The influences of Western culture in Malaysia

Cultural Imperialism: The influences of Western culture in Malaysia

Technology is an importance element in developing our country, Malaysia. According to Ali Salman (2009), traditional media, Information and Communication Technology (ICT) are vital in leading Malaysia to a new era of globalization and knowledge. It will also directly affect the development of Malaysia no matter in positive or negative outcome. Technological tools like television, radio, smartphone and internet are frequently used in our daily life. Human can manage and exchange the information by using these technological tools. It has also be the process of discovery and evolution for human being (Importance of Technology, n.d.).

In the advancement of technology, these technological tools had definitely affected our behavioral, cultural, social life and also living lifestyle. According to Gilkey (2015), technology had many ways to change our individual and collective behavior and lead to cultural changes. There is a “power” that has controlled the advancement of technology in Malaysia. Abdul Jalal (2001) stated that, the Western value and thought were accepted by the community in Malaysia and has implanted into the society especially the teenagers. There were several factors that affected the value and idea of Malaysians towards the Western culture which are Hollywood movies, popular music, Western food, fashion and language.

How Hollywood movies affected Malaysians

National Film Development Corporation (FINAS) stated that the number of imported films from other country had increased from 4369 films in year 2013 to 8233 films in year 2014. It shows that the number of the imported films has grown rapidly in Malaysia. The film and drama series that show on TV broadcast in Malaysia mostly are imported directly from Western countries which are USA, European countries, UK and Australia (Halim, n.d.). A lot of them were Hollywood movies which had released in Malaysia. For example, Captain America, Beauty and the Beast, Iron man, Jumanji, Star Wars and etc. The data in year 2008 shows that the total audiences 5.29 million out of a total population of 28 million were domestic market for local firm (Rosnan, Ismail & Daud, 2010). It also shows that the movie trend of Malaysian towards foreign movies was preferable compared to local movies. Some of the audiences will think that Hollywood movies are more standard than local movies. It is because the cost they spent and the technological skills for Hollywood movie were more advance compare to local movie. Therefore, it will affect the market of the local firm industry and also the Malaysian’s culture.

Hollywood produced many superhero movies such as The Avengers, Batman vs Superman, Spiderman, Deadpool, Thor and etc. These kinds of movies consist issue of violence and it will affect the behavior of some immature people. Some people will have misunderstanding towards the content of movie and involve themselves in the violence cases. They will imitate the action of the character and implement the behavior of being violence. It had increase the aggressive behavior of Malaysian especially youth that do not have the ability to differentiate what is good or bad for them.

Spider-man 3

Avengers: Age of Ultron

The negative element of Hollywood film is full of sex, violence and science fiction (Halim, n.d.). As we know, Western countries are open minded than Malaysia. Therefore, there is not surprising at all if we found that the content of the Western movies contain the element of sex. Since Malaysia is an Islamic country, therefore, sexuality aspect is a very sensitive issue for Malaysian. The content of sexuality aspect will mislead the understanding of youth towards the sexual activities. They will learn from the movies and try to have sexual activities. This will lead to some negative impacts such as the rate of abortion in Malaysia increased.

Western culture influenced on “Food” among Malaysians

Malaysia is a country that consist three major races which are Malay, Indian and Chinese. There are a variety of local foods that can be found in Malaysia such as nasi lemak, chicken curry, laksa, mee rebus and so on.  However, the growth of fast food industry in Malaysia has been growing rapidly and steadily. As we can see that there are a lot of fast food restaurants in shopping mall and street in Malaysia. Moreover, some company like McDonalds and Kentucky Fried Chicken (KFC) had often advertised their products through TV, radio or internet and they had successfully attracted people in Malaysia to purchase their products. Therefore, we can see the tendency of people shifting from eating local food to eating fast food. Besides, soft drinks that produced by Western countries are popular among Malaysian, for example, Coca-cola, 7-up and Pepsi. 

KFC advertisement in Malaysia

McDonald's advertisement in Malaysia

Western culture influenced on “Fashion” among Malaysians

Baju kurung, cheongsam and saree are the traditional costumes for Malaysians. In ancient times, people in Malaysia are proud to wear it and show the identity of their race. In terms of global fashion, the attires of Malaysians in daily life had been influenced by Western culture. Nowadays, people in Malaysia are wearing T-shirt and jeans instead of their traditional costumes. The adoption of Western culture in fashion was affected by the actress in Hollywood movies. The characters in the movies were following the Western way and modern styles of dressing. Furthermore, some of the branded companies had allocated a product placement in the movies. People nowadays like to show their status by using branded goods, handbags, clothes and clothes. Western product such as Tommy Hilfiger, Christian Dior, Chanel, Gucci and Versace are not alien to the teenagers. Teenagers are willing to spend their money on those luxury goods due to the impact of the global culture. 

Scene in Jumanji- The female character was wearing T-shirt and short in the movie 

Scene in Fast and Furious - The female character was wearing denim jacket in the movie 

In the conclusion, I would like to emphasize on technology advancement is vital to develop a country to a better future. Therefore, people should utilize the advantages of technology in daily life. Every individual should be aware of the impact of the trend of the movies or others’ culture behavior. They should not misunderstanding and imitate the behavior of the violence movies. People should limit themselves in adopting the popular culture and do not influence by other culture. In this situation, Malaysian must understand what culture should learn and what culture should not learn. They should always remind themselves on their own beliefs, norms and behavior so they will not easily lead and influenced by the negative effect of other cultures. 

References

Abdul Jalal, B. Generasi belia dan persaingan global, in Sinar Rohani, no. 4, vol. 3, 2001 , pp. 23-25.

Gilkey, C. (2015). Technology and Culture Influence Each Other. Retrieved from https://www.productiveflourishing.com/technology-and-culture-influence-each-other/

Halim, A,AB. (n.d.). Cultural Globalisation & Its Impacts Upon Malaysian Teenagers. Retrieved from http://www.myjurnal.my/filebank/published_article/23396/Article_10.PDF

Importance of Technology. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://www.importanceoftechnology.info/

Perbadanan Kemajuan Filem Nasional Malaysia (FINAS). (2014). Perbandingan Pengimportan Filem Mengikut Negara. Retrieved from http://www.final.gav.my/wp-content/uploads/2016/01/FINAS-annual-report-2014.pdf

Salman, A. (2009). ICT, the New Media (Internet) and Development: Malaysian Experience. Retrieved from https://www.innovation.cc/scholarly-style/salman_internet_malaysian3final5.pdf