Kajian Malaysia, Vol. 31, No.2, 2013, 19–35
© Penerbit Universiti Sains Malaysia, 2013
METAPHORS FOR MALAYSIA'S ECONOMIC TRANSFORMATION
PROGRAMME
Kumaran Rajandran
Faculty of Languages and Linguistics, Universiti Malaya, 50603 Kuala Lumpur,
Malaysia
Email: kumaranr@siswa.um.edu.my
This article explores the Malaysian Prime Minister's choice of metaphors to
conceptualise Malaysia's Economic Transformation Programme (ETP) by
studying a sample of the Prime Minister's texts about the ETP. These texts
include the Prime Minister's Foreword in the ETP Report and his periodic
Progress Updates released between 2010 and 2011. A qualitative close reading,
using critical metaphor analysis, reveals that the role of metaphor in these texts
is to implicitly evaluate the ETP positively. The two major conceptual metaphors
identified here are ETP IS A JOURNEY and ETP IS A VEHICLE. Such conceptual
metaphors naturalise a binary and dependent relationship between the
government as expert and citizens as non-experts in economic matters. Such
rhetoric thus helps to justify the tradition of government intervention in the
economy. The other conceptual metaphors identified are ETP IS A PLANT and UP IS
GOOD, both of which posit that increasing economic and social advantages result
from the ETP. All these conceptual metaphors enhance the government's claim to
economic experience and leadership by legitimising the ETP as an effective
policy in transforming Malaysia into a developed country. These conceptual
metaphors might be part of a larger strategy to portray the government positively
among citizens, as having sustainable economic development policies could
provide a crucial electoral advantage to the government in the upcoming general
elections.
Keywords: Malaysia, Economic Transformation Programme (ETP), speech,
critical metaphor analysis, conceptual metaphor, metaphor
INTRODUCTION
Malaysian Prime Minister Dato' Sri Najib Razak launched the Economic
Transformation Programme (ETP) in September 2010. A new Prime Minister
often institutes new policies (Yeoh and Farizal, 2006: 210), and the ETP is his
policy to stimulate new employment, investment and the growth of knowledge,
although the economic crisis was spreading across Europe and North America at
the time. The ETP consists of six Strategic Reform Initiatives (SRIs) and 12
National Key Economic Areas (NKEAs) and is directed by Performance
Management and Delivery Unit (PEMANDU), in the Prime Minister's
Kumaran Rajandran
20
Department. The SRIs aim to reform business policies while the NKEAs include
various Entry Point Projects (EPPs) in numerous industries (PEMANDU, 2012).
The NKEAs are intended to alter the economic profile of Malaysia, as Malaysia
can no longer depend solely on favourable export conditions and non-renewable
resources, which are not sustainable (Jomo, 1990; 2003). Through the SRIs and
NKEAs, the ETP helps to realise Vision 2020. In Vision 2020, Malaysia should
become a developed country by the year 2020.
The ETP continues the efforts of the New Economic Policy (1970–1990),
the National Development Policy (1991–2000), the National Vision Policy
(2001–2010) and the New Economic Model (2010 onwards), aimed at
diminishing economic disparities between ethnicities and regions of Malaysia.
Such policies help legitimise Barisan Nasional, the governing political party
(Jomo, 2003), because they provide evidence that Barisan Nasional is seeking to
develop the economy. The economy is important in political discourse in
Malaysia. Barisan Nasional consistently pledges economic development (e.g., via
its election manifestos), and the ETP can be seen as the latest manifestation of
this pledge. The government, particularly the Prime Minister, must ensure that
citizens understand the ETP's contribution to economic development, as this will
reflect positively on Barisan Nasional. Such communication might be
accomplished through metaphor.
Metaphor is common in everyday life (Lakoff and Johnson, 2003: 3;
Maalej, 2007: 134), and its use is purposive (Charteris-Black, 2004: 9). Metaphor
is a cognitive heuristic (Charteris-Black, 2006: 565) or a way of understanding a
topic. I pose the following research question: What metaphors have the Prime
Minister utilised to conceptualise the ETP? The question is answered, in this
paper, using critical metaphor analysis (CMA) (Charteris-Black, 2004). The
analysis demonstrates the role of metaphor in politics, specifically, its influence
on peoples' perceptions of the ETP. The way that metaphor portrays the ETP may
or may not resemble the way in which the ETP impacts people's lives. Citizens
can compare rhetoric to action and demand accountability on the part of the
government. In addition, the analysis is useful to the government, in providing
information about the use of metaphor in portraying the ETP. The right metaphor
enables citizens to understand and thus trust the government's decisions.
