Part 4 - slogans, slogans, slogans

Wow, 3 posts in 1 day - must be some kind of record!

The second debate in my course was 'Is it necessary for a country to have a slogan?'

My first experience of Malaysia, many years ago, was of a country just riddled with slogans, and to my suspicious New Zealand eyes this seemed very wrong.  I had never seen a country with a slogan - I had never HEARD of a country with a slogan, and the idea of a country having a slogan seemed downright naive and infantile.  So, naturally, I wanted to hear Malaysians views on this phenomenon.

Just for the reader's sake, Malaysia, in the 7 years I've been here has gone through the following slogans:


1.Malaysia. Truly Asia.
2.Bersih. Cekap. Amanah.
3. Berkhidmat Untuk Negara - Service For The Country
4. Keranamu Malaysia - Because of you Malaysia
5. Cinta IT,Sayang IT  - Love I.T.
6. Sekolahku, Rumahku - Your School, Your Home
7. Malaysia Boleh!!!  - Malaysia Can Do It!
8. Budi bahasa budaya kita - Courtesy Is Our Culture
9. Efisyen Efektif  - Efficient. Effective.
10. Cemerlang, Gemilang, Terbilang
11. Negara bersih, rakyat sihat  - Clean Country. Healthy Citizens.
12. Satu Lagi Projek Dari Kerajaan Barisan Nasional - Another Project By The Barisan Nasional Government.
13. Belia Benci Dadah - Youth Hate Drugs
14. Bahasa jiwa bangsa.
15. Tak Nak!  - Don't Want
16. Saya anti rasuah - I Am Against Corruption
17. Bersatu kita teguh, bercerai kita roboh
18. Undi BN, Undi Pembangunan - Vote BN, Vote Development.
19. Majulah sukan untuk Negara
20. Pandu cermat jiwa selamat
21. Pandu dengan cermat. ingatlah orang tersayang
22. Jauhi diri anda dari dadah
23. Mesra, Cepat, Betul

and finally,

24. 1Malaysia

Riddled much?  Now, the reason for all this nonsense is to make Malaysians change certain habits or to embrace new concepts.  But has all of worked?  Any of it???  No.  Not in the least.  So why does the Malaysian government continue with all this jiggery pokery?  They are bereft of ideas.  You would be too if you'd been doing the same job for 53 years.

The main arguements for these slogans was basically that they give people something to focus on.  A rallying point for businesses to leverage for advertising purposes.

Arguements against were that slogans were for companies and cities, not entire countries.  Also, slogans didn't end up representing the country at all - just a small segment of it.

Perhaps one day the Malaysian government will finally wake up to the fact that all these slogans do is make Malaysians look like a bunch of easily manipulated saps, which in my experience, most are definitely NOT.

All this would be fine, I guess, if the government ACTUALLY did anything to make these slogans a reality.  You know, like put them into practice and make the campaigns substantial, long-lasting and enforced.  But they are just fronts, PR gimmicks used to make it look like the government is doing something productive.

They wouldn't have lasted 5 minutes where I'm from.  They would have been mocked into obscurity.  They would have been the butt of a thousand jokes, and the politicians who dreamt them up would now be plying their trade in the open waters of the Pacific.