Humanities & Social Sciences Reviews eISSN: 2395-6518, Vol 7, No 2, 2019, pp 270-275 https://doi.org/10.18510/hssr.2019.7231 270 |www.hssr.in © Mohd Nor Shahizan Ali et al. THE ARTS OF SOCIAL REALITY (RE) CONSTRUCT INDIVIDUAL MINDSET OF POST-INDEPENDENCE COMMUNITY VIA HISTORICAL DOCUMENTARY Mohd Nor Shahizan Ali 1 , Neesa Ameera Mohamed Salim 2 1 Centre for Communication and Digital Society (MENTION), Faculty of Social Sciences and Humanities, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia (UKM), 43600, UKM Bangi, Selangor, Malaysia 2 Department of Graphic and Digital Media, Faculty of Art and Design, Universiti Teknologi Mara (UiTM) Kedah Branch, Sungai Petani Campus, 08400 Merbok, Kedah, Malaysia 1 shahizan@ukm.edu.my, 2 neesaameera@ymail.com Article History: Received on 07 th January, Revised on 19 th February, Published on 19 th March 2019 Abstract Purpose of the study: The aim of this study is to analyse the meaning construction of the post-independence communities based on a historical documentary “Big Kitchen (1952)” which focuses on the literacy aspect of how an individual construe, implement and adapt technology in constructing meaning in line with the rapid development of the country. Methodology: A focus group discussion was conducted which involved twenty-one informants from an Institute of Higher Learning in Malaysia. The discussion focuses on how the post-independence communities collectively construct their institutional knowledge by linking these three main areas; literacy, meaning construction and technology based on the historical documentary which consequently reveals the social reality of the community. Main Findings: Findings revealed thatthere is a culture change (in Malaysia) due to migration, technological advancement, and rapid urbanization based on the meanings constructed by the post-independence communities. The combination of migration, technological development, and rapid urbanization have caused the informants to not be influenced by media materials that are shown but assess material based on the understanding and withholding long underlying themselves over the years. Applications of this study: Since the media and communication studies is an established academic discipline in today’s digital era, this study is beneficial in contributing to the development of mass media and communication field specifically in the area of media literacy/ broadcasting literacy as the study covers the art of scientific investigation of the media. Novelty/Originality of this study: This study justifies how media research and the technological shift in the media landscape affects the arts of social reality and the meaning construction of the post-independence communities in Malaysia via the “Big Kitchen (1952)” documentary. Findings revealed in this study contribute to the current debate of the current media issues, and to the development of mass media and communication field. Keywords: Communication Technology, Historical Documentary, Post-Independence Community, Technological Development, The Arts of Social Reality INTRODUCTION In Malaysia, the society is often times exposed to an abundance of information which has been rapidly increasing with the emergence of technology. The arrival of digital technologies contributed to the unimaginably large amounts of information and today, the society is living in the Information Age, where information is accessible at the tip of their fingers. In today’s media-driven world, it is thought-provoking to examine the media system knowledge of the post- independence community by analysing how they navigate their mind and construct meaning in the media-saturated environment based on the historical documentary “Big Kitchen (1952)”. According to Mohammadyari and Singh (2015) , the role of an individual towards technology is considered an ability or a skill, which is currently known as digital literacy skills. As the 21st century is set to be conquered by the digital era (Gasinger & Kole. 2016) , it is not a surprise that the post-independence communities should be able to construct meaning due to technological factors. Media and technology are strongly interrelated, thus the process of literacy and meaning construction is dependent on technology (Potter, 2015) . Furthermore, the society today interacts with technology through