandparent, was something ‘else’, a Sea or Land Dayak, Javanese, Bugis from the Celebes, Dusun and so on. The top Malay today is proud of his non-Malay blood, just as the wife of the Malay headman of Santubong is called Mem Melayu58 by virtue of her near-white status through a Scottish father (p. 159). In his book The Malay Dilemma, the former Malaysian Prime Minister, Mahathir
Mohamad, encouraged mixed marriages as a way to produce hybrid Malay citizens who embody the competitiveness necessary to live in a modern society.59 However, in an era of televised melodramas, an imagined association with the Other can be acquired through the consumption of lifestyle commodities.
Traditionally, according to Schiller (1882) ‘[p]hysical beauty is the sign of an interior beauty, a spiritual and moral beauty’ (in Dion, Berscheid, & Elaine 1973, p.
285). In psychology, the correlation between perceptions of beauty and positive personality traits has long been tested. For instance, participants in Dion, Berscheid, and
58 Mem is a Malay word that presumably comes from the English word, ma’am. Mem is respectful form of address for an Anglo-Saxon lady.
59 For an analysis of Mahathir’s ideas on Malay mixed marriages see Crinis, V. D. (2008), The silence and fantasy of women and work. Unpublished doctoral thesis. University of Wollongong, Wollongong, NSW. 197
Elaine’s (1973) study were of the opinion that ‘attractive individuals would be more competent spouses and have happier marriages than those of lesser attractiveness’ (p.
288). The stereotyping of beauty and positive personality traits is embraced by the advertising industry, where popular culture celebrities are often recruited as endorsers
(Till & Busler 2000). These studies demonstrate the widespread acceptance of the relationship between physical attractiveness and a good personality. Tabuan housewives also accept this correlation, and use it as a model to express what they see as being two essential qualities of womanhood.
Bollywood movies reinforce the perception that physical and inner beauty is inseparable. The classic Malay text, Syair Bidasari, portrays Siti Bidasari as embodying the quintessential beauty of a Malay woman. In addition to physical beauty, Siti
Bidasari has a pleasing personality which is described as being ‘manis lakunya bersaja- saja, sempurnalah bahasanya dengan budi’ (soft-spoken, polite, and graceful)
(Mohamad Tuah & De Run 2004, p. 15).
The traditional physical attractiveness of Malay women is depicted in classical
Malay texts such as the Hikayat Panji Semirang and Syair Bidasari. In these texts women who have a fair complexion are those of royalty or nobility. Today, according to
Mohamad Tuah and De Run (2004), fair skin is perceived as one of the primary characteristics of Malay women’s beauty. Their study reported that of 100 young, urban men and women respondents surveyed across all social strata in Kuching, 73 chose fair skin as the primary characteristic of Malay physical attractiveness. An example of preferred light skin can be seen in the popular practice of Sarawak Malay families adopting baby Chinese girls in 1960s. According to Abidin & Salleh (2002), who studied the life of Sarawak Malay villagers:
‘[t]he light colouring and more delicate features of the Chinese girls, we think, are factors of some importance in many cases, making the child probably more
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marriageable in a community with more females than males, and thereby incidentally attracting a son-in-law into the house’ (p. 12). Mohamad Tuah and De Run (2004) study demonstrates that the fair skin of traditional beauty does not represent a single beauty image desired by men and women in Kuching.
Although statistically the desire of the Other beauty is small (27 out of 100 respondents), but the number is existed. The dark skin beauty thus co-exists with the more established traditional beauty of fair skin.
Other models of beauty for Tabuan women are those of middle-class Malay television presenters, celebrities, and actors. Most of these are fair skinned and therefore possess a different type of beauty from that of Bollywood actors. Middle-class Malay beauty, particularly as depicted on TV3 programs, has transformed ‘traditional’ notions of Malay beauty toward one that is more modern and cosmopolitan. The latter include characteristics of traditional beauty; an outwardly artificial beauty afforded by the consumption of lifestyle goods and services, and personal qualities which include a high level of formal education, independence, as well as preferably being the offspring of a mixed marriage. One such journalist and news reader on TV3, Azrinaz, ended her television career in 2005 to marry Hassanal Bolkiah, the Sultan of Brunei60 (The
Australian 2010). Azrinaz’s Cinderella story resembles the plot of the movie Pretty
Woman. However, Azrinaz’s Cinderella story differs in that she climbed the social ladder by using her intellect and looks, and married a Malay but non-Malaysian.61 The racially mixed offspring of a Malay and non-Malay are preferred actors in Malay dramas and as television presenters. This is a phenomenon which more commonly
60 Azrinaz Mazhar Hakim won the award of Young Potential Journalist of TV3 in 2000 and the Alumni Award in 2002 from the institute where she studied. Azrinaz divorced Sultan Hassanal Bolkiah on 16 June 2010 (The Star Online 2010).
61 Stories describing the beauty of Malay TV personalities are quite common. These intelligent celebrities, including actors, commonly marry either non-Malaysian, or rich, elite Malaysians of mixed heritage. In another case, Wan Zaleha Radzi, one of the most recognised and talented middle-class female Malay broadcaster, journalist, and equestrian of the late 1980s, was reported to have had a long time romantic relationship with a member of the Malaysian royalty, before finally marrying an Australian. 199
occurs within Malay elite and middle-class groups. Non-Malaysians also sometimes appear in Malay dramas and movies. One example is, Hetty Sarlene, a Malay actor from
Singapore who starred in the popular Malay drama serial Sembilu Kasih (Thorny Love).
THE WOMANHOOD OF TABUAN HOUSEWIVES: A REFLECTION OF THE IDEALS OF PHYSICAL ATTRACTIVENESS AND CONSUMPTION OF LIFESTYLE COMMODITIES
In this section I discuss three primary case studies that illustrate the way in which Tabuan women engage with television images. These include Fasha and Aleza’s imagination of Bollywood beauty; and Maya Karin’s imagination of middle-class
Malay beauty. Foreign images are desired by Tabuan women to satisfy their appetite for a connection with Others beyond their community. The construction of modern womanhood, modelled on televised melodramas and the physical appearance of actors, is a resource that can be employed to deal with the challenges faced by Tabuan women in a modern and globalised society. Although most of the data presented were gathered from 2006 to 2007, I also include data gathered during my brief re-visit to Kampung
Tabuan in 2010. It was during that time I learnt about Aleza and her fascination with
Bollywood beauty. I include the data here to show that the desire for Bollywood beauty is not just a short-lived trend but a set of images which have had a long term influence.
I was introduced to Fasha (see Chapter 6) by Dayang Sariah, the wife of the village headman. According to Dayang Sariah, 36-year-old Fasha spends several hours a day watching television. Fasha comes from an impoverished family which is much poorer than her in-laws. Her husband, Aaron, previously worked as a driver in a leased taxi-van. Recently, however, he has managed to buy his own taxi-van and is now an owner-driver. Fasha is a modest woman who suffers from severe and incapacitating migraines.
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Fasha remembers vividly the narrative62 of the popular Malay drama series
Neraca-Kisah Benar, or True Story, which was broadcast on TV3. Neraca-Kisah Benar tells the story of one housewife’s desire to acquire lifestyle commodities. The producer of Kisah Benar claims that the story-lines which appear in the series are adapted from peoples’ real life experiences. The series aims to highlight immorality and virtuosity and the consequences following each have on the characters’ lives. This series focuses on educating viewers for the purpose of state development and is similar in format to drama series which serve this purpose in other Asian countries. In India, for instance, a soap opera entitled Hum Log has been produced by Doordarshan, a government-owned television channel. It was produced as a way for ‘the state [to] bring about effective transformation through the mediation of television in order to aid the tasks of social and economic development’ (Das 1995, p. 172). In Neraca-Kisah Benar, either the producer of the series, a cleric, or a religious or police officer, depending on the theme of the episode, makes an appearance at the end of each episode to explain the moral of the story. The morality promoted in the series endorses the values of the Malaysian government.
There are two significant themes which emerge from the conversation below; the consumption of lifestyle commodities and the various images of Indians held by
Fasha. In our conversation, Fasha gives her account of an episode of Neraca-Kisah
Benar:
Zana: What is the story about? Fasha: It is about a wife who likes to buy household items from an Indian door- to-door seller who sells goods like carpets, curtains, and textiles. This housewife pays by instalment. Zana: What happened then? Fasha: She keeps on buying goods even though she does not have enough money. Zana: Then . . . Fasha: I was horrified.
62 I was unable to find the title of the episode that Fasha refers to. 201
Zana: Why? Fasha: She pays her debt with her body. Zana: How do you know? Fasha: Her husband is curious because she buys a lot of expensive stuff, and he only gives her a little money. Her husband catches her with the Indian seller at their home. Zana: What a shame! Fasha: That’s why I don’t buy any goods from Indian sellers. I don’t want to be trapped in debt. I’m scared. This episode taught viewers that an excessive consumption of lifestyle commodities, at least when undertaken beyond one’s ability to pay, is dangerous. This message is reinforced in a story-line which highlights the fact that excessive debt may lead people into immoral behaviour. What is so influential is that the housewife in the drama is portrayed as lacking purchasing power; dependent on her husband for money; and weak and unable to resist the temptation to consume goods that are, in reality, unaffordable. However, an awareness of the disastrous effects of excessive consumption and chronic debt contradicts the market economy philosophy that is promoted by the Malaysian government. In this episode Islamic morality, also supported by the Malaysian government, prevails. It is clear that the drama supports the
Islamic values of frugality and fidelity, especially among housewives. This episode presents an example of what Stivens (1998) argues is the existence of a ‘destabilised’
Malaysian modernity characterised by both Islamic and Western influences (p. 91). She contends that modernity is ‘located within a cluster of tension surrounding the role of religion in the modern Malay world and its relationship to capitalist ‘progress’, development and ‘tradition’’ (Stivens 1998, p. 91).
Viewers are free to negotiate these competing values which span a continuum between moderation (i.e. Islam) and unrestrained consumption (i.e. capitalism). Even though Tabuan housewives are relatively poor, and although they lack credit purchase schemes supported by commercial banks, they do have ways to consume beyond their immediate financial means (see Chapter 6). The depiction of a housewife in the drama 202
purchasing luxury goods via an instalment method of payment accurately reflects
Tabuan women’s strategy for consuming lifestyle commodities. Because community rotating credit schemes (CRCS) are a ‘safe’ and widely accepted way for Tabuan women to purchase lifestyle commodities which would normally be out of reach, Fasha disregarded the messages in the drama about the danger of excessive consumption and debt. For Fasha, the key message in the story was the character of the Indian seller.
Fasha believed that the Indian trader had deliberately led the naïve housewife into a position where she was unable to repay her debt. Because of this, Fasha came to despise the Indian seller, whom she imagined to be the villain of the story. This is a common reaction among Tabuan housewives, who embrace innocent and evil characters as the fundamental and most compelling elements of television dramas. This image of the
Indian seller has been conditioned by her experiences in dealing with Indian and
Pakistani traders selling textiles, dresses door-to-door in Kampung Tabuan. Indian and
Pakistani sellers are known for their pushiness in trying to persuade housewives to purchase their goods through instalments. Thus, the drama reinforces Fasha’s belief that
Indian sellers are pushy, inadvertently causing Fasha to avoid buying goods from them.
Whilst Fasha is not particularly interested in carpets, textiles or curtains (as portrayed in the above drama), she still has her own preferences for spending on non- essential goods. The story of Fasha’s consumption of lifestyle goods in Chapter 6 is continued here. She embraces modern womanhood by keeping up with the latest in hairstyles which are modelled by women on television and especially female Bollywood actors who have long, straight hair. Perhaps because traditional Malay beauty depicted in classical Malay texts is associated with wavy hair, straight hair depicts a more modern beauty. Compared to other Tabuan women, Fasha’s hair care regime is relatively expensive. Fasha buys expensive shampoos and conditioners to maintain her
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preferred hairstyle. The use of these products enables Fasha to follow, in a modest way, the latest trends in hairstyles shown on television. In Fasha’s case, having a fashionable hairstyle has influenced the relationship she has with her in-laws, who have a similar focus on contemporary fashion. Both of her sister in-laws colour their hair and share a similar interest in following the latest hair trends. According to Fasha, her neighbours also admire her two handsome brother-in laws. Fasha’s husband, however, is recognised as being the least attractive of the brothers. Fasha is proud of her attractive brother in- laws and showed their photos to me as proof of their good looks.
