Archive for category Media
I for Idiot is for Bush? Why look that far?
Posted by Kit in Media, nation building on Sunday, 1 September 2013
The Malaysian Insider
September 01, 2013
I is for Idiot and unlike established artist J Anu, there is little need to lob that label on former US president George W. Bush when there are enough politicians in Malaysia who have doctorates in idiocy.
The artist was forced to explain the concept behind his artwork after a mosquito Muslim group lodged a complaint, saying that the painting insulted Islam. In fact, the government yesterday demanded the piece be withdrawn from the Selamat Hari Merdeka exhibition at Publika Kuala Lumpur.
Anu said the artwork was in reference to Bush’s adventure in Iraq.
But really, why look thousands of miles away for an idiot? Malaysians are spoilt for choice at home.
Look at Tourism and Culture Minister Datuk Seri Nazri Aziz (pic). He enjoys that work of fiction called Tanda Putera and tries to pass it off as historically accurate and well-researched. Never mind that the director of the film herself conceded that she took artistic licence with the events surrounding the race riots of May 13, 1969.
Nazri yesterday offered the discredited Umno version of the riots, saying that it was sparked by a few Chinese individuals.
“The Chinese community as a whole is not responsible for what happened in 1969, only the individuals, they are the ones who should feel guilty,” he said.
Well, well, what magnanimity by the minister. Today, most Chinese should be at peace and sleep easy. Because Nazri has singled out only a few Chinese for starting the riots. Read the rest of this entry »
Tanda Putera imparts no value whatsoever
Posted by Kit in Media, nation building on Saturday, 31 August 2013
– Zikri Kamarulzaman
The Malaysian Insider
August 31, 2013
There’s been a lot of talk about Tanda Putera in the mainstream media lately.
I won’t be touching about the controversial bits, or the bad, sometimes emotionless acting (the Mahathir character was spot on, but unnecessary).
I will talk about its value as a movie.
Tanda Putera is a disaster in storytelling, two stories made into one, barely held together by Tun Abdul Razak’s character.
In fact, if you don’t know the subject matter or history, you will be completely utterly lost.
None of the characters were properly introduced in any way whatsoever. You’re just supposed to know who they are.
Same goes for the plot, with barely any background to explain what’s going on.
And there’s so much happening, and at such a fast pace, that you don’t connect with anyone or anything as the movie progresses. Read the rest of this entry »
An open letter to Shuhaimi Baba
Posted by Kit in DAP, Media, nation building on Friday, 30 August 2013
Sugasini Kandiah
The Malay Mail Online
August 30, 2013
AUG 30 — Dear Ms Shuhaimi Baba,
Last night, I went to watch your movie “Tanda Putera” despite the many calls to boycott it. I went to see the movie because 1) You urged Malaysians to see it before criticising and 2) I had hoped to learn something about the May 13, 1969 riots.
After watching the movie, as per your recommendation, I feel I learnt very little, if not nothing, about the May 13 incident. And I believe this is due to two reasons.
One, the film tackles the incident in a manner so shoddy it downright insults the viewer’s intelligence. Second, the director’s poor ability to translate historical interpretation into production leaves the viewer confused as to whether events in the film are fictional or not.
To be quite honest Ms Shuhaimi, you lost me at the very beginning of your film when you chose to show communists killing an Umno election worker and then showed members of the DAP and Gerakan terrorising Malay neighbourhoods in Kuala Lumpur.
You fail to show how these incidents are related and instead seem to have a jolly good time insinuating that the Chinese were primarily responsible for inciting all forms of violence during the period while the Malays are portrayed as simply trying to defend themselves. Read the rest of this entry »
Call on Cabinet tomorrow to establish a Royal Commission of Inquiry on the May 13, 1969 racial riots not to punish the culprits but to allow the country to heal its worst racial wounds
Posted by Kit in DAP, Media, nation building on Tuesday, 27 August 2013
Shuhaimi Baba should seriously consider my advice that although she prides herself as the original founder of horror films after directing a Pontianak film, she must not regard the May 13,1969 movie “Tanda Putra” as belonging to the genre of “ghost films” she had directed in the past, but must be conscious of a sense of responsibility to the nation especially to the present and future generation of Malaysians to protect and promote inter-racial goodwill, peace and harmony in the country.
Shuhaimi should therefore list out what are the fictional or unverified incidents on the May 13, 1969 riots in her “Tanda Putra” movie so as not to mislead and incite Malaysians resulting in worsening race relations in the country.
This is all the more imperative as Shuhaimi has admitted that the film is a fictional account of events surrounding the May 13, 1969 racial riots.
