Post on 11-Jan-2017
Jurnal Komunikasi
Malaysian Journal of Communication
Jilid 32(1) 2016:625-650
THE REPRESENTATIONS OF LEADERSHIP BY EXAMPLE
IN EDITORIAL CARTOONS
ROHANI EMBONG, HANITA HASSAN
& NOOR AIREEN IBRAHIM
UNIVERSITI TEKNOLOGI MALAYSIA
Abstract
Tun Dr Mahathir was the fourth Prime Minister of Malaysia, who was
well known for his leadership values and major contributions to the
country’s development. The dynamic and long career of Tun Dr
Mahathir had given a lot of ideas and materials for Lat, a famous
Malaysian cartoonist, in producing editorial cartoons with which Tun
Dr Mahathir is the main character. Having said that, this paper thus
aims to discuss the representations of Tun Dr Mahathir’s leadership in
Lat’s editorial cartoons. The data for this study were 98 Lat’s editorial
cartoons which were published in local newspapers from 1979 to
2004. The visual analysis was conducted using Multimodality, by
Jurnal Komunikasi
Malaysian Journal of Communication
Jilid 32(1) 2016: 625-650
626
which the represented leadership was determined through the
identification of participants and process. Whilst the linguistics texts
were analysed using Systemic Functional Linguistics focusing on the
ideational messages. The findings of this study, among others, reveal
that Tun Dr Mahathir was depicted as an open minded leader, who
listened to others. Besides, Tun Dr Mahathir is also portrayed as a
leader who kept abreast with the development of Information
Communication Technology and hardworking. The aim of depicting
the leadership values practiced by Tun Dr Mahathir in the editorial
cartoons is to portray him as a leader who led by examples.
Keywords: Leadership by examples, visual representations, linguistic
representations, systemic functional linguistics, multimodality.
KEPIMPINAN MELALUI MELALUI TAULADAN DALAM
KARTUN EDITORIAL
Abstrak
Tun Dr Mahathir adalah Perdana Menteri yang ke empat yang terkenal
dengan ciri-ciri kepimpinannya dan sumbangannya kepada
pembangunan negara. Kerjayanya yang dinamik dan tempoh yang
lama telah memberikan ilham dan bahan kepada Lat, seorang kartunis
terkenal, untuk menghasilkan kartun editorial di mana Tun Dr
Mahathir sebagai watak utama. Oleh yang demikian, artikel ini
bertujuan membincangkan gambaran ciri kepimpinan Tun Dr Mahathir
di dalam kartun editorial Lat. Data kajian adalah merupakan 98 kartun
The Representations of Leadership by
Example in Editorial Cartoons
Rohani Embong, Hanita Hassan & Noor Aireen Ibrahim
627
editorial Lat yang diterbitkan di dalam suratkhabar tempatan dari
tahun 1979 hingga 2004. Analisa visual dilaksanakan menggunakan
Multimodaliti,di mana gambaran kepimpinan ditentukan melalui
penentuan peserta dan proses. Manakala teks linguistik dianalisa
menggunakan teori Sistemik Fungsional Linguistik yang fokus kepada
mesej ideational. Dapatan kajian menunjukkan yang Tun Dr Mahathir
digambarkan sebagai seorang pemimpin yang berfikiran terbuka iaitu
seorang yang mendengar kepada orang lain. Selain itu, Tun Dr
Mahathir juga digambarkan sebagai pemimpin yang mengikuti
perkembangan pembangunan Teknologi Maklumat dan Komunikasi
dan berkerja keras. Tujuan gambaran ciri kepimpinan yang
dipraktiskan oleh Tun Dr Mahathir di dalam kartun editorial adalah
untuk memaparkan beliau sebagai seorang pemimpin yang memimpin
melalui tauladan.
Kata kunci: Kepimpinan melalui tauladan, gambaran visual,
gambaran linguistik, sistemik fungsional linguistik, multimodaliti.
INTRODUCTION
Editorial cartoons, or also known as political cartoons, are used as a means of
expressing cartoonists’ views on current and political issues and regarded as a tool
for freedom of speech (Straubhaar and LaRos, 2002; Horn, 1981; Hoff, 1976;
Feldman, 1995; Mahamood, 2004b). Freedom of speech, or also known as
freedom of expression, can be defined as the right to communicate, seek, receive
and impart one’s opinions and ideas regardless of the medium used (Haskin,
1996). Nevertheless, crossing the limit of freedom of speech may result in
undesirable actions and this thus suggests that cartoonists have to be extra careful
not to violate the limit of freedom of speech in publishing their editorial cartoons
Jurnal Komunikasi
Malaysian Journal of Communication
Jilid 32(1) 2016: 625-650
628
(Collier, 2011). Even though editorial cartoons are widely read by several
hundred million people around the world, the usage and acceptance of such
cartoons differ from one country to another (Markow, 1972). Editorial cartoons
are well accepted in Europe and are considered as an important form of political
communication in Japan (Feldman, 1995). The Turkish, on the other hand,
practices a more closed policy as a consequence of the abolishment of press
freedom by Abdülhamid II, the 34th
Sultan of Turkey (Tunc, 2002). Since then
strict rules governing drawing and publishing political issues were implemented.