Appropriate metaphors can be included in the government's communication
strategy in promoting the ETP. Therefore, CMA can benefit both citizens and
government.
PREVIOUS RESEARCH ON METAPHOR
Metaphor helps to simplify concepts in the complex domain of politics (Mio,
1997: 130; Semino, 2008: 90). Charteris-Black (2004) confirms this in his study
of metaphor in American presidential speeches and British election manifestos. In
particular, he argues that metaphor can convey a particular ideology (Charteris-
Metaphors for Malaysia's ETP
21
Black, 2004: 85). Metaphor can separate (Wee, 2001) or unite (Lu and Ahrens,
2008; Vengadasamy, 2011) participants on a topic. The merger, separation and
possible remerger of Malaysia and Singapore suggest the spouse metaphor, with
Malaysia as male and Singapore as female. The metaphor suggests an unequal
relationship between the two countries and can be used to facilitate the shifting of
blame from one country to the other (Wee, 2001). By contrast, a building
metaphor used in Taiwan (Lu and Ahrens, 2008) and a land metaphor used in
Malaysia (Vengadasamy, 2011) imply collective identity.
In Britain, Charteris-Black's (2006) study of immigration rhetoric in
rightist election texts finds the metaphors IMMIGRATION IS A NATURAL DISASTER
and BRITAIN IS A CONTAINER. These metaphors work together to portray
immigration as a problem to be solved. The arguments behind these metaphors
take an anti-immigration perspective, which polarises views on the topic. Such
polarisation is also found in Koteyko, Brown and Crawford (2008), who study
media articles about the avian flu. The avian flu is explained through the journey
metaphor and the war metaphor, justifying the government's subsequent response
to it. In Malaysia, the media is commonly analysed for metaphors, as in Faridah
and Emma (2005). Tengku-Farah et al. (2012) study economic metaphors in print
media, and Imran and Ruzy Suliza (2009) study economic and political
metaphors in electronic media. Kelly (2001) is an exception in that he examines
speeches by former Prime Minister Tun Mahathir Mohamad during the Asian
financial crisis.
Charteris-Black (2004; 2006), Kelly (2001) and Koteyko, Brown and
Crawford (2008) show that a topic can be conceptualised using multiple
metaphors. Similarly, Batstone (2000) finds two metaphors to conceptualise a
university – UNIVERSITY IS A COMMUNITY and UNIVERSITY IS A BUSINESS, where
the former is subservient to the latter, as a university without a sense of unity and
purpose cannot be profitable. These metaphors do not imply conflicting roles, as
Batstone (2000) claims. A university is a complex target domain, and multiple
metaphors can capture its numerous meanings for different parties (Ritchie,
2002). Perhaps multiple metaphors target a specific audience (Henderson, 2000:
169) or a non-expert audience. Skorczynska and Deignan (2006: 102) note that
popular business writing uses more metaphors than scientific business writing to
compensate for the audience's lack of disciplinary knowledge.
As research suggests, metaphor provides a cognitive frame that guides
understanding of a topic (Charteris-Black, 2004: 5). Metaphor can be
instrumental in persuading people to adopt a particular perspective because it can
emphasise or deemphasise certain aspects of a topic (Lakoff and Johnson, 2003:
10). For example, the metaphor "immigration is a natural disaster," in Charteris-
Black (2006), characterises immigration as destructive, although immigration can
also be viewed as constructive if other metaphors are chosen. There is ample
research studying the role of metaphor in economics and politics, even in
Malaysia. But the focus of such studies has not been on the use of metaphor by
Kumaran Rajandran
22
individual politicians, except for Charteris-Black (2004), Kelly (2001) and Wee
(2001), or in political speeches, except for Charteris-Black (2004), Kelly (2001)
and Lu and Ahrens (2008). This article seeks to extend the analysis of Kelly
(2001) and Wee (2001) to the study of Malaysian Prime Ministers. Specifically,
I examine the role of metaphor in the present Malaysian Prime Minister's
speeches that champion a new government policy – the ETP.