On Feb 21 this year, Malaysiakini carried a film review entitled “Tanda Putera a double-edged sword” by a “film enthusiast” who had the opportunity to watch the film at one of the previews held for different groups over the previous months, and it is clear from the film review that the film is studded with fictional or unverified incidents on the May 13, 1969 riots which could mislead and incite inter-racial mistrust, hatred and even conflict.
I refer to three incidents cited by the film review: Read the rest of this entry »
Tanda Putera – Height of criminal and anti-national irresponsibility for anyone to concoct the spurious urination incident as one of the purported causes provoking May 13, 1969 riots
It is the height of criminal and anti-national irresponsibility for anyone to concoct the spurious urination incident as one of the purported causes provoking the May 13, 1969 riots, especially in a film funded with taxpayers’ money, when it is completely fictional with no factual basis in any historical material, whether documentation or photographic.
This is because such a spurious and fictitious incident depicting a young Chinese man urinating in front of the Selangor Mentri Besar’s official residence provoking the May 13, 1969 riots, is highly incendiary and inflammatory in a plural society like Malaysia, and could gravely undermine and threaten inter-racial relations and harmony and even inflame and incite inter-racial hatred and conflict completely inimical to nation-building efforts to promote inter-racial peace, goodwill and harmony.
No excuse of “creative licence” could justify such an irresponsible, criminal and anti-national act.
Although Datin Paduka Shuhaimi Baba, director of the movie “Tanda Putra”, has admitted that the film is a fictional account of events surrounding the May 13 racial riots, she must specifically admit that the “urination” episode in front of the Selangor Mentri Besar’s official residence as one of the causes of provocation of the May 13, 1969 racial riots is a complete figment of her imagination and that no definition of “creative licence” could justify such irresponsible, incendiary and anti-national act.
Shuhaimi who prides herself as “the original founder of horror films” after directing a Pontianak film must not regard “Tanda Putra” as belonging to the genre of “ghost films” she had directed in the past, giving her total “creative licence” to create any fictitious scenes that caught her fancy, totally reckless about their adverse consequences on inter-racial relations in the country. Read the rest of this entry »
Director admits Tanda Putera a work of fiction, defends controversial scenes
by Hasbullah Awang Chik
The Malaysian Insider
August 24, 2013
The director of the controversial film Tanda Putera, which has upset the opposition, now admits it is a fictional account of events surrounding the May 13 racial riots.
Datin Paduka Shuhaimi Baba said her film is an interpretation of historical events derived from multiple opinions.
She explained that after certain parties strongly objected to a scene where a character urinated at a flagpole in front of the house of a former Selangor menteri besar, she edited the scene to tone it down.
“I made some slight edits of the scene. There were words that I removed. That scene was acted out according to those who were present at that time.
“I had to make sure I could fit in most of the opinions collected into a two-hour movie. Of course, not all of the responses we got could be enacted in the film.
“It is tough for me to throw away scenes that are called sensitive. If I have to follow the opinions of everyone then the first 20 minutes of the film depicting incidents of 13 May would not even be there. So I have to defend my work,” she told The Malaysian Insider today.
Suhaimi’s admission that the film is a fictional account of events is a comedown from her stand at the film’s premiere this week where she asked the public to give the film a chance since it is about the nation’s history based on “true stories”. Read the rest of this entry »
DAP gives Utusan Malaysia 48 hours to answer letter of demand
by Hasbullah Awang Chik
The Malaysian Insider
August 21, 2013
DAP national legal head Gobind Singh Deo has given Umno-controlled daily Utusan Malaysia 48 hours to respond to a letter of demand over two defamatory articles.
The two articles headlined “At last the drama has ended” and “Kit Siang manipulated CEC elections?”, were dated August 17 and 18.
The first article quoted the Equity Report said to be written by a Father Augustus Chen, while the other report was that DAP adviser Lim Kit Siang had manipulated the party polls last December.
“The article quoting the Equity Report had no verification. Editor Zulkifli Jalil and reporter Kasthuri Jeevendran as well as Utusan Malaysia, have to answer all the allegations,” Gobind said at the party’s headquarters in Kuala Lumpur today.
DAP also wanted Utusan to reveal who was the real author of the booklet and has demanded for the apology within the stipulated time.
Gobind added that the Utusan editor and reporter should be clear about journalism ethics and should have verified allegations contained in the booklet before publishing the article. Read the rest of this entry »
Lawyers instructed to institute legal proceedings against Utusan Malaysia for recycling the lies of booklet “The Equity Report (