Face threats in threads: assessing the responses to impoliteness in Facebook comments on 1MDB

Impoliteness has become common among online users and appears to be consented by netizens. This study seeks to investigate the reaction to impoliteness from the perspective of face-threat witnesses (FTWs) in Facebook comments. Twelve news posts on Facebook regarding the 1MDB scandal in 2015 were selected, and impolite comment threads that were reactions to the news were extracted. Fifty-two threads were found to contain impolite comments targeted at non-participants of this interaction, thus corresponding to the characteristics of face-threat witnesses. Dobs and Blitvich’s (2013) model for participant response options, Culpeper’s (2011, 2016) Conventionalised Impoliteness Formulae (CIF) and Bousfield’s (2007) list of defensive counter-strategies were used to analyse the responses. Impolite responses by the FTWs were found to be atypical. Denying the opposition either via being offensive or defensive subjugated the preference in the findings, though offensive appeared more prominently. Apart from deny opposition, corroborate opposition, and react, the current study also discovered new categories for the response options which did not fit in any of the categories, hence labelled as Distinct Features. The FTWs not only sanctioned impoliteness, but initial impoliteness in their responses, despite being ‘other-directed'

Topological socio-cultural evolution a predictor of ethnic conflicts in multi-ethnic societies

Ethnic conflicts have been one of the biggest single threats for the progress of collaborative human societies. Ethnic issues are common to most multi-ethnic societies. Some of the conflicts are violent and damaging but not all are negative. Owing to the rapid growth of ethnic problems, attempts have been made to overcome them across many nations despite the change in governments or government policies in recent years. However, so far none of the discussions and solutions is able to explain the influence of socio-cultural evolution on the changes in ethnic identities in multi-ethnic society and the effect on the minority. Further, attention is given to discuss the impact of socio-cultural formation topologies of multi-ethnic societies on ethnic issues. In this concept paper, authors explain the socio-cultural evolution process of multi-ethnic societies and the impact of ethnic topologies on ethnic conflicts

The Punjabi Sikh Community in Kuching: Assimilation or Enculturation?

ABSTRACT – This study was conducted using a mixed research method including quantitative and qualitative data collection to investigate the cultural and linguistic practices of the Punjabi Sikhs in Kuching, Sarawak in East Malaysia. It was aimed to determine whether the community had integrated with the majority community/communities in Kuching and to what extend it has preserved its ethnic identity. Data were collected on the Punjabis’ use of language in the domains of family, workplace, and entertainment. Other social factors like eating habits, dressing, celebration of festivals, marriage preference, religious practices and self-identity were also examined. It was identified that the minority community of the Punjabi Sikhs in Kuching, Sarawak has a tendency towards maintaining a strong cultural vitality and uniqueness. The community shows a high degree of assimilating towards the use of English language, although they appear to be maintaining their core Punjabi cultural traits and practices. Kuching Punjabis may have lost a vital segment of their cultural enrichment in the form of language but they crucially hold positive perceptions about their ethno-cultural and ethno-linguistic identity. Thus contradicting the traditional cultural studies, which incline that not maintaining the language, can lead to losing the other aspects of culture

The non-observance of grice’s maxims in Sasak

This study investigates how the Sasak people of Lombok Indonesia interact among each other in naturallyoccurring interactions. The Politeness theory stipulates that the language of communication associates social reality and language use in real communities. Grice’s theory is based on the assumption that people are cooperative in communication. It follows that the notions of politeness are likely to exhibit this observance of being cooperative. However, studies have shown that the Cooperative Principle and the attendant maxims are almost never strictly followed in daily conversations and so, what prompts this non-observation? The Sasak people are known to be naturally shy and communicate with each other using the Nggeto-Nggete dialect. Twenty participants were randomly selected from a population in East Sukamulia, a place where Sasak is spoken. Based on the data collected from informal domestic settings such as exchanges in the shop and home, and between the family and neighbourhood, the extent to which the Cooperative Principle and maxims are observed and the politeness strategies used to perform the exchanges are established. The findings reveal that the Sasak speakers of the Nggeto-Nggete dialect did not observe Grice's maxims and its principles when communicating with each other. They do so in order that they communicate information clearly to each other while observing what they regard to be moral etiquette and standard of decorum