METHODOLOGY
Data
To examine metaphors of the ETP, several of the Prime Minister's texts are
selected. The ETP was initiated during Dato' Sri Najib Razak's tenure as Prime
Minister. As head of the government, the Prime Minister represents the
government's views about the ETP. It should be noted that he does not actually
write these texts; however, their content reflects his views. The Prime Minister
can control the content of these texts because he delivers them at public events
(except for Text 1). The actual writer may be unimportant, as these texts are
considered authentic and authoritative communications about the ETP from the
Prime Minister to Malaysians. The texts must cater to people with varied
knowledge about the economy, as the audience consists of almost all Malaysians,
including people hearing the Prime Minister speak and people reading the
published texts later. The selected texts are detailed in Table 1. Text 1 is from the
ETP Report, which was published at around the time the ETP was launched,
while Texts 2 to 6 are speeches given to report on the latest ETP achievements.
The texts are in English, except for part of the introduction to the Progress
Updates, which is in Malay.
Table 1: Selected ETP texts
Method
As in previous research, the ETP texts are analysed through close reading. One
method of analysis is CMA (Charteris-Black, 2004). CMA identifies the
No. Text
Month and year
Number of words
1.
ETP Report Foreword
October 2010
506
2.
Progress Update
November 2010
1,732
3.
Progress Update
January 2011
1,978
4.
Progress Update
April 2011
2,139
5.
Progress Update
June 2011
2,553
6.
Progress Update
July 2011
1,215
Metaphors for Malaysia's ETP
23
motivation behind the choice of one metaphor compared with another (Charteris-
Black, 2004: 251). Two concepts are important in understanding the analysis and
discussion: metaphor and conceptual metaphor. Following convention (Charteris-
Black, 2004: xv; Kövecses, 2010: 4), I employ
italics to indicate metaphors and
CAPITALS to indicate conceptual metaphors. Metaphor is a linguistic
representation whose domain changes from one where it is expected to a domain
where it is not expected, causing semantic tension (Charteris-Black, 2004: 21).
There should be a source domain mapped onto a target domain (Lakoff and
Johnson, 2003: 265). For example, the metaphors
situation on the ground,
uphill
battle to win seats and
winnable candidates map the source domain of war onto
the target domain of elections. In these metaphors, words and phrases normally
employed in the domain of war are employed in the domain of elections. These
metaphors may appear to be unrelated, but in fact they share the same conceptual
metaphor. A conceptual metaphor is a grouping of metaphors that shows their
ontological relationship, resolving the semantic tension among them (Charteris-
Black, 2004: 22). For example, the metaphors above belong to the conceptual
metaphor ELECTION IS WAR. These metaphors share a common rhetorical
motivation, namely, to persuade people that the nature of elections resembles that
of war.
Research Design
To analyse the texts, the approach proposed by Charteris-Black (2004) is
employed, combined with insights from Lu and Ahrens (2008), Maalej (2007)
and the Pragglejaz Group (2007). Under this approach, the texts must first be
read several times because a first reading may not reveal all the metaphors
employed (Maalej, 2007: 140). The readings provide candidate metaphors,
invoked through words or phrases termed metaphor key words (Charteris-Black,
2004). The major criterion for identifying a metaphor is that its key words display
domain incongruity (Lu and Ahrens, 2008: 387) or semantic tension (Charteris-
Black, 2004: 21). That is, words or phrases for other domains (source domain)
employed to describe the ETP (the target domain) most likely indicate a
metaphor (Charteris-Black, 2004; Lakoff and Johnson, 2003). Moreover, the
contextual meanings of these words and phrases (their meaning in relation to the
ETP and co-text) should contrast with their basic meanings (their common,
concrete, typical meanings) (Pragglejaz Group, 2007: 3). Then, using corpus
software, the texts are searched for morphological forms related to these key
words. These key words are given context through concordance, a procedure that
produces dozens of concordance lines. Next, the concordance lines are sorted
between metaphors and non-metaphors. The major criterion for identifying a
metaphor is as described above. Metaphors sharing a similar source domain are
grouped, to help identify their conceptual metaphor. Lastly, the metaphors must
Kumaran Rajandran
24
be explained, a crucial aspect of the approach of Charteris-Black (2004), Lu and
Ahrens (2008), Maalej (2007) and the Pragglejaz Group (2007).