Fasha, her husband and their three children, live in the main house which belongs to her parents-in-law. She longs to have her own house but cannot afford it.
Balang, her father-in-law, owns four self-built wooden flats located at the back of the main house. In two of these accommodates his daughter Misma and her family, and his son Wael and his family. He has tenants in the other two flats. Balang operates two school buses and is considered prosperous by Kampung Tabuan standards. Balang and his wife, Sita Dewi, play favourites with their children, which has resulted in the siblings and in-laws becoming divided into two arguing factions.
There is competition among the siblings in Balang’s family in gaining affection from their parents, be it in receiving material support, or being able to stay in the main house. These siblings use their physical attractiveness to engage in competition with each other to win their parents’ attention. Fasha acknowledges this and it has placed pressure on her to improve her appearance. In fact Fasha’s appearance is one of the bases for her right to live in the main house. Nevertheless there is the threat that
Balang’s daughter Misma, who is their favourite daughter and a fashionable, well groomed and confident housewife will persuade her father to relocate Fasha and Aaron
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to one of the flats. Fasha hopes that in the future her parents-in-law will allow her and her husband Aaron to build their own house next to the main house.
There is another dimension to Fasha’s attachment to Indian images that differs from her relationship with the Indian sellers she so often tries to avoid. Fasha desires
Indian feminine beauty modelled on Bollywood movies. Even though Fasha is not an
Indian, she prefers to associate her dark skin with Indian ethnicity. Her nickname,
‘Tambi,’ is a Sarawak Malay word that refers collectively to South Asians who have darker skin. In fact, Fasha is more comfortable being called Tambi than being called by her real name. Nicknames are common among Sarawak Malays, and the names are assigned by others according to the individual’s looks, character, or obsessions (Puteh
2005). The word Tambi has a positive connotation because it is associated with good- looking actors and colourful Bollywood movies. In one of my conversations with Fasha, she used the word Tambi to explain to me how Aaron ran to chase the lorry that hit his taxi-van which was parked in front of their house. Fasha said, ‘the way Aaron ran was just like a Tambi in a Bollywood movie!’ By this, Fasha meant that in the act of pursuing the lorry driver, Aaron looked to her to be athletic, handsome and heroic. By comparing this incident to a typical scene in a Bollywood movie, she sees a cosmopolitan association in a relatively ordinary event.
Another Tabuan housewife, 19 year old Aleza, thinks about Bollywood-style beauty in a different way. She wants to re-marry someone who looks like a Bollywood actor to reinforce her image of a modern and trendy young woman. Aleza’s former husband, Roberto, works as a welder with Aleza’s father. Aleza is a seamstress and occasionally sells ready-made garments. Aleza’s nickname is ‘Amoi.’ The nickname
‘Amoi’ derives from a Chinese (Hakka group) word and is used by Malays to refer to
Chinese girls. Aleza is a loyal fan of Bollywood movies, telenovelas from Latin
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America, and drama serials from Indonesia and the Philippines. She often watches a collection of programs from the Philippine drama serial Pangako Sayo she bought on
DVD for RM70 (AUD 26) in 2006. Aleza told me that she weeps every time she watches these episodes.
Aleza’s family also appreciates the beauty of Bollywood actors. During my visit to Kampung Tabuan Lot in February 2010 Aleza told me she was in the process of re- marrying. I was invited to attend the akad-nikah (solemnisation) ceremony. On the day of the ceremony, Aleza invited me for the make-up and dressing session in the groom’s home. Although I really wanted to know the reason why she had divorced her previous husband, it would have been inappropriate to ask her at that time. However, in a very spontaneous way and without being asked, Aleza suddenly said, ‘He was shabby, Kak
Zana.’ I was perplexed by her statement, and I did not know to whom she was referring.
I replied, ‘who?’ Aleza bluntly said, ‘Roberto, my ex-husband.’ Under the circumstances, with the solemnisation ceremony due to begin in about half an hour, I could only respond with a blank look. Aleza continued, ‘I will explain to you later.’
Aleza’s family members – her mother, Rita; her younger sister, Ila; her cousin,
Betty; and her grandmother, Doris – had hinted at Aleza’s divorce and spoke of her future husband the day before I attended the ceremony. In recalling my previous conversations with Rita and Doris, I could now understand why Aleza referred to her former husband as ‘shabby.’ The dark skin and sharp nose of the groom, Putera, are perceived by Aleza as the key features of Bollywood physical attractiveness. Aleza’s extended family also agrees that Putera is far better looking than Roberto. This was expressed indirectly by Doris when I visited them. Putera’s two-year-old daughter from a previous relationship, ‘Baby,’ was also present. Doris said, ‘look at Baby. Isn’t she pretty? She has a sharp nose. She looks like a Tambi. Her father looks like a Tambi too.’
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Doris too approves of Indian beauty by associating both Putera and ‘Baby’ with Tambi.
Through the influence of Bollywood movies, dark skinned men or women are said to be equally as good looking as those with overtly fair skin. Hence, along with the more traditional desire for fair skin, the more contemporary desire for ‘Bollywood skin’ has now become part of the aesthetic code which determines beauty among Tabuan Malay women.
Tabuan housewives have other connections with Indianess. One introduced herself to me as ‘Bibi’ (real name Balkish) which is the nickname she favours and is known by in the village. In Malaysia the name Bibi is commonly given to Indian
Muslim women. Although both Fasha and Balkish have taken nicknames associated with Indianness, Bibi’s case is different in that she is proudly a descendent of Muslim-
Indians on her mother’s side. Nevertheless, Bibi has fair skin, and the only apparent
Indian feature is her sharp nose. Although Bibi is no longer an avid fan of Bollywood movies (she was during the peak of Bollywood movies popularity in Malaysia in the
1990s) she is still proud to be associated with Tambi. Now, however, she identifies more with Islamic images drawn from religious programs on television, particularly those from Indonesia which are broadcast on TV2. Bibi now wears a headscarf whenever she ventures out of the house which is an uncommon practice among her neighbours in Kampung Tabuan.
In Kampung Lintang Tengah, Petra Jaya (a suburb in North Kuching) I met a mother of five Atikah (see Preface). Atikah, a Filipino Muslim convert, has given the nickname ‘Kajol’, to her 10-year-old daughter. Kajol is the name of a popular
Bollywood actress. Ten year old ‘Kajol’ is made to resemble Bollywood Kajol by keeping her hair long to the waist. With encouragement and money provided by Atikah,
Kajol now possesses a collection of approximately 300 Bollywood movie DVDs.
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Despite the fact that Atikah is proud of her Filipino cultural identity, she has chosen to strengthen her association with the Sarawak Malays by assigning a Bollywood image to her daughter.
Like Atikah, Kareena (see Chapter 6) demonstrates a keen desire to be indirectly associated with Bollywood actors. She told me, for instance, that she repeatedly watched the Bollywood movie Dushman as a way to grieve for her absent sister, who now lives in Kuala Lumpur:
Have you seen the Hindi movie about a serial rapist? Kajol starred in the movie and played the roles of both the twin sisters. I repeatedly watched the film on my VCD player and I cried. When the twin sister was killed, I cried. The story was sad. The sister was raped and killed with a big block of ice by the rapist, but the other sister lived. The story about these twin sisters is similar to the relationship I have with my elder sister. I imagined her when I watch the story. My sister’s face looks just like a Tambi. In the story, Kajol’s short hair style made her look a lot like my sister. This made me really upset and I cried.
Kareena was reluctant to give me any further information about her sister and any similar tragedy that might have befallen her, although this was hinted at during the interview. In my opinion, since Kareena is unable to afford the airfare to visit her sister in Kuala Lumpur, she uses Dushman as a way to connect with her absent sister. Kareena grieves through Kajol’s physical attractiveness and suffering, which she likens to that of her sister. Kareena values Bollywood beauty all the more through seeing her sister in
Kajol.
IMAGINING MIDDLE-CLASS MALAY PHYSICAL ATTRACTIVENESS
Tabuan housewives’ use of cosmetics, as modelled by television celebrities, is a way to achieve modern womanhood. Thirty-nine year old Maya Karin spends her money on cosmetics rather than necessities for the household. Maya Karin believes that her spending on cosmetics serves an important purpose for her family. Since Maya
Karin’s earnings alone do not provide enough money for her to purchase the cosmetics
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she desires, she has had to convince her husband that having a modern appearance is more important than spending money on a greater variety of foods for the family. In a conversation that took place between Maya Karin and her husband, Eduardo, it is evident that both are engaged in a struggle over the appropriate use of limited household money:
Eduardo: We’ve been eating salted eggs a lot. Maya Karin: What’s wrong with that? Eduardo: Rather than buying make-up or lipstick, you should spend the money on some good food. Maya Karin: Aren’t you happy with my appearance? When someone in Tabuan asks, ‘Who is that woman with the reddest lips?’ people will answer, ‘Oh, she is Eduardo’s wife.’ I am sure that will make you proud of me.
This conversation took place when both Maya Karin and Eduardo were arguing about their current financial difficulties.63 The family’s total monthly earnings are only sufficient to provide for the most basic necessities. Eduardo works as a security guard for a private company and the couple have eight children, five of which are still in school. Maya Karin puts aside RM100 (AUD33) every month to pay for the instalments on her television set (she recently bought a new 42-inch flat screen) and washing machine. Instead of this expensive flat screen television, Maya Karin could have bought a more conventional set. Maya Karin chose to invest in what she felt was a lifestyle commodity. She felt it important to own the latest technology to ensure a better quality of picture and audio, to establish a desired social status, and ultimately to connect with middle class Malay beauty. Nevertheless, she is often unable to keep up with the monthly payments and, as a result, is always overdue in paying either her utility bills or the instalments for her electrical goods.
Despite her financial burdens, Maya Karin was still hoping to buy a new DVD player to replace her old one. On several occasions when I followed her to Kuching city,
63 Aleza told me about the conversation. She was told by Chae-rin, Maya Karin’s close friend. 209
she stopped at a few electrical goods stores to check on brands and prices, and whether or not there were discounts available. The family enjoys watching movies, video clips, and karaoke, and listens to music on a DVD player. Maya Karin is a fan of the
Indonesian dangdut, a style of music where women vocalists sing and dance with sexually suggestive movements. The women wear tight dresses and a lot of make-up, at least compared to those singing other Indonesian or Malay music styles. Realising her family uses more electricity than other tenants for her television and DVD, she has asked her landlord if she can pay her electricity bill individually rather than share with the four other tenants. (In fact she decided to pay her own bills after she received complaints from her neighbours that she was using more electricity than them). Rather than limiting her television or DVD viewing, Maya Karin was willing to pay more despite the fact it placed her under financial stress. In short, Maya Karin’s argument with Eduardo about the appropriate use of their limited household money, her strong desire to have the latest technology in television sets and DVD players, and her determination to pay her own electricity bill demonstrates her willingness to shoulder the financial burden of consuming lifestyle commodities.
The image of womanhood Maya Karin desires is demonstrated in her conversation with Eduardo. Maya Karin wants to be recognised as a modern woman who is attractive, independent, and moves freely in public space. Ong (1990) states that
Malay married women emphasise sexual attractiveness by wearing tight-fitting traditional dress on special occasions. This way of dressing is culturally accepted for married women, but not for unmarried girls, who are supposed to be modest (Ong
1990). This is due to the culturally sanctioned responsibility of the wife to enhance the sexual relationship she has with her husband (Paletz 1996; Karim, cited in Ong 1990).
The colour of Maya Karin’s lipstick is striking and uncommon (see Plate 15).
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Therefore, women’s images depicted on television are perceived by Maya Karin as encouraging individuality. In Egypt, Abu-Lughod (2002) argues that Egyptian drama serials ‘provide a model of a new kind of individuated subject’ (p. 117).
Plate 15 Maya Karin’s red lips. She is focusing her attention on trying on a crystal bracelet during a home selling session. The bracelet costs RM300 (AUD100) and is sold through a community rotating credit scheme.
