Malaysian prime ministers’ taglines and racial harmony messages

• Main Authors: Nazrinzulaiqa, Hasbi, Ting, Su Hie
• Format: Proceeding
• Language: English
• Published: 2023
• Subjects: P Philology. Linguistics
• Online Access: http://ir.unimas.my/id/eprint/43824/3/MALAYSIAN%20PRIME.pdf; http://ir.unimas.my/id/eprint/43824/

The study examined the themes associated with the taglines of two Malaysian prime ministers in online newspaper articles. The taglines of Dato’ Sri Ismail Sabri Yaakob and Dato’ Seri Anwar Ibrahim are “Malaysian Family” and “Malaysia Madani” respectively. The descriptive study involved analysis of six articles published between August 2021 and March 2023 in three online newspapers with a large readership, namely, The Star, Berita Harian, and Malay Mail (two articles each). The results of the inductive thematic analysis showed that diversity and inclusion, and intercultural understanding and social cohesion were common themes highlighted by the three newspapers for both prime ministers. However, achievements tended to be reported in articles on the “Malaysian Family” while ethics, governance and accountability, and social justice and equity were associated with “Malaysia Madani”. The six articles all emphasised the activities organised to inculcate the spirit of the “Malaysian Family” when reporting on Dato’ Sri Ismail Sabri Yaakob’s tagline. The meaning of Dato’ Seri Anwar Ibrahim’s tagline, “Malaysia Madani”, was explained in all the articles analysed, but Malay Mail did not emphasise the intercultural understanding in the two articles analysed. The study showed that, whichever the tagline, a common thread is intercultural cohesion of the multi-ethnic Malaysian population.