For example,
reach is identified a metaphor key word for the journey
metaphor.
Reach displays domain incongruity (Lu and Ahrens 2008: 387) or
semantic tension (Charteris-Black, 2004: 21) because its contextual meaning
contrasts with its basic meaning (Pragglejaz Group, 2007: 3). Related
morphological forms of
reach, such as
reaches and
reached are searched for and
their concordance lines are generated. The forms of
reach are seen as invoking a
metaphor if their contextual meaning does not match their basic meaning
(Pragglejaz Group, 2007: 3). This incongruence can be deciphered using the
researcher's intuition (Lu and Ahrens, 2008: 388), a dictionary (Semino, 2008:
13) or a reference corpus (such as the Bank of English or International Corpus of
English). Once this is done, the source domain for
reach is identified. Metaphors
sharing a common source domain with
reach are grouped, and a common
conceptual metaphor to which they belong is then proposed. Note that, in
answering the research question, only metaphors and conceptual metaphors for
the ETP are presented. I translated parts of the Malaysian texts into English, and
these translations were verified by a native English speaker.
ANALYSIS AND DISCUSSION
ETP is a Journey
A major conceptual metaphor in the texts is ETP IS A JOURNEY. This is
unsurprising because the metaphor of the journey is a highly conventional and
pervasive one in English (Semino, 2008: 81). The texts become an embodiment
of the journey metaphor, as the ETP journey starts in Text 1 and continues in
Texts 2 through 6. Text 1 cannot be evaluated for the journey metaphor because
the ETP at the time has not yet started, unlike in Texts 2 to 6, where, through the
Progress Updates, the Prime Minister describes the ETP's continuing
achievements. These latter texts can be used to present evaluations of the ETP
because now there are results to report. Evaluation of the ETP, in Examples 1–5
is done through adjectives, adverbs or nouns (
bolded). These evaluations are
positive, and they work with metaphors to make the ETP's progress explicit.
Example 1: Semenjak pelancaran
hala tujunya, Program Transformasi Ekonomi
telah menarik
perhatian yang memberangsangkan daripada golongan peniaga,
pelabur dan rakyat. (Text 2)
[Translation: Since the launch of
its direction, the Economic Transformation
Programme has attracted
great interest from business people, investors and
citizens.]
Metaphors for Malaysia's ETP
25
Example 2: As you can see, the Economic Transformation Programme
has
started the year
very strongly by going into
overdrive and
is surging ahead, with
more Entry Point Projects and developments. (Text 3)
Example 3: Seperti mana yang saya maklumkan semasa Invest Malaysia 2011
pada minggu lepas, pelaksanaan Program Transformasi Ekonomi
sedang
berjalan dengan lancar. (Text 4)
[Translation: As I discussed during Invest Malaysia 2011 last week, the ETP's
implementation
is going along smoothly.]
Example 4: ��adalah jelas bahawa ekonomi Malaysia berada di atas
landasan
yang
betul dan
stabil. (Text 5)
[Translation: ��it is clear that Malaysia's economy is on the
right and
stable
track.]
Example 5: Today, we
have reached a
new milestone. (Text 5)
The Prime Minister cautions that "
The journey will be
long and
arduous��" in Text 1 and that "��
this journey is
a marathon and not
a sprint" in
Text 6. The ETP advances, but it requires time to reach its destination, as the
metaphor key words
long and
marathon imply. The audience should not expect
results quickly because the effects of the policy might require time to impact
them. The inclusion of time gives a temporal dimension to this metaphor, a
dimension marked by the past tense in Example 6. The ETP is not a sudden
policy, but continues the efforts of previous economic policies, such as the New
Economic Policy, the National Development Policy, the National Vision Policy
and the New Economic Model. This is evidence of the government's long-term
commitment to developing the economy. The ETP journey becomes a means to
an end because its destination is a developed country in the future. In Examples
7–11, this destination is vague, with terms like
high-income nation(s) (Example 7
and 10),
2020 (Example 8),
bright future (Example 9) and
developed country
(Example 11). The audience must speculate about the future because these terms
are undefined. Perhaps these terms assume audience knowledge, but they may not
mean the same thing to everyone. National economic planning is speculative
(Jomo, 1990: 117), and the language employed to convey it echoes its speculative
nature. This also absolves the Prime Minister of a definite commitment because
the future is unpredictable, even with the ETP.
