Malaysian minister defends ad policy
Malaysian minister defends his call to use national models
Dubai: A Malaysian minister has defended his calls to restrict the use of models with mixed European looks in the media, saying the objective was to project an accurate image of the country.
The government has come under fire for a policy proposal that critics have called racist and anti-foreign, which aims at restricting advertisements from featuring European-looking talent.
Demographics
Zainuddin Maidin, Malaysian Information Minister, told Gulf News that images in the media should feature the demographics of the country, rather than the minority.
The Southeast Asian nation is home to more than 26 million people, mostly ethnic Malay, Chinese and Indian. "We're not against using locals with Pan-Asian looks, but they are just a handful. Why don't agencies use [more of] our Malay, Chinese and Indian models?" he said at a press conference to announce the opening of a Malaysian news agency bureau in Dubai. He added that the proposal was unlikely to discourage foreign investment in the export-dependent country.
"We're not closing the door to foreigners. But they have to keep to our 'Made in Malaysia' policy - which means 70 per cent of the content has to be made in the country.
Guidelines
"Why do businesses think that to sell in Malaysia they have to project a European look?"
He also said that this move was designed to protect the national and cultural identity.
He said the guidelines, which his Ministry and the Culture, Arts and Heritage Ministry are formulating together, would likely be out in months. Among the guidelines will be a recommendation on how to sanction businesses and media outlets that persist in featuring non-Asian talent.
Malaysian politicians have a history of coming up with ethnocentric policies, which are popular with voters. The proposal evoked memories of previous media restrictions, which prohibited the use of talent with European looks, regardless of nationality in Malaysian media.
In 1997, the government banned the use of talent with mixed European-Asian looks on television and billboards, which were later relaxed. The ban also applied to Malaysians of mixed heritage, which Maidin said was not the issue at hand. "We need to protect our national identity," he said, adding that the stress was to hire local talent over foreign talent.