Editorial cartoons have been published in Malaysian newspapers, for
example, Utusan Melayu; Warta Melayu; Majlis and Lembaga; since 1930s
featuring some of the more prolific cartoonists at that time such as Abu Bakar bin
Mohd. Nor; Amir Hamzah bin Mir Baru; Abd. Manan Ali Samad and Mohammad
Nor Khalid (Mahamood, 2004b). As mentioned earlier presenting one’s idea
freely through editorial cartoons may be risky, nonetheless, Mohammad Nor
Khalid was the only Malaysian cartoonist who managed to produce editorial
cartoons which depict a well-known political figure, Tun Dr Mahathir,
successfully and furthermore his cartoons are well accepted and appreciated
(Mahamood, 2004a; Ujang, 2009). Furthermore, empirical research into
Malaysian editorial cartoons from the language and communication perspective
has largely been ignored which brings to light the aim of the current study. This
paper therefore aims to discuss the linguistic and visual representations of Tun Dr
Mahathir’s leadership as portrayed in Mohammad Nor Khalid’s editorial cartoons.
It is worth noting that the findings of a study conducted in investigating the
representations of Tun Dr Mahathir’s leadership by Mohammad Nor Khalid show
that Tun Dr Mahathir is presented as a leader who focused on home affairs,
hardworking, thinking out of a box, a strict and confident leader (see Table 1).
Nonetheless, the focus of this paper is on the representations of Tun Mahathir as a
leader who laid emphasis on the development of the country, listened to others and
The Representations of Leadership by
Example in Editorial Cartoons
Rohani Embong, Hanita Hassan & Noor Aireen Ibrahim
629
worked hard during his premiership.
Mohammad Nor Khalid (or known as Lat) is one of the most well
recognised Malaysian cartoonists who started editorial cartoonist career in 1975.
Lat was open and critical in presenting his ideas through subtle, indirect and
symbolic style of drawing (Lent, 2003; Mahamood, 2004a). More importantly,
Lat depicted political figures in an ‘unusual, abnormal or unexpected’ way
regardless of their status or personalities and his depiction results in humorous
cartoons (Mahamood, 2004a: 72). Honouring his numerous contributions and
achievements, Lat was presented with various awards, for instance, Fukuoka
Asian Culture Prize, Petronas Journalism Awards (Special Jury Award), and an
Honorary Doctorate in Anthropology and Sociology (Mahamood, 2004a).
Tun Dr Mahathir’s long premiership, from 1981 to 2003, had given Lat a great
deal of ideas and materials to work on and subsequently Tun Dr Mahathir became
the most favourite character and subject in Lat’s editorial cartoons (Mahamood,
2004a; Jasin, 2004). During his premiership, he was ardent about Malaysia’s
infrastructural and economic development (Ismail and Saad, 2007). Some of his
major contributions are: the Malaysian national car, the Twin Tower, the Kuala
Lumpur International Airport (KLIA) and the North-South Highway. Apart from
his enthusiasm for national development, Tun Mahathir firmly believed in
leadership by example (Mohamad, 2011). For instance, Tun Dr Mahathir strongly
opposed the perception of Malays as incapable of hardworking (Mohamad, 2011)
and to proof that this perception was wrong, he never took the full leave that he
was entitled to as prime minister. In addition, his working hours were longer than
those of other government employees and ministers (Mohamad, 2011).
This paper thus aims to discuss the representations of Tun Dr Mahathir’s
leadership values, which he personally practiced and tried to instill in Malaysian
society during his premiership. The visual and linguistic representations of Tun
Jurnal Komunikasi
Malaysian Journal of Communication
Jilid 32(1) 2016: 625-650
630
Dr Mahathir’s leadership are discussed using the multimodal (Kress and Van
Leeuwen, 1996) and Systemic Functional Linguistics approaches (Halliday, 1985).
The Use of Editorial Cartoons in Portraying Political Figures
A number of studies has examined editorial cartoons, Conners (2010), for
example, examined the representations of Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton in
the political cartoons during the United State 2008 presidential election by
analyzing online political cartoons produced by 57 American cartoonists. Conners
was particularly interested in the portrayals of racial and gender-specific themes
and found that Hillary Clinton appeared more often in the political cartoons
compared to Barack Obama and were portrayed as competitors. The
representations of Barack Obama were more oriented to racial themes while the
representations of Hillary Clinton were more along gender-related issues.
Following Conners (2010), we conducted a study to examine the representations
of Tun Dr Mahathir, a Malaysian prominent political figure, as a leader and the
findings show that the editorial cartoons highlighted Tun Dr Mahathir’s leadership
values which have turned him into a role model.
On the other hand, previous studies have also analysed political carrtoons
from the linguistics and visual perspectives. For example, Mazid (2008) conducted
a study on 36 political cartoons which portrayed the former American president,
George W, Bush and Osama bin Laden. Out of 36 cartoons analysed, 16 cartoons
were found to portray Bush as the main character, whilst 14 cartoons showed Bin
Laden as the main character and, in addition, six cartoons depicted both, Bush and
bin Laden, as the main characters (Mazid, 2008). The results of the analysis show
that Bush and Bin Laden believed that they were ‘fighting a holy war, fulfilling a
“mission” and answering a “call” in Bush’s words and doing jihad in bin Laden’s’
(Mazid, 2008: 451). Similarly, this paper discusses the representations of Tun Dr
Mahathir’s leadership from the linguistic and visual perspectives since editorial
cartoons consist of two modes, which are linguistic text and visual images.
The Representations of Leadership by
Example in Editorial Cartoons
Rohani Embong, Hanita Hassan & Noor Aireen Ibrahim
631
In addition, Koetzle and Brunell (1996) analysed 505 editorial cartoons
which were published in American national press during the 1992 presidential
campaign. The study adopted the content analysis method and however, the study
focused more on the personality and qualities of the candidates, who were Bush,
Clinton and Perot, portrayed in the editorial cartoons compared to the policies. It is
interesting that the personalities of the political figures are more prone to be the
subject of studies, and similarly, the focus of this paper is on the representations of
Tun Dr Mahathir's leadership values, but not on his policies.