Our conversation regarding Malay television dramas reveals that Maya Karin’s favourite character portrayal is that of an independent working woman. Maya Karin admires Inspector Aliza, a dedicated and brave police inspector, in Gerak Khas,
(Special Operation). Maya Karin told me that she asks her children to watch their favourite English comedy series, Mr. Bean, at a neighbour’s house so that she can watch
Gerak Khas. Furthermore, her favourite dramas are those where the plots develop around the themes of family, marriage and work. Maya Karin and I talked about two
Malay dramas with different portrayals of women. She likes the drama entitled Mya
Mysara better than the drama Seputih Qaseh Ramadhan (SQR). Both dramas star her favourite Malay actress, Fasha Shahrizan. According to Maya Karin, her lack of interest in SQR is due to the fact that it involves the story of a kind, patient, yet naive 211
wife, who is abused by her husband and mother in-law. Moreover, the character of
Qaseh, a traditional Malay wife, appears as an innocent woman in simple traditional dress. This portrayal of the wife does not fit with the image of the ‘modern woman’ with which Maya Karin wants to be identified.
Maya Karin chooses to expose herself only to the television images of women that she prefers. Because Maya Karin likes the three-episode drama Mya Mysara, she always watches reruns. The protagonist in the drama, Mya, is an independent woman who, after the completion of her masters’ degree, wants to determine her own future and choose her own husband. Mya runs away from home because she does not want to accept the arranged marriage organised by her wealthy father. She begins her new life as a junior salesperson in a photographic business owned by an old Chinese businessman. The scene that Maya Karin remembers most is when Mya cannot use her credit card because her father has cancelled it. Maya Karin also explains, in great detail, how Mya learned business strategies from her Chinese employer. Maya Karin focuses on Mya’s business experiences rather than the conflicts that abound in Mya’s wealthy family. For instance, Maya Karin did not dwell on the conflict surrounding Mya’s sister’s marriage. Maya Karin’s interest in, and knowledge of, bank accounts, ATMs, and credit cards in real life is greater than other Tabuan housewives, many of whom do not even have a bank account. Maya Karin has a bank account and an ATM card because her sons send remittances from Pulau Pinang (a state in Peninsular Malaysia) via electronic funds transfer. Maya Karin often goes to ATMs in Pending or Kuching to withdraw the money. The way that Maya Karin manages her funds electronically sets her apart from other Tabuan housewives. Maya Karin enjoys the portrayals of modern, middle-class women who are educated, involved in business, and who demonstrate diverse interactions with people from different ethnic and social backgrounds. The
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drama highlights Mya’s ability to overcome problems in both her business and personal life. The drama also highlights the type of money transactions typical of modern, urban lifestyles.
Ganguly-Scrase (2003) found that young women in North Bengal, India, perceive that a modern woman’s independence is demonstrated through her ability to be mobile ‘through driving and shopping, unchaperoned by older women or male guardians’ (pp. 561-562).’ Independence in this example is associated with mobility, confidence and capability. Independence and modernity are linked in these three qualities to produce a form of womanhood which Maya Karin aspires too. Maya Karin uses this as a way to negotiate her right to spend as she pleases with Eduardo.
Despite the fact that her involvement in petty trading and part-time work is sporadic, Maya Karin’s primary role as a housewife does not restrict her to the home. In fact she spends most of her time outside the house. In the role of manager of household finances she must purchase the family’s necessities and pay the utility bills. Despite the fact that husbands sometimes perform these tasks, Maya Karin feels it is important that she has control over paying the bills and electrical goods instalments. She has a strategy for paying these which enables her to manage the limited cash she has more efficiently.
For instance, on one occasion the electricity bill was two months overdue and a disconnection warning had been issued. At the same time, Maya Karin had to pay the television and washing machine instalments. To ensure the electricity supply would not be disconnected, she negotiated to pay half of the electricity bill, and then, with the electrical goods dealer, negotiated to pay only the television set instalment on the promise she pay a double instalment for the washing machine the following month.
Although this strategy prolonged the payment schedule for her electrical goods, it allowed Maya Karin and her family to maximise their consumption.
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When asked about her son who had just completed the higher secondary school examination, Maya Karin said, ‘My aunt lives in Pulau Pinang. So, I ask my son to go there to find a job in a factory. My two other elder sons work in Pulau Pinang too.’ Her sons show their loyalty to their parents by sending monthly remittances, and she is expecting her third son will follow suit. Maya Karin has been successful in raising her sons because they have at least completed secondary school and have steady employment. Her sons have also managed to keep out of trouble by not becoming involved in drug or substance abuse or any other illegal activity in Kampung Tabuan. In the manner she has raised her children Maya Karin gains some standing in the community. She also effectively manages the household budget, a task made more difficult in juggling funds for the necessities and lifestyle goods. Fortunately, she does not neglect her family and is not drawn into unmanageable debt.
Fasha, Aleza, Bibi, Kareena, Atikah, and Maya Karin select resources from television and transform into strategies to deal with the issues that arise in their daily life, or to connect or disconnect with their husbands, family members, and neighbours.
Maya Karin and others acquire the habit of consuming material goods which are made fashionable and hence desirable through television. Through this form of consumption they create a womanhood which is at once reflect their modern and ostentatious middle- class images, and cosmopolitan. The remaining sections in this chapter demonstrate two ways through which housewives connect with the Other; Islam and fashion. The variety of paths to foster connections with outsiders is facilitated by dramas as well as other
Malaysian FTA programs. Hence, women are free to choose images and ideas to model that suit their needs.
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ISLAM
Islam permeates Malaysian television in both overt and covert ways. Islamic images on television emphasise the form of Islamic morality that is practiced in
Malaysia; fraternity or brotherhood with Muslims in other countries; and a connection with the Middle East, the geographical heart of Islam. There are two weekly popular
Islamic programs broadcast on Malaysian television; al-Qulliyah (The Lecture) which is broadcast on TV3, and Forum Perdana Ehwal Semasa (Grand Forum: Current Issues) which is broadcast on TV1. The purpose of these programs is to teach a moderate
Islamic morality which is supported by the Malaysian government by highlighting its application in everyday, routine experiences. Islam is also depicted daily on the television news and is evidence for Malaysia’s enthusiastic connection with other
Muslim populations and nations. For instance, TV3’s prime time news bulletin at 8:00 p.m. generally allocates three out of five minutes of international news to report on current affairs in Islamic countries.
There are also two significant months in the Muslim calendar where TV3 produces special programs. The first is the popular Islamic documentary Jejak Rasul,
(Prophet’s Steps).64 This documentary is an historical exploration of Islam in the
Middle East. TV3 provides the scripts and presenters, and sends crew members to do the filming overseas. It has received an overwhelming response from Malay viewers and the program is considered one of the best locally produced documentaries.
Although the program is broadcast only during Ramadan each year, the impact of the program lasts longer since it can be accessed online, through VCDs, and reruns. The second special program is coverage of the haj pilgrimage. It is broadcast by TV3 and the government television stations. In Malaysia, apart from the primary celebration of
64 Jejak Rasul is produced by TV3 since 1995 up to the present. The collection can be bought through CDs. 215
Hari Raya at the end of Ramadan month, another religious celebration is Hari Raya
Haji, or Hari Raya Aidil Adha. The focus of the latter celebration is the haj pilgrimage to Mecca and Madina in Saudi Arabia.65 TV3 and TV1 send its correspondents to
Mecca and they broadcast almost daily. Depending on the slot available and the value of the news each day, these reports can last from 1 to 5 minutes. The climax of the month’s reporting is the broadcast of the grand day of the haj celebration on the 10th of Zulhijjah
(based on the Islamic calendar) when rituals are performed in Padang Arafah in Mecca.
During the 2010 haj season, 2.5 million Muslims from all over the world gathered during wukuf (congregation) in Mina, Mecca (News bulletin TV1 2010, 8:00 p.m-8:30 p.m). These two programs; Jejak Rasul and reports of the haj season depict powerful images of the Arab landscape, buildings, and people, which reconnect Muslims viewers with the history of Islam.
The most desired yet costly form of consumption for Tabuan women is performing the haj to Mecca in Saudi Arabia. In discussions they point out that travel, meeting other Islamic devotees from around the world, and performing religious rituals are all attainable from participating in the haj. The once-in-a-lifetime pilgrimage, however, is only compulsory for Muslims who can afford it. At present, younger men and women in Malaysia, particularly from the middle-class group, can now afford to perform the haj. However, performing the haj almost always places a strain on Tabuan women. Accumulating the money necessary to finance the journey is a lifelong aspiration. The cost increases each year, for example in 2006 it cost approximately RM
15,000 (AUD 5,000) to finance the trip for one person. Nine of the 30 Tabuan housewives who participated in my survey expressed a keen interest in participating in the haj. Although few Tabuan men and women are able to fulfil this religious
65 A total of 25,620 Malaysians went on the pilgrimage in 2007 (Utusan Online 2007).
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obligation, women such as Zulaikha, Sofea Jane, and Korina are slowly saving money in the hope of going on the haj in the future.
It is unclear whether the Kampung Tabuan headman, Wan Alwi, has performed the haj. Whilst he uses the title Haji, some Tabuan residents question his right to do so.
This shows that Haji is still highly regarded as carrying religious status.66 In the standard Malay language, women are given the title Hajah and men are given the title
Haji, used in front of their names. In Kampung Tabuan, both women and men are called
Haji, followed by their name, upon their return from the pilgrimage.
Sofea Jane (see Chapter 6) uses Islamic resources from television to construct a modern Malay-Islamic womanhood. She has, for example, watched many scenes in
Indonesian drama serials where female characters wore an elaborate, embroidered white praying robe and she has decided she would also like to have one. The idea of wearing it as a more ‘proper’ robe than the ordinary one for praying is influenced by Indonesian drama serials. She said about her wants:
Once I touched the robe at a shop in India Street [in Kuching] and I almost bought it. The style is quite similar with what I saw in Indonesian serial. It costs RM70 or RM80 (AUD25 or AUD29). Then I had second thoughts. I felt that I had better not buy the expensive one at the moment while I still needed the money to buy more important goods. Praying robes commonly used in Malaysia are plain white rather than the embroidered
Indonesian style. The simple robes that Muslims in Malaysia commonly wear are in line with the Islamic teaching that encourages simplicity and modesty.
Since Sofea Jane is illiterate, television has a stronger influence on her than print media. Television and radio are her primary sources of knowledge. Without television,
Sofea Jane’s knowledge would be limited to unquestioningly reproducing the community’s values and norms. In fact, the convenience of watching television at home
66 In the past, the haj was often performed by men to gain religious and social prestige (Peletz 1996).
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has reduced the importance of the preachers in the village surau (small mosque).
According to Rosli, the religious classes and preaching gatherings, for example, in the
Tabuan Lot surau, have never drawn large crowds.
Besides her favourite television dramas, Sofea Jane and her husband watch the religious forum every week. These religious forums often discuss issues surrounding proper Muslim behaviour. When we were talking about her favourite religious program,
Forum Perdana Ehwal Semasa, Sofea Jane told me that her husband had asked her to
‘smile more,’ especially to him. She then told me more about the conversation she had with her husband. Sofea Jane said:
My husband told me, if you smile, your face will glow and you will look beautiful. My husband continued by saying that it is even better if a husband comes home from work and his wife offers him a drink with a smile. Even if a woman has an ugly face, when she smiles, she tends to look beautiful. I know smiling is important because when you smile at other people, you make them happy. If people are happy, then you do sedekah [a good deed]. Through the program and the ensuing discussion with her husband, Sofea Jane was able to imagine an Islamic perspective on the importance of smiling. Sofea Jane believes that firstly, the program taught her that in Islam a wife’s role at home is to serve her husband. Secondly, Islam encourages women to show their beauty with a smile, without depending on products promoted by consumerism. Thirdly, Islam is concerned with fostering good relationships among all human beings. Finally, in Islamic morality a smile is specifically related to the concept of reward. Sofea Jane’s understanding is that the message embodies different values that relate to Islamic belief, universal humanity, and Islamic morality that emphasises fostering good relations in the community.
The pinnacle of Islamic modern womanhood for Sofea Jane is arrived at whilst performing the haj. Sofea Jane has been diligently saving her earnings from selling home-made snacks for almost 10 years to achieve this dream. She sees Islam as a religion that encourages her to be kind to her neighbours and show respect to her
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family. Moreover, Sofea Jane believes that embracing an Islamic morality is a form of power for parents because it encourages children to listen to their advice. Sofea Jane believes that obedient children will inevitably be successful in their studies.
