By Teresa Kok | May 13, 2011
Free Malaysia Today
Today marks the 42nd anniversary of May 13 riots. It stands as a day of infamy, caused in part by misinformation to stoke the flames of discontent among the races being spread among the populace, leading to fear, anger and ultimately to destruction of property and deaths.
To ensure that this day does not repeat itself, the government must send a strong message that those guilty of spreading misinformation which divides multi-racial multi-religious Malaysia must stop or be made to stop.
Thus, I urge the government to take stern action against Utusan Malaysia for spreading its lies and misinformation with its utterly irresponsible and unconscionable reporting of its “Kristian agama rasmi?” frontpage story.
It is despicable that Utusan Malaysia, which is owned by Umno, published this made-up story based on the wild allegations of two pro-Umno bloggers who provided no evidence whatsoever, and yet Utusan has escaped unpunished by Home Minister Hishammuddin Hussein, who is also Umno vice president.
The letter of caution issued by Hishammuddin to Utusan Malaysia is a pathetic excuse for censure because it does not commensurate at all with the gravity of Utusan’s crime of publishing lies to pit the Muslim against the Christians in this country.
I remind Hishammuddin that the Home Ministry has a track record of taking far more severe action upon other publications who committed lesser wrongs and oversights, including:
In 2006, China Press was made to sack its two top editors after it wrongly identified the woman in the “nude squat” incident as a Chinese national.
In 2006, the Sarawak Tribune was suspended for publishing a disrespectful image of the Prophet Muhammad.
In 2006, Guang Ming evening edition too was suspended for two weeks for publishing the same image
In 2007, Makkal Osai was suspended for 1 month for publishing a disrespectful image of Jesus Christ.
In 2008, Sin Chew reporter Tan Hoon Cheng was detained under the Internal Security Act, not for any wrongdoing but for reporting the truth that Umno division chief Ahmad Ismail’s had described the Chinese as mere squatters in Malaysia.
Prevent May 13
In 2008, I too was a victim of Utusan Malaysia’s irresponsible journalism when it falsely reported that I had forbidden the call of the azan by a mosque in my Kinrara constituency, leading to my detention under the Internal Security Act.
In 2010, China Press chief editor Teoh Yang Koon was suspended for two weeks for misreporting Inspector-General of Police Musa Hassan’s resignation.
Thus, Hishammuddin should not practice double standards in his handling of Utusan Malaysia whose repeated malicious reporting has gone far beyond the point of mere cautioning.
The right thing for Hishammuddin to do is revoke Utusan Malaysia’s publication license to send a strong message that such news-reporting is contemptible, unacceptable and totally incongruent with the 1Malaysia that the government claims to support.
If he does so, Malaysians can finally be free from the dangers of Utusan Malaysia’s malicious provocation.
Hishammuddin should then go one step further to have the editors of Utusan Malaysia sacked in his capacity as Umno vice president.
After all, Utusan Malaysia is owned by Umno. Hishammuddin has the opportunity, power and influence to do so.
Failing which, it will appear that the Barisan Nasional government is not sincere in not wanting to prevent May 13 from re-occuring, choosing instead to employ it as a bogeymen when convenient, to pit Malaysians against Malaysians, for their own political interests at the cost of our nation’s peace and security.
#1 by dagen on Friday, 13 May 2011 - 3:31 pm
Let us all take a minute off and stay silence to remember this most unfortunate day in which umno wrecked havoc in the country.
40+ 50 yrs of umno. 40+ 50 yrs of nonsense. Let us say enough to umno. Let us tell the world we have enough of umno’s rubbish, dirt and poison. Vote umno out in GE13.
#2 by Loh on Friday, 13 May 2011 - 4:22 pm
http://www.malaysia-today.net/mtcolumns/no-holds-barred/40387-remember-may-13
///NO HOLDS BARRED
Raja Petra Kamarudin
The Tunku on how “May 13” began
From his residence in Penang, 1972:
“It was clear to me as well as the police that in the highly charged political atmosphere after the police were forced to kill a Chinese political party worker on May 4th, 1969, something was bound to happen to threaten law and order because of the resentment towards the Government by the KL Chinese on the eve of the general election. This was confirmed at this man’s funeral on the 9th May when the government faced the most hostile crowd it had ever seen.