In addition, a study was conducted on the representations of George W.
Bush and Albert Gore as candidates for the US 2000 presidential election in 490
editorial cartoons, which were published in six American newspapers from 1999
to 2000, identified five leadership elements portrayed in the editorial cartoons
(Edwards, 2001). The elements are character, viability, competency, charisma and
independence. The findings show that Bush and Gore were similarly treated for
the categories of character, viability and independence, but not for the categories
of competence and charisma. For these two categories, there was a gap on how the
cartoonists portrayed the competence and the charisma of the leading candidates.
Mahamood (2004b) conducted a study on Malay editorial cartoons
published in nine Malaysian newspapers between 1930s and 1993. Interestingly,
the findings show that the editorial cartoons are created based on current political
and as well as social issues. Before the independence, for instance, the cartoonists
during that era focused on the issues which were related to British colonization,
followed by Malaysian independence and this is to say that the issues change
according to time. It is therefore important to note that the data of this study were
Lat’s editorial cartoons taken from Malaysian newspapers, which were published
from 1979 to 2004, and the findings therefore reflect the current issues of those
respective years.
Jurnal Komunikasi
Malaysian Journal of Communication
Jilid 32(1) 2016: 625-650
632
RESEARCH METHOD
The data for this study were Lat’s editorial cartoons which were published in local
newspapers from 1979-2004 and given the aim of this study which was to
investigate the representations of Tun Dr Mahathir’s leadership, it was therefore
crucial to ensure that the selected cartoons analysed for this study portrayed the
image of Tun Dr Mahathir. A total of 98 editorial cartoons were selected based on
the specific criteria which were: the occurrence of Tun Dr Mahathir’s image; and
both types of elements, linguistics which contains at least a clause, and visual
images. The visual images were analysed using Kress and Van Leeuwen’s (1996)
Multimodality theory (Kress and Van Leeuwen, 1996) whilst the linguistic text
was analysed using Halliday’s Systemic Functional Linguistics (Halliday and
Matthiessen, 2004). The following sections explain the ways in which the data
were analysed using both mentioned theoretical frameworks.
Multimodal Analysis
Following SFL theory, Multimodality consists of three components, which are
representational, interpersonal and compositional (Kress and Van Leeuwen, 1996;
Guijarro and Sanz, 2008). Representational component resembles the ideational
metafunction, whilst compositional component resembles the textual
metafunction. The visual analysis in this study focused on the representational
component and the analysis was done through the identification of represented
participants and types of process. Participants can be in the form of people, places
or things, and types of process, on the other hand, can be categorised as conceptual
or narrative. In line with Halliday’s (1985) process types, Conceptual is a process
of being, whilst Narrative is a process of doing (Halliday and Matthiessen, 2004).
The process type of the cartoons was first determined by identifying the eye-
vector line of the participants in the editorial cartoons. In other words, if there
exist an eye-vector line, the process is therefore determined as a narrative, or
The Representations of Leadership by
Example in Editorial Cartoons
Rohani Embong, Hanita Hassan & Noor Aireen Ibrahim
633
transactional reaction while the absence of an eye-vector line suggests a
conceptual process, or also known as a non-transactional reaction.
After determining the process types, only then the participants were
categorised accordingly, with which the aim was to interpret the intended message
of visual images (Kress and Van Leeuwen, 1996). The identification of the
process types and participants assisted us to construe the meaning of the images in
terms of what is happening, who is/are involved, when and where it took place.
Linguistic Analysis Using Systemic Functional Linguistics Approach
Linguistic text is considered as an important element of editorial cartoons, by
which its function is to assist readers grasp the intended meaning. Moreover,
images of people are difficult to interpret, adding linguistic messages alongside
images can therefore help readers to grasp the intended meanings since there is a
bi-directional relationship between word and image (Brierly, 1995; Hassan, 2012).
Following this, the theory of Systemic Functional Linguistics (SFL) was adopted
to analyse the functions of linguistic text and it in turn helped us interpret the
linguistic message of editorial cartoons.
There are three types of metafunction in SFL: ideational, interpersonal and
textual (Halliday 1985). Firstly, ideational metafunction reflects the social process
in which the language is implicated (Halliday and Webster, 2009). The analysis of
ideational metafunction focused on the meaning of Tun Dr Mahathir’s
representations as a leader which was delivered by means of linguistic texts found
in the editorial cartoons. Following this framework, the transitivity analysis was
carried out, by which the types of process, participants and circumstantial
elements were determined. The process type was firstly identified through the
representations of a verbal group, whilst the types of participants from its nominal
group and types of circumstantial elements from its adverbial or prepositional
group (Halliday, 1985).
Jurnal Komunikasi
Malaysian Journal of Communication
Jilid 32(1) 2016: 625-650
634
The processes or verb phrases were classified into three main types which
are material, mental or relational (Halliday, 1994). A material process is a process
of doing that connotes ‘the notion that some entity does something to some other
entity’ (Halliday, 1994: 110). A mental process, on the other hand, is a process of
sensing which includes feeling, thinking and perceiving, and finally relational
process is a process of being which connotes ‘something is said to be something
else’ (Halliday, 1994: 119). The next step was determining the roles of the
participants in the editorial cartoons, and it is worth noting that the role of
participants highly depends on the process types. The participants of a material
process, for instance, are actor and goal; the participants for a mental process are
senser and phenomenon; while the participants for a relational process type are
carrier/attribute or token/value (Halliday, 1994).