Example 6: Whilst much
has been achieved, the challenges
ahead are significant.
(Text 1)
Example 7: Malaysia must transform itself economically,
to join the select group
of high income nations. (Text 1)
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26
Example 8: We
have embarked on this ETP,
to propel our economy to 2020.
(Text 1)
Example 9: ��a bright future
lies ahead for Malaysia. (Text 2)
Example 10: I have complete belief and confidence that the powerful
combination of focus and competitiveness through the NKEAs and SRIs,
respectively, will enable us
to achieve our high-income nation target��
(Text 5)
Example 11: Naturally, different players within the public and private sectors will
have different objectives, but we all have only
one goal: to make Malaysia a
developed country in 2020. (Text 6)
There is a notion of choice, presented to the audience in Examples 12–
13, where Malaysia has to decide on its future. "Malaysia" here refers to the
entire population, who can choose to pursue the ETP and not to remain
underdeveloped. Yet this choice cannot be exercised because the government has
decided to embark on the ETP, and the entire population is expected to trust the
government's decision. Example 14 confirms this because the CEO of
PEMANDU (Dato' Sri Idris Jala) represents the government leading the ETP, and
the audience (us) is to follow him. Therefore, the government presents itself as
expert and the audience as non-expert in economic matters.
Example 12: Malaysia is at
a crossroads. (Text 1)
Example 13: This is where Malaysia
stands today. (Text 1)
Example 14: I would also like to thank Yang Berhormat Dato' Sri Idris Jala for
walking us through the Strategic Reform Initiatives in his typically precise and
detailed manner. (Text 6)
The decision to embark on the ETP was taken to solve a problem implicit
in the metaphor key words
correct and
changing, in Examples 15–16. The
problem is a sluggish economy, to which previous economic policies have been
unable bring desired development. However, the problem is conveyed positively
through the nouns "improvements" and "growth" (
bolded), switching the focus
from problems to achievements. As Dato' Sri Najib Razak is also Chairman of
Barisan Nasional, these nouns could be used to save face and validate 40 years of
economic policies. This implies that Barisan Nasional did bring development, but
that it was not enough for Malaysia to become a developed country.
Metaphors for Malaysia's ETP
27
Example 15: If we do not
correct our course, we will be unable
to continue
improvements in education, health and quality of life. (Text 1)
Example 16: This also means
changing our approach to economic
growth, from
an active player to a supporter and facilitator of private sector-led growth.
(Text 1)
At a more banal level, ETP IS A JOURNEY marks the ETP's temporal
sequence as it progresses. For Goatly (2007: 208), use of the journey metaphor in
education documents implies a manipulated event. Similarly, the government
controls the ETP, but portrays its actions as benefiting the country. The ETP is
part of the government's long-term commitment to achieve a better, through
vaguely defined, future for Malaysia, a commitment meant to reflect positively
on the government. The consistency of the journey metaphor substantiates
Semino (2008: 117), who finds the journey metaphor employed systematically in
politics to refer to policies. This systematicity is also seen in other conceptual
metaphors.
ETP is a Vehicle
Another major conceptual metaphor in the texts is ETP IS A VEHICLE, which
implies the existence of a driver and passengers. In the introduction and
conclusion of the texts, the driver is the government, but in the body of the texts,
it is the projects. This exhibits the role of the government in directing the ETP in
general, while business directs specific ETP projects, as in Examples 17–19. The
government, as driver, manages the ETP through PEMANDU, whose main role
is to administer and evaluate the ETP (PEMANDU, 2012). PEMANDU
continues the tradition of government intervention in the economy, a tradition
that started with the New Economic Policy of 1970 and continues today with the
New Economic Model (Asan Ali, 2004). The government, not the market, tries to
influence the path of the economy. This, however, is misleading, as the
government cannot in fact control the economy (Jomo, 1990: 233).
Example 17: Today I'm pleased to announce two projects that
will drive us closer
to our goal of doubling Oil, Gas, and Energy sector contributions to gross
national income by 2020. (Text 2)
Example 18: We recognise that
project-driven initiatives and investments cannot
operate effectively without the necessary cross-cutting fundamental reforms.
