Introduction
As Walsh (2006) states that, a pattern shift has happened in our society that is we are increasingly showered by multimodal texts. One of the examples is the case of “Negarakuku” in Malaysia.
According to The Star (2007), Malaysia student Wee Meng Chee has frequently courted controversy with his numerous postings on video search engine YouTube, but his latest songs of the national anthem has been severely criticised by politicians. Wee, a mass communications undergraduate at Ming Chuan University in Taipei, had posted a six-minute video of himself singing the national anthem mix together with rap on the popular video site (The Star 2007). Hence, due to his video clips contained racial slurs, Wee has come under fire for mocking national anthem and making offensive statements (The Star 2007).
Among the songs released by Wee include “Muar’s Mandarin” (麻坡的华语), a critical song directed at Malaysian Chinese and Malay people, and “Negarakuku” (I Love My Country Negarakuku). According to The Star (2007), his “Negarakuku” video clip has been viewed more than 400,000 times in half a month.
(Source from Google Image, Shoot of Wee Meng Chee)Wee claimed that, “I’m simply reflecting the truth about our society through my music and I did not mean to offend anyone by producing such a video clip. I still love my country.”
Accusation of Disrespect
Public reaction towards the song “Negarakuku” is almost split. There are immediate reactions in the form of YouTube comment range from agreement with Wee and support him. However the others seem to attack Wee and accuse him for being disrespect towards Islam and Malay people.
According to Daily Express (2007), the Deputy Internal Security Minister Johari Baharu, said that if Wee has violated the country’s strict sedition laws, he would be punished by up to 3 years in prison and a fine of RM5,000 (US$1,400).
As Weber (1995) states that, everybody makes mistakes, thus do not jump to the conclusion of that action no matter how awful, was deliberate. In addition, Weber (1995) claims that knowing the consequences of doing your job and taking personal responsibility for one’s actions. Wee has posted a blog entry type in both Malay and Traditional Chinese on 12 August 2007, to clarify the nature of his song and its lyrics (The Star 2007). Other than that, Wee issued a public apology to the government and Malaysians who found it offensive.
As he said, “To end the controversy, I will remove the video clip from my blog and I hope other bloggers will stop distributing the video clip.”
(Source from YouTube, Video of Negarakuku)
Consequently, there are pros and cons of using this video sharing website, YouTube, and the blogging issues. Moreover, Wee has learned a lesson about the spirit of nationalism and race relations in the use of this new form of media publishing- YouTube and Weblog.
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