Abstract
This paper explores the role of Malaysian media in the revitalisation of familism, which seems to descend in most Asian societies. The examination of news articles published in English-language Malaysian newspapers between 2011–2021 through critical discourse analysis reveals that newspapers in Malaysia are playing a moral guardianship role by warning readers of the slipping of filial responsibility and the dangers of the alternatives. The papers construct a discourse in support of an established social norm of traditional family roles in caring for family members – particularly, elderly people who are on the rise throughout the world – something the government supports as well, as it relieves it of any obligation to elderly citizens. The role of journalists in the rekindling of familial piety can be linked to development journalism that emphasises the media's partnership with the government as care of older family members absolves the government from the cost of care associated with an increasingly ageing population.
Introduction
Malaysia became an aged nation in 2020 when the ratio of people aged 65 and over surpassed 7% of the total population (Department of Statistics Malaysia, 2021), it is expected to become an aged society by 2044, when more than 14% of the population will be aged 65 and above (The World Bank, 2020). Historically, care for older Malaysians has been a family obligation (Leng et al., 2016) a predominant aspect of familism, which is widely found across Asian cultures regardless of religion, traditional custom, and dominant philosophy (Choi et al., 2018). Previous studies about the care of the aged in Malaysia, (see, for example, Hamid et al., 2004; Jariah et al., 2012; Tengku Aizan and Nurizan, 2008; and Tey et al., 2016) show that family plays a significant role in providing care and financial support – almost three-quarters of elderly Malaysians received financial support from their family (Tey et al., 2016). However, in response to social transformation at the global level, including rapid urbanisation, industrialisation, and dwindling family size, the Asian family system is undergoing a radical change (Jankowiak and Moore, 2016; Wei and Yan, 2021) contributing to the erosion of cohesive family and a rise in elder abuse and abandonment (Tey et al., 2016) a clear indication of a shift away from traditional familism.
News discourses are institutionalised means of framing reality (Popp, 2006) that provide a significant opportunity to witness culturally constructed meanings of ideas (Toohey and Taylor, 2006) as they are ‘related to wider social and cultural practices, and that help to construct specific frameworks of thinking’ (MacDonald, 2003: 1). This paper intends to critically analyse the role of Malaysian journalists and their discursive practices in rekindling familial piety, which seems to descend in Malaysian society. The interest resides in the analysis of media discourses used in portraying aged care and the responsibility of care and welfare of elderly Malaysians. The theoretical approach to analysing Malaysian newspapers is based on Fairclough's three-dimensional approach to critical discourse analysis (CDA).
Background
Malaysia is a multi-ethnic, multicultural country representing three major ethnicities in Asia, namely Malays (69.8%), Chinese (22.4%) and Indians (6.8%) (Department of Statistics Malaysia, 2021). In terms of religions, Malaysia has 63.5% Muslims, 18.7% Buddhists, 9.1% Christians, and 6.1% Hindus (Department of Statistics Malaysia, 2020), all linked through shared Asian values, such as familism (Robison, 1996). Familial piety is encouraged in all religions and cultures practised in Malaysia, for instance, Hindus believe that parents are God in human form, while the Quran says ‘Heaven is under the feet of one's mother’ and the emphasis of Confucian familism on filial piety and family obligation places a heavy responsibility on individual families to look after their welfare and implies a relatively weak sense of public responsibility and welfare as a social right (Holliday and Wilding, 2003; Jones, 1993; Lee, 2018).