(Text 5)
Example 19: While we have been busy engaging and bringing on board both
domestic and foreign investors
to drive the economy, we continue to be
questioned by investors on a different front. (Text 6)
Kumaran Rajandran
28
The government, as driver, expects the audience, as passengers, to take
part in the ETP, and the Prime Minister presents this invitation in Text 1. He
institutes a binary and dependent relationship between the government and the
audience because the government can control the ETP while the audience cannot.
The government, through PEMANDU, can choose to include or exclude
segments of the audience. A semblance of inclusivity exists because the NKEAs
were developed through consultations between the public and private sectors.
Such consultations, however, involved only 1,000 people (PEMANDU, 2012),
and their decisions cannot be expected to be valid throughout the ETP.
PEMANDU might contribute to an unfair distribution of economic benefits,
which has happened in previous economic policies (Gomez and Jomo, 1999).
This binary and dependent relationship is precarious, as it can only persist if the
audience benefits from it.
A relationship is also forged between the government and business. Just
as a vehicle requires an engine to function, the ETP requires investment to
function. Business funds the ETP, as the metaphor key words
engine and
engines
indicate, in Examples 20–22. While passengers depend on the driver, the driver
must depend on the engine, implying that the government must make Malaysia
an attractive destination for business. This is best encapsulated by former Prime
Minister Tun Mahathir Mohamad's "Malaysia Incorporated" concept, where the
government's role is to serve private capitalist interests (Jomo, 1990: 211). This
concept reduces the government to a middleman that facilitates business
transactions. Rather than care for its citizens, the government in this role might
serve to make citizens vulnerable to exploitation. Inadvertently, this metaphor
warns us about the close relationship between the government and business in
Malaysia, a relationship that might foster corruption, cronyism and nepotism
(Gomez, 2004; Gomez and Jomo, 1999; Jomo, 1990).
Example 20: This means of prioritising investments of public funds and policy
support in a limited number of
key growth engines, the 12 National Key
Economic Areas (NKEAs), we announced in the 10th Malaysia Plan. (Text 1)
Example 21: Kerajaan berhasrat untuk meletakkan sektor swasta sebagai
enjin
pertumbuhan negara. (Text 4)
[Translation: The government wants to make the private sector
the country's
growth engine.]
Example 22: To return the private sector to its natural role as
the engine of
economic growth, it must first be convinced that this government will do what is
right and do it quickly. (Text 6)
There is a metaphoric coherence between ETP IS A VEHICLE and ETP IS A
JOURNEY because a vehicle is normally used on journeys. Vehicles can go
Metaphors for Malaysia's ETP
29
forward or backward, but the ETP vehicle moves forward because the ETP
journey progresses, indicating positive economic change. These conceptual
metaphors reinforce one another, evoking the government as leader-driver and
the audience as follower-passenger. They naturalise the notion of the government
managing the economy on behalf of the audience. This requires little
substantiation because the government can claim the experience and leadership of
managing previous economic policies, in cooperation with business.
ETP is a Plant
The conceptual metaphor ETP IS A PLANT is a typical metaphor for the economy
in the texts, confirming White (2003: 145). Plants evoke a sense of natural and
organic change and are seasonal. Just as plants can thrive or die, the ETP can be
positive or negative. However, the use of this metaphor in this case does not
involve this metaphorical opposition (Semino, 2008: 82) because the metaphor
key words
grow and
growth have only positive contextual connotations. For Asan
Ali (2004), economic growth brings economic development, establishing a causal
relationship between growth and development. Growth is caused by the ETP's
projects (Example 23), but it mainly serves as a common objective for the
country (Examples 24–27). In this metaphor, more is better because growth is
encouraged almost as an end in itself. Growth brings more material progress, but
the strain that it might put on nature and people is not considered. It also
presumes that everyone (e.g.,
Malaysia(n) in Examples 24 and 25,
our in
Example 26,
us in Example 27) benefits from growth, although this
generalisation may not be true.
