By David Martin
May 13, 2011 | MalaysianInsider

I read George Orwell’s Animal Farm when I was helping my brother out with his university assignment back when I was in secondary school.

The story seemed a bit nonsensical to me back then. Talking animals who revolted against their masters. Pigs taking over as the leaders of the farm. A pig named Napoleon, no less.

Then again, when you grew up in the Mahathir era, the rakyat were more gullible back then weren’t they? With the advent of technology in the 21st century, it’s harder to keep a lid on the truth.

I woke up early this morning to read on The Malaysian Insider that Utusan Malaysia was merely given a warning for publishing unsubstantiated news (read: lies) for its front page headline by the all-powerful Home Ministry.

My mind is cast back to several years back when the oldest newspaper in Sarawak, The Sarawak Tribune had its printing permit taken away merely for publishing a photo of a man looking at the infamous prophet’s cartoon. That was deemed serious enough for a suspension which ultimately led to the demise of the daily.

A couple of years back, the same ministry decided to stir things up a bit by hauling up the Catholic weekly, Herald, for using the word “Allah” in the publication. Their reason was a flimsy one at best, that the word was exclusive to Islam despite its widespread use worldwide by Christians predating even the formation of Malaysia.

The is the same ministry which clamped down on the publication by Parti Keadilan Rakyat for allegedly making unsubstantiated claims. Of course up until now, the renewal of the printing permit for PKR is still pending approval despite the year or so since its application was submitted.

Again, this is the same ministry that saw it fit to say and do nothing when two journalists from Al-Islam decided to conduct a covert infiltration operation at St Anthony’s Catholic Church Pudu to investigate alleged apostasy amongst Muslims.

Those allegations were promptly dispelled when it was proven that those attending Mass were Catholic students from Sabah and Sarawak. To add insult to the matter, the Communion wafer was desecrated by these ignorant and disrespectful buffoons in the name of their religion.

We all know how that ended. Al-Islam made a grudging apology by way of a short statement. And that only came after Archbishop Tan Sri Datuk Murphy Pakiam demanded it.

And now, we see Utusan discrediting Christians in Malaysia by portraying the community as challenging the status of Islam as the religion of the Federation. And they got a mere slap on the wrist and are still free to print rubbish fit only for nasi lemak wrapping.

So, is Najib the Malaysian version of Napoleon with Utusan the Squealer?

All animals are equal, but some are more equal than others. “Oink! Oink!” I say.

* David Martin reads The Malaysian Insider.