Communicating COVID-19 effectively in Malaysia: challenges and recommendations

Abstract

This paper will attempt to assess the extent to which the government’s communication strategies have been effective, and determine the factors driving these strategies. This is especially important given the evolving COVID-19 situation and the ever-present threat of new variants that can prolong the pandemic’s impacts. Malaysia’s journey with COVID-19 will first be outlined, then several recommended approaches to crisis communication will be explored. How the Malaysian government’s communication effort (through selected primary mediums) has evolved over the course of this pandemic will be examined against a suggested amalgamation of those approaches. The politics of top-down crisis communication in Malaysia will also be examined as the politicization of the pandemic cannot be segregated from the country’s pandemic management. A brief comparison of two ground-up communication initiatives that have worked to provide relevant and accessible content to indigenous communities and provide clarification on the multitude of confusing and overlapping restrictions, protocols and myriad other issues facing the country follows. The paper will end with an examination of the most recent evolution of communication strategies under the latest government regime, and look towards an “endemic” future and economic reopening.