Of K-Nite and Islamic Morality

As the sole free-to-air television channel serving the needs of the ethnic Malay population in Singapore, Suria Channel carries a hefty responsibility on its shoulders. Broadcasting to a demographic that increasingly relies on popular culture as its point of reference, Suria Channel inadvertently finds itself in one of the better leveraged positions to tackle the many problems facing our Malay-Muslim community.

So far, the network should be lauded for its attempt to bring quality information and entertainment into the homes of its predominantly Muslim audience. Besides the regular offering of news and entertainment, the channel frequently features documentary programmes that focus on social issues and challenges that the community faces. An example of this a marriage-preparation programme that invites a respected Islamic teacher to give his take on family values in the context of Islamic law.

However despite these encouraging developments, there is ample room for improvement. Murmurs of discontent still linger on an array of variety programmes such as K-nite, amongst others.

K-nite is a musical entertainment programme with the objective of gathering the family for a night of fun and laughter. However despite this noble intention, a good number of Malay-Muslim families are unsettled by the rampant display mannerisms and behaviour that are not consistent with the Islamic values that we hold dear.


A typical scene from K-nite. Games often turn into scuffles and close body contact with members of the opposite sex, accompanied by howls of wild laughter from participants and audience alike.

Conceptualised by renowned Mandarin show producer Jack Neo, it also seems to import a brand of uninhibited fun and laughter that is a hall mark of shows found on Channel 8 - the local network for ethnic Chinese programmes.

When broadcasting a show for a predominantly Muslim audience, the producers should be aware of elements and mannerisms that will be in direct conflict with what is taught to our children as we attempt to bring them up as proper Muslims. What suits the audience on Channel 8 cannot be fed lock, stock and barrel down the throats of the Muslim audience on Suria. These may include behaviour, language, attire and the avoidance of excessive entertainment on days that coincides with Islam’s holy dates.

I am not suggesting that we wrap all our female artists in Hijab and Purdah. But at the very least, our programmes should not give the impression that it is “okay” to abandon the values of our religion once in a while for the sake of lightening up and having a little fun.

After all, plenty of our social problems could have been avoided in the first place have we not abandoned so much of what have been taught to us.