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Yoursay: The rooster made scapegoat in wake of cock-up

YOURSAY | If you think this year is bad, wait till next year – the Year of the Pig.

Ministry apologises for rooster ad cock-up

David Dass: Chinese New Year has not changed for a long time. The Chinese zodiac has not changed for thousands of years. The symbols, the songs, the colours - nothing has changed.

So, what has changed in Malaysia? When did Muslims become so sensitive? And why? Islam is not a new religion. The festivals of each cultural, religious and racial group in this country are an occasion for all to celebrate and make merry.

Celebrating Chinese New Year with my Chinese friends does not make me Chinese. Celebrating Hari Raya with my Malay friends does not make me Malay or Muslim. But I still experience the joy they experience.

All of my Malay friends are disgusted with these cock-ups. It is a small group of Arab-influenced bureaucrats who think that they are standing up for Islam.

Most Malays do not have problems with a barking dog or a grunting pig on a poster celebrating Chinese New Year. Surely, a barking rooster on a full-page advertisement is not a technical mistake.

Mano: David Dass is spot on. The normal Malays have absolutely no issue with dogs. Some, in fact, do keep them. My ex-staff told me they had dogs in their kampung in the 70s.

The issue now is Umno and PAS have been on the ultra-Islamic agenda to attract votes. I believe the religion itself is a compassionate one but it has been hijacked by these bigots.

Wait a minute, we have not heard anything from Bersatu and PKR. Perhaps we have we to assume they are also in this political game to portray they are more Islamic than others?

Wira: It is unthinkable that a federal ministry (Domestic Trade, Cooperatives and Consumerism Ministry) was even willing to apologise for the "mess up" especially so when, as opposed to numerous occasions in the past, the language used was impeccable.

This leads me to suspect that the poster must have been done by an ethnic Chinese, possibly the Sunway kind, who went overboard to suppress the image of a dog.

I cannot imagine how can such a slight to Chinese culture be allowed to happen, especially when Pos Malaysia could even come out recently with a postal stamp series on working dogs.

Ravinder: Remember how Perkasa president Ibrahim Ali gave out ‘ang pows’ in white envelopes, and then feigned "ignorance" that the ‘ang pows’ should be in red (white ‘ang pows’ are used for funerals)?

In a country that has been multiracial for centuries, it is difficult to swallow that simple cultural practices of races other than one's own are not known.

What "technical error" can there be? The printers would have printed the artwork that was provided to them. Who did the artwork? Who instructed the artist? Who did the proof-reading?

It looks deliberate. Caught between wanting to get the goodwill of the Chinese (for the coming GE14) and bowing to the racists, the rooster was made the scapegoat.

Slumdog: I have heard it all before. “A technical error”, “I was misquoted”, “it is only a suggestion”, “it is just a reminder”, “it was incorrectly reported” and “I didn’t say that”.

These are the well-known excuses trotted out by ministers and agencies when caught out with their verbal and advertising blunders. You wouldn’t put this mob in charge of organising a one-man queue.

Headhunter: If you think this year is bad, wait till next year - the Year of the Pig.

Lynn: A dog and a pig are also God's creation. A religion that believes in a monotheistic God surely would believe that all creatures come from God. If God had not intended to have such creatures come into being, he would not have created them. 

Believing that an animal is dirty to touch or eat is very different from trying to wipe it out from the face of the earth.

Anonymous 2460391489930458: Sometimes I wonder if Muslim Malaysians are inherently touchy about stuff like this or are they socially conditioned by hardline extremists/politicians to react in a certain manner to prove that they are "true" Muslims.

I am curious about this because I notice that Muslims in Thailand and Indonesia are far more liberal and tolerant in their practice of Islam compared to Muslim Malaysians. Why is that?

Anonymous: Initially, I had thought it was just fake news. No government official could be so stupid as to depict a barking cock without anyone in the whole ministry to point out the error.

I was wrong, very wrong.

MCA man accuses DAP of 'sensationalising' CNY cock-ups

Vijay47: MCA leader Ti Lian Ker, I don't know why you bother to come out and make statements on national issues since the only response would be universal condemnation and contempt.

You accuse Lim Kit Siang and DAP of sensationalising "honest mistakes to incite unrest". Really?

Has it not struck you as rather strange that of late, festive seasons seem to be occasions for inexplicable "honest mistakes" and always to the detriment of non-Malay or non-Muslim celebrations?

It started with the now world-famous "Mary Christmas" followed by "Happy Birthday Chinese New Year" and the latest gem, a barking cockerel.

In your pitiful attempt to please and serve your Umno masters better, you have raised the bar a couple of notches; according to you, it is now exploitative and disruptive to even voice unhappiness regarding continued acts that are offensive and disrespectful to religion and culture, the unhappy victims should meekly accept them and roll over. Like MCA has refined to an exquisite degree.

FlabberPro: It is not an "honest mistake". There are many levels of people approving the advertisement on the barking rooster.

From graphic designer, to his superior, to the head of department, to the client, to the client's marketing communications department, to the head of the marketing communications department, to those in charge of its publication - don't tell me, no one noticed this glaring and unforgivable mistake?

This is not about a tiny comma or a full-stop, but a huge advertising in a major newspaper, occupying a full page. 

Anonymous 2405371458107314: Ti, stop making excuses for BN. How can Petronas and a government ministry make such mistakes unintentionally?


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