Example 23: The projects to drive
growth in the economic areas have been
chosen based on rigorous financial and economic analysis�� (Text 1)
Example 24: The Electronics and Electrical sector is another vital industry for
Malaysia's long-term
economic growth. (Text 2)
Example 25: The oil and gas industry plays a vital role in
the growth and
development of the Malaysian economy. (Text 4)
Example 26: This substantial investment is vital to support our economy as it
continues
to grow. (Text 2)
Example 27: We will continue to focus on our pursuit of
economic growth and
power that with reforms that will enable us to compete robustly in the global
arena. (Text 6)
Kumaran Rajandran
30
Up is Good
By convention, a movement up is linked with good news (Lakoff and Johnson,
2003), and this is also the case in the texts. In Examples 28–33, economic or
social indicators go up after the ETP is introduced, and these indicators make
Malaysia a desirable destination for business. The implication is that the ETP is
integral to development because it stimulates change that would not happen
otherwise. Like ETP IS A PLANT, UP IS GOOD lacks metaphorical opposition
(Semino, 2008: 82), as there are no negative economic and social indicators in the
texts. The selective use of one side of the up-down pair is an implicit evaluation
of the ETP as having only a positive effects. This avoids explicit evaluation
(Semino, 2008: 82), which might require substantiation.
Example 28: It is a perfect combination of the right infrastructure and people that
will move Malaysia's tourism industry
up to the next level. (Text 2)
Example 29: Keyakinan sektor perniagaan dan para pelabur terhadap ekonomi
Malaysia kini semakin
tinggi. (Text 3)
[Translation: The confidence of the business sector and investors in Malaysia's
economy is becoming
higher.]
Example 30: Sementara itu, Laporan Perniagaan Antarabangsa Grant Thornton
yang terkini menunjukkan 50 peratus perusahaan sederhana hingga besar positif
tentang prospek ekonomi Malaysia pada tahun ini,
tahap keyakinan tertinggi
untuk Malaysia pada tahun ini,
tahap keyakinan tertinggi untuk Malaysia sejak
penyertaan kita dalam laporan tersebut. (Text 3)
[Translation: Meanwhile, the latest Grant Thornton International Business Report
shows that 50 percent of medium to large enterprises are positive on Malaysia's
economic prospects for this year,
the highest confidence level seen for Malaysia
this year,
the highest confidence level for Malaysia since our participation in the
report.]
Example 31: ��Malaysia
moves up the value chain to become a leader in the
production of nutraceuticals and botanical drugs. (Text 3)
Example 32: Simultaneously, economic activities and growth will also benefit
from
high standards of integrity. (Text 4)
Example 33: On ease of doing business, we ranked
higher at 21 based on the
World Bank's 2010 Doing Business Report�� (Text 6)
Metaphors for Malaysia's ETP
31
Roles of Metaphors
Texts 2 to 6 inherit and use all the metaphors from Text 1, establishing an
intertextual metaphoric coherence between them (Kövecses, 2010: 285), as all the
texts convey similar ideas about the ETP. Nevertheless, Text 1 uses more
metaphors than Texts 2 to 6 do, despite its shorter length (see Table 1).
Metaphors are present in all six paragraphs of Text 1 because the ETP had not yet
commenced at the time of its publication. Nobody knew about it, so there was
nothing to report. The Prime Minister, therefore, had to conceptualise the ETP for
his citizens, using metaphors to explain it and its benefits. In Texts 2 to 6,
metaphors are found mostly in the introduction and conclusion, while the
intermediary paragraphs use very few. These intermediary paragraphs use literal
language because, as these texts were published, the ETP was underway and
there were results to report. This illustrates that metaphor presents a holistic view
of the ETP's progress, while literal language provides specific and tangible details
of this progress.
The ETP is impersonal, consisting of facts and figures that the audience
might not understand. The audience of the texts is Malaysians in general, a very
wide demographic. Metaphor is a way of explaining the ETP to them, using
common and concrete source domains such as journey, vehicle, plant and
direction, things people experience in their daily lives. These metaphors are not
novel (Lakoff and Johnson, 2003), but they become distinct in their application to
a new target domain – the ETP. The Prime Minister's choice of metaphor is
commendable because he makes the ETP understandable, using schema readily
available to the audience, substantiating Henderson (2000: 169). Former Prime
Minister Tun Mahathir Mohamad employed slogans to make major policies
comprehensible (Ooi, 2006: 48). Perhaps Dato' Sri Najib Razak prefers
metaphors to slogans, although that hypothesis requires more research.
