Monday, August 8, 2011

Ramadan ad: MCMC to take action against 8TV

PETALING JAYA: Local regulator Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission (MCMC) will take action against TV station 8TV over its controversial Ramadan advertisements.


“MCMC has investigated 8TV on the matter of the public service announcements (PSA) related to Ramadan and found that 8TV has breached its licensing conditions. As such, appropriate action will be taken against 8TV,” the MCMC said in a press statement.

However, the MCMC was tightlipped on 8TV’s exact “licensing conditions”. The regulator also declined to comment on its possible action.

However, it is expected that the MCMC may fine 8TV for releasing the three PSAs, which appeared online early this month.

The PSAs were removed following a public uproar. 8TV has since apologised for the clips.
A similar action was carried out against TV3 for the release of its Hari Raya advertisement, “Sinari Lebaran” last year.

The ad was condemned by several Muslim groups for using Christmas elements. MCMC then served TV3 with a RM50,000 fine.


The Ramadan PSAs appeared to be stereotyping a particular race, depicting a socially-inept Chinese woman embarrassing others at a Ramadan bazaar.

Each episode also tagged on a moral lesson, advising viewers to refrain from activities such as “being greedy and eating in public”.

In one instance, the Chinese woman seemed to be proudly showing her armpits to embarrassed passersby. This was followed by a reminder to “not wear tight and revealing clothes”.

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