Types of circumstantial element which occured in the data were also
examined. The circumstantial elements are realised by an adverbial group or
prepositional phrase and most importantly the function of circumstantial elements
is to expand the information by providing details as a means of elaborating,
illustrating or extending the information given (Halliday and Matthiessen, 2004).
The circumstantial elements found in the data were categorised into different types
following SFL theory, for instance, extent, cause, location, matter, manner, role
and accompaniment. Each type of circumstantial elements signified the type of
meaning that could be construed from the cartoons. In summary, the identification
of process types, participants and circumstantial elements was very helpful in
helping us grasp the cartoonist’s intended messages by determining what
happened, who were involved in the cartoons and the details from the extended
information.
Based on the analysis done on 98 Lat editorial cartoons which featured Tun Dr
Mahathir as the main character, Table 1 summarized the 11 leadership values that
emerged from the portrayal of Tun Mahathir in Lat’s editorial cartoons.
The Representations of Leadership by
Example in Editorial Cartoons
Rohani Embong, Hanita Hassan & Noor Aireen Ibrahim
635
Table 1: Representations of Tun Dr Mahathir’s Leadership Values in Lat’s
Editorial Cartoons
Representations of Tun Dr Mahathir Frequency of Occurrences
Focused on Country’s Development 17
Focused on Home Affairs 14
Hardworking 13
Strict and Confident Leader 13
Established Good Rapport with Others 12
Thinking out Of The Box 7
Valued Time 7
Loyal to the Party 6
Accommodated Others 4
Listened to Others 3
Concerned with Environmental Issues 2
TOTAL 98
It is evident that the portrayal of Tun Mahathir in Lat’s editorial cartoons is
positive. As shown in Table 1, Tun Dr Mahathir is represented as a leader with
eleven leadership values, for example, as a leader who focused on the country’s
development, hardworking, strict and confident, thinking out of box and so forth.
Nonetheless, the discussion of this paper focuses on three values, for example,
listening to others, focusing on the country’s development and hardworking,
which played an important role in shaping Tun Dr Mahathir’s identity as a leader
by examples.
Jurnal Komunikasi
Malaysian Journal of Communication
Jilid 32(1) 2016: 625-650
636
The Visual Representations of Tun Dr Mahathir’s Leadership Portrayed in
Editorial Cartoons
The multimodal analysis conducted clearly reveals that one of Tun Dr Mahathir’s
leadership values portrayed in Lat’s editorial cartoons is a leader who listened to
others (see Table 1). Tun Dr Mahathir is represented as an open minded leader
who listened to others’ views no matter from whom. Figure 1 shows Tun Dr
Mahathir is listening attentively to his gardener.
Figure 1: The representation of Tun Dr Mahathir with his gardener and
subordinate officer (Khalid, 2004: 74)
In the cartoon, the gardener is placed on the left and he could be easily
identified as a gardener from the visual cues, for instance, his attire, the bucket
hat, garden hoe and watering can. One needs the general or cultural knowledge to
enable him to interpret the denotative or literal meaning from the visual cues
(Barthes, 1977). In other words, one can easily recognise the gardener using his
cultural knowledge of how a gardener looks like. In addition, the linguistic cue
found in the speech bubble, ‘Datuk, your gardener would like to…’, provides
further indication to help readers construe the character as a gardener.
The Representations of Leadership by
Example in Editorial Cartoons
Rohani Embong, Hanita Hassan & Noor Aireen Ibrahim
637
The officer, on the other hand, is placed in the middle, between Tun Dr
Mahathir and the gardener. According to Kress and Van Leeuwen (1996), item
placed in the middle connects items placed on its left and right and this absolutely
means that the placement of the officer in the middle is to connote that he acts as a
mediator between Tun Dr Mahathir and the gardener. Similarly, he is easily
identified as an officer through the depiction of his office attire, for instance; a
coat, a tie and slacks; and holding a file. It is also interesting to note the existence
of an eye-vector from the officer to Tun Dr Mahathir and an eye-vector line
between Tun Dr Mahathir and the gardener’s. Eye-vector lines signify the
presence of a narrative process in the image (Kress and Van Leeuwen, 1996)
which means there is interaction between the characters when they exchange gaze.
It is worth noting that the cartoon reflects the historical situation in 1993,
in which the Malaysian Constitution was amended to remove legal immunity of
the royals (Kathirithamby-Wells, 2005). It was reported that the amendments
were impelled by the assault incidents involving members of the Johor royal
family and commoners (Asian-Pacific Anti-Communist League, 1993). It comes
to no surprise that the amendment was a lengthy process as the proposal was
received by disagreements from different parties (News Straits Times, dated 18
January 1993). Likewise, the findings of this study reflected the current political
issues of the respective years in which the data were taken (Mahamood, 2004b).
In Figure 1, Tun Dr Mahathir is shown sitting calmly leaning against the
chair, indicating he is in a relax posture. He is also depicted raising his eye brows
to connote his openness and attentiveness to others’ views, as raised eye brows
depict greeting and acknowledgement (Chapman, 2009). The gardener, on the
other hand, is portrayed holding a pointing stick and from the linguistic cue
‘ahem’, the act of clearing his throat, we can construe that he is commanding
some level of attention as he is about to start his briefing. There is a poster of a
tree in the background and the tree is used as an analogy to represent the
Jurnal Komunikasi
Malaysian Journal of Communication
Jilid 32(1) 2016: 625-650
638
relationship of the citizens (rakyat), the government and the royals. The rakyat is
labeled as the root, the government as the stem whereas the crown is labeled as
the shoot of the tree.
