KUALA LUMPUR, Oct 7 — Freed from decades of censorship under the previous Barisan Nasional (BN) government, Malaysian comic writers said their creative juices are flowing under the new Pakatan Harapan government.
“It is also much easier to express our opinion without the fear of being caught,” Ernest Ng said during the “Who’s laughing now?” dialogue during the Cooler Lumpur festival here today.
Lau Mun Yee, the country head of humour website MGag agreed, saying local content creators were finding themselves with so many ideas and materials to churn out.
“But we still maintain a certain standard and always stay safe and cautious with what we publish as content creators,” Ng added, indicating that local talents have yet to fully leave the shadow of censorship cast by the BN after 60 years of being in power.
Lau, who is known as ABCDE on MGag and has a large group of followers, said she always encourages healthy dissonance among her viewers, something possible only now.
“We have learnt to not always jump on the bandwagon for every story, and sometimes the unpopular opinions end up being the more popular posts.
“Not everyone will agree with you, but if there are people who disagree with your content, that means you are already doing something right to engage them,” she said.
German ethics expert Matteo Riati who was a panelist on the dialogue said comedy writers worldwide shared the same challenge — how to tackle taboo subjects without coming off as insulting or ill-informed.
“There are ways you can speak about taboo topics, and never get caught for it.
“It is in the delivery of the content that will matter when dealing with taboo topics,” he said.
In reference to political satire, Riati expressed his support for such content, saying comedians and journalists also have a role to check and balance the government.
“The journalists and comedians must be allowed to check back with the government, and politicians must be able to take it.
“Comedians when dealing with political satire have to learn to play according to the system, but at the same time always challenging the system,” he said.
The dialogue was moderated by stand-up comedian Dr Jason Leong.