Whilst the primary aim of the haj is to perform religious rituals, reflecting on this aspect of pilgrimage is uncommon when returning to Kampung Tabuan. Rather, the pilgrims are keener to talk about their intercultural experiences with Muslims from the
Arab nations, Africa and Indonesia. Sixty-five-year old Haji Chinta and her husband had returned from the haj about two years before I was undertaking fieldwork in
Kampung Tabuan. They are well-off family, owning more than four small houses and a several taxi-vans. Upon returning from the haj, Haji Chinta related her experience with one of her tenants, Chae-rin,67 in witnessing a Malaysian man who passed away while performing the haj and was buried in Mecca. Haji Chinta’s concern was that the body was ‘thrown’ into the grave by the Arabs, which shocked her because in Malaysia the body is handled with respect. On hearing this story, Chae-rin admitted to me that she was amazed by the differences in the Islamic rituals practiced by these people.
TABUAN HOUSEWIVES’ DESIRE FOR FASHION
In this section I examine Tabuan housewives desire for foreign fashions, including pyjamas, maternity dresses, and ‘fused dresses’ for both special occasions and daily wear. Although Punjabi dress and salwar kameez have undoubtedly been popularised by Bollywood, this section does not discuss specific television programs or film genre. The reason is that Tabuan viewers tend to model contemporary fashion on popular celebrities. Clothing is seen as the individuals’ (public) presentation of self, ‘to identify themselves, to define who they are both to themselves and to the outside world’
(Mandel 2002, p. 221). Mandel further notes that in the former Soviet Union, Western
67 Chae-rin told me the story in one of our casual conversations when we talked about her landlord. 219
style clothing was worn as a symbol of resistance to the establishment (Mandel 2002).
Tarlo (2007) claims that educated Muslim women in London who wear fashionable
Islamic dress embody cosmopolitan lifestyles lived at the intersection of ‘fashion, religion, politics and aesthetics’ (p. 144).
The dress code for women appearing on Malaysian television permits stylish clothing yet stipulates that women must cover most parts of the body. The styles of clothing in North American television programs was received with hesitation because it was perceived as being too revealing by conservatives in Malaysia. For example the secretary-general of the Malaysian Islamic Youth Movement (ABIM), an organisation which is considered to be a moderate Islamic group, said that:
The women in Mike Hammer wore dresses with plunging necklines that show their cleavage. Their skirts or shorts reveal their buttocks. Such scenes are dangerous to morals and detrimental to Islam. (The New Straits Times, cited in Foo 2004, p. 14).
Clothing styles are critical in the recognition of ethnic diversity on Malaysian
FTA television. News presenters, for instance, wear ethnic dress in celebration of the major religious festivals. There is also Tabuan women’s desire to wear non-traditional clothes on special occasions. In a wedding ceremony, a Malay bride might wear the clothing of a different cultural group or a white Western wedding dress. In my opinion, the practice among the Malay of wearing Western wedding clothes began before the emergence of free market consumer culture. It is a tradition associated with the colonial past and thus symbolises modernity. In addition, perhaps this tradition is extended by wedding planners by providing brides with other cultural group’ attires. The decision to wear non-traditional dress during a wedding ceremony is made by the bride and groom, with the bride typically wearing more outfits than the groom. The choice to wear I believe depend on at least women’s appreciation of cultural differences.
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Priyanka is a 24-year-old Tabuan housewife whose husband is a lorry driver.
When making plans for their wedding day, Priyanka and her husband decided that she would wear a white wedding gown and the groom would wear a formal, Western style for one of the traditional rituals of the Sarawak Malay, membuang peraja (throwing misfortune away) (see Plate 16). International costumes are worn for the photography session in a custom called belulut (to parade). During the belulut Priyanka wore an
Indian Hindu wedding gown, a Japanese kimono, and a Javanese dress (see Plate 17 and
18).
Plate 16 The ritual of membuang peraja (throwing misfortune away) is performed when the bride and groom are on the way to the groom’s house.
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Plate 17 Priyanka is wearing a modern Indian wedding gown and a Japanese kimono.
Plate 18 Priyanka in a Javanese costume (left). Priyanka and her groom in traditional Malay costumes. During religious celebrations, men and women normally wear traditional Malay dress, especially on the first day of Hari Raya. In the photo (Plate 19), Rosli Sibli wore a traditional costume called the baju Melayu. However, neither Doris nor Dayang Sariah wore the traditional baju kurung or baju kebaya, which must be worn with a sarong.
Instead, best friends Doris and Dayang Sariah made a promised to each other to wear a blouse and trousers for the communal prayers at the surau. They did this in order to
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avoid too much embarrassment should only one of them be dressed differently. This attire is modern and perceived by some Tabuan women as the dress of the ‘rich.’ The style has in fact been adopted from Bollywood movies and is of northern Indian origin, popularly known as the Salwar Kameez.
Plate 19 Rosli and Doris (photo at left) and Dayang Sariah (photo at right). These photos were taken during the religious festival Hari Raya Aidil Fitri, 2007.
Anita often talked about the kimono-style dress that was fashionable at the time
(in late 2006) and was first worn by a singing finalist in the popular TV3 singing competition Juara Lagu, (Song of the Year). This style fuses Japanese kimono and traditional Malay baju kurung. It was popularised by the lead character in the hit Malay movie Nana Tanjung.
Anita (see Chapter 1) is a fashionable young woman who has a collection of
Indian, Western, traditional and fused dresses such as those in the kimono-style. In what follows I continue with Anita’s story from Chapter 6. However, rather than focus on the meaning of fashion and the influence of Kuala Lumpur, I want to now illustrate
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how Anita is influenced by fashion trends of celebrities on Malaysian television. Anita’s story illustrates how she utilises Islam and urban, cosmopolitan fashion to construct a particular version of modern womanhood.
On one occasion Anita and I went to a newsagency to buy magazines and newspapers. My eyes scanned a multitude of entertainment magazines and newspapers.
Anita excitedly held out the Malay magazine Mingguan Wanita (Women’s Weekly).
The magazine featured a popular female singer wearing a kimono-style dress. Anita said excitedly, ‘look here Kak Zana, Misha68 is wearing the dress. Look how beautiful it is.’
Anita’s eyes were gleaming with admiration. I was amazed at her ability to single out the magazine, buried in over 30 publications on display. Anita was clearly alert to visual images and colours in her search for style and fashion. I was unable to do this because I read the printed titles and subtitles on magazines rather than focus solely on visuals because I was trained in the academic world. Anita finally bought the dress she saw in the magazine and wears it during outings and special community and family gatherings.
Due to the change from a traditional to a modern lifestyle, Tabuan women have also become concerned with the clothes they wear in the evening. In Malay dramas which depict ‘bedtime scenes,’ representations of women in urban families include the wearing of batik pyjamas (kaftan); while rural women do not wear any particular type of clothing which can be called a pyjama. The common dress for women at night is simply a clean t-shirt and a batik sarong. In addition, batik evening wear is dominated by a long dress called baju kelawar, (or ‘bat’ dress). It is called a bat dress because the design includes flared sleeves resembling bat wings (See Plate 20). In Chapter 6 I had mentioned that Julia bought seven baju kelawar so that she could wear a different one every night of the week.
68 Misha is a well known Malaysian singer. 224
Plate 20 Rita (two photos on the left) and Doris and Betty (on the right) wearing baju kelawar (bat dress), or the new Malay women’s ‘pyjamas’ which are striking in design and colours. They are showing off their collection of baju kelawar. It is made either from batik or is printed design (as worn by these women).
Plate 21 Because the AIM meeting and the money-borrowing procedures are conducted according to sharia principles, all the Tabuan housewives attending the meeting wear baju kurung and head scarf. Some of the housewives in the photo would not wear this on other occasions. Traditionally, pregnant Malay women wear only the baju kurung, which was the traditional, everyday attire for Malay women before the arrival of the Western-t-shirt and blouse. The maternity dresses that have evolved in Malay society are based on
Western styles. There are now many styles to choose from, such as loose dresses that cover the whole body (from wrist to ankle) for practising Muslims, or knee-length,
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sleeveless, or short sleeve dresses for others. The following description of Amor demonstrates how the desire for modern, ‘fused’ and international clothing significantly underlines Tabuan women’s claim to modernity and cosmopolitanism. Amor (see
Chapter 6), who is particularly concerned with keeping up with the latest fashions, was pregnant during the time of my fieldwork and for months had been looking in vain for a smock-style maternity dress. She asked whether Aleza could make a smock, but was not happy with the design she produced. Amor searched in several clothing stores and when
I asked of the outcome she reported only that they were, ‘too expensive,’ ‘ugly’ or
‘there were none that I liked.’ When she discovered I was soon travelling to Kuala
Lumpur, she persuaded me to look for the dress that she wanted by drawing the exact style on a piece of paper, complete with her preferred colours. Amor was confident that
I would find the dress in Kuala Lumpur. However, I had doubts as this maternity smock is of a very specific Western style.69 When I was in Kuala Lumpur she texted me several times to enquire about my progress. Initially reluctant to use my time in Kuala
Lumpur to search for a maternity dress, I was relieved to discover the exact style Amor wanted after searching just two shopping complexes. Amor was delighted when I returned to Kampung Tabuan with the dress (See Plate 22).
69 Smocking is a type of British influenced sewing technique that was included in the secondary school domestic science curriculum in Malaysia. 226
Plate 22 Amor in a smock-style maternity dress that I buy for her in Kuala Lumpur.
CONCLUSION
This chapter has discussed some of the diverse paths underprivileged women can take in constructing a particular version of modern Malay womanhood. They are beauty, Islam and fashion. Tabuan women’s choice is facilitated by Malaysian FTA television. The consumption of symbols, images, ideas and fashions from television, as well as spending on lifestyle commodities are integral components in the process of acquiring a sense of modern and cosmopolitan womanhood for Tabuan housewives.
The modern self is ‘autonomous, bounded [and] self-activating (Abu-Lughod 2002).
Modern middle-class Malay womanhood, modelled from television, encourages at one time a sense of individuality and the freedom to connect with the globalised world through the diverse morals and values depicted in the foreign drama serials, the beauty of Bollywood and Malay middle-class actors, Islamic universalism and performance of
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haj, and international and fused women’s fashion. In addition, modelling middle-class lifestyles and the global connection have added the cosmopolitan outlook among the housewives. Islam’s influence on Malay womanhood as underline by previous scholars is conformed as one of the womanhood paths (see Mouser 2007; Stivens 1998; Nagata
1995; Ong 1990; Peletz 1996) but is less acquired by Tabuan housewives compared with the significantly desired Bollywood beauty and fashion.
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CHAPTER 8
TABUAN WOMEN’S STRATEGIES OF GOOD MOTHERHOOD: DETACHMENT FROM A PROBLEMATIC COMMUNITY AND THE ADOPTION OF OUTWARD LOOKING MORALITY AND VALUES
INTRODUCTION
This chapter has two aims. The first is to investigate the ‘inward outlook’ demonstrated by Tabuan mothers when dealing with social problems. In particular,
Tabuan mothers are fearful of the affect these social problems may have on their children. As mentioned in Chapter 5, the male residents of Kampung Tabuan are stereotyped by more privileged Kuching Malays, and the local authorities, as being violent and prone to engaging in crime. Within Kampung Tabuan, stigma is also employed by Tabuan mothers to segregate their children from those ‘corrupt’ villagers who are known to be involved in illegal activities. In addition, mothers reflect on the
Islamic resources they have absorbed from television to react to the social problems in their community. The second aim of this chapter is to investigate Tabuan mothers’ desire to adopt morals and values from beyond the local community to protect their children from being adversely affected by the social problems which exist in the village.
In relation to both these aims, my argument is that Tabuan mothers utilise Islam as a resource to manage the challenges presented in daily life; listen to government messages concerning the family; and emulate a cosmopolitan outlook which is modelled from television. Combined, these provide a set of moral resources which can be transformed into courses of action to assist them in achieving good motherhood.
This Chapter uses the cosmopolitan outlook framework that was established in
Chapter 2. In this chapter, the ‘inward’ and ‘outward’ outlook which exists among
Tabuan mothers will be investigated. Both outlooks are significantly facilitated by
Islamic doctrine, morality and values. In this sense Islam has two important dimensions.
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Firstly, Islamic beliefs refer to a set of guidlines for devotees. For example, the concept of halal and haram serves as guides for Muslims. These refer to an inward outlook.
Secondly, the outward outlook stems from Islamic morality, which is often universal, for instance, Muslims are encouraged to embrace ethnic diversity (see Quran verses of al-Hujurat 49:13; ar-Rum 30:22; al-Mumtahanah 60:8). These Quranic verses are often used to support the Malaysian’s policy on ethnic diversity within the nation and between countries (Abd. Majid 2011; Muslim, Musa, & Buang 2011).
