After the tremendous fatal disaster on Japan’s earthquake on March 11th 2011, there was a major global discrimination towards Berita Harian’s cartoon comic drawings which was published on 13th March 2011 pertaining to Japan’s tragic tsunami incident (Associated Press, 2011). The public, of course, was enraged by this foolish action that eventually led to a proposition to boycott this company for the childish behaviour when the world is grieving and sympathizing over the many lives lost (The Australian, 2011). This “tasteless” action, as commented by Yow (2011) resulted in a forced apology by the public and government for turning this into a joke and was given a strict warning by the Information Communication and Culture Minister Datuk Seri Dr Rais as it was regarding compassionate concerns which led to the apology of Berita Harian’s front page on 14th March 2011 (The Star, 2011). In Yow and Wong’s article, 'Berita Harian issues apology over tsunami action' on 14th March, Berita Harian published their apology on Twitter, their website and Facebook fan page at approximately 2pm for insulting the loss and by implementing the use of Japan’s ideal cartoon hero, Ultraman, whom was cowardly running away from the gigantic waves of tsunami.
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| The Cartoonist, Mohd Zohri Sukimi, otherwise known as Zoy. Zoy's Expression to Japan's Earthquake Source: Malaysia Kini |
In my personal opinion, it is indeed foolish and a lack of maturity level to publish this silly ridiculous comic and what’s worst is it was accepted by Berita Harian’s editor to go on with it. This little ‘joke’ was insensitive and it is easier to say sorry but what about sympathizing in the first place. This not only gave a bad impression to Malaysia but it dropped it to a lower level making the world interpret Malaysians to be crude and uncivilized. Another matter is the power of people is far superior when united. As enforced by Ghonim’s statement (2011), “Power of the People is Stronger than People in Power”. Despite the massive case, Berita Harian could not be punished as it does not violate any laws under the Printing Presses and Publication Act 1984 or Communications and Multimedia Act as mentioned by Datuk Seri Dr Rais (The Star Online, 2011).
References:
- Associated Press 2011, ‘Malaysia paper apologizes for comic tsunami image’, 14 March, viewed 3rd June 2011, < http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20110314/ap_on_re_as/as_malaysia_japan_earthquake>
- Ghonim, W 2011, ‘Power of the People is Stronger than People in Power: Egypt, World Revolution’, Leak Source, viewed 3rd June 2011, <http://leaksource.wordpress.com/2011/03/07/wael-ghonim-power-of-the-people-is-stronger-than-people-in-power/>
- The Australian 2011, ‘Malaysian paper sorry for the tsunami action’, 14 March, viewed 3rd June 2011, < http://www.theaustralian.com.au/news/breaking-news/malaysian-paper-sorry-for-tsunami-cartoon/story-fn3dxity-1226021224356>
- The Star Online 2011, ‘Berita Harian given a stern warning: Rais’, 14 March, viewed 3rd June 2011, < http://thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2011/3/14/nation/20110314182705&sec=nation>
- Wong, P.M. 2011, ‘Berita Harian issues public apology over tsunami action’, The Star Online 14 March, viewed 3rd June 2011, < http://thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2011/3/14/nation/8262608&sec=nation>
- Yow, H.C. 2011, ‘Berita Harian apologises ‘tasteless’ tsunami, The Malaysian insider 14 March, viewed 3rd June 2011, < http://www.themalaysianinsider.com/malaysia/article/berita-harian-apologises-for-tasteless-tsunami-cartoon>
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