The ageing population in Malaysia is increasing at a faster pace than in some European countries and Australia (The World Bank, 2020). The proportion of Malaysians 65 years and over has increased from 3.7% in 1991 to 7.4 in 2021 and is expected to increase at the same or faster rate (Department of Statistics Malaysia, 2021). According to aged care policies – National Policy for Elderly 1995, ‘National Policy for Older Persons 2011 and the Plan of Action for Older Persons 2011’ – the government is to provide ‘efficient and effective services’ (Zawawi, 2013), including financial and housing support for older people (Department of Social Welfare, 2014); however, scholars like Leng et al. (2016) contend that support services provided by the government are not enough for the growing needs of the elderly as there are only 15 government-run residential homes for over 2.4 million elderly people (Department of Statistics Malaysia, 2021). While studies such as Tobi et al. (2017) and Alavi et al. (2011) reported that the majority of elderly Malaysians prefer to age in place with their family members rather residential care facility, research into the living arrangements of older people in Malaysia indicate a decline in co-residence, for example, the share of three-generation households declined from 41.1% in 2004 to 30.7% in 2016 (The World Bank, 2020), which may affect families’ ability to provide care to older relatives.
In terms of financial support, eligible older Malaysians – who have no fixed income and do not receive financial support from extended family (Department of Social Welfare, 2014) – received a social pension of RM350 (equivalent to USD100) per month in 2020. While current spending on aged care programs is only 0.01% of Malaysia's GDP, the International Monetary Fund projected that it will rise to 4.6% of GDP by 2030 and to 5.6% by 2050 (The World Bank, 2020). It can be argued that with an increase in the ageing population and a decline in individual familial responsibility Malaysian government has to spend more on the welfare of older people even to provide the minimum level of protection to elderly Malaysians. Therefore, political leaders encourage the families and community to keep caretaking duties (Kusujiarti, 2011) through effective use of media, which in partnership with the government steers the discussion toward the government's led narrative in revitalising familial piety in Malaysia.
Literature review
With an increase in the ageing population worldwide (United Nations, 2020), population ageing and care of older people remains a topic of interest in the last two decades (O’Loughlin et al., 2017) for scholars in the fields of humanities, sociology, psychology, nursing and public health (see, for example, Ainsworth and Hardy, 2007; Bai, 2014; Borowski et al., 2007; Chen, 2015; Minichiello and Coulsen , 2005; Fealy et al., 2012; Forsyth and Chia, 2009; Harwood, 2008; Imran, 2021; Imran and Bowd 2022; Kendig and Browning, 2016; Kendig et al., 2016; Leng et al., 2016; Levy et al., 2014; Minichiello and Coulson, 2012; O’Loughlin et al., 2017; Phelan, 2009; Robinson et al., 2007; Rozanova, 2006; Spedale et al., 2014; Tey et al., 2016; Weicht, 2013; Teshuva and Wells, 2014; and Wilinska, 2013). In terms of studies about the responsibility of the care of older people, there are not many studies, however, the research that does exist shows that aged care is generally associated with financial dependency and cost of care in nations (Wilinska, 2013). Such age-related stereotypes can be referred to as ageism – a process of systematic stereotyping of and discrimination against people because they are old (Butler, 1975: 35). Previous studies have shown that ageism is a worldwide issue Dahmen and Cozma (2009) claimed that ageism is deeply embedded and widespread in American society; studies such as Noone and Bohle (2017), Abrams et al. 2011 and Iversen et al. 2012 reported ageist attitudes in Australia. Similarly, Tohit et al. (2012) maintained that older people in Malaysia had shown concerns about the attitudes of younger generations towards them that displayed a lack of humanity and respect, which could be considered ageism.
In comparing aged care systems in different countries, Kröger and Yeandle (2013) reported three distinct types of aged-care systems: (a) public sector model in Finland and Sweden; (b) family centred in Japan and Taiwan; and (c) liberal democracies in Australia and the United Kingdom. Malaysia, similar to Indonesia, Korea, Taiwan, China, and the Philippines, has shown the distinctive characteristics of familial piety and kinship throughout history (Holliday and Wilding, 2003; Jones, 1993; Lee,2018 ; Wei and Yan, 2021; Yuda, 2021, 2020) emphasising family solidarity and intergenerational dependency as well as the ethical value of self-sacrifice for the family (Wei and Yan, 2021: 4). Puteh-Behak et al. (2015) argue that Malaysian children are taught to be loyal to their parents and obey them all their lives and consider looking after elderly parents a duty.
