Malaysia – A Contrast In Sophistication And Regulation
The Malaysian media scene has been in a state of transformation for about five years. Traditional print and broadcast media are waning in influence, exacerbated by the advent of the Internet and mobile devices leading steadily declining advertising revenues. The new generation digital media are staking a claim to be the voice for the people.
To appreciate the melting pot of the Malaysian media landscape, one needs to understand its social, geographical and cultural composition. A relatively young country (68 years of independence), Malaysia or Malaya was a much-coveted British colony. The Dutch, Portuguese and Japanese conquered the Malay Peninsula at various times during its storied history, but it was the British who established the rule of law, commerce, urban settlements and international exposure.
Geographically, the country is divided into two distinct land masses – Malay Peninsula or West Malaysia, south of Thailand, and East Malaysia, part of the island of Borneo, bordering Indonesia (Kalimantan) and oil rich Brunei.
Ethnically, culturally and politically the two land masses differ. West Malaysia is a melting pot of three major cultures. Today a majority of Malaysians are bilingual (Malay and English) or in many cases trilingual. Malays form the majority of the population with almost 70% of the 34 million people counting as indigenous “Bumiputera” or “Sons of the soil”.
The Chinese, mostly migrating from Southern China in early 15th century and were labourers, merchants, make up about 22% of the nation’s population. The Chinese dominate large international business and commerce in Malaysia with leading Malaysian brands founded and still run by storied Chinese families. Majority of the Chinese live and operate in the major urban centres of Kuala Lumpur, Johor Bahru, Penang and Malacca. Effectively bilingual, most are trilingual, speaking Cantonese/Mandarin, Malay and English.
Similarly, arriving in Malaysia as indentured British labourers, the Indians, mainly from Southern India, make up about 7% of the country’s population. To this day, a large portion of the Indian community work in the public sector or government linked companies, and live in built environments in and around the large urban centres of Kuala Lumpur, Johor Bahru, and Penang. Most are bilingual or trilingual speaking at least Tamil, Malay and/or English.
Most of the East Malaysians in the island of Borneo are also multilingual, speaking Malay, local indigenous languages (Iban, Kadazan and Dusunic) and/or English.
Under the national affirmative “Bumiputera” initiative, indigenous Malays receive free or highly subsidised education, economic and business incentives, subsidised healthcare, to raise their status to compete with others in the country. Equally distributed between the cities, towns and the rural states of the country, Malays are the majority in the east coast states of Kelantan, Terengganu and Perlis where agriculture, fishing and traditional cottage enterprises dominate.
Reflecting the national population make up and distribution, the media scene is a tightly regulated and controlled environment. A legacy of the British administration, the local Malaysian leaders had improved the Sedition Act 1948 to clamp down on political deviance, criticism and action since in 1957. Today the Sedition Act as well as the proposed Press and Publications Act monitor, demand corrections and even impose penalties for content that is deemed contentious and infringing established rules on race, religion and royalty. As a result, the media content published by established publications is usually conservative and depth in opinions.
The national media scene is divided into government established or linked media companies or private sector funded media houses. Both run the national broadcasters, dailies, wire services (Bernama) and online platforms, publishing content for the four major languages and spoken in Malaysia – Malay, Mandarin, English and Tamil (Indian).
Today with declining traditional media revenues, national newspapers including the English language New Straits Times, Malay language Berita Harian, Harian Metro from Media Prima Group (government linked) have diversified to extend into social and online media platforms. Decreasing readership still plague these brands. Their private sector counterparts The Star, The Malay Mail, while enjoying somewhat better readership support are also losing market share to new age social media and online challengers.
Television and radio broadcasters are enjoying a relatively limited erosion and distractions from the online and social media challengers. However, the government broadcaster (TV, radio, online) Radio Television Malaysia (RTM) is seen as not only the voice box of the government but also a heavily majority Malay focused broadcaster. Alternatives include NTV7, TV3, 8TV – catering to the various demographics, while the cable pay TV broadcaster, Astro Awani enjoys a niche with a younger, digital/cable, international audience.
Independent media operators like the privately funded BFM (business radio), are thriving due to not only a resurgence in listenership but a demand for variety in business content. Similarly, leading business publications like The Edge (business publication) and The Malaysian Reserve (business and international news) are thriving as Malaysians demanding for international authentic content.
Malaysia does not boast a robust array of trade or specialist media. The support for and revenues are diminishing with many struggling to grow out of their limited niche of coverage.
With the advent of the Internet and mobile devices, the convergence of online content1 with social media, instant messaging, and video-on-demand communications has established a very strong challenger to the established brands.
Malaysia is one of the more digitally advanced nations in Asia with internet penetration tracking at more than 97% and with smart phone users at more than 89% of the population. As such, the demand for mobile first, social-communications integrated content is growing significantly in Malaysia, mirroring e-commerce growth trends in the country.
With a highly sophisticated and discerning digital content consumer population, the digital, online media have established a strong presence in Malaysia. Social media content influencers wield equal power and authority as national broadcasters and publications.
However, unlike the traditional publications/media, these online media operate between the lines, often risking running foul of the government regulators and “content tzars”. Balancing between remaining dormant for a period of time or relaunching under a different livery, brands like Malaysiakini, Free Malaysia Today are constantly running the risk of complete bans and being abandoned by the readership. Revenue generation remains a big issue when they operate under such a cloud and dynamic model.
Malaysia today boasts a high degree of literacy, emancipation of not only women but also many disenfranchised ethnic, indigenous communities, free speech remains under control and bound by stringent content publishing rules.
Over the 40 years, we have been working with Malaysian media, observing the trends, the changes, the development of new media, social influencers and content producers. Our deep partnerships with our friends in the media has enabled us to leverage our influence and connections to help our business clients to promote their brands and value proposition in Malaysia.
Today, the media landscape in Malaysia is intricate, divided not only on political, racial and economic lines but also represents the truly cultural composition that is Malaysia, “Truly Asia”.
Speak with us to understand how we can help in Malaysia to help educate and promote your brand.
Reference
1. Content That Educates Builds Brand Equity With Senior Executives
