INTERFAITH DIALOGUE HARMONY PROGRAM AND ITS RELATIONSHIP TOWARDS DEMOGRAPHIC BACKGROUNDS ON TELEVISION IN MALAYSIA

Abstract

Dialogue Harmony is the first interfaith dialogue program that officially broadcasted on television. The purpose of this study is to examine the relationship between the importance of the Dialogue Harmony (DH) program on television with demographic factors. The sample was drawn randomly from 290 respondents among various races and religions who have already watched the interfaith Dialogue Harmony program. Results of the quantitative analysis indicated that age, race, religion and academic backgrounds have a significant relationship with the importance of interfaith Dialogue Harmony program among multiple religions (p<0.05). The study established that demographic factors had a significant relationship between both the importance of the Dialogue Harmony program and demographic factors such as age, race, religion and academic backgrounds of the viewers. In addition, this program contributes to serving as a major platform in enlightening the prevailing misconceptions among multiple races, nations, cultures, and religions in Malaysia. Therefore, interfaith Dialogue Harmony is one program that enables us to foster and cultivate a sense of respect among other religious adherents in Malaysia. The implications of the study show that the media played an important role in enlightening the 'interfaith dialogue' based on demographic factors in the Malaysian context.