What would you think when you see this?
"If a person repents his mistakes, heaven awaits him" (Source: www.infernalramblings.com)
The publication permit of Tamil daily, Makkal Osai has been suspended for one month, due to the picture above. This 2007 incident happened due to the bad choice of image, I would say. Schirato and Yell (1996) has emphasized on the importance of interpreting composition: how texts shapes contexts, and contexts shapes texts. At the issue of 'Makkal Osai', upon interpreting the picture above, it is very likely that the readers will have different responses.
The government has taken action against the paper, while one the other hand, the community that should be very much offensed, stated nothing. In fact, most appealed against the ban of Makkal Osai. The Malaysian Consultative Council of Buddhism, Christianity, Hinduism and Sikhism expressed regret over the one-month suspension. It is regarded as 'unfair' over the suspension of Makkal Osai, when the council, including its Christian religious leader has already accepted the apology by the newspaper. To them, 'a warning would be sufficient,' said its president Datuk A. Vaithilingam.
Upon discussion of this issue on MalaysiaKini.com, almost all are supporting voices from Christian, that they want the ban to be lifted:
1. I appeal to all to use whatever means available to express our stand as Christians to forgive the daily, and to ask for the lift the suspension. (Lee Kian Chin, 2007, Christian)
2. It is very much regretted that such a drastic action has been taken against the daily... I would appreciate very much if more Christians could join me in prayer for the lifting of the suspension of the daily. (Peter Ooi, 2007, Christian)
3. I am Chinese and Christian and Malaysian, and I think it is outrageous that a small Tamil vernacular newspaper serving the poorest, most deprived and dispossessed community in Malaysia should be penalised for the slightest of misdemeanours. (Bangsar Brother, 2007)
(Source: Malaysiakini.com)
It thus, shows the importance of document design as text and images can caused misunderstanding among the community.
Kress & Van Leeuwen (2006) emphasized the importance of interpretation as 'composition and multimodal texts are normally analyzed in an integrated way; as the meanings of the parts is looked upon as interacting with and affecting one another, instead of separately'. If one would look at the picture, and interpret it together with the caption, it should not caused such a havoc over the community. It was of the intention to convey a message humorously, it has, however, failed miserably.
In conclusion, one should be more careful upon the choice of word and images when designing a document.
References:
Schirato,T , Yell, S 1996, Chapter 5: Framing Context, Communications and Cultural literacies: An Introduction, pp. 90- 117
Kress, G., & van Leeuwen, T., 2006, Reading images. Chapter 6: The meaning of composition
The Star 2007, Makkal Osai Suspended, viewed 23 June 2009, at
http://thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2007/8/25/nation/18696017&sec=nation
MalaysiaKini.com, 2007, Makkal Osai ban out of line, viewed 23 June 2009, at http://www.malaysiakini.com/news/71626
BangsarBrother, 2007, Makkal Osai: Christian do not support ban, MalaysiaKini.com, viewed 23 June 2009, at http://www.malaysiakini.com/letters/71715
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