Many Asian leaders believe that familial piety – an act of respect and responsibilities towards family members, especially parents and the elderly (Nainee et al., 2016) – should be adopted not only as an ideal norm (Lee, 2018) but should be reinforced as an alternative for so-called ‘state failure’ and ‘market failure’ coupled with ‘Asian values’ to impute welfare which is a state responsibility to families (Kim, 2016: 79). Similarly, Jones (1993) argued that familial ethics, generally practised in Asian countries, are used by the government in Asian countries as an effective moral politics in legitimising the deficiency of social protection. However, recent studies (see, for example, Beh and Folk, 2013; Bidin and Yusoff, 2015; Nainee et al., 2016) suggest that familial piety is eroding in Malaysia, resulting in an increase in social protection expenditure by the government. Therefore, to avoid rapidly increasing expenses on the welfare of older people, political leaders and elites encourage familial piety in society through available resources, including print media.
Print media in Malaysia follows Asian-based development journalism emphasising the media's partnership with the government rather than playing the adversarial role of watchdog and equating freedom of the press with the press–government harmony (Petersen, 1992). In the development journalism model, the press works as an instrument to support national integration (Anuar, 2005) and government policies, discuss matters of local interest (Waisbord, 2010), and focus on nation-building (Hachten, 1993), while political criticism is ‘deemed dangerous in the context of politically frail and culturally divided countries’ (Waisbord, 2009: 149).
Nain (2017: 121) argues that ‘the media environment in Malaysia remains a heavily controlled and censored one, strictly monitored and policed by an authoritarian regime’. Anwar (1995: 42) argues that media in Malaysia is controlled and abused to the extent that ‘even mild criticism of the ruling elite and critical attitude is viewed with fear, suspicion and sometimes contempt’. The government controls the newspapers in the form of an annual permit, which needs to be renewed every year as per the Printing Presses and Publications Act, the Sedition Act, and the Official Secrets Act (Anuar, 2005: 29–30). Moreover, most media outlets are owned and influenced by politicians closely linked with the longest-serving coalition, which ruled Malaysia for over 60 years from 1957 to 2018: Barisan National (BN), Malaysian Chinese Association, and United Malays National Organisation (Manan, 2001). Asian-based development journalism – widely practised in Malaysia – emphasises the media's partnership with the government (Petersen, 1992) to remain viable and survive in the journalism business (Ibrahim et al., 2011: 4), and to perform nation buildering role (Romano, 2005) by motivating the masses toward development goals, including the revitalisation of familism. In sum, the literature cited above shows the availability of scholarship on a wide range of issues linked with older people, aged care and familial piety, however, there is a need for further research on the relationship between media, government and familial piety, which is missing. This study will attempt to fill part of this gap by analysing the role of Malaysian media in rekindling familial piety in Malaysia.
Methodology
To explore the role of Malaysian journalists in the revitalisation of aged care, I applied principles of Fairclough's three-dimensional CDA. Fairclough (1995) states that CDA is the study of the association between text, discourse practice, and sociocultural practice. The text could be in the form of writing or spoken words, while discourse practice includes the process of production of text by media workers, consumption of the text by audiences, and its social distribution. Sociocultural practice includes social and cultural activities, including the dominance of political, ideological and cultural domains as well as the situational, institutional and societal practice of society.