Therefore, when the opposition parties applied for a police permit for a procession to celebrate their success in the results of the general election, I was adamant against it because the police were convinced that this would lead to trouble.
I informed Tun Razak about this and he seemed to agree. Now, without my knowledge and actually “behind my back,” there were certain political leaders in high positions who were working to force me to step down as a PM. I don’t want to go into details but if they had come to me and said so I would gladly have retired gracefully.
Unfortunately, they were apparently scheming and trying to decide on the best way to force me to resign. The occasion came when the question of the police permit was to be approved.
Tun Razak and Harun Idris, the MB of the state of Selangor, now felt that permission should be given knowing fully well that there was a likelihood of trouble. I suppose they felt that when this happened they could then demand my resignation.
To this day I find it very hard to believe that Razak, whom I had known for so many years, would agree to work against me in this way. Actually, he was in my house as I was preparing to return to Kedah and I overhead him speaking to Harun over the phone saying that he would be willing to approve the permit when I left. I really could not believe what I was hearing and preferred to think it was about some other permit. In any case, as the Deputy Prime Minister in my absence from KL, he would be the Acting PM and would override my objection. Accordingly, when I was in my home in Kedah, I heard over the radio that the permit had been approved.
It seems as though the expected trouble was anticipated and planned for by Harun and his UMNO Youth. After the humiliating insults hurled by the non-Malays, especially the Chinese, and after the seeming loss of Malay political power to them, they were clearly ready for some retaliatory action. After meeting in large numbers at Harun’s official residence in Jalan Raja Muda near Kampong Bahru and hearing inflammatory speeches by Harun and other leaders, they prepared themselves by tying ribbon strips on their foreheads and set out to kill Chinese. The first hapless victims were two of them in a van opposite Harun’s house who were innocently watching the large gathering. Little did they know that they would be killed on the spot.
The rest is history. I am sorry but I must end this discussion now because it really pains me as the Father of Merdeka to have to relive those terrible moments. I have often wondered why God made me live long enough to have witnessed my beloved Malays and Chinese citizens killing each other.”
The REAL Story of May 13 (Part 1) http://www.freeanwar.net/jan2003/article020103.htm
The REAL Story of May 13 (Part 2) http://www.freeanwar.net/jan2003/article080103.htm
The REAL Story of May 13 (Part 3) http://www.freeanwar.net/jan2003/article170103.htm
The REAL Story of May 13 (Part 4) http://www.freeanwar.net/jan2003/article300103.htm///
Some talked about how kind Tun Razak was in approving permit for opposition parties to have victory procession. Yet there were talks that Chinese were cunning businessmen.
The rice millers those days would fund Malay farmers to plant paddy on the promise that they would sell their produce to the rice millers. The bank wouldn’t trust the farmers since the crop could fail, and the farmers’ words were all they have. For decades that was the deals Chinese rice millers made with the farmers. When the crop failed, some rice millers would have gone bankrupt. Those not in the know considered that was example of exploitation by the middlemen. The Chinese rice millers who ran the risks of crop failures, farmers negated on the promise, allowed Malay farmers the means to live their normal life awaiting the harvest. Without that the rice millers had no produce to mill and the farmers could not be involved in time consuming rice farming.The fact that the transaction price could not be determined in advance was the excuse for some opportunists to claim that Chinese rice millers exploited Malay farmers. The Chinese middlemen were said to exploit Malays, and then NEP had to be established.
#3 by good coolie on Friday, 13 May 2011 - 11:03 pm
Nowadays, people who incite riots and mass murder will have to answer to the International Court of Justice. We have come a long way for the good of all.
May God Bless Malaysia!