「虛構」的文化霸權抗衡－－馬來西亞「星洲日報」的「道德－文化」行銷策略批判（1988－2010）

The 'Fictional' Counter-Hegemony - A Critique on Sin Chew Daily's 'Ethical-Cultural' Marketing Strategy (1988-2010)

本文檢驗創刊已83年的馬來西亞中文報紙《星洲日報》在1987年經歷遭債權人接管、被政府吊銷出版准證之後，如何利用它在1987年的遭遇，自1989年復刊一週年開始推展以「正義至上」和「文化中國」為主軸的「道德－文化」行銷策略，超越數十年宿敵《南洋商報》，更於2001年將之兼併，崛起成為該國規模最大的中文報業集團。本文批判地指出，《星洲日報》所訴諸的「道德－文化」行銷策略，乃是巧妙地利用了種族政治的社會現狀，將其與華人之命運和前途捆綁在一塊，不僅暗示一種《星洲日報》之興亡就是華人社會之興亡的關係，也再現某種程度的種族對立關係－－民間的華人抗衡執政的馬來人。這種對立關係使得《星洲日報》彷佛具備挑戰執政黨文化霸權的可能性，但放在多元族群社會脈絡中嚴格檢驗，「正義至上」和「文化中國」論述不僅存在著無法化解的內在矛盾與張力，而且看似「反霸權」的論述，實際上卻是強化執政黨的文化霸權。

In this article, we examine how the 83-year-old Sin Chew Daily, a leading Malaysian Chinese newspaper that had its publication permit suspended in 1987, has created an 'ethical-cultural' marketing strategy from its adverse experience, and has successfully turned into the largest Chinese media conglomerate in Malaysia. Under this marketing strategy, the discourses of 'Integrity Above All' and 'Cultural China' were deployed from 1988 through 2010. We find that by using the ethical-cultural marketing strategy, Sin Chew Daily has ingeniously sought to demonstrate that its survival is closely connected with the survival of the Chinese community and represents a type of antagonistic relationship between Malays (i.e., the ruling elite) and Chinese (i.e., commoners). Using this type of ethic relationship, Sin Chew Daily seems to function with the possibility of challenging the hegemony of the ruling parties; however, the 'Integrity Above All' and 'Cultural China' discourses have been fraught with conflict and tensions within the context of the multiethnic society of Malaysia. The discourses serve to maintain the hegemony of the ethnic-based ruling coalition, rather than act as counter-hegemony.