Popular communication and social transformation

An interview with Tan Jo Hann, Community organiser and alternative media practitioner

For more than 20 years, Tan Jo Hann has been organising urban poor communities in Kuala Lumpur. He is also a freelance journalist and a photo-journalist. As an alternative media practitioner, he sees the use of “popular communication” as particularly relevant for empowering the marginalised in Malay-sian society. He is a founder member of the Southeast Asia Popular Communications Programme (SEACPCP), a regional network of grassroots movements in the region. He founded as well Pusat Komunikasi Masyarakat (KOMAS), an alternative media centre based in Kuala Lumpur. Jo Hann is currently the elected President of PERMAS (Selangor and Federal Territory Community Association). We spoke to him to find out what he thought of the role of the alternative media in Malaysian civil society.

Jo Hann: Creative media is essential for marginalised people to gain access to critical sources of information

Aliran Monthly: As both a community organiser and a media practitioner, how do you make each aspect of your work relevant to the other?

Tan Jo Hann: The most important aspect of organising grassroots communities is to raise their awareness and critical thinking about the issues around them, especially their immediate surroundings, and at the national level. In Malaysia where information flow is controlled and the mass media is biased towards the establishment, all the more there is a need for independent and creative media.

Creative media is merely a tool for organising people - to raise awareness about certain issues, to help them to come to a common analysis and understanding about their situation, and to prepare them for action. Generally, this is what community organising is all about. There is also a cyclical dimension involved because after each community action, people need to evaluate and reflect further in order to plan follow-up action. In this whole process of community action towards change, a set of tools and language is needed, and creative popular communications media fulfil this role.

For example, to raise awareness about a certain issue, verbal communication alone is insufficient to create an impact because not many people are used to conceptualisation and can comprehend abstract ideas. Most grassroots people have to see these concepts in action. Creative media help to provide them with an experience where they can see, hear and feel the issue clearly. Creative and culturally relevant forms of media are often used for this purpose such as traditional and popular songs, games and group dynamics, pictures and drawings, photographs, VCD films, and others.

AM: Are you unique in using media in this way?

Jo Hann: No, this is not a new science but it is also not usually practised. The word “media” is a generic term referring to vehicles and tools used to perform a certain task. Generally, many civil society groups in Malaysia would use some form of media for their work. But whether they are used effectively or frequently enough is another matter. For instance, I have often seen social activists or developmental workers use creative media like posters, photos, or even video films merely as an aid. But this is then followed by a long lecture from them thus leaving little room for participation and drawing out the thoughts and ideas of the target audience. This way of using creative media contradicts the idea that we are merely facilitators drawing out the inherent local knowledge from the people.

The practice of popular communications has been like a movement. Historically, its genesis can be traced back to the Latin American context of the 1970s originating from its founding father, Paulo Freire. But over the years, its methodology has been transformed and contextualised into different cultural and political settings such as my own experiences of being a media practitioner in the Southeast Asian context.

Sadly, however, in Malaysia, we are still highly dependent on a written or spoken culture. But today the irony is that Malaysia seems to be at the forefront of the powerful multi-media and IT tools. These tools are potentially a very powerful force, and if used appropriately, can also serve as tools to help transform structures and minds! But, in the wrong hands, they can become disastrous for the movement to build a more just and humane society.

AM: Can you tell us more about the outcome of using popular communication for community organising?

Jo Hann: Firstly, I would like to say that there is no such thing as neutral and objective media. No matter how one uses it, it will always represent the interest of the user and his/her orientation.

Now community organising aims to improve the lifestyle, living conditions, environment, and social relationships of a certain society. While business corporations use the media to influence people’s consumption habits and thinking, our purpose is to influence the people towards change in terms of value systems, attitudes and relationships of marginalised communities for the better.

Popular communication and creative media provide the essential tools for marginalised people to gain access to a more independent and critical source of information. These tools help to build their consciousness to transform their present situation or at least begin to start questioning things that they have taken for granted and issues which they normally would not have dared to even think about.

I have colleagues throughout different SEA countries such as Thailand, Philippines, Indonesia, Cambodia and Vietnam who have been using popular communication methodologies successfully to organise farmers, fisherfolk, indigenous peoples, street children, and people living with HIV/AIDS. Over the years, I have also been conducting trainers’ workshops for community organisers in the region in different sectors, and for many years have been contributing towards what could be termed as a movement of popular communications advocates and practitioners.