CDA presents theoretical foundations and specific methods for analysing newspaper texts and, according to Wodak and Meyer (2009: 10), can be used in investigating opaque as well as transparent structural relationships of dominance, discrimination, power and control as manifested in language. The key focus of this approach is to explore relationships between media power and older people. This approach is useful at a micro-level in identifying the lexis used by journalists in reports about aged care in a naturalised way for audiences along with ‘taken-for-granted assumptions’ of care, which can be linked to both institutional practices and type of journalism practised at a meso-level, as well as to political, ideological and cultural practices at the macro-level (Fairclough, 1995: 44–45). The examination of news articles includes the linguistic aspects of language, for example, lexical structure, direct or indirect speech, and lexical choices by journalists in describing older people and issues linked with them and the ageing population. Discursive practices focus on how the author of a text draws on existing discourses to produce texts. The study investigates the underlying power relations with a focus on the extent to which a given text supports or opposes a particular type of social practice, for instance, rekindling of familism in Malaysia (Fairclough, 1992: 95). The analysis of social practice in this article compares whether discursive practices reproduce or restructure the existing order of discourse. This framework helped the researcher understand the effect of societal, institutional and journalistic practices on the language used by the journalists in presenting aged care in a way that is preferred by political elites and government bodies, rather than public or older people.
Time frame and sampling
This study analysed news articles published about aged care in five English-language Malaysian newspapers in the last ten years, that is from 01 January 2011 to 31 June 2021. The time frame not only provides an opportunity to cover the breadth of time but it also includes coverage of certain key events including a period of significant amendments to aged-care policies in Malaysia in January 2011, ageing-related conferences held in Malaysia such as the 1st World Congress on Healthy Ageing, in cooperation with the World Health Organisation (WHO) and The Malaysian Healthy Ageing Society (MHAS) (World Health Organisation, 2012), representation of the Department of Social Welfare, Malaysia at International Cooperation on Active Ageing in Tokyo, Japan, July 2013 (Zawawi, 2013), international day of older persons, formulation of a new law to protect the elderly community in 2019, and effects of COVID-19 on older Malaysians in 2020–21.
The sample for this study is extracted from five English-language Malaysian newspapers: New Straits Times (national), Malay Mail (Kuala Lumpur), The Star (Penang), The Borneo Post (East Malaysia), and The Sun (West Malaysia). Articles from the newspapers were incorporated into the dataset through a series of steps utilising the ProQuest and Factiva databases and the keywords ‘elderly’, ‘ageing’, ‘older person’ and ‘aged-care’. The initial search returned four hundred and thirty-nine articles in the selected newspapers. All the reports were read and reviewed to determine if they dealt with ageing and the elderly in the context of aged care. The review resulted in the elimination of 198 articles that did not deal with these topics, for instance, news about ageing aeroplanes, older workers, managers, child care and 18 years old and so on were eliminated from the dataset. In the next step, the remaining articles were categorised according to mastheads and were reviewed again to eliminate any duplication. At this stage, ninety-one items were found to be identical; the same story by the same reporter printed in multiple newspapers or news reports directly distributed by the government-controlled Malaysia National News Agency called BERNAMA – Berita Nasional Malaysia or Malaysia National News in English. Only the first version of the story in the search results was added, and the rest were removed from the dataset. The final sample consisted of one hundred and fifty articles, distributed as follows (Table 1):
Findings and discussion
Dominant discourses in the dataset emphasise filial piety, and aged care is predominantly represented as a familial responsibility. Eighty-five out of 150 articles, over half of the total sample for this study, discuss the role of the family in aged care. This theme is followed in frequency by societal responsibility, a kind of holistic approach to aged care promoted by Malaysian newspapers and noticeable in the discussion through the highlighting of donations for nursing homes, and appeals for public contribution for shelters and day-care centres for the elderly. The societal discourses about an increasingly ageing population in Malaysia also focus on the social welfare available and anticipated by the government and society. The use of language such as ‘donation’ and ‘charitable shelters’ in news reports hints that societal discourses about aged care are embedded in financial concerns.