Sociopragmatic parameters of politeness strategies among the Sasak in the post elopement rituals

Arranged marriages in Asia involve the consent and approval of family members. However, marriages that condone elopement are shared among the Sasak people in Lombok.  The elopement entails taking away the bride from her home without knowing her parents, close relatives, or other family members. As such, events that occur after discovering the elopement are the focus of this study. Post-elopement rituals are held to assuage both sides of the families, where the Pembayun (or adat leaders) are nominated to represent the families. The Pembayun were found to be bound by sociopragmatics in their use of politeness strategies. The analysis of sociopragmatics is based on the politeness theories of Brown and Levinson (1987). A qualitative approach that involved interviews and video recordings were used to collect data from participants and non-participant observation. The study revealed that sociopragmatics play a significant role in Pembayun’s choice of politeness strategies such as social distance, power distribution, rank, situational, and cultural parameters. These factors determine the weightiness of the act and become the basis for politeness strategies in the deliverances of specific acts during the post-elopement rituals

Language Choice among the Punjabi Sikh Community in Kota Kinabalu, Sabah, Malaysia

When a minority group interacts and comes into contact with individuals from the dominant language, they tend to choose a commonly understood language. Language choice is forced to negotiate their own identity and cultural practices with their dominant culture. This can create a conflict, as in the case of the Punjabi community, who try to adopt new cultural norms and maintain their own identity when living in a dominant cultural group. With the growing number of Punjabis in Sabah, specifically in the capital city of Kota Kinabalu, East Malaysia, this situation presents an excellent case for advancing our knowledge about the challenges that the process of assimilation and enculturation may have on the Punjabi community living in a society which predominantly is of a different culture in Sabah. This study thus addresses the impact of social integration among a small population of the Punjabi Sikhs living in Kota Kinabalu. Data is collected using a questionnaire and interviews with several community members. The study draws implications on how a minority group adapts to the dominant culture and provides possible avenues for future research

Communication strategies of a Malaysian politician in Tamil during the COVID-19 pandemic

The world in general was not prepared for the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic in December 2019, which caused massive deaths. Government officials were forced to impose drastic measures to curb the spread. The Ministry of Health relied on political leaders and government agencies to help disseminate as much health information and the government policies efficiently and effectively. As these representatives or leaders belong to different ethnicities, they are more likely to understand the life circumstances, needs, strengths, and capabilities of multicultural and vulnerable communities, and would be the best people to convey the needed information. Tamils are the third largest community in Malaysia and there is not much research done on Tamil language and communication strategies during the COVID-19 pandemic. Thus, this study aims to observe on how effectively Tamil language and culture influences crisis communication. Effective communication and leadership are central to the management of pandemics and to give the public assurance in order to alleviate their fears and anxiety in having to adapt to the rapidly changing societal and economic landscape. Based on the communication strategies recommended by Hyland-Wood et al (2021), the current study focuses on how a Malaysian Indian politician, Saravanan responds, engages, and communicates with his followers. Seventeen Facebook posts in Tamil on Saravanan’s page were extracted and analysed qualitatively. The strategies utilized by Saravanan showed his resolve and effectiveness in managing crisis. This study will be useful for political leaders, community representatives, and medical practitioners in seeking equitable accessibility to quality health care and well-being of the people

Reconceptualizing Aunty as an address term in urban multilingual Malaysia

This paper explores contact reconceptualizations of English Aunty as an address term in Greater Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. In this multiethnic and multilingual city, Aunty is used in local discourses to address older females across different languages and regardless of whether Addressee is related to the Addresser. Moreover, usage of Aunty is extensive, covering a range of social roles, identities, and interpersonal relations that reflect acculturations to a context where diverse traditional cultural norms, multilanguage mixing, and modernity effects, are simultaneously salient. Using the Cultural Linguistics framework (Sharifian, 2017a, 2017b), it is demonstrated that long-established Malaysian cultural priorities, race (ethnicity) and modern as status (modernity values) can help account for the potential range of usages of Malaysian Aunty