Motherhood in Malay culture is ideally associated with a kind, nurturing and caring female homemaker (Stivens 2010), regardless of whether or not she is a fulltime housewife or working mother. These qualities are globally understood and emerge from feminine roles of mothers (Kinnick 2009; Stivens 2010). However, both mother and father are equally important in the creation of a functional family unit. The ideal nuclear family is headed and protected by the father and strengthened by ‘the mother as a warm and supportive helpmate’ (Stivens 1998 b, p. 108). Malaysia’s National Population and
Family Development Board highlight the stress that social problems place on families in many nations, including Malaysia (Stivens 2006, p. 359). The idea that the mother is responsible for the moral guardianship of the family is prevalent in Western philosophy and Christianity (Crouse 2005; Spigel 1992). Some Islamic groups believe that the woman has more responsibility as a guardian than only moral guardianship. She is the guardian of her husband’s house and their children (Joseph & Najmabadi 2005). I argue that this view has not gained prominence in Malay-Islamic society. The Malay mother is expected to uphold the moral standards of her family members. According to Malay popular belief, the mother, rather than the father, is bestowed with moral power. A hadith70 states that “paradise lies under the mother’s feet.” In Malay culture, a mother’s
70 Hadith: ‘A report of the sayings or actions of [Prophet] Muhammad or his companions, together with the tradition of its chain of transmission’ (TheFreeDictionary n.d). 230
moral power derives from her daulat (or spiritual potency). Furthermore, mothers are believed to have the spiritual power to punish children who disregard a mutual, caring relationship.
PREVENTING THE SPREAD OF SOCIAL PROBLEMS: ISLAMIC MORALITY AND STIGMA
The social problems which have beset Malaysian youth are a by-product of the nation’s rapid development (Ariffin 1995). Ariffin’s argument concerning the relationship between national development and social ills is evident in Kampung
Tabuan. This section highlights Tabuan mothers’ concerned over the social problems which are present in their community. Smoking, for instance, is considered by many
Tabuan women to be a gateway to other more serious substance addictions.
One morning I had breakfast with Rita and her daughter Aleza. Rita told Aleza that she had found a packet of cigarettes in her son Zed’s school bag. What struck me most was the sense of helplessness etched on Rita’s face and the fear in her voice as she told Aleza about her brother’s behaviour. Previously, Rita had told me about how worried she had been when Zed, 15 year old began to come home late from school. She had even asked her husband to search for Zed around the village. Rita’s immediate fear was that Zed had also tried glue sniffing with his friends.
In Kampung Tabuan there are no official forums, such as counselling services, for Tabuan families to get help should a family member become involved in substance abuse. Rather, Islamic morality is applied by Tabuan women to convince their husbands and sons of the importance of resisting alcohol, drugs, glue and cigarettes. This is a strategy used by Anita (see Chapter 1) in deciding if the proceeds from drug-selling are haram (prohibited) or halal (permissible). Islamic morality gave Anita’s the confidence to battle her husband’s drug addiction and trafficking. Similarly, Islamic belief and morality is used as cultural resources by Korina to guide her in dealing with social 231
problems. Korina (see also Chapter 5) has a 6 year old son, Johari (whom she calls Joe) and is currently pregnant with her second child. Korina is particularly concerned with the problems in the community, especially these that might influence her children.
These include smoking, drug addiction and gambling. Korina stated that,
I have never touched anything like cigarettes at home. At school [preschool], Teacher Nor talked about it. I was surprise that Joe knew about the dangers of smoking. Joe learns the dangers of smoking through advertisements. Teacher Nor taught the children that smoking is forbidden. Teacher Nor said that when someone smokes, there is a tendency for the person to then take illegal drugs. I agree that these people are easily influenced. When they take illegal drugs, they tend to gamble or do things like that. They will be caught, put in jail, caned, things like that. I continue the points raised by Teacher Nor by saying to Joe, ‘besides that, these people will go to hell’. Joe said, ‘Oh, that way!’ And I pray that Joe will not be influenced by doing those things.
Korina remains aware that Joe is educated in the dangers of smoking from advertisements. However, we are not told by Korina whether these advertisements appear on television, or in another media. This message is further reinforced by Joe’s school teacher, Teacher Nor. Korina confirms Teacher Nor’s view that those who smoke are more likely to progress to harder drugs. The connection between smoking and substance addiction is widely recognised in Malaysia. For instance, the finding of a study conducted by the Malaysian Ministry of Health on AIDS among Malaysian youth is that there is a high proportion of illicit drug addicts and smokers among the nation’s
AIDS cases. The finding states that,
[s]moking and drug use were especially taken into account in this study because a large part of AIDS infections in this country was caused by the sharing of syringes by drug addicts. Smoking, on the other hand, had a connection to AIDS in that youth who took drugs usually started with smoking cigarettes’ (Ministry of Health, Malaysia 1996).
As detailed in Chapter 1, the question of drugs and morality is conditioned by the state’s civil laws relating to the use and sale of illicit substances. Moreover, the fatwa proclaiming illicit drugs to be haram reinforces, from the perspective of Islam, the immorality of substance abuse. 232
However, smoking is not an illegal activity – so who is it that is forbidding smoking? Although the government has not criminalised smoking, the government message, and other anti-smoking images, is taken seriously by Tabuan mothers. Korina told me that Teacher Nor expounds the view that young people are sik boleh, sik boleh isap rokok (not allowed, not allowed to smoke) because it will inevitably lead to other illegal and prohibited activities, such as drug-taking, gambling and theft. Korina takes a strong stand against smoking that finds reinforcement in government anti-drug and anti- smoking campaigns shown on television. Part of the reason for this is that the addictions shown in the advertisements are at her doorstep; and she is particularly sensitive to the destructive path along which she believes smoking can lead. She envisions that severe punishment, such as jail and caning, await anyone who embarks upon this path of destruction. Of course in accordance with Islam such people will not only receive punishment in this world, they will also be punished in the hereafter. Korina (and not the government message on smoking) advocates that smoking puts one on a path to hell.
This derives from Islamic belief in the ultimate punishment.
Neraka or hell is a powerful word which is rarely used in daily conversation, unless someone wants to show something as being completely destructive. The evoking of hell (as a punishment for sin) is an expression of the highest form of disapproval. It is a term which instils fear; and for Korina is an ‘imaginable place’ where various forms of punishment are meted out to deserving criminals. In contrast, Korina sees an inherent injustice in the social reality of life of Kampung Tabuan, where criminals in the community enjoy the same freedom as good people and do not receive any punishment from the authorities.
Whilst Teacher Nor is a resident of Kampung Tabuan Tengah, she is a teacher in
Tabuan Lot preschool and her husband is teacher in the primary school of Kampung
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Tabuan. Teacher Nor is widely recognised as a sincere and dedicated teacher. This is one of the reasons that many mothers from places outside Tabuan Lot have chosen to send their children to the preschool.
Stigmatisation is one of the strategies Tabuan mothers use to separate their children from the problematic elements in Kampung Tabuan. Neuberg, Smith & Asher
(2000) offer an explanation as to how stigmatisation can be used as a strategy for successful group functioning. They do, however, propose the strategy with some caution.71 They argue that people stigmatise others for several reasons. These include the development of self-esteem, control augmentation and anxiety buffering (Neuberg,
Smith & Asher 2000). The perspective suggested by Neuberg, Smith & Asher helps us to understand how Tabuan mothers use stigma ‘to identify individuals who threaten or hinder successful group functioning, to label them as such, to motivate group members to withhold group benefits from them, and to separate such individuals from the group if necessary’ (p. 36).
Link & Phelan (2001) suggest that stigma is enacted at the point at which four interrelated components converge (pp. 367-371). Of these four components the first is labelling. Labelling is used for the purpose of identifying and highlighting difference.
The second component is labelling for the purpose of stereotyping. The third component is, through labelling and stereotyping, the act of separating us from them.
The fourth component relates directly to those who are being stigmatised; for it is they
71 According to Neuberg, Smith & Asher (2000) ‘[w]e seek to avoid any misconceptions about our use of biology and evolutionary concepts. That the roots of stigma may lie in our evolutionary past in no way implies biological determinism; we firmly reject deterministic view, as do most modern evolutionary theorists, for reasons explained by Kenrick (1994) and Buss (1999). Moreover, just because certain stigmas were adapted for the social and psychological environments of our evolutionary past, this does not imply that they are adaptive today; they would only be adaptive to the extent that current environmental constraints are similar to past environmental constraints. Finally, just because some stigmas were (or even are) adaptive or “natural,” this does not make them “good,” “right,” “morally justifiable,” or anything of the sort; the morality of any particular stigma is independent of its existence (see Buss & Kenrick, 1998, on the “naturalistic fallacy”)’ (p. 34-35). 234
who suffer a loss of status and discrimination. Tabuan mothers use the strategies of labelling, stereotyping and separation.
The idea of sending their children away from their residence is not only practiced by mothers to preschool children but also to their teenage children. As mentioned in Chapter 5, some Tabuan mothers send their children to school outside
Kampung Tabuan so that they do not mix with their peers from the community. For instance, Korina stated that,
The only thing here is that I do not want him to mix with his peers. I had advice from Tokoh Maal Hijrah 2005 Sarawak, [the state exemplary man in conjunction with the Islamic Year celebration in 2005. His name is Seruji]. He said to me, if you have children, do not send your children to preschool or school near your house because they tend to spend time together outside the school and easily get influenced by corrupt friends.
Korina follows Seruji’s advice and sends Joe to Kampung Tabuan Lot preschool, rather than the preschool at Kampung Tabuan Dani. Korina believes that the community’s social problems have permeated the village institutions, including the preschool. Sofiah Salleh, for instance, sends her 17 year old son to a Chinese school across the Tabuan River. Sofea Jane is happy with her son’s progress at school and the fact that he is removed from the village. Juliana lives in Tabuan Dani and has an 11 year old son named Ihsan. She has never allowed Ihsan to play with the neighbourhood children, even those who attend his primary school. The only friend Juliana approves of is the grandson of the Kampung Tabuan headman who lives in Tabuan Lot. Juliana remains confident that Ihsan will not be influenced to smoke or sniff glue as she and her sister live next door and take turns to care for each other’s children. Korina had told me that,
When Joe is at home, he is ‘quarantined,’ he cannot just go out anytime he likes. Joe cannot do that. Someone must accompany him and only then he can play outside. When I am not at home, I ask my mum to keep on eye on Joe as she lives just next door. I could not bear to look at unattended and muddy kids at my
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neighbourhood. I observe in Kampung Tabuan that some primary school children have started smoking.
Both Korina and her mother take turns to ‘guard’ Joe. When I asked how her husband felt about this, she said he follows the rules she has laid down for Joe.
Korina uses the word ‘quarantine’ when describing how she restricts Joe’s movements when he is at home. The term denotes an act of keeping a person separated or contained from others, such that he might not be ‘infected’ by others. In other words,
Korina seeks to separate her son from the other children so that Joe is not influenced by the mbiak terbiar or ‘unattended kids’ and mbiak comot-comot ‘muddy kids’ in the neighbourhood. These descriptions illustrate the strength of Korina’s disapproval of the way some of the village children have been raised. Korina labels the neighbourhood children as part of a process of stereotyping. This allows her to uphold the dichotomy of good and bad. Korina believes that ‘muddy’ and ‘unattended’ children will ultimately fall victim to the social problems prevalent within the community.This has led Korina to stereotype most of the neighbourhood children with negative images; which in turn provides her with the justification for quarantining Joe from them. By doing this Korina feels she has the power to prevent the village’s social problems from infecting her family.
Sibley (1995) in his study of socio-spatial exclusion argues that certain groups in the society are sometimes represented as ‘polluting agent’ that threatens established, normative values within societies. These are defiled people who are often associated by others with negative images of filth, i.e. ‘muddy children,’ immorality and disorders.
They should be kept at the distance through various processes of separation because they represent a danger or threat.
The way Juliana resists the social problems in Kampung Tabuan is to deter Ihsan from following his desire to become a police officer upon leaving high school. Those 236
who reside in Kampung Tabuan do not have a high regard for police officers. For instance, Juliana had said,
I don’t like police officers. I don’t want Ihsan to be a policeman. I want him to be a religious teacher. I like religious teachers. I will make sure he will not become a police officer.
Initially, I was surprised with Juliana’s preferred career choice for her son. Firstly, being a religious teacher is generally an unpopular career choice. The aspirations for the career paths of their children more often include doctor, public servant or teacher.