Interestingly, the labels given to the three parties represent their roles
according to the functions of different parts of the tree. The function of the root is
to absorb water and mineral as well as to synthesise nitrogen compounds. It is
similar to the roles played by the rakyat, who work to gain money and wealth. In
addition, the root of a tree is related to its shoot as the root provides water and
minerals, which are essential for the growth of the shoots. Meanwhile, the
function of the stem is to transport water and minerals to the shoot as well as to
support the tree (Kramer and Boyer, 1995). Analogically, the root-stem-shoot
relationship is similar to the rakyat-government-crown relationship, in which the
royals, rakyat and government need each other for the betterment of the country.
This clearly shows that Lat’s clever use of the tree analogy was successfully
achieved as it is extremely well-suited with the situation and the very subtle yet
effective use of the visual metaphor to illustrate the Constitutional Amendment
issue which was sensitive to the royal families. This was one of the reasons why
Lat’s criticisms and depictions of Tun Dr Mahathir, who was then the Prime
Minister of Malaysia (Mahamood, 2004a), was so well accepted.
The findings of the multimodal analysis suggest that Tun Dr Mahathir is
represented as an open minded leader who listens to others, no matter who the
person is, for instance, in Figure 1 he is portrayed listening to his gardener, who
may be regarded as one of the lowest ranking position in an organisation. This is
consistent with Tun Dr Mahathir’s view, in which he mentioned ‘if the Prime
Minister is observant and willing to listen to complaints and suggestions brought
to him, and then to make firm decisions, then Malaysia will grow and prosper
rapidly’ (Mahathir Mohamad, 2011: 355). In addition, the illustration is also
found to represent Tun Dr Mahathir ‘as a responsible leader who always has the
The Representations of Leadership by
Example in Editorial Cartoons
Rohani Embong, Hanita Hassan & Noor Aireen Ibrahim
639
nation matters at heart’ (Embong and Hassan, 2013). Most importantly, the
cartoon uses visual metaphors to subtly describe the issue of Constitutional
Amendment which was sensitive to the royal families. More studies are therefore
needed to investigate the ways in which visual metaphors are used in editorial
cartoons to disseminate issues which might have adverse consequences for social
harmony.
In addition, Tun Dr Mahathir is widely known for his tremendous efforts
and passion for the country’s development. As shown in Table 1, 17 out of the 98
Lat’s editorial cartoons analyzed in this study portrayed him as a leader who
focused on the country’s development and some of his contributions to the
country’s development that lead to the technology advancement in Malaysia are
the foundation of Proton, the Malaysian first national car, and the development of
Multimedia Super Corridor (MSC) (Ismail and Saad, 2007). Figure 2 is an
example of Lat's editorial cartoons that indirectly depicts Tun Dr Mahathir's
vision for the development of Information and Communication Technology (ICT)
towards realizing the developed nation status by the year 2020.
Figure 2: The representation of Tun Dr Mahathir who responds to rakyat’s
questions using the internet (Khalid, 2004: 107)
Jurnal Komunikasi
Malaysian Journal of Communication
Jilid 32(1) 2016: 625-650
640
Figure 2 shows Tun Dr Mahathir sitting in front of a computer with his left hand
on a keyboard while the right hand is holding a computer mouse. The linguistic
cues, ‘The leader answers questions from the rakyat on internet’ written at the
bottom of the cartoon and the phrase ‘Dear Dr M…’ on the computer screen, act as
an anchor to assist readers to construe the meaning of the image. Similar to the
role of linguistic text in Figure 1, there is a bi-directional relationship between the
linguistic text and the visual image, of which the former complements the latte in
disseminating the cartoonist's intended message (Hassan, 2012; Embong and
Hassan, 2013). It can be construed that Tun Dr Mahathir is shown responding to a
question asked by the rakyat or people by means of the internet. Given the fact
that the cartoon was published in 2004, it is thus justified to state that, as the prime
minister, Tun Dr Mahathir used the latest form of communication technology to
communicate with the public. In other words, this cartoon evidently signifies Tun
Dr Mahathir as a leader who kept abreast with the advancement in computer
technology and made full use of the internet to communicate with the public
during his premiership. This is evidenced by Mahathir’s to fully understand the
rapid development and possible applications of computers, Tun Dr Mahathir
sought assistance from Kenichi Ohmae, a Japanese business consultant
(Mohamad, 2011: 634) which clearly shows his seriousness in keeping up-to-date
with current technological advancement. It is also believed that the development
of the Multimedia Super Corridor (MSC) was the key contributing factor towards
the advance growth in knowledge management and the cultivation of advanced
technology to prepare Malaysians towards achieving the status of a developed
nation in 2020 (Mohamad, 2011: 639). The findings, therefore, show that the
visual elements are used to realise the representations of Tun Dr Mahathir as a
leader who kept up-to-date with technological advancement and who aimed to
lead Malaysians into taking a full advantage of the latest communication
The Representations of Leadership by
Example in Editorial Cartoons
Rohani Embong, Hanita Hassan & Noor Aireen Ibrahim
641
technology. Similar to Figure 1, showing Tun Dr Mahathir communicating with
the public using the internet indirectly connotes that he was an approachable
leader and was an example to others with regard to acquiring information
technology skills.
Even though Tun Dr Mahathir is depicted facing the computer screen,
interestingly, his gaze is directed towards his wife, Tun Dr Siti Hasmah. The
presence of his wife, in Figure 2, connotes that he even worked out of his office
hours. This is to say that part from portraying Tun Dr Mahathir as a leader who
prioritized the development of information technology skills, he is also indirectly
represented as a workaholic leader who enjoyed his work (Mohamad, 2011: 40).
