Deconstructing Visual Images of 1Malaysia

Abstract

As Malaysia is a multiracial country, Prime Minister Najib has introduced the concept of 1Malaysia to protect each ethnic group and to bring unity to the country. To inform people about the importance of unity, media has been employed to publicize the concept by distributing images of 1Malaysia logo. 1Malaysia is being fetishized now so much so that even public transportations are painted with the 1Malaysia logo. To an outsider eye, this fetishization seems absolutely surprising and complex. Through deconstructing images of 1Malaysia in media from an outsider perspective, this paper examines the function of these visual discourses on Malaysians and tries to answer the question that whether the Malay, Chinese and Indian perceive themselves together as 1– Malaysians. We argue that Malaysia is still a work in progress to achieve ‘unity in diversity.’

Keywords: Malaysia, 1Malaysia, images, unity, diversity, ethnicity