I interpret Juliana’s choice of religious teacher and her opposition to Ihsan’s longing to be a police officer as a strategy to show her desired detachment from the community of Kampung Tabuan. By not allowing Ihasn to become a police officer she can prevent him from becoming embroiled in Kampung Tabuan’s social problems.
Also, Juliana claims that the police ‘are useless, scared to prosecute offenders and take bribes.’ Juliana’s stereotyping of police officers allows her to create an enemy upon which she can direct her anger. This emotion further justifies her decision to prohibit her son from becoming a police officer.
The following section discusses two strategies that illustrate the outward outlook
Tabuan mothers have absorbed as a result of their engagement with television.
Television messages provide the moral resources which can be enacted to assist them in achieving cosmopolitan good motherhood.
THE FIRST STRATEGY OF TABUAN GOOD MOTHERHOOD: FILIAL PIETY AND WEEPING
One of the reasons Tabuan mothers resist social problems is the anxiety they feel when they think their sons will neglect the practice of filial piety. Filial piety refers to the expectation Malay mothers hold that their children should demonstrate respect, obedience and loyalty in several ways. For example when a parent provides advice a child should listen attentively and attempt to follow the suggestions given. Children 237
should try to avoid any form of direct confrontation with, or questioning of their parents. When the children become adults they should be financially independent. They should care for and express affection toward their parents by visiting them regularly, giving gifts (especially money) and caring for them if they fall ill. In other words, when the children are young the parents take full responsibility for them, and when the parents are old the adult children should care for them. However, when their children are affected by the kinds of social problems present in Kampung Tabuan, this reciprocal relationship is threatened. When a child does not succeed in education it both diminishes their chances of being economically independent in the future and limits their capacity to care for their parents in old age.
Tabuan women often weep when watching drama serials on television, particularly those that portray problematic child-parent relationships. Tabuan mothers openly use displays of emotion to express worry, and persuade their children to be good. Weeping is used by Tabuan mothers to re-affirm the concept of filial piety between a mother and her children.
The significance of the concept of maternal filial piety among Malays was recognised when the former Malaysian Prime Minister, Abdullah Ahmad Badawi, took office in 2003. Mainstream newspapers reported that Abdullah had visited his mother to ask for her blessing after his appointment (Ismail 2003). It was reported that Abdullah’s mother had told him to ‘work hard and be humble’ (Jalil & Mustapha 2003). This was a tradition maintained by Abdullah’s successor, Najib Abdul Razak (Utusan Online 2009)
(see Plate 23) and illustrates the status and moral power bestowed upon mothers, even for those in the political arena, in Malay-Islamic culture.72
72 Both prime ministers were reported to seek a blessing from their mothers. These news and photos send a powerful instant message to readers of the prominent figure of their mothers and forget about the absence of their fathers (both of their fathers had passed away).
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Plate 23 Prime Minister Najib Razak kisses his mother’s hand for a blessing after his appointment. On the left is Najib’s wife, Rosmah Mansor (Photo: Aziz 2009).
For Malays, maternal filial piety is underpinned by the belief that mothers possess a degree of daulat (spiritual potency). If children do not fulfil their obligations of filial piety, their mother’s daulat is viewed as being able to punish them. Malays believe that the lives of children who do not observe the tradition of filial piety can never be peaceful. Children who either disobey, show disloyalty or disrespect toward their mothers are labelled as anak derhaka (treacherous children).
Korina depends on drama serials and movies to explain the concept of filial piety to her child. Korina simply points out to Joe the various scenes which touch on filial piety with little commentary. Joe is forced to come to his own conclusions about what he sees in these dramas. When Joe weeps, Korina is reassured that this is an effective way to ensure filial piety. By weeping with Joe, Korina believes that the bond they share gains strength. Korina claims that,
When we watched ‘Seputih Qaseh Ramadhan,’ Joe cried. The story really touched our hearts. It was also a good story for women to watch. If I watch a story that was showing a portrayal of disloyal children to their mother, I will straight away say to Joe, ‘That’s the punishment to those treacherous children who are disloyal to their mothers.’ When I said that, Joe feels bad about it, and he becomes upset. He is a sensitive child. When Joe sees me weeping while watching TV, he starts to weep too.
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Tabuan women weep whilst watching the drama serial Seputih Qaseh
Ramadhan (SQR) because they feel intense sympathy for Qaseh; the protagonist who is oppressed by her husband and mother-in-law. What is more, in the final episode Qaseh dies of cancer. Because Qaseh kept her illness a secret, her death came as a shock for her two on-screen children. Throughout the series both children were becoming increasingly disloyal to their mother, to the point where they had joined their father and grandmother in siding against Qaseh. Their punishment was that they not only lost their mother, but they were left feeling remorse for their disloyalty toward her.
Filial piety is a common theme in Malay and Indonesian drama serials and movies. The issue of loyalty to parents and reciprocal relationships of care appeals to audiences and any reinforcement of this value is welcomed by the Malay-Islamic community. During my field work in 2006, TV2 increased its broadcast of Indonesian drama serials which reinforced the importance of filial piety.73 This comes as no surprise given that both countries, Malaysia and Indonesia, have significant cultural similarities. Through depictions of filial piety in drama serials, Tabuan mothers are exposed to the trope of the ‘treacherous child.’ Stories of such children appear in the renowned Malay folktale of Si Tanggang. In fact many Malay and Indonesian dramas and movies have incorporated elements from Si Tanggang folklore. Modern television narratives also deal with the theme of filial piety, but they differ from the old Malay movies that are adapted from the folklore. Hence, television drama serials allow viewers to engage with narratives of treacherous children against the backdrop of middle-class cosmopolitan lifestyles in Malaysia and Indonesia.
73 73The Indonesian drama serials Malin 1 and Malin 2 are dedicated to instilling filial piety in children. Another Indonesian popular drama serial, Bawang Putih, Bawang Merah also has a minor theme of loyalty toward parents. Alia, the protagonist, was constantly being hated and tormented by her greedy stepmother. Alia has the mission to save her parents who were in her stepmother’s captivity.
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In the Indonesian drama serial entitled Malin Kundang, Malin is a ‘good son’ who turns treacherous when he marries a wealthy woman. He becomes greedy and no longer pays any attention to his mother. The difference between this and other filial- duty dramas is that Malin’s character embodies two contradictory features; his striking good looks and refined manners, and his wicked intent. On the basis of the former he gains from the trust of his wealthy mother-in-law; whilst at the same time plotting to murder her daughter (who is his fourth wife). At the end of the series, as consequences of refusing filial piety and being evil throughout his life, Malin dies tragically due to his mother’s daulat. In the sequel entitled Malin Kundang 2, Malin’s daughter becomes the central character. She is portrayed as a wicked teenager who plots to kill her grandmother, despises her own mother, and is generally intent on destroying the lives of those around her. These narratives show that greed for wealth corrupts feelings of filial piety.
The drama series Pangako Sayo from the Philippines was broadcast in 2005 and proved to be popular among Tabuan mothers. Aleza, a young mother who has a 4 year old son (see Chapter 7) ‘was hooked’ on the serial. After watching Pangako Sayo three times she said that,
I feel sad and weep when I see my newborn nephew who is not in proper care. My nephew was born premature and the doctor said she has Down ’s syndrome. It reminds me of Yna, the illegitimate child in Pangako Sayo. She is left by her mother in a rubbish tip. Yna was rescued and adopted by a couple. I want to adopt my nephew but my sister-in law has refused. I don’t understand why she doesn’t let me; she can’t even afford to buy milk for the baby.
Aleza’s brother Arasy, the father of Aleza’s nephew, worked in the state of
Selangor but was recently arrested for being an accomplice in the theft of a motorcycle.
His wife was left in Kuching with no money, no home and expecting the birth of their fourth child at any time. Rosli, Rita, and Aleza had planned to go to Kuala Lumpur to post bail for Arasy so that he could be released from police custody. I witnessed the
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daily progress of ‘the drama of life’ in Rita’s family’ and I even sent Aleza to the airport to buy plane ticket. My observation showed Awang Osman, Rita’s husband, to be quiet and not taking any part in helping to solve the problem. I asked Rita about this, and she said, ‘It is his character.’
In the midst of the chaos in Rita’s family, I observed that Aleza began to develop a lot of sympathy for her newborn nephew. At the same time, she was watching
Pangako Sayo on VCD for the third time. On a few occasions she asked me if I would drive her to the maternity hospital to visit her nephew, ‘I wonder if the baby is OK. We should go and visit him, shouldn’t we?’ Aleza attempted to understand and act on a complex family issue by referring to a television drama series. Although Aleza’s case does not specifically reflect the practice of filial piety, it demonstrates a mother’s affection and concern for children. Aleza’s affection for the child is intensified by the drama she watches. She is able to relate to a story from a different cultural and religious context and use that to reflect on her own experience.
Meilan’s family provides an example of the way that social problems can affect a family.
Meilan, aged 58, is an Iban who converted to Islam when she married Ibrahim. Meilan is a casual worker and Ibrahim works as a security guard. Meilan and Ibrahim live with 15 fifteen family members, including her children, their partners and grandchildren. These include unmarried adults, as well as two married couples and their children. Because they are the mainstays of support for the extended family, Meilan and her husband are struggling to earn enough money to buy food. She once told me that she is ‘still buying rice, cooking oil or fish for everybody in the house.’ She is not happy with the fact that her adult children are still financially dependant on her. Meilan also worries about her 16 year old son who had recently dropped out of school. Meilan’s case is an example of some parents in Kampung Tabuan who are reluctantly providing financial support to their
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married sons’ or daughters’ family. Parents are obliged to support their children who are unable to secure stable employments.
As mentioned previously, Meilan often cries whilst watching SQR. In fact, she is well known among her close neighbours because she weeps easily when watching sad scenes in television dramas and films. For example, she weeps when watching children arguing or being disrespectful to their parents. She always cries whenever she watches
Malin’s mother (in the Malin Kundang drama serial) being tricked into mishap by her treacherous son. When watching another Indonesian drama serial, Bawang Merah
Bawang Putih, Meilan told me:
When I was angry at Rika and Siska (the antagonists) I gritted my teeth, clenched my fist and moved closer and closer to the TV set without I realising it. Both of them were very bad.
Rather than just crying, Meilan also physically expressed emotions of anger and hatred.
Diana, Meilan’s married daughter, told me of her mother’s display of emotions. Diana cynically teases her mum, saying that,
Whenever my mum cried and became upset when watching TV, I said to her, ‘you shed lots of tears, I am afraid that it will cause flood in the house. May I take a bucket for your tears’?
Diana and Meilan’s sons have found it difficult to find stable jobs. This causes
Meilan a lot of anxiety as they contribute little to the household expenses. Diana’s unsympathetic response to her mother’s emotions demonstrates refusal toward the reciprocal relationship of care. Meilan envisions that she and her husband have to stay at Rumah Orang Tua (nursing home) because their children are unable to fulfil their obligations under the code of filial piety.
These drama serials from Kuala Lumpur, Indonesia and the Philippines have exposed Tabuan women to morality which guides them to becoming good women and mothers. The characters in these dramas demonstrate the integrity and perseverance
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required to fight against ‘evil.’ By engaging with a variety of narratives related to filial piety against the backdrop of different cosmopolitan cities, Tabuan mothers reflect on their real life experiences and therefore develop respect and understanding towards human difference.
THE SECOND STRATEGY OF TABUAN GOOD MOTHERHOOD: THE ADOPTION OF DIFFERENT CULTURAL RESOURCES FROM TELEVISION
Tabuan mothers’ strategies to achieve good motherhood are appropriated from government messages, Islam, and cosmopolitanism from television. Government messages reflect the state’s intervention in creating the ‘modern family.’ According to
Ong (1990) this project focuses on women’s role in managing the family. For instance she claims that mothers
could inculcate “progressive” values in their children. This privileging of the mother-child relationship reflected the Western family model while ignoring the central role of the Muslim father’ (p. 266).
In regards to Islam, Stivens (2000) argues that the type of Islamic teaching and images adopted by the Malaysian government is ‘‘moderate, reinvented and neo- traditionalist’ (p.30). In other words, Stivens is contending that the Malaysian government is promoting a progressive image of Islam. A cosmopolitan outlook derives from the government’s allowing of FTA television to include in its broadcast a substantial amount of foreign popular culture (see Chapter 2). On the one hand,
Malaysian television embraces commercialisation. On the other, Malaysian television is a medium for the government to educate viewers (Nain 2003).
