Malay women as discerning viewers: Asian soap operas, consumer culture and negotiating modernity

Abstract

This article examines how Malay women in remote Malaysian villages engage with images of transnational modernity shown in popular soap operas imported from other Asian countries. While the government promoted these Asian soap operas at first as appropriate vehicles for the cultural project of modernising the mindsets and attitudes of the masses, authorities have now expressed some discomfort and ambivalence about the excessive representation of consumer culture in these soaps, which they fear will compromise the cultural values of Malay women. However, I argue that Malay women are discerning viewers who are able to critically negotiate the images of consumer culture in these soaps without necessarily ignoring their cultural values or social responsibilities. This debate about whether these soaps broaden the mindsets of Malay women viewers or teach them degenerate values of consumerist culture is part of an ongoing contestation over the cultural ramifications of modernity in Malaysia. This television genre of Asian soaps can be conceptualised as a site for negotiating modernity, where Malay women derive pleasure from the consumerist modernity depicted in the Asian soap operas while remaining mindful of the strictures posed by local culture.

Este artículo estudia cómo las mujeres malayas en las aldeas remotas de Malasia interactúan con las imágenes de la modernidad transnacional que se muestran en las telenovelas importadas de otros países asiáticos. Aunque en un principio el gobierno promovió estas telenovelas asiáticas como vehículos apropiados para el proyecto cultural de modernizar las mentalidades y actitudes de las masas, ahora las autoridades han expresado cierta incomodidad y ambivalencia acerca de la representación excesiva de la cultura del consumo en estas telenovelas, con la que temen se comprometan los valores culturales de las mujeres malayas. Sin embargo, sostengo que las mujeres malayas son espectadoras perspicaces capaces de negociar en forma crítica las imágenes de la cultura del consumo en estas novelas, sin necesariamente ignorar sus propios valores culturales o responsabilidades sociales. Este debate sobre si las telenovelas abren las mentes de las espectadoras malayas o les enseñan valores degradados de la cultura del consumismo es parte de una disputa continua sobre las ramificaciones culturales de la modernidad en Malasia. Este género televisivo de las telenovelas asiáticas puede ser conceptualizado como un sitio de negociación de la modernidad, donde las mujeres malayas obtienen placer de la modernidad consumista mostrada en las telenovelas asiáticas mientras se mantienen conscientes de las restricciones que plantea la cultura local.

本文检视马来西亚偏远村落中的马来女性，如何接触自其他亚洲国家进口的流行电视剧中所呈现的跨国现代性影像。过去政府将这些亚洲电视肥皂剧视为促进大众心灵与态度现代化之文化计划的适当工具，今日当局者却开始对这些电视剧中过度再现的消费文化显露出不安与矛盾的态度，深怕它们将会危及马来女性的文化价值。但我主张，马来女性是具有区辨能力的观者，能够批判性地协商这些电视剧中的消费文化影像，而不必然忽略自身的文化价值或社会责任。有关电视肥皂剧到底是开展马来女性观众的心灵，亦或是传授马来女性堕落的消费文化价值之争论，实则属于马来西亚持续不断议论现代性文化后果的一部分。这些亚洲电视肥皂剧的文类可被概念化为协商现代性的场域，马来女性从这些亚洲电视肥皂剧描摹的消费现代性中获得愉悦的同时，仍然留心在地文化对它提出的苛责。

Keywords:

• Malay women
• modernity
• Malaysia
• soap opera
• consumer culture

Keywords:

• mujeres malayas
• modernidad
• Malasia
• telenovela
• cultura del consumo

Keywords:

• 马来女性
• 现代性
• 马来西亚
• 电视肥皂剧
• 消费文

Acknowledgements

I would like to express my deepest gratitude to Ms Wokar Tso Rigumi for her help in conceptualising and editing this article.

Notes

1. Adat refers to traditional Malay customs that guide social behaviour and life matters in everyday life.

2. Midday, mid-afternoon and sunset prayers.

3. Village.

4. Kota Tinggi is a small remote town in the southern Malaysian Peninsula, which consist of a large number of unorganised and organised Malay village settlements. Kota Tinggi is also well known for its organised Malay settlements particularly FELDA (Federal Land Development Authority) which was developed under the rule of the former Malaysian Prime Minister Tun Abdul Razak. FELDA can be considered as a village because of its remote location. In fact, most of FELDA residents still practise traditional Malay culture such as gotong royong (volunteer work). Kota Tinggi is located approximately 42 kilometres from the capital city state of Johore – Johor Bahru – and can be reached easily by ferry from Changi Airport Terminal of Singapore. This area also has a very clear reception of Singapore and Indonesian free-to-air television channels which continually broadcast many Asian soap operas. For more information about FELDA, see Lie and Lund (1994).

5. We must also note here that there is no previous qualitative/theoretical research on popularity of local Malaysian soap operas consumption among Malay women.

6. Melayu Baru or new Malay is a term coined by the former Prime Minister, Tun Mahathir Mohammad, to refer to his vision of creating a class of educated middle-class Malays who would lead the modernisation campaign in the nation. See Embong (2002).

7. Halal/Haram is a law defining unforbidden/forbidden in Islam that lays down the rules for what can be consumed or not by practicing Muslims. See Fischer (2008).

8. All of our respondents are kampung housewives. They stay at home most of the time. Sometimes they participate in communal activities in the neighbourhood.

9. Wang hantaran is similar to a dowry. The amount is decided after a consultation between the families of the groom and the bride.