Prevailing discourses around aged care as a concern for the whole society are found in forty articles, a small portion of the sample, 15 news articles, contributed to political discourses about aged care. Healthy ageing, linked with societal discourses, was a minor theme in ten news articles. It is worth noting that in the above discussion, dominant discourses in each article are used for their classification. However, there is overlap amongst familial, societal, and political discourses linked to elderly Malaysians. Overall, the number of news articles that focused on familial responsibility for aged care dominates other discourses, but the obligation of the care of elderly Malaysians remains in contention among family members, the government, and non-governmental organisations. Below table shows the main themes in the sampled news article (Table 2):
The main themes explored in Malaysian newspapers around the care of elderly people are the encouragement of filial piety and the consequences of the detraditionalisation of aged care. However, this paper focuses on one element of the analysis – the encouragement of filial piety.
Encouragement of filial piety
The examination of the sampled news articles shows that almost all Malaysian journalists whose work is included in the dataset replicated and uncritically reproduced the Malaysian Government's narratives about aged care that encourage the younger generation to take care of their elderly parents – a traditional way of aged care in Asian countries. While Malaysian journalists used a positive tone (mostly emotive language) in reports that encourage children and younger generations to look after their older parents, the slipping of traditional cultural beliefs and moral values, especially a decline in the sense of filial responsibility, are constructed generally in a negative tone. It is also worth noting that in most of the sampled articles, the journalists have incorporated the views of newsworthy agents, such as elites, rather than elderly Malaysians, in support of familism. For instance, New Straits Times (2012) included a direct quote from the consort of the sultan of Johor Raja Zarith Sofiah Sultan Idris Shah – of the Malaysian royal family – that emphasises filial responsibility. Longevity is a blessing from God, and it is something we should look forward to. Nevertheless, we must prepare ourselves to face ageing, either through individual effort, community facilities or national policies on senior citizens …. We are lucky as our culture emphasises filial responsibility, and the care of the elderly is mostly done by their children (New Straits Times, 2012).
The inclusion of quotes from members of the royal family, who have a strong influence on the public, not only shows a deliberate choice by journalists to promote filial piety but also reflects and reinforces norms in Asian cultures. Other newspapers similarly uncritically reproduced comments from government officials advocating and promoting familism as a key to tackling the problems that arise due to an increasingly ageing population in Malaysia. For instance, The Sun (2012) included a statement from then-Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak about the promotion of familial piety in Malaysia: Although the government was extending various forms of aid for the elderly, the biggest contribution should be coming from their children. ‘This (caring for the elderly) is what we must instill in our society. Do not send parents to the old folks’ home. Even if it cannot be avoided, at least find ways where they can still spend time with us (the children)’ … ‘We cannot practice a welfare state policy like in western countries which today are facing economic challenges because their governments are no longer able to sustain such a practice’. ‘As such, we cannot choose this path’ (BERNAMA, 2012).
The excerpt is from a speech at the National Senior Citizens Day celebration, and in including it, the writers have focused on a segment of the speech that not only emphasises filial piety but also discourages the use of nursing homes. It can be implied from the above statement that the lack of social support means elderly Malaysians should rely on family only. Hence, emphasis on filial piety is politically/economically driven as much as culturally – it is in the interests of the government to promote it to avoid financial implications linked with an increasingly ageing population. Moreover, discouragement for sending a parent to a nursing home from one of the highest government officials is indicative of the social norms being represented in the press. Correspondingly, a negative outlook is reported about nursing homes by several newspapers. The following two excerpts – former an opinion piece from The Borneo Post (2013) and latter a news report by The Star (2011) – exemplify the use of the journalists’ language that constructs nursing homes as a miserable place and reminds readers that government is not responsible for the care of elderly citizens: The fate of elderly orphans in nursing homes. Caring for the ‘elderly orphans’ should be all-encompassing, taking into consideration their emotional needs as well, like how orphan children are cared for. And one should not forget that taking care of the old is not the authority's responsibility but it is the family's responsibility (Hasan, 2013).
‘No one in the right frame of mind would choose to send their parents to an old folks’ home …. It is morally wrong to send your sick parents to a home simply because you don't want the burden of looking after them. Don't leave them alone in their old age. After all, they are your parents and you must love them’ (Mail, 2011).