In the development of a cosmopolitan image of motherhood, Tabuan housewives adopted two strategies which connected them to the (globalised) world outside their village. Firstly, television is an institution through which they listen to public figures at a national level. They also entrust their children to cartoon and other entertainment programs on television as a substitute for neighbourhood peer interaction. Tabuan
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mothers believe, for instance, that television cartoons are legitimate forms of entertainment and education. Secondly, television programs are a source of moral values; including respect and loyalty to parents, success, perseverance and patience.
Most importantly, Tabuan mothers want to see the enforcement of justice in dramas; good should always prevail over evil.
Korina is a Tabuan mother who depends on television as a resource to nurture her son. She is articulate in reflecting on how she and her son Joe engage with television. Other Tabuan mothers also exhibit a similar dependence on television for parenting.
Korina trusts television to provide a healthy environment for her son Joe. Korina sees television as giving Joe companionship, education, entertainment and moral guidance. Joe spends a significant amount of time at home watching television during the day, in the evening and on the weekends. He routinely watches two foreign drama serials during the 2:30 p.m – 4:30 p.m time slot; when TV2 and TV3 air didactic drama serials from foreign countries. In fact, during this time slot, both TV2 and TV3 choose to air foreign drama serials which incorporate moral values, in particular those which are associated with the family. Malin Kundang from Indonesia is an example of one such drama series. In the evening, and after dinner, both Joe and Korina watch television together, generally from 7:00 p.m until 10:00 p.m. In all, Joe watches approximately 5-6 hours of television per day. In the evening television stations air cartoons, news bulletins, as well as Malay and foreign drama serials. Korina and Joe also regularly watch DVDs; including locally made Malay movies, Hollywood films and movies from Thailand and South Korea. Korina and Joe also go to the cinema to watch Malay movies. On the weekends, Joe watches cartoon programs until midday.
Korina had said that,
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On Saturday and Sunday there are many cartoon programs and sometimes we watch them together. There is Tarzan, Mickey and Lilo and Stich. Joe watches all those cartoons and his favourite is Mr. Bean, haha...When Mr Bean is on air, Joe even refuses to go out with me.
Despite the significant amounts of time Joe spends in front of the television,
Korina has no reservations at all about Joe’s television watching routine. She believes that cartoons and Mr. Bean pose no threat to Joe. Korina’s approval of Hollywood cartoon programs reflect Tabuan mother’s general acceptance to these programs. In addition, cartoon programs rarely spark any controversy or discussion at the national level. Walt Disney Productions have in fact been aired on Malaysian television since the
1960s. One of the benefits Tabuan mothers envisage in Western television programs provide for their children a way to learn the English language outside of school hours.
Dania, for instance has an Astro satellite television and subscribes the Disney cartoon and Discovery channels. She encourages her children to watch cartoon programs as a way to improve their English. She has a 12 year old daughter whom she said has excelled in English language since they installed Astro. The government’s bilingual policy encourages Malaysian citizens to be proficient in both the Malay and
English languages. The government emphasises the importance of English in facilitating the globalisation of the national economy. It is a philosophy which has influenced many sections of society, including mothers who are concerned about their children’s education. Dania believes that English is vital in determining the success of her child’s education and later career. Concerns relating to the acquisition of English, previously a privileged reserved for the middle-class, has now becomes a concern for the ordinary people.
Anjali has always watched Hollywood movies with her teenage son and daughter. Her husband has two jobs; he is a security guard and a goods handler at
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Kuching Port. Anjali sells door-to-door food. Both parents hope their 5 children will all be successful at school. She recalls the story of a Hollywood movie where a father encourages his son to show a fighting spirit to become an ice hockey champion. Anjali associates the father’s role in his son’s success at ice hockey to both her untiring effort to financially provide for her children’s education.
Korina is even more engaged with television culture than other Tabuan mothers.
She not only depends on popular culture programs such as cartoons, drama, drama serials and films to guide her as a parent, she has also experienced asking questions by telephone to a renowned guest motivational speaker who once appeared live on the TV
3 daily talk show Malaysia Hari Ini (Malaysia Today74) During the show viewers are given the opportunity to telephone and pose a question to the guest:
Korina: There are lots of thing to be learnt (pengajaran) from Malaysia Hari Ini. Zana: Learning in what way? Korina: Sometimes it is about caring for children. Once I managed... The other day Fadilah Kamsah was invited. The topic was about ‘early and later stages in children’s upbringing.’ He explained how children can be influenced in social problems (terjerumus ke lembah hina). I called him and said, ‘I have a son aged six, but I treat him as if he is older than his age.’ Dr. Fadilah said, ‘it is normal’. He credited me by saying that although I am a young mother, I take seriously my son’s development. I was flattered by his praise. It’s a proper way to avoid children from being influenced by social problems.
Dr. Fadilah Kamsah is a renowned motivational speaker in interpersonal relationships, including child raising. His approach to the subject combines both Western, and Malay-
Islamic perspectives. He encourages, for example, parents providing mature and objective explanations to their children on important issues. This method contrasts with more traditional Malay interactions with children, whereby a parent provides partial explanations in fear that the child will ask too many questions and diminish parental respect.
74 Malaysia Hari ini is a morning show, quite similar with programs like ‘Sunrise’ on the Australian television Channel 7 Network. 247
However Fadilah also espouses Islamic values in his counselling. He encourages parents to pray alongside their children to ensure they nurture a strong spiritual connection. Fadilah appears frequently on television talk shows and at one time had a regular 10 minute motivational talk time-slot at 6.30 a.m on TV3. Perhaps because it served to reaffirm her approach to raising Joe, Korina valued the experience of talking to Fadilah. Fadilah’s advice and compliments have added to her confidence in achieving good motherhood.
As suggested by Fadilah, Korina tries to be mature and objective in raising Joe.
Korina says that she explains many issues to Joe whilst watching television together.
This is what she meant by ‘I treat him as if he is older than his age.’ In explaining issues in this manner, Korina anticipates that Joe would be able to think for himself and resist the negative peer pressure deriving from the environment of Kampung Tabuan. As was mentioned previously, in contrast to the Western method of raising children adopted by
Korina, traditional Malay beliefs suggest that children are not yet calibrated to receive objective and rational explanations on certain issues.
The only element of foreign dramas that is particularly treated with caution by
Tabuan mothers is the depiction of sexuality. It is accepted that locally produced,
Malaysian television programs promote modest dress and conservatism when it comes to relationships between men and women; even more so than other Asian countries such as Indonesia, Thailand and the Philippines. With regard to this difference, Korina said,
I watched a movie from Thailand on TV and it was a good movie, so I bought the DVD and wanted to watch it again with Joe. When I watched it on TV there was no obscene scenes, but when I watched the DVD with Joe, ‘Oh my god, the woman took off her dress.’ I was in shock. I quickly fast forwarded the DVD. Joe asked, ‘Why did you fast forward the story?’ I said to Joe, ‘there is a sex scene and you can’t watch it because you are still young’. I talked directly to Joe so that he understood. ‘Mum, I can’t watch that part, can I?’ Joe easily understands because I tell him. Because of this Joe understands many things, even though he is very young. I am not like other parents who pamper their children and let them watch those kinds of things.
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On the surface, Korina’s method of teaching Joef about issues relating to sex and modesty demonstrates her ‘inward outlook.’ The theme of sexuality is common in foreign movies, Korina does not show an openness to, or acceptance of, explorations of sexuality. Rather, the scene becomes a medium to re-affirm its taboo and the enforcement of modesty and conservatism. In this way, Korina teaches Joe in accordance with the Malay-Islamic societal expectation. Yet Korina does not out rightly condemn sex scenes and it may be argued that this demonstrates an act of respecting other cultures. Korina’s attitude, for instance, differs from the Senegalese
Muslim women viewers’ from Werner’s (2006) study who passed harsh judgements against portrayals of morality in Latin telenovelas (see Chapter 3).
Another Tabuan mother, Nene, who has five children ranging from 17 years old to 1 year old, has also adopted Korina’s approach when confronted by sexual references in foreign movies. Nene will turn off the DVD player whenever there is an overt sexual reference or scene. She says that sex scenes are not appropriate for children and teenagers. But Nene does not totally reject the portrayal. In fact, she watches uncensored movies from DVD player late at night.
CONCLUSION
Malay mothers typically have more say than fathers in nurturing their children.
Her role is validated by Malay-Islamic culture which bestows upon mothers a spiritual potency which can be used to safeguard the traditional forms of mutual relationship between parents and their children. In Kampung Tabuan, this relationship (filial piety) is being contested with the spread of social problems in the village. Hence, the renewal of moral attribution is desired by Tabuan mothers as means to enhance the effectiveness of their role in nurturing their children against the globalising project of the nation. In line with this local and foreign television programs have become moral resources. 249
Mothers’ moral attribution demonstrates both an inward and outward outlook. The inward outlook is firstly practiced when mothers use Islam to interpret social problems.
The second way that an inward outlook is practiced occurs when Tabuan mothers stigmatise problematic Tabuan villagers and the police in order to distance their family from the influence of social problems.
Tabuan mothers have adopted the moral values deriving from Islam, other parts of Asia and the West. For instance through the experiences of Anjali, Aleza and Korina we learn that they are open to a universal morality emerging from both locally produced and foreign television programs, drama series and movies. Moreover, some Tabuan mothers actually encourage their children to spend significant (some might say excessive) amounts of time watching television to develop their English language proficiency. Some mothers demonstrate deep emotional reactions when watching drama serials. They harness the powerful expression of weeping to inculcate filial piety in their children. In addition, their emotion reflects the recognition of other mothers’ and women’s experiences in dealing with the challenges presented in family life. This outward outlook demonstrates mothers’ openness to differences in raising their children.
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CHAPTER 9
CONCLUSION: MORALISTIC HOUSEWIVES
INTRODUCTION
This study demonstrates that, in the twenty-first century, conventional
Malaysian free-to-air television provides both global and local connections for
Malaysian viewers despite the advance of other sophisticated forms of mass media, including the Internet, the global television, and media convergence of mobile phones.
Viewers are exposed to various types of television programs, and specifically, women are connected with drama serials, telenovelas, and movies from Asia, Southeast Asia, and Latin America as well as local programs including ‘hybrid’ and ‘adapted’ types
(discussed in Chapter 4) produced in Kuala Lumpur. Throughout the thesis, I have argued that Kampung Tabuan housewives use television resources to construct the idea of ‘ideal housewife.’ The ideal housewife is modern and cosmopolitan. The bases for the argument emerged from two thesis aims. The first aim was to investigate the everyday challenges faced by Kampung Tabuan Malay women in their roles of wives, mothers, petty traders, and consumers in their households. The second aim was to investigate the ways in which Tabuan housewives use resources from television to negotiate their roles as a result of changes in society.
THE DRAMAS OF LIFE: THE CHALLENGES OF CONTEMPORARY HOUSEWIVES’ ROLES
Kampung Tabuan Melayu is a low status and marginalised community of coastal
Sarawak Malays in Pending, the thriving industrial area of Kuching. The male population is a source of unskilled labour for Pending’s and Kuching’s development.
The involvement of some Tabuan men in criminal activity, and drug abuse and trafficking has caused the village to be stigmatised by some of the local authorities and
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the Kuching middle-class Malays. Men are stigmatised as violent criminals and the general population are stigmatised as squatters.
This study has identified the challenges arising from rapid urbanisation and globalisation faced by the marginalised community of workers in Kampung Tabuan. On the one hand, the negative effects of urbanisation manifest in the involvement of some
Tabuan men in social problems. This, in turn, threatens the traditional role of wives and mothers within the family. Chapter 5 demonstrates the reasons for the tension that occurs in women’s roles. The tension occurs because some Tabuan men are unable to earn sufficient income for the family and unable to be effective and capable leaders in their community, as well as the tarnished image of the villagers due to the stigmatisation by outsiders.
On the other hand, a consequence of globalisation is that it encourages the state to promote a consumer culture. Tabuan women are drawn into the consumption of lifestyle goods as a response to government policy. Although consumption is commonly associated with the middle classes (Pinches 1999; Stivens 1998), housewives in the
Tabuan community also demonstrate a strong desire to routinely consume lifestyle commodities. I have demonstrated in Chapter 6 that in order to be a consumer, Tabuan housewives embrace the role of traders. I have also argued that consumption is a conduit for Tabuan housewives to connect with Kuala Lumpur, a place that is perceived as a cosmopolitan city, in order to acquire modernity. The existence of poor, marginalised women who still manage to participate in the consumption of lifestyle commodities is referred to as the lower middle class in India (Ganguly-Scrase 2003) and Indonesia (Gerke 2003).