His gaze towards his wife is the eye vector line to indicate that the image has a
narrative process type, by which means there is an interaction between him and his
wife. Tun Dr Mahathir was also known as a hardworking leader. Figure 3 shows a
representation of Tun Dr Mahathir with a typical Malaysian family, which consists
of a father, a mother, a sister and three little brothers.
Figure 3: The representation of Tun Dr Mahathir and a typical Malaysian Family
(Khalid, 2004: 40)
As can be seen from Figure 3, the cartoons are presented in four slots, of
which in slot A, the family members are depicted watching an entertainment
Jurnal Komunikasi
Malaysian Journal of Communication
Jilid 32(1) 2016: 625-650
642
programme. This sequence is then followed by the image showing the television
programme being disrupted in slot B. Subsequently, the speech bubble appears
with the linguistic message ‘Do your homework!!’ in slot C. Finally in slot D,
Tun Dr Mahathir’s image appears on the television screen and the family
members are seen engaged in all sorts of household activities. From the context,
it can be interpreted that the adults, for instance, the father, mother and big sister,
are busy with the house chores, whilst the three children are busy studying.
Interestingly, the function of the cartoon in slot A (Figure 3) is to
foreground the setting of the context, that is, the family members are in a living
room watching a television programme. This is the representation of the way in
which a typical Malaysian family spends their free time by watching a television
programme with other family members. The cartoon shows that the father and the
four children are sitting on a sofa enjoying the television programme. However, it
seems that the mother is not happy with the programme and this can be construed
from her facial expression unlike the others, who are depicted grinning happily
while watching the show. The reason for the mother’s unhappy facial expression is
that the programme is not suitable for the children since the two dancers shown on
the screen are in inappropriate attire. It contradicts with the Islamic values, of
which ‘a Muslim woman should cover all her body except her hands and face
from strangers’ (Al-Buti, 1987: 41).
However, in slot B, the television programme is shown disrupted and the
family members are confused with the situation. This can be construed with the
symbols '!?' which appear in the speech bubble. It is then followed by slot C, in
which the message ‘Do your homework!!’ appears in a speech bubble and the
family members appeared very shocked and this can be construed from their
widely opened eyes. Consequently, in slot D, the family members are depicted
busy doing their work. The adults are busy with their house chores, for instance,
sweeping the floor, cooking and ironing. The children, on the other hand, are
The Representations of Leadership by
Example in Editorial Cartoons
Rohani Embong, Hanita Hassan & Noor Aireen Ibrahim
643
depicted reading or writing. Thus it can be construed that the children are studying
or doing their homework. The appearance of Tun Dr Mahathir's image on the
television screen, in slot D, symbolises his message which is not to waste time but
to focus on one's work is addressed to the nation in general. In addition, the
cartoon has a narrative process type since there is an eye vector line from Tun Dr
Mahathir, who is looking at the family members while they are busy with their
work to indicate there is an interaction between Tun Dr Mahathir and the family
members.
The findings of the multimodal analysis therefore signify that the editorial
cartoons are used to represent Tun Dr Mahathir as a workaholic, who took the
initiative to instill the hardworking culture in Malaysian society, with the hope
that the values practiced by Tun Dr Mahathir could be examples for others to
follow. Tun Dr Mahathir mentioned that he had to work hard in order to impress
others, he also added that hardworking is the only way to succeed in life and to
develop the country (Saimon, 2014).
In summary, the three examples of editorial cartoons discussed in this
paper highlighted the representations of Tun Mahathir’s leadership values, for
instance, listening to others, concerning with the development and hardworking,
which in turn set as examples for other fellow Malaysians to adopt. The images
of other participants found in the editorial cartoons, apart from Tun Dr Mahathir
himself, are people who surrounded both his personal and professional lives. They
included his subordinates, his wife and other fellow Malaysians. It is important to
note that, the narrative process type was found to dominate the editorial cartoons.
This is unsurprising given the fact that the purpose of cartoons is to narrate or to
tell a story, the narrative process type is therefore expected to be extensively used
in editorial cartoons compared to the conceptual process.
Jurnal Komunikasi
Malaysian Journal of Communication
Jilid 32(1) 2016: 625-650
644
The Linguistic Representations of Tun Dr Mahathir as a Leader Portrayed in
Editorial Cartoons
It is important to note that linguistics messages found in Lat’s cartoon are by far
less dominant than the visual cues. However, linguistics cues play an important
role in helping to anchor the meaning that is trying to be conveyed by the visual
messages. It was very clear that there was only one clause identified in the
editorial cartoon, as shown in Figure 1, and the clause is ‘Datuk, your gardener
would like to brief you on the real situation’. The clause is the officer’s statement
introducing the gardener to Tun Dr Mahathir. The type of process ‘would like’ in
the clause was identified as Mental and following this the participant is therefore
identified as a Senser. The Phenomenon which is ‘to brief you on the real
situation’ refers to the issue of Constitutional Amendment. From the transitivity
analysis, it can be construed that the gardener, as the senser, is ready to brief Tun
Dr Mahathir about the real situation. Similar to the study by Koetzle and Brunell
(1996), the findings of this study highlight the personalities of Tun Dr Mahathir as
a leader but not his political policies. In this case, being an open minded leader,
who listens to others, is an example of the leadership values practised by Tun Dr
Mahathir.
