Sunday saw Berita Minggu (Singapore) print a segment titled “Suka Tak Suka” (Like It Or Not) and we’d like to say that we don’t like it. Contributer, Jumiati Bakri , expressed her unhappiness that Kunjung, the star of a particular MAE ad (Mediacorp Advertising Enquiry) currently broadcasted regularly on Suria Channel, is flaunting off her wares too much, and doesn’t understand the objective of the advert. The objective aside; do you really think if it was too sexy that the station would air it? It looks like the writer seems to have her own agenda in the her later half of the paragraph.

We strongly resent the fact that she suggested other ‘decent local girls’. If her complaint was purely about Kunjung’s antics be a little too provocative for TV, it could have been an interesting topic to explore. However, the racist and discriminative undertone might send a wrong signal bigger than the ad itself. “Suria tidak kurang selebriti tempatan yang lebih sopan dan tidak keterlaluan dalam mempromosikan sesuatu“. (Suria is not short of other decent local celebrities who wouldn’t go over-the-top for the sake of promotion). Kunjung is a permanent resident of the Republic and her 7000 fans on Facebook might beg to differ.

Of all news-worthy pieces that could have been, Berita Minggu chose to print a derogatory comment from a reader. Are they now campaigning for freedom of speech, as suggested by a comment on Twitter. A string of comments broke out on the social networking website after several fans uploaded images of the article online.

If anybody should be in question, it should be the producers of the ad, and not our darling Kunjung. In modern-day Singapore made up of a percentage of foreign talent, it is sad to think you own the land when you don’t contribute enough to society. We know very well that ad is not a one-woman-show and that it is silly to hold one person responsible for the subject matter.

We urge our readers to discourage instigating outspoken disfancy involving race and religion. What if it was your daughter, Jumiati? If it was a ‘local girl’, as suggested in the complaint, and was performing similiarly, would there be a case at all?

We cheer on Kunjung Whitaker in her pursuit of recognition, fame and fortune!

This article does not represent the thoughts and opinions of the artiste, her management or her company.