The construction of nursing homes in the above examples is very bleak. The writer termed elderly Malaysians staying in nursing homes as ‘elderly orphans’. Such language use ties in with notions of filial piety – by terming elderly people as ‘orphans’, it plays into narratives around abandonment, which can be contrasted with expectations of family care for the elderly. It can be maintained from the language used by journalists in the above examples that the connotation of the nursing home presented in the media discourses is different in the Malaysian context than in other parts of the world, especially in Western countries. Loughlin and Kendig (2017) argue that involvement in society and the self-esteem of older people depend largely on their social treatment in everyday life.
It can be argued that narratives around obligation toward filial piety to solve social problems are frequently reported by the press. The inclusion and repetition of such accounts not only serve to inform but also to constantly remind readers about familial obligation. For instance, The Star (2012, 2017) included quotes from Dr Soon, the president of the National Council of Senior Citizens Organisations Malaysia and Assoc Prof Dr Siti Zaharah Jamaluddin, respectively: ‘Educate children to care for parents, say, groups. Senior citizen interest groups are calling for education programmes to curb the number of elderly folk being abandoned in hospitals. The education system needs to emphasise the importance of filial piety’, said Dr Soon. ‘The main issue is to promote family values and instil a sense of obligation so they will not run away from their responsibilities’, said Dr Soon (The Star, 2012).
‘At the moment, we seem to be appealing to family values in relation to the care of our elderly. However, traditional family values have been and are affected by various factors such as migration of children to cities, urbanisation, change in the family structures from extended family to nucleus family…’. ‘It isn't enough to bank on fostering family values per se. We need a legal framework to support the needs of the elderly as well as their caregivers. Malaysians in general still observe their filial duty to care for their elderly but incentives must be there to help ease their burden’, says UM law faculty's Assoc Prof Dr Siti Zaharah Jamaluddin (Indramalar, 2017).
Several similar statements were included in articles from academics and representatives of senior citizens’ organisations who also emphasised enlightening children about family values. However, Dr Soon's statement was more significant as it was also used as the headline for the article that was published on the main page (page 1) of the newspaper. The inclusion of such statements shows the newspaper's inclination towards the promotion of familism and can be considered as an indication of social norms. In addition, it can be noted that the use of professional titles, such as Dr and Assoc Prof to address them can be considered as an act to enhance the validity of their arguments in articles. Because Malaysian society is hierarchical (Puteh-Behak et al., 2015), and elders, parents, and teachers possess a high position, an argument becomes more valid if presented by a person of authority, knowledge and age. Another important point in the second example is the proposition to introduce a legal framework to protect older Malaysians from neglect and abuse. Such sentiments are reported by other newspapers as well, for example, Malay Mail (2019) included a similar statement from Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Dr Wan Azizah Wan Ismail about the formulation of legislation for the protection of older Malaysians: Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Dr Wan Azizah Wan Ismail today said that the government is studying the formulation of a new law to protect the elderly community especially from neglect and abuse, given the worrying increase in the number of such cases…. Dr Wan Azizah's deputy, Hannah Yeoh said that awareness among the younger generation on the care of elderly people in the country has declined, leading to various abuse cases involving senior citizens. She reportedly said that abuse cases involving senior citizens which had been rampant lately, were mostly due to financial problems faced by family members (Malay Mail, 2019).
While most newspapers reported on the encouragement of familism and against nursing homes, slipping of familial piety in the form of abandonment of older people remained in news throughout the covered period, for instance, the following excerpts from New Straits Times (2011) and Malay Mail (2021) show that over time, WORRYING TREND: Children have resorted to dumping their parents amid declining family values…. About 675,000 or one out of three people, aged 60 and above, are abandoned and do not receive financial support from their children. These elderly parents are deprived of proper care according to the Fourth Malaysian Population and Family Survey (New Straits Times, 2011).