The findings of the SFL analysis on the clause ‘the leader answers
questions from the rakyat on internet’ in Figure 2, suggests that the function of the
clause is to assist readers to grasp the intended visual message of the editorial
cartoon. The Theme, which is ‘the leader’, connotes the departure of the message
(Halliday, 1985) thus suggesting that the focus of the message is on the leader,
which refers to Tun Dr Mahathir as the Actor of the clause. In addition, the Theme
is placed on the left to mean Given, or something that is already known. The
Rheme, ‘answers questions from the rakyat on internet’, on the other hand, is
placed on the right to signify New because it contains new information (Halliday,
1985). Following this, the findings show that the foregrounded message of the
The Representations of Leadership by
Example in Editorial Cartoons
Rohani Embong, Hanita Hassan & Noor Aireen Ibrahim
645
clause is on the activity which is answering questions from people or rakyat and to
highlight that the internet was used as the medium of interaction. The word
‘answers’ in the clause was categorised as a Verbal process which involves
activities related to communicating and disseminating information (Halliday,
1985).
It is important to note that the circumstantial element in the clause, which
is ‘on internet’ was found to clarify the medium used by Tun Dr Mahathir in
answering the questions. This concludes that the function of the phrase ‘on
internet’ to provide the details, of which it absolutely shows the medium used by
Tun Dr Mahathir to communicate with fellow Malaysians. The clause in turn
represents Tun Dr Mahathir as a leader who adopts the latest communication
technology as a means of communicating with the public. The linguistic analysis
of Figure 2 therefore reveals that Tun Dr Mahathir is represented as an
approachable and up-to-date leader who adopted the advancement of information
technology as a way of interacting with the Malaysian public.
The clause ‘Do your homework’, in Figure 3, contains a Material process
type and it is realised with the word ‘Do’. Apart from that, the verb ‘do’ is being
placed at the beginning of the sentence to signify that this is an imperative clause,
which connotes that it is an instruction given by the sayer, who is Tun Dr
Mahathir. In addition, the phrase ‘Do your homework’ is a common authoritative
phrase expressed by parents to their children. The Actor is realised by the word
‘your’, which refers to the family members. This thus suggests that the order was
given by Tun Dr Mahathir to fellow Malaysians in general. Most importantly, the
message that can be construed from the linguistic text is that Tun Dr Mahathir is
represented as a patriarchic leader who tried to instill the values of hardwork in
the Malaysian culture since Tun Dr Mahathir believes and constantly points out
the importance of hardwork as it is the only way to achieve success (Mohamad,
2011; Saimon, 2014).
Jurnal Komunikasi
Malaysian Journal of Communication
Jilid 32(1) 2016: 625-650
646
Similar to the visual messages, Tun Dr Mahathir is represented as an open-
minded leader, a leader who could spend his time answering questions from the
people and was never shy about using the latest technology and a leader who
encouraged others to work hard.
CONCLUSION
The findings of this paper revealed that the representation of Tun Dr Mahathir in
Lat’s editorial cartoon is of a leader who is open minded and willing to listen to
other views and opinions even if the views came from his subordinates.
Interestingly, Lat portrays Tun Dr Mahathir as a leader who kept abreast with the
advancement of information technology and his passion towards information
technology has led Malaysia towards the advancement of the internet technology,
and this can be seen from the development of the Multimedia Super Corridor
(MSC) during his premiership (Ismail and Saad, 2007). Furthermore, Tun Dr
Mahathir is represented as a leader who valued hardworking. Thus the
representations of Tun Dr Mahathir's leadership values potrayed in Lat’s editorial
cartoons eventually connote him as a role model for Malaysians, who abide by his
own motto, that is, leadership by examples.
Interestingly, the use of visual metaphors in delivering sensational issues
found in editorial cartoons requires further studies. Visual metaphors are found to
be able to present criticism and depictions of sensitive issues subtly with the
inclusion of humour. Most importantly, visual metaphors will lead to the
acceptance of the editorial cartoons.
ABOUT THE AUTHORS
Rohani Embong is a Master’s degree holder (Master of Philosophy) from
Language Academy, UTM. Her main research interests are Multimodality,
Systemic Functional Linguistics, Discourse Analysis as well as Linguistic and
The Representations of Leadership by
Example in Editorial Cartoons
Rohani Embong, Hanita Hassan & Noor Aireen Ibrahim
647
Cultural Relativity. She obtained her Bachelor’s degree in TESL (Teaching
English as a Second Language) from UTM.
Hanita Hassan is a Senior Lecturer at Language Academy, UTM and she obtained
her Ph.D in Language and Communication from Cardiff University. Her main
research areas are Multimodality, Systemic Functional Linguistics, Discourse and
Language of Tourism Communication. Currently, she is heading a FRGS project
on Tourism and Hospitality Communication.
Noor Aireen Ibrahim, Ph.D (Cardiff) is a Senior Lecturer at Language Academy,
Universiti Teknologi Malaysia (UTM), Johor Bahru, Malaysia. She is a Language
and Communication researcher with a particular interest in discourse driven
research especially in the areas of Health Communication, Professional
Communication and Media Communication.
Jurnal Komunikasi
Malaysian Journal of Communication
Jilid 32(1) 2016: 625-650
648
REFERENCES
Al-Buti, M.S. 1987. Ela kul Fataten Tu’min be Allah, Eight Edition. Beirut:
Mu’asasat Ar-Risalah.
Amendments Made to Proposal to Remove Legal Immunity: Six Rulers Say 'Yes'.
New Straits Times. 18 January 1993.
Asian-Pacific Anti-Communist League. 1993. APLFD (Organization), APACL
Publications.
Barthes, R. 1977. Image, Music, Text. London: Fontana.