AM: How would you compare alternative media with mainstream media?

Jo Hann: Media is value-laden and embodies a philosophy. If the media tools and the practitioners utilising them have not made an option for the poor and oppressed, then it is not creative media for people’s development and social transformation.

Governments, political parties and business marketing bodies have all used various kinds of creative media to influence people’s thoughts to their advantage. In most cases, they have been very successful. But in most of these processes, the level of people’s participation is low, and they are treated as mere vessels to absorb information rather then to participate in giving their ideas.

But the form of popular communications media that we have been talking about is about drawing out the people’s latent knowledge; it helps to facilitate the people to combine their knowledge or skills and build a body of useful knowledge and skills base so that they can develop critical awareness of their situation. It motivates people to take action and develop a passion to change their current realities.

Mainstream media generally tell you, ‘This is what we want to say, take it!’ They are packaged attractively so that people think they believe in the content. But for alternative social media practitioners, we say, ‘What do you think is happening? Do you think something can be done? Do you want to do something about it?’ and then lastly, ‘How do you think we can approach this problem?’ We ask questions rather than provide the answers, and somehow, somewhere the collective efforts of this participatory group process facilitated by creative media would help the people to come to the point of what we would call, ‘Aha!’

AM: What is your evaluation of the state of civil society in Malaysia?

Jo Hann: Malaysia is an economically stable country, but it is also a tightly controlled one. Like Singapore, this stability has cultivated a ‘culture of fear’ mentality among the majority of our populace so much so that one gets confused about what are our basic human rights and the powers of the authorities over us. I think the current health of Malaysian civil society is quite critical. The number of people who are involved in civil society initiatives is very small. On top of that, they are segregated and discriminated against by the powers-that-be. Because of the torrents of negative propaganda, social activists are generally looked upon as outcasts of society rather than partners in developing society.

AM: Some say that social activists and NGOs should not be involved in party politics or in electoral politics. What is your view?

Jo Hann: Most social activists in Malaysia are involved in the general elections in one way or another. Firstly, they are all voters so they should be involved in the elections! But maybe the question is whether they should be involved in partisan politics. Yes, some social activists and NGO members could be supporting the ruling political parties or the opposition political parties.

But there are also many who see their role as helping to monitor the general election itself, to ensure that either side does not resort to fraudulent practices. In my opinion, NGOs should have their independent platform. What this means is that NGOs could work hand in hand with people’s organisations and community groups, to read, understand and analyse the present realities, and then to formulate their demands to challenge all the contesting political parties. Our role is to be a watchdog, making sure all political parties account for their promises made to the people. We must work together with the people to continue monitoring the post-elections scenario to see that those promises made during the campaign trails are kept and that elected Members of Parliament or State Assembly members maintain their services to the people for the next four years!

For me, if the general election is held this year, the role of NGOs and civil society would be to state their positions and demands. Grassroots communities, in particular, should present their aspirations and views on various issues to both the ruling government and opposition political parties. For example, the NGO that I am closely involved with – Persatuan Masyarakat Selangor and Wilayah Persekutuan (PERMAS) – advocates the right of the urban poor for permanent and adequate housing, and will state clearly our short-term and long-term demands for all parties and politicians to consider and take note. Then we will continue to monitor their performances after the election, and so forth. Only then would we be able to see what they are really made of!

AM: What possibilities do you see happening for civil society in the wake of imminent leadership changes in the Malaysian political landscape?

Jo Hann: With the forthcoming change, I hope that the new leadership in the country will be attuned to the “signs of the times”, and prepare to give way to the “waves of reformation” unfolding throughout Southeast Asia. It is inevitable that people’s freedom and liberation will reign supreme eventually. It has been proven so in human history over and over again, and it is just a matter of time. It is better that this milieu be ushered in rather than forced in. If the ruling government recognises the inevitability of social transformation and helps facilitate this into being, then there would be less social disruption and tensions between the conflicting forces.

Nevertheless, our role in civil society, especially among the grassroots communities, is to continue organising and advocating for our issues, and making sure that we are not made use of by irresponsible authorities, profit-hungry business sectors, and unprofessional enforcement elements regardless of whoever comes to power! We will continue to play the role of being the watchdogs of society and the agents of change.

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