The Malaysian Hindu Sangam has urged Petronas to extend its apology to the Indian community for offending them with a funeral music promo, and is denying that it had approved the advertisement.

Its president, RS Mohan Shan, said although the advertisement was removed last Thursday, Petronas has not apologised to Malaysians of the Indian community.

“It is not fair and just for Petronas to introduce a funeral music dance as part of the celebration for Deepavali tomorrow.

“As a leading corporation, Petronas has not respected Hindu culture and the sentiments of Indian Malaysians. Like other Malaysians, Indians have been patronising and supporting the petroleum company’s products and services,” he said.

Petronas was left red faced last week after angry viewers pointed out that a music video, ‘Do the Dappan’, posted on its official YouTube page to mark Deepavali, depicted a funeral dance.

Though the video has been removed, the giant corporation cannot hide behind a manipulative public relations exercise to absolve itself from responsibility, a media source who had been irked by the insensitive ‘Do the Dappan’ ad commented.

“If Petronas is sincere about realising that it had made a mistake, than they should apologise,” Mohan said.

Mohan also took offence at a press release written by Petronas in which it had allegedly misrepresented Hindu Sangam, stating that the group had approved and guided its ‘Be The Light’ campaign, including the controversial ad.

“This has put the Hindu Sangam in a bad light. Hindu Sangam had never approved the ad and was only involved in guiding the exhibition at Galeri Petronas. Therefore, Petronas should clear the name of Hindu Sangam by publicly stating the facts that had taken place instead of covering up for its shortcomings.”

‘The youth have not forgotten their identity’

S Retnaguru, a film and music director for 1Malaysia-themed videos, said: “The world has grown to appreciate the philosophy, culture and wisdom of India through its diaspora spread across the world. It is heartwarming that Malaysian Indian youth to whom the ad was targeted stood united and aptly responded to censure it.

“The groundswell that happened is something positive to Indians in this country as it clearly shows that the youth have not forgotten the identity and soul of their culture.

“We may tolerate it in a dance sequence in the cinema, or may perform it when we are in the private confines of clubs. We may dress and behave in accordance with the cosmopolitan way of life and the pressures of the modern world, but when tradition calls for a specific observance of an age old practice, Indian youth and adults alike sent a resounding message that they would defend their culture steadfastly.

“Manipulative PR exercises by the creators of the ad with crafty use of words to justify the acceptance of the doomed ad failed to make its mark on the public. Generalisation through market research can go way off the target if you’re not sensitive to the depth of Indian culture. The late Yasmin Ahmad had that sensitivity and understanding in her Petronas ads.

“What is shocking is that Petronas and Leo Burnett officials were told initially when they approached a film production house that the ad would offend the Indian community, but this all fell onto deaf ears,” he added.

M KRISHNAMOORTHY is a freelance correspondent and producer working with overseas TV networks. He has in the past interviewed Yasmin Ahmad and written reviews of Petronas commercials directed by her.