How do marginalised and relatively poor women who have little education and live in a volatile environment realise that they have the choice to advance their families
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and themselves further than local norms and values dictate? As I have demonstrated in
Chapter 5, Tabuan housewives perceive television as serving informational and educational purposes. This perspective is informed by their view that both local and foreign television programs are a primary source of moral values. The interesting fact with regard to television’s role is that Tabuan housewives are aware that, relative to foreign programs, locally produced television programs are heavily censored by the government. Tabuan housewives also know they have the choice to buy pirated DVDs, which are easily available if they want to watch popular culture entertainment that is frowned upon and uncensored.
THE COSMOPOLITAN OUTLOOK OF TELEVISION AUDIENCES
The first finding of the study is that the image of the ideal housewife desired by
Tabuan women is modelled on the moralistic images that emerge from hybrid programs that locally produced, and foreign drama serials. This is due to their conviction that a woman’s role as mother, supplementary income earner, and wife are, at their core, moral duties. This is also due to the Islamic teachings and the government’s promotion of the idea that women’s roles in domestic space contribute to the wellbeing of the family. The petty trading they are typically involved in is patterned on the image of the ostentatious Malay, middle-class business women depicted in Malay melodramas. The role of Tabuan housewives in generating an income and managing the household finances has allowed them to aspire toward a middle class lifestyle and model the moralistic feminine images they see on television.
In relation to women’s cosmopolitan outlook in the literature (see Chapter 3),
Sichone (2008) argues that the outlook among less-privileged women is due to the women’s natural openness to the Other. Rather than adopting Sichone’s (2008) view, this chapter has demonstrated that a banal cosmopolitan outlook emerges as a result of
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women’s desire to be modern. The consumption of symbols, images, ideas, and fashions from television, as well as spending on lifestyle commodities, are integral components of the process of acquiring a sense of ‘modern womanhood and cosmopolitan outlook’ for Tabuan housewives. Studies have demonstrated that cosmopolitan outlook emerges as a result of consuming lifestyle commodities among women in London, for example the activity of buying goods from other countries (Nava 2007) and Muslim women consuming Islamic fashion (Tarlo 2007).
My argument is that the cosmopolitan, middle-class lifestyles shown on
Malaysia’s FTA television stations provide a moral resource for Tabuan housewives to be good wives and mothers. These moral resources are grounded in a moderate and tolerant Islamic morality. Islamic morality refers particularly to guidelines on proper clothing and sexual conduct, and the importance of distinguishing between halal and haram in everyday practice, for instance, Anita’s view on illicit drugs. Middle class lifestyles are embedded in television images of Malay businessmen and women who have the capacity to consume and travel; who enjoy urban, Islamic, and modern lifestyles; and who are physically attractive. These characteristics reflect the orientation of the individual toward cosmopolitanism.
Other than televised Malay and hybrid melodramas, I propose that imported televised melodrama is both a source of moral cosmopolitanism and cultural diversity.
Moral cosmopolitanism refers to universal morality and the universal human community (Delanty 2006). Unlike televised Malay and hybrid melodramas, which are created against the backdrop of Muslim society, foreign televised melodramas (except drama serials from Indonesia) depict non-Muslim lifestyles. All televised melodramas highlight universal morality, for instance, evil is always defeated by good. However, the issues concerned, the people and the backdrop of the society are different in each drama
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serials and movies depending on the country that produced them. The combination of the portrayal of good and evil in foreign and hybrid melodramas, and universal Islamic morality provide guidance for the everyday practices of Tabuan housewives.
My study also suggests that televised melodramas from different countries have increased the awareness of cultural differences among Tabuan women. Openness towards others and the recognition of differences in values is a significant characteristic of a cosmopolitan outlook (Skrbis & Woodward 2007; Delanty 2006; Hannerz 1990).
For instance, Tabuan housewives do not discriminate between the characters they weep for or model themselves, be they from Indonesian, Indian, Hong Kong or Philippine television dramas. What is more, Tabuan housewives perceive that physical attractiveness and kindness go hand-in-hand and are behaviours modelled in both foreign and locally produced melodramas. As a consequence, beauty is important because it is linked to good morals (see Chapter 7). For instance, Tabuan housewives such as Fasha and Balkish adopt Indian images from Bollywood to portray their physical and inner beauties.
The second finding of the study is that Tabuan housewives acquire cosmopolitan outlooks from the ostentatious Malay, middle class images on television, depending on individual interpretations and circumstances. Sofea Jane and Zulaikha, for example, were saving for the haj (pilgrimage) as a way of ‘travelling.’ Women such as Rita,
Yatimah, and Korina also recognise the importance of travel and conceptualise their trips to Kuala Lumpur as a form of pilgrimage. The city represents an urban lifestyle and is a place to shop (consume). Kareena is compelled to donate to reality television programs that highlight the underprivileged. Meanwhile, Maya Karin and Fasha spend money on personal care to project the image of a good housewife. Finally, Anita, Aleza,
Amor, and Doris demonstrate a cosmopolitan image through hybrid fashion.
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Cosmopolitanism is also measured by an individual’s levels of commitment to engage with the Other (Hannerz 1990; Beck 2000). This willingness can be divided into two categories: dilettante and connoisseur (Hannerz 1990). These categories are based on the capability to demonstrate cosmopolitanism characteristics. My study suggests that dilettante cosmopolitan exists among Tabuan housewives. They acquire this through consumption of lifestyle commodities. For instance, Tabuan housewives embrace hybrid dress that fuses local and foreign styles. The connoisseur category of cosmopolitanism, however, is difficult to find in Kampung Tabuan, but it exists. Korina is the best example. Korina’s family background, which consists of Malay and Iban descendants, provides the foundation for understanding different values of a broader space: national, regional, and the West. The governments multicultural policy and encouragement of mix marriages (such as in Korina’s family) set the foundation for a cosmopolitan outlook in the society. I suggest that national policy on multiculturalism is a significant factor that supports the existence of cosmopolitan outlook in marginal community of Kampung Tabuan (see Parry 2008).
Korina learns the Western and Islamic approaches to raising her son (see
Chapter 8). For example, she takes the attitude of explaining things to her son. When watching foreign movies which contain sexual references rather than condemn them, she respects the difference in cultural outlooks. Her moral awareness has motivated her to fight against corruption occurred in the surau’s (prayer room) management. She was involved in the donation appeal for Aceh’s tsunami victims and sympathises with the plight of sex workers in the Malaysian and Kalimantan (Indonesia) cities she visits.
CONTRIBUTION TO TELEVISION STUDIES AND GENDER ROLES
This study’s contribution to knowledge can be found in the application of the concept of cosmopolitan to an analysis of Malaysia’s FTA television. Cosmopolitanism
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is associated with global television (Urry 2000; Baker 1997) rather than national television. National television in many countries is associated with parochialism (i.e., nation building and the project of shaping a homogenous cultural identity). My contention is that while Malaysian television stations provide parochialism resources, they also provide resources which promote cultural diversity (see Chapter 4). Due to its multiethnic population, the Malaysian government recognises and embraces cultural diversity. This cultural diversity is evidenced by the significant number of imported programs from North and Latin America, Britain, and South and Southeast Asian countries, as well as hybrid, locally produced programs. National television has embraced a global outlook. A further study might well investigate the tension(s) that are created by the existence of both outlooks. The tension might lie in the willingness of the government to ‘accept’ foreign popular culture. The tension also might lie in the society’s acceptance of diverse cultural values as opposed to Islamic and nationalistic ideologies.
In reference to cosmopolitanism, the television stations studied broadcast three types of programs: The first are imported programs (Nain 1996; Wang 2010); the second are locally produced adaptations of licensed foreign shows (Wang 2010); and the third are Malay dramas that draw on foreign and local values to portray Malay, middle-class families who are simultaneously modern, Western, multicultural, and
Islamic (see Chapter 4, on Seputeh Qaseh Ramadan). Furthermore, these Malay, middle-class characters are depicted as having ostentatious consumption habits and are highly mobile (i.e. they travel).
In the second and third categories above, I argue for the concept of hybridisation. The term hybridity is applied as these programs are created not only for commercial purposes but also to reflect the government’s preferred interpretation of
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both modernity and Islam. In using hybridity (Kahn 2006; Held 2002; Tomlinson 1999) as one of the primary indicators of the existence of cosmopolitan in television, I highlight the role of the Film Censorship Board of Malaysia in deciding what is
‘appropriate’ and ‘inappropriate’ in terms of values for Malaysian television audiences.
In addition, the portrayal of hybrid lifestyles in Malaysian melodramas demonstrates the emergence of what Bhabha (1994) calls ‘a third space’. Within this third space, the state benefits from the emergence of an ostentatious, middle class culture that emphasises consumption, as well as particular images of women, that supports the government’s project of modernity.
Unlike foreign television news, televised melodramas have yet to be theorised in relation to cosmopolitanism (Robertson 2010; Chouliaraki 2008; Hoijer 2004).
‘Compassion’ in television news is identified as the emotion that connects the ‘victims’ in various locations with local audiences. In the course of my research, I noticed that the
Tabuan viewers tried to identify their life circumstances with the actors in melodramas.
Although there were a number of televised melodramas from the Philippines, Indonesia, and Bollywood which made Tabuan women weep, their emotions become strongest when they reflected on their own experiences. Therefore, I suggest that foreign televised melodramas foster a cosmopolitan outlook by providing morality from various cultures that can be learned by Tabuan housewives. A similar observation has been made by
Kim (2005). She argues for a cosmopolitan outlook in young Korean women who, from watching American movies and dramas on global television, imagine what freedom might be like in their lives. Kim’s claim is consistent with my study that cosmopolitanism emphasises an attitude of openness. I distinguish openness from compassion. ‘Compassion’ refers to a sentiment of sympathy towards others which may
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not necessarily consider aspect like cultural differences, whereas ‘openness’ incorporates a sensitivity to people from different cultural backgrounds.
Gender role theory has provided me with a framework for approaching the study of the role of housewives in a Sarawak Malay community. This framework has allowed me to examine the complex interplay of television engagement and the effects of social problems and consumer culture on the roles of housewives and the way they cope with the changes. My study contributes to an understanding of the evolution of the roles of urban, marginalised housewives roles in an era of rapid globalisation and urbanisation.
Globalisation, strengthened by the liberalisation policy promoted by the Malaysian government, is prevalent in the emergence of a consumer culture. Globalisation is experienced by this lower socio-economic group through an engagement with television and through the consumption of lifestyle commodities.
I have extended the notion the relatively high status of Malay women (Swift
1965; Errington 1990; Karim 1992). Besides the possession of property (Stivens 1996;
Karim 1992) that defines the high status of Malay women, my study highlights that
Tabuan women acquire domestic autonomy through their roles as housewives and mothers. In the case of the Tabuan population, being poor, low economic status rural- urban migrants, Tabuan housewives rarely inherit land or property from their first generation migrant parents. Therefore, they depend on the income these women earn and their spending on lifestyle commodities in contributing their domestic autonomy. In this study, I highlight the roles of housewives as mothers accorded with spiritual potency. Rarely do gender role studies of Malay society highlight the daulat, or spiritual potency, of mothers. Matrilineal filial piety, in terms of remittances and affection, accrues to the mother. However, this domestic autonomy acquired from the housewives and mothers’ roles does not come naturally but is located in women’s agency. They
259
need to restore and negotiate this autonomy with family members. Therefore, television becomes a resource for them to learn about and create strategies for the maintenance or restoration of autonomy.
In this study, men’s gender roles are not given any in-depth attention. The study found that men attempt to fulfil the role of breadwinner; however, they have been marginalised by urbanisation. This has allowed for the emergence of women’s power in the domestic space. The government provides financial support for housewives to improve their ability to earn an income but not for men. In my opinion, men in both public and private space within marginal communities such as Kampung Tabuan have no more power than women do. Research on men’s gender roles in such communities would be timely and would show perhaps that not all men are accorded power in their relationships with women. There are also other under-researched areas, such as whether or not the mass media could provide a means for the empowerment of men. Another under-researched area is intergenerational relationships and the role of grandparents in the extended family. The aging of the Malaysian population and the unpopularity of homecare services for the elderly are indicators of the importance of intergenerational relations.
260
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