The 200 protesters, mainly comprising members of the Malaysia Indian Creative Content Council (MICCC), held banners and posters questioning the need for Astro to acquire content almost exclusively from India, when there was enough resources available locally to produce content relevant to the Indian community in Malaysia.
They cited shows on Indian lifestyle, food, products, culture, fashion, politics, news and education issues as being such content which would be more appropriate to be produced locally for local Indian viewers.
They also called for Astro to have a channel for the Tamil-speaking market that exclusively uses content produced locally, and featuring the variety of shows mentioned above as well as talk shows, variety shows, drama serials and movies.
Among the protesters were directors, scriptwriters, actors and actresses, as well as production crew.
They claimed the Indian content aired by the satellite television provider was also causing Malaysian Indians to mimic the culture in India besides causing local youths to be detached from local issues and turning them to be more patriotic towards India.
Acclaimed Jagat director Shanjhey Kumar Perumal was one of those protesting today. He said MICCC are alarmed over the encroachment of Indian culture and issues influencing Malaysian Indian youths.
“Astro is turning Malaysian Indians into ‘India Indians’. The community is heavily influenced by issues and lifestyle that are from India. They are quite detached from Malaysian issues. The years of damage has already been done.
“It is high time for Astro to at least provide one dedicated channel featuring content produced by, and catering to, the local Indians,” he said during the protest held over two hours.
During the protest, riot police were called in to monitor the situation. However, there were no untoward incidents during the protests.
Several MICCC members gave speeches on the challenges they faced in promoting their movies and shows locally.
The Jagat director added that MICCC members started talks with Astro management in 2012, hoping for some cooperation towards airing more local content.
“They have not responded to us. We had even tried to negotiate with them to give us six hours a day. Or three hours. They are not responding.”
Veteran local showbiz producer-director-actor ST Bala said it was shocking to see cooking shows, documentaries and health shows and news from India.
“Why do we need to hear Indian news? We have our own doctors to give us views on medical problems afflicting Malaysians.
“Also, Malaysia has its own cooking style and methods, and we have our own way of talking. Why isn’t Astro showcasing this? Why are they promoting shows or programmes from India,” he asked.
He added that the cultural shows were mostly from South India for which Astro could easily get local content “from our own people”.
Bala a seasoned veteran with 27 years experience in theatre, TV, film and radio, said the country has a lot to offer and Astro should give air time slots to locals to promote local Indian culture.
He said even though Astro is a private pay TV broadcaster, it has a corporate social responsibility to help the community grow socially and economically.
MICCC spokesperson Jasmin Abdul Wahab said some of the artistes are working as taxi drivers and at call centres to survive.
“Some of us have contracts with RTM2 showcasing Malaysian Indian shows 1.5 hours a day. If not for RTM2, we might be beggars.”
She said Astro should encourage local Indian content to promote Malaysian Indians lifestyle, which is unique and different from that in India.
Also present were Parti Sosialis Malaysia (PSM) leader S Arutchelvan, Suara Rakyat Malaysia (Suaram) and several other NGOs.
Some of the protesters also gave the example of Singapore in protecting local artistes and talent by having a dedicated Indian channel called Vasantham that produces content on their local culture, news, and cooking, among others.