Purely in Chinese ‘healthy shoes’ pamphlet irks netizen
A NETIZEN known as Elle Fara let her displeasure known when she found a pamphlet advertising footwear written completely in Chinese.
Posting on X (formerly Twitter), the online business owner said she had gone for a jog and upon her return to her vehicle, she saw the offending item stuck on her car door handle.
She proclaimed that as Malaysians, such printed material should be in the national language.
With this issue gaining traction since an immigration officer gained notoriety for chiding a lady and her child for not being proficient in Malay, Malay proficiency has become a political hot potato with vernacular education being at the centre of the row.
As the matter has become a trending issue on social media, it was not surprising that Elle Farra’s post has attracted 872,700 views at the time of writing along with 7,700 likes and 200 comments.
Balik jogging, nampak pamphlet ni kat pintu kereta.
Aku org Malaysia. Kita orang Malaysia. Guna lah Bahasa Malaysia.
Many shared their opinion on the hot topic. Here’s a sample:
Some netizens chided the poster for making a mountain out of a molehill:
However, some netizens surmised that the reason for the pamphlet using Chinese was that Elle Fara may not be the company’s target purchasers or the product may not be halal.
But one netizen hit the nail on the head, stating that the advertiser was the one who will feel the loss by limiting its potential audience:
Quite a number of netizens opined that if the advertiser was not keen to tap the non-Mandarin users’ market, it was no big deal as there are plenty of alternatives:
Of course, there were a fair share of racist comments which FocusM shall refrain from re-posting but it is very evident that the issue has touched a raw nerve.
It is indeed perplexing why advertisers would seek to limits its audience unless as suggested by some, the products were made from non-halal items.
Perhaps it is time for the authorities to insist that any form of advertising must be in the national language. At the very least, it will open up translation job opportunities for those who are multi-lingual. – Dec 25, 2023
These businesses are definitely owned by illegal immigrants from China who came in as tourists and now part of 1.2 millions of Chinese tourists who never left Malaysia in the past several years. They should be banished for good so as not to alter the demography of Malaysia to the advantage of the evangelical Christian party.
ReplyDeleteLike u, an illegal immigrant turned melayu palsu!
DeleteIn many parts of the civilized nations, many local promotional/marketing pamphlets r worded in the language of the targeted buyers. Many of whom ain't native language speakers but citizen of the land!
ReplyDeleteNO BIG DEAL it seems!
Yet here in bolihland, the inferiority complex exhibits extremely profound when a ketuanan nerve is been excited.
Typically fit the saying of one can bring a kampung pumpkin to civilisation but civilized manner could never fit into the mind of a kampung pumpkin!
Maybe they were made from pig skin.
ReplyDeleteIn such case, promoting the product in Bahasa could have got the sellers into a lot trouble....wakakaka..like trying to sell Bak Kut Teh to Malays.