Portraying Multiculturalism in Malaysia and Singapore through Murals

Abstract

Malaysia and Singapore are neighbouring countries, which were one country in 1963-1965 but they have vastly different legal frameworks that governs murals. This study compares the image of multiculturalism constructed in murals located in Malaysia and Singapore using a social semiotic analysis to find out whether they portray government-sanctioned messages. The study involved the analysis of six murals, three from Malaysia and three from Singapore. The murals were photographed from October to December 2022. Kress and van Leuween’s (2021) social semiotic visual analysis was adopted to interpret the representational, interactive, and compositional meanings in the murals. The three murals from Malaysian draw attention to diversity of occupations and ethnic groups. There is a contemporary focus featuring young people in “Faces of Future Generation” and “Kini Lebih Gempak”, and a historical focus on past trading activities in “The Mercers”. In Singapore, “National Day Celebration 2022” focusses on the present while “Cantonese Opera” and “Singapore Hawker Heritage” focus on the past heritage. The Malaysian murals reflect ethnic diversity whereas the Singaporean murals have an obvious Chinese presence despite the inclusion of various ethnic groups. The findings indicate that the murals helped to propagate government endorsed messages on national integration and unity.