PORTRAYING A COUNTRY'S IMAGE: A CASE STUDY OF MALAYSIAN YOUTH'S PERCEPTIONS TOWARDS MALAYSIA

Abstract

There have been many indexes produced by different research agencies such as Malaysia Well-Being Index (Indeks Kesejahteraan Rakyat Malaysia), Religion Harmony Index (Indeks Keharmonian Agama) and Social Tension Index (Index Ketegangan Sosial) to measure Malaysians from different aspects. However, as the titles of these indexes imply, none of the indexes really look into the perceptions Malaysians have towards their country. The perception is important as it serves the foundation that generate Malaysians feelings towards Malaysia. Positive perception would eventually generate positive bonding towards Malaysia and signify a successful nation building process and vice versa, negative perceptions signify an unsuccessful process. This study aims to fill this gap by producing a way to measure such perceptions.  It examines how young Malaysians (aged 18-30) perceive Malaysia using an integrative model that proposed by Alexander Buhmann's (2016). An online survey was conducted to gather feedback from Malaysians youth. The study measures perceptions across functional, aesthetic, and normative domains, revealing that young Malaysians are generally 'comfortable' with Malaysia, with the aesthetic domain receiving the highest score. The study also identifies areas for improvement, particularly in politics and normative aspects, and suggests strategies to enhance Malaysia’s country image.