Brierly, S. 1995. The advertising handbook. London: Routledge.
Chapman, A. 2009. Body Language - Guide to Reading Body Language Signals
in Management, Training, Courtship, Flirting and Other Communications
and Relationships., www.businessballs.com/body-language.htm (accessed 22
February 2013).
Collier, B. 2011. Persecuted Cartoonists: Steady Hands and Brave Hearts.
Sampsonia Way.
http://www.sampsoniaway.org/bi-monthly/2011/09/23/persecuted-cartoonists-
steady-hands-and-brave-hearts/ (accessed 23rd
March 2013).
Conners, J. L. 2010. Barack Versus Hillary: Race, Gender, and Political Cartoon
Imagery of the 2008 Presidential Primaries. American Behavioral Scientist
54(3): 298-312.
Edwards, J. L. 2001. Running in the Shadows in Campaign 2000. American
Behavioral Scientist 44(12): 2140-2151.
Embong, R. and Hassan, H. 2013. The Representations of Tun Dr Mahathir in
Lat’s Cartoons in Addressing Issues of International Affairs. Jurnal Teknologi
(Sciences and Engineering) 65(2):93-99.
Feldman, O. 1995. Political Reality and Editorial Cartoons in Japan: How the
National Dailies Illustrate the Japanese Prime Minister. Journalism and Mass
The Representations of Leadership by
Example in Editorial Cartoons
Rohani Embong, Hanita Hassan & Noor Aireen Ibrahim
649
Communication Quarterly 72(3): 571-580.
Guijarro J.M. and Sanz, M. J. P. 2008. Compositional, Interpersonal and
Representional Meanings in a Children’s Narrative: A Multimodal Discourse
Analysis. Journal of Pragmatics 40(9): 1601-1619.
Halliday, M.A.K. 1985. An Introduction to Functional Grammar, London:
Edward Arnold.
Halliday, M.A.K. 1994. An Introduction to Functional Grammar, Second Edition.
London: Edward Arnold.
Halliday, M.A.K and Matthiessen, C. 2004. An introduction to functional
grammar. Third edition. London: Edward Arnold.
Halliday, M.A.K. and Webster, J.J. 2009. The Essential Halliday. London and
New York: Continuum.
Haskin, W.A. 1996. Freedom of Speech: Construct for Creating a Culture Which
Empowers Organizational Members. Journal of Business Communication
33(1): 85-97.
Hassan, H. 2012. Multimodal Communication of Corporate Website Design.
Skudai: Penerbit Universiti Teknologi Malaysia.
Hoff, S. 1976. Editorial and Political Cartooning. New York: Equinox
Horn, M. 1981. The World Encyclopedia of Cartoons. New York: Chelsea House
Publisher.
Ismail, R. and Saad, N. 2007. Jejak bakti : sumbangan Tun Dr. Mahathir dalam
bidang kejuruteraan. Kangar, Perlis : Universiti Malaysia Perlis.
Jasin, A.K. 2004. Lat comes out with tribute to ‘Dr Who?’. New Straits Times, 21
December 2004.
Kathirithamby-Wells, J. 2005. Nature and Nation: Forests and Development in
Peninsular Malaysia. Nordic Institute of Asian Studies: NUS Press.
Khalid, M. N. 2004. Dr who?!. Kuala Lumpur: Berita Publishing Sdn Bhd.
Koetzle, W. and Brunell, T. L. 1996. Lip-Reading, Draft-Dodging, and Perot-Noia.
Jurnal Komunikasi
Malaysian Journal of Communication
Jilid 32(1) 2016: 625-650
650
The Harvard International Journal of Press/Politics 1(4): 94-115.
Kramer, P. J. and Boyer J.S. 1995. Water Relations of Plants and Soils.
Burlington: Academic Press, Inc.
Kress, G. and van Leeuwen, T. 1996. Reading Images: The Grammar of Visual
Design. New York: Routledge.
Lent, J. 2003. ‘Cartooning in Malaysia and Singapore: The Same but Different’.
International Journal of Comic Art 5(1): 256-289.
Mazid, B.E. 2008. Cowboy and misanthrope: a critical (discourse) analysis of
Bush and bin Laden cartoons. Discourse & Communication 2(4): 433-457.
Mahamood, M. 2004a. Lat dalam Konteksnya. In Pameran Retrospektif Lat, ed.
Piyadasa, R and Mahamood, M., 48-82. Kuala Lumpur: National Art Gallery.
Mahamood, M. 2004b. The History of Malay Editorial Cartoons (1930-1993).
Kuala Lumpur: Utusan Publications & Distributors Sdn Bhd.
Markow, J. 1972. Drawing Comic Strips. USA: Grosset & Dunlap.
Mohamad, M. 2011. A Doctor in the House: The Memoirs of Tun Dr Mahathir
Mohamad. Kuala Lumpur: MPH Group Publishing.
Saimon, M. 2014. ‘Leadership of Tun Dr Mahathir bin Mohamad (1925-present)’
http://www.mafsc.edu.my/system_files/templates/default/uploads/exercise_su
bmit/153_60_134 PS%20114.doc.(accessed 24 March 2014).
Straubhaar. J. and LaRose, R. 2002. Media Now Communications Media in the
Information Age Third Edition. Belmont: Wadsworth/Thomson Learning.
Tunç, A. 2002. Pushing the Limits of Tolerance. International Communication
Gazette 64(1): 47-62.
Ujang, Z. 2009. Books Strengthen the Mind. The Elevation of Higher Learning.
Kuala Lumpur: Malaysian National Institute of Translation. 201-208.