In Malaysia, Chinese vernacular education has been a highly contested and much debated political issue in the mass media. This study examines how Malaysian newspapers framed Chinese primary education for a 3-year period (2015–2017) which is before the 2018 election. Findings showed that, the proximity of election has led to a surge in news reporting about Chinese primary education. Political considerations remain central in mainstream newspapers’ reporting in which official sources are dominant in shaping public understanding of the issue. Alternative newspapers serve as a counter-establishment platform through active participation of readers in public debate. A responsibility frame dominates the news coverage of Chinese primary education in both types of newspapers. Nevertheless, the alternative newspapers tend to focus on the conflict aspect of the issue by foregrounding discord between ruling and opposition politicians as well as intra- Barisan Nasional (BN) disputes. Through human interest frame, the mainstream newspapers emotionalize the issue to obtain readers’ attention. This study concludes that varying reporting strategies adopted by Malaysian newspapers can impact readers’ evaluation of education policy issues. The implications of the findings and the limitations of the study are also discussed.
An examination of Japan in search of national character can be traced back to its modernization in Meiji Era and as recent as postwar period. Japan sought to articulate national identity because of tainted Japanese minds by wicked Occident ideas. In this context, the notion of Nihonjinron and its distinctive characteristics are central to grasp Japan's thoughts and behaviors vis-à-vis dominant Western culture. During Japan's occupation of Malaya in 1941-45, the promulgation of its wartime propaganda to create "Asia for the Asiatic" and to exterminate imperialist Western power from the "Greater East Asia Co-Prosperity Sphere" had a considerable impact on Malayan political development. The occupation accelerated the drive towards Malayan independence amid repeated racial clashes. This paper is a conceptual attempt to unravel Japanese nationalist doctrines, rooted in Nihonjinron discourse that not only underpinned its Occident worldview throughout the course of war but also became the underpinning ofits propaganda machine.The significance of this study lies in its effort to offer an alternative way of interpreting Japanese occupation of Malaya from the perspective of Nihonjinron. It has important implications for understanding how the construction of Japanese image affects its relationship with Malaysia in the postwar period.
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