The Prime Minister's choice of metaphors can convey ideology
(Charteris-Black, 2004; 2006). Ideology consists in the beliefs, ideas and values
of social life (Eagleton, 2007: 28). This is evident, if we consider the rhetorical
motivation underlying conceptual metaphors. ETP IS A JOURNEY, ETP IS A
VEHICLE, ETP IS A PLANT and UP IS GOOD share a further level of abstraction or
conceptual key (Charteris-Black, 2004: 244). Journeys and vehicles by definition
include a change from one place to another place. Plants are visualised as
growing upwards towards the sun and to go up means moving from a lower place
to a higher place. Common to these four conceptual metaphors is the ontological
state of movement. Movement inevitably involves a change in space or time, and
change is often seen as desirable. Similarly, a core idea of the Prime Minister's
metaphors is that the ETP, under government management, changes Malaysia
from a developing country, in the present, to a developed country, in the future.
This belief acquires a positive value because being a developed country is
associated with an improved quality of life.
Kumaran Rajandran
32
These metaphors and the ideology that underlies them should be viewed
in a broader perspective. The ETP is part of the Prime Minister's agenda to
reform the country, an agenda that includes the Government Transformation
Programme (GTP). The metaphors for the ETP aim to unite citizens in their
pursuit of a shared objective that can become a reality through the Prime
Minister's reforms. For Ooi (2010: xii), the reforms required by Malaysia are
institutional. That is, problematic economic structures stunt development, and
new policies that do not address institutional problems simply replicate the
status
quo. The ETP cannot realise the ideals of its metaphors if it merely repackages
old practices in new projects.
The ETP was launched two years after Barisan Nasional failed to retain
its traditional two-thirds majority in the 12th general elections. Barisan Nasional
has since faced criticism on numerous fronts, regarding its ability to govern
Malaysia, including from opposition political parties (now formalised as Pakatan
Rakyat), non-governmental organisations and civil society (Giersdorf and
Croissant, 2011). The upcoming 13th general elections will be a tussle between
Barisan Nasional and Pakatan Rakyat. Barisan Nasional can gain a crucial
electoral advantage if it portrays itself as having sustainable economic
development policies. If it does not do this, then Pakatan Rakyat will have
stronger grounds on which to question Barisan Nasional's economic governance.
The ETP and its metaphors provide evidence that the economic policies of
Barisan Nasional can bring development. They help to convey the economic
experience and leadership of Barisan Nasional, and as such they may be part of a
larger strategy to portray Barisan Nasional positively, in anticipation of the 13th
general elections.
CONCLUSION
The complex target domain (Ritchie, 2002: 54) of the ETP involves multiple
metaphors. The Prime Minister's texts reveal that such metaphors as ETP IS A
JOURNEY, ETP IS A VEHICLE, ETP IS A PLANT and UP IS GOOD are utilised to
conceptualise the ETP. These metaphors are distinct but coherent in legitimising
the ETP as bringing positive economic changes for Malaysia. They implicitly
indicate that the ETP has to be implemented if Malaysia wants to become a
developed country. This is implicit because it is not said directly but indirectly,
through metaphor. ETP IS A JOURNEY and ETP IS A VEHICLE also maintain a
relationship of power between the government and citizens. Their discursive
thrust consists of naturalising the government's role in directing the economy,
while citizens are expected to follow the government. These metaphors can
structure perceptions (Lakoff and Johnson, 2003: 5) of the ETP and ultimately of
the commitment of Barisan Nasional to develop Malaysia. A critical audience
might be able to decipher these metaphors, although this requires training. CMA
can be a useful pedagogical tool.
Metaphors for Malaysia's ETP
33
Next, it would be worthwhile to study whether the Prime Minister is
consistent in his choice of metaphors in other texts, an analysis that could be
extended to politicians of Barisan Nasional and Pakatan Rakyat. Their media
texts could be examined for metaphors for the ETP, as the media reach a wider
audience. The impact of partisan views should be explored, but a broad selection
of media texts is vital because the print media favours Barisan Nasional, while
digital media favours Pakatan Rakyat (Abbott, 2004; 2011). A database of
metaphors could be built, with data from politicians, media and texts. This would
provide future analyses with a larger and more representative corpus. It would
permit quantification of the frequency of metaphors and the study of their
collocation and colligation. Once the ETP has been in existence for several years,
the diachronic factor should be included, to monitor historical changes in the
metaphorical conceptualisation of the ETP (Musolff, 2004: 140). As the ETP
yields further results, it becomes more tangible to citizens, perhaps reducing the
need for metaphor.
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