A series of unfortunate events but Malaysia is not becoming a nation of extremists
As we can see, everything is now about anti-Muslim conspiracies or some agendas against the Malay-Muslims in the country and even an attempt to ‘Christianize’ the nation.
Kazi Mahmood, The Independent
Malaysian Airlines, in an article that appeared in Sinar, apparently apologized for publishing an advertisement for a restaurant promoting pork in its January edition of Going Places.
However, it is now apparent the ad in question did not display ‘pork’ but beef ‘wagyu’ meat. This shows how some people are over-excited in the new Malaysia era.
The airline said it did not intend to offend anyone with the advertisement. But the story went viral on the local social media network, with a passenger claiming he never saw such an ad in a MAS in-flight magazine in 30 years of travel using the national carrier.
MAS reacted to the posting with an apology, but many believe the social media is now out of control in new Malaysia.
The country is feeling the pulse of almost every single citizen who are active online. Their opinion has grown in such a way that they now matter more than ever. And local companies like MAS and Honda are scrambling to salvage their image against this uncontrollable onslaught.
Last year, Honda was said to have fired an employee who attacked the Muslim faith with a what was seen as a vile comment related to the death of a fireman who was killed during the Mariammen temple scuffle.
The recent spate of viral stories in Malaysia shows a complete failure of the Suruhanjaya Komunikasi dan Multimedia Malaysia or Malaysian Communication and Multimedia Commission.
The MCMC was a powerful tool, but abused by the Najib Razak regime, it seems it lost its power. Under the Najib regime. It was used to curb on anti-government comments, imposing strict standards, particularly during the last few years of BN power in the country.
It has now lost control of the situation and the PH regime does not seem to know how to handle the ‘online’ state of affairs.
The cyber battle is not really against the companies alone, they are most of the time, directed towards the Malay-led Pakatan Harapan government.
In the case of the MAS, the online post asked what has happened to the Malay leadership at MAS for them to allow such an ad to appear in the in-flight magazine.
