Malaysian government mocked for featuring barking rooster in Chinese ‘Year of the Dog’ ad cock-up
The full-page advert by the domestic trade, co-operatives and consumerism ministry showed a rooster emitting the word ‘wang’, used to represent a dog’s bark in Mandarin
Malaysia has apologised after a government ad in Chinese-language newspapers featuring a picture of a barking rooster to mark the Year of the Dog sparked a flood of mockery.
The full-page advert by the domestic trade, co-operatives and consumerism ministry showed a rooster emitting the word “wang”, used to represent a dog’s bark in Mandarin.
The advert, printed in Chinese-language newspapers in the multi-ethnic country on Thursday, also carried a message welcoming a “prosperous Year of the Dog”.
Chinese New Year is being celebrated across Asia, marking the start of the Year of the Dog and the end of the Year of the Rooster.
Ethnic Chinese are a substantial minority in mostly Muslim Malaysia, making up about a quarter of the population.
The ad sparked mockery online. While some lambasted the government for what they saw as a picture mix-up, others thought it was a cack-handed attempt to avoid using a dog image as the animals are considered unclean in Islam.