Ann elderly woman with special needs was found abandoned by the roadside in Jalan Kebun, Shah Alam …. The woman has relatives but despite success in contacting them, none of them wanted to take her home. Even though the woman was abandoned by her children, she still prays for their well-being. ‘We tried our best to hide our tears, maybe there's a history between their family that was only known to them’. ‘We have since then transferred the woman to a care centre for the elderly as per our procedure and with the consent of her kin, while all the cost and expenses will be covered by Zakat Selangor’, stated LZS (Malay Mail, 2021).
The language used by the writers constructs a sense of guilt for those who do not financially support their parents and who send them to nursing homes. It also represents elderly Malaysians as victims of a broken family system or perhaps a change in the societal perspective. It can be maintained that most journalists produce, reproduce and relay government-backed narratives, and it is very hard to find instances where journalists have published against government policy in relation to the care of elderly Malaysians. It can be argued that the narratives of abandonment are a powerful way of supporting the stance that families, rather than the government, are responsible for older people, both in a physical and an emotional sense.
Overall, it can be argued that almost all cited journalists have uncritically reported the statements of politicians from both sides of parliament and members of the Malaysian royal about the propagation of familial piety. The lack of critical engagement by the journalists can be linked to social norms that prevent challenges to social hierarchy, which maintains a high regard for people in authority, thus due to respect and deference given to political leaders, journalists often abandon the responsibility of asking hard questions for the benefit of their readers (Puteh-Behak et al., 2015: 187).
While politicians are advocating for the promotion of familism to uphold socio-cultural norms and to avoid expenditure on aged care, especially at a time when the number of older people is on the rise in Malaysia, the journalists are playing their role as partners with the government to relay the developmental messages to the public. Newspapers in Malaysia are playing a moral guardianship role by warning readers of the slipping of filial responsibility and the dangers of the alternatives (nursing homes). The media, being a partner of the government, is encouraging the revitalisation of familism in Malaysia by constructing a discourse in support of an established social norm of traditional family roles in caring for elderly people, something the government supports as well, as it relieves it of any obligation to elderly citizens.
Conclusion
The analysis of the sampled articles reveals that the main focus of most Malaysian newspapers remains on the socio-political, moral and cultural issues linked with aged care, especially the obligation of the care of elderly Malaysians. These issues are grounded in and related to financial implications, although these are not explicitly mentioned by most newspapers. It can be argued that the promotion of filial piety can be seen in the language used by the journalists in discussions around aged care responsibilities, by quoting and reproducing the comments and statements of constituents of Malaysian society including the royal family, political leaders, senior citizens’ representatives, academics, researchers, social workers and the owners of nursing homes. The findings of this study suggest that macro-level issues are translated into micro-level by the use of language and through discursive practices which were explored through CDA. CDA associated the language used across the board in Malaysian newspapers for older people, such as parents – who need to be taken care of by their children in the same way as was done by their parents hinting towards tacit intergenerational contracts which are reproduced (Lorenz-Meyer and Grotheer, 2002) – with the discursive practices, including development journalism and social practices, such as encouragement of familism and Asian values. The reproduction and reinforcement of social norms by the media affirm Malaysia's National Family Policy which advocates the concept of ‘Family Well-being’ based on family values to impart positive values from generation to generation, in tandem to create a caring society (Hashim, 2014).
