Context and intent

I have no problem with the NST cartoon.

It was a commentary on the current state of the world after the Infamous 12 made a lot of people hurt and angry. In the anger, thousands had hit the streets in protests with placards bearing strong words – slay, behead, death. Buildings were stoned, stormed and burned down. People’s lives were taken – not by accident but killed out of belligerence.

This one didn’t mock the good Prophet – that was the reason for the original cartoon furor wasn’t it? – it mocked the belligerence of zealots. The same breed of people who'd kill Christians in Sulawesi, bomb Bali, and to a lesser extent tear down an Orang Asli church in Johor a couple of days before Christmas last year.

Like any typical cartoon, it was multivalent. If any person so chooses, s/he can almost always find an angle or a reason to get outraged. It’s not very difficult at all. Women-libbers can get incensed at cavemen-drag-woman cartoons, dog-lovers will hate Garfield etc etc.

I am no fan of NST – nor any local mainstream media for that matter except The Sun – but no, I have no problem with that particular cartoon. And I am relieved the government did not suspend the publication or roll off a head or two.

I do have a problem with certain parties and how they perceive the Non Sequitur cartoon. Anything with an M and ends with a D can boil their blood. Context doesn’t seem to matter to them.

Well, context matters helluva lot. Likewise, intent.

Without establishing the two in any situation would be poor judgment. What was the Non Sequitur cartoon actually saying? What was it mocking if indeed it was? Was the NST being deliberately spiteful towards Muslims in running that cartoon? Was it being doubly spiteful in running it again with a commentary?

I don’t know about you, but I enjoyed its editorial stance in not standing down for what it believed in on Day 2 of the saga.

I don't care if it's Umno's mouthpiece, every media in this country is some political party's mouthpiece. That's a given. I don't care if Jeff Ooi's hurt and Aisehman's sad. Just this - if anybody cares to do the right thing, I'm behind you. If only NST continues its boldness in tackling national issues, I would start buying the publication again.

Context and intent. I learned how important they are in design school; I’m seeing how just as critical they are in law and enforcement.

Which is why I still vehemently oppose the draconian suspension of the other two dailies, the Sarawak Tribune and Guang Ming. The intent to hurt was just not there and the context in which the pictures were carried actually gained more dimension and credence with the graphics attached.

It actually acknowledged that we are apes with the ability to abstract and hence judge if Danish paper Jylland-Posten did wrong. Or whether religious zealots were running amok for thin reasons. The newspapers’ action did not deserve such punishment.

Good thing the government didn’t go there the third time.