Now and Then

I always think that blog is just a platform for others to discuss on their interest and to write their diary. My personal blog is left unattended for a long time. After writing for this blog, I came to realize that blog can be of importance for academic purposes.

Through this blog, I am able to gain more knowledge on the issues of publication and design and the dilemma faced by the designers. Designers can be designing a document for a good purpose but ended up being hated by the readers or their document is considered offensive and seditious.

So, it is always important to take into account the audience, purpose and context as Schriver (1997) always stressed on. In the process of creating a blog where there aren’t any gatekeepers, we have to be responsible and ethical in what we write and never take advantage of the freedom that is given to us.

Reference
Schriver, KA 1997, Dynamics in document design: creating texts for readers, Wiley Computer Pub., New York

Pictures anyone?

As the saying goes ‘a picture is worth a thousand words,’ a picture is a very important asset in document design. Kress and van Leeuwen (2006) also stressed the importance of pictures. Schriver (1997) said that readers can well remember a picture even after a long time seeing it. Thus, making a picture a powerful tool in presenting information to the audiences. In ‘The power of the photograph,’ we can see that photographs can evoke people’s emotion and it is said that images in newspaper are what newspaper editors want the public to see.

While in the Internet, people have the freedom to put on whatever picture they deem to be suitable. The Internet has been the culprit for the easiness of spreading photographs and pictures such as the Edison Chen’s case and the post-mortem picture of Nurin.

Nurin Jazlin

We might think that the photographs are worth forwarded to others but is it suitable for your audiences and is it ethical? The spreading of Edison’s photo is already an invasion of others privacy while for Nurin’s photo, it is disrespect to the victim. But why many still circulate it? I personally think that it is hard to choose between being ethical and showing others the truth behind a story.

Edison Chen's Scandal

There are even photographs of Indonesia’s brutality in killing Chinese girls circulated in the e-mail. This type of gruesome images is not suitable for Malaysians. Even in road advertisement, Datuk Ong Tee Keat tried a different approach saying that gruesome scenes are not that suitable for the audiences (The Star 2008).

As Schriver (1997) said, it is important to look at the audience and the context. Sexually explicit photographs are also not suitable for Malaysian context. So be aware of what photographs you are putting on as a designer even if it can help to convey your messages and it is always important to be ethical.

References
ABC 2007, The power of the photograph, viewed 9 November 2008, <http://www.abc.net.au/rn/mediareport/stories/2007/2051819.htm>.

Kress, G & Van Leeuwen, T. 2006, Reading Images, Routledge, New York

Mageswari, M 2008, Nurin’s dad sues cops, Government, media release 22 August 2008, The Star, viewed 10 November 2008, <http://thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2008/8/22/courts/22142870&sec=courts>.

Schriver, KA 1997, Dynamics in document design: creating texts for readers, Wiley Computer Pub., New York

The Star 2008, Hong Kong actor Edison Chen says he took racy photos, apologizes, media release 21 February 2008, The Star, viewed 10 October 2008, <http://thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2008/2/21/apworld/20080221181303&sec=apworld>.

The Star 2008, Transport Ministry to give facelift to road safety drive, media release 14 May, The Star, viewed 10 November 2008, http://thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2008/5/14/nation/21241138&sec=nation

Be Careful What You Insert!

The freedom of speech is always being questioned. Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi said that:
‘the value of the freedom to think and act is truly immense. But freedom is not a licence to live aimlessly. And freedom has its limitations. There is no absolute freedom to do whatever we like’ (Bernama 2007).

In the Malaysia Constitution, Article 10 stated that ‘every citizen has the right to freedom of speech and expression’ (2006) but with certain restriction.

So, what can be put as content and what not? To what extend is the freedom of speech? How would designers know what is considered breaching the law and what is not?

The ‘Negarakuku’ incident had caused quite a stir in Malaysia whereby a Malaysian student based in Taiwan, Wee Meng Chee, rapped Malaysia national anthem that is consider offensive as it contains racial slur (The Star 2007).

Negarakuku Video

After I viewed the video, I did not think that it is offensive. The video was Wee’s own personal thought and it was reflecting the happenings in the country itself. Only Malaysian or people who are familiar with Malaysia will be able to understand the video as ‘reading is an individual act that depends critically on the reader’s unique knowledge, attitudes and values’ whereby ‘readers … make… different interpretations of the same text because of differences in their experience’ (Schriver 1997).

Besides Wee, Raja Petra was also ‘detained under the Internal Security Act (ISA) because his articles ridiculed Islam’ (The Star 2008). Raja Petra was released when the High Court said that the detention was unlawful.

Raja Petra

I think that the freedom of speech is hard to be applied in Malaysia context as it can be seen that the government acts to detain or charge people who say bad things about them or on racial issues.

I think that Malaysians are mature enough to think for themselves. People should have the freedom to speak out what they think although not on all sensitive issues and the government should accept what they say and try to improve the system from there. As former de facto Law Minister Datuk Zaid Ibrahim said ‘freedom of speech and expression were important values in society’ (The Star 2008).

References
Bernama 2007, PM's speech at the Mass Media Conference 2007, media release 29 June 2007, The Star, viewed 8 November 2008, <http://thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2007/6/29/nation/20070629075851&sec=nation>.

Malaysia Government 2006, Constitution of Malaysia, viewed 7 November 2008, <http://www.gov.my/MyGov/BI/Directory/Citizen/LegalMatters/Constitution>.

Schriver, KA 1997, Dynamics in document design: creating texts for readers, Wiley Computer Pub., New York

The Star 2007, University student comes under fire for video clip, media release 9 August 2007, The Star, viewed 7 November 2008 <http://star-techcentral.com/tech/story.asp?file=/2007/8/9/technology/20070809113244&sec=technology>

The Star 2008, Raja Petra surprised at being freed by High Court, media release 8 November 2008, The Star, viewed 8 November 2008 <http://thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2008/11/8/nation/2493327&sec=nation>.

The Star 2008, Syed Hamid: Raja Petra’s articles ridiculed Islam, media release 24 September 2008, The Star, viewed 8 November 2008, <http://thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2008/9/24/nation/2104063&sec=nation>.

YouTube 2007, Negarukuku by Namewee with English Translation (Re-open), viewed 6 November 2008, <http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gyiBvJtJ5Z4>.