Scholars have argued that despite the wave of modernity, moral values remain significant in Malaysian society (Omar, 2003). The findings of this study indicate that the shift away from the virtues of moral values, traditional values, and cultural values is opposed by opinion writers, and people quoted in news articles and papers. Journalists not only used persuasive language but also journalistic tools such as negativity, personalisation, impact, timeliness, proximity and consonance (Caple and Bednarek, 2016) to paint a pessimistic picture of the consequences of moving away from familism. The commentary on this societal change is communicated mostly through opinion pieces rather than news reports, suggesting an active campaign on the part of newspapers rather than just relaying the views of other sources. The study found that nursing homes in the sampled Malaysian newspapers are constructed as stigmatised places that have a taboo attached to them. The stigma attached to these homes tends to prevent children from sending older parents there. Media discourses around the slipping of traditional cultural beliefs and moral values, especially a decline in the sense of filial responsibility, are constructed generally in a negative tone. The journalists explicitly discuss the consequences of forsaking familial responsibility, in a negative tone. The shift away from familism is constructed as an immoral act that is denounced by most journalists who either cited sources or included their views to convey the message. This is not the only perspective that could have been presented – for example, the government could have been encouraged to take responsibility for citizens. Older Malaysians are eligible for the social security net from the government; however, being a resident of a social welfare home is portrayed negatively by the newspapers. Such discourses construct the elderly with no option other than relying on family.
The findings of the study suggest Malaysian press constructed familial piety as the only solution for an increasingly ageing population in Malaysia. The study explored news stories about the abandonment of the elderly in hospitals and accounts of some elderly people who had been abandoned by their children. The reasons for the abandonment are not explicitly discussed but may be linked to the financial dependence of older Malaysians. This financial dependence may signal parents’ confidence in the existing social norm of familial piety and also a lack of financial preparation for their future. Hamid and Tyng (2017) argue that only a handful of Malaysians have made adequate preparations for old age, with others leaving it to chance or fate because they do not know how to prepare. However, despite the availability of social welfare services for elderly people, very few articles mentioned the role of the government in taking care of elderly Malaysians. The role of the Malaysian government in looking after the aged is discussed by the journalists neither directly nor by implication through reporting on sources whose comments support the idea of the social welfare state. Instead, almost all of the newspapers, regardless of their ownership and regional/national division, replicated and reproduced quotes from politicians from both sides of the parliament disapproving of the idea of a government role in caring for the elderly. Such official discourses were relayed without any critical engagement by the press. Lack of criticism from the journalists can be linked back to societal norms that dictate not to contest the opinions of leaders (Jeannot and Anuar, 2012); that ‘juniors do not disagree with seniors (superiors or elders)’ (Puteh-Behak et al., 2015: 187) and to journalistic practices in Malaysia that emphasise Asian-based development journalism in avoiding conflict, discouraging criticism of government policies and educating citizens about government actions for the development of the country (Hashim, 2012; Manan, 2001).
Promotion of filial piety and familism by the Malaysian press is done not just to preserve historically practised Asian values and norms, but also to provide financial relief to the Malaysian government – preservation of familism spares the government from spending on care for the increasingly ageing population. As with the increase in the ageing population, the cost of care has increased significantly over the last decade; for instance, the government spent RM900 million in 2022 for providing aid and care to the elderly (Malay Mail, 2022) compared to RM554 million in 2018 and RM78 million in 2008 (The World Bank, 2020). This study demonstrates that Malaysian journalists promote government-led narratives, which is indicative of development journalism, and which affects older people adversely. The analysis shows that the welfare of older Malaysians remained at stake in a shift away from familism, but Malaysian journalists avoided mentioning the possible role of the government in looking after older people even in the reportage about the abandonment of elderly people by their families. This study recommends that Malaysian journalists rethink their role as government partners and consider alternative approaches to journalism as development journalism does not seem to be appropriate to report on the issues related to the welfare of elderly people at a time when the number of elderly people is rising in Malaysia.
The control and steering of the discussion towards the government's narrative not only illustrates the discursive control and exercise of power by the journalists who, by such reporting, avoid conflict with the government, but also the influence of media ownership – most newspapers in Malaysia are owned and influenced by politicians closely linked with the government. The findings of this study suggest a greater shift away from development journalism and towards the role of journalists as a watchdog on those in power, for the welfare of citizens, especially older people who are not only suffering due to a shift away from familism but also due to the silence of journalists about government aged-care policies that are failing elderly Malaysians.
Malaysian newspapers and their ownership.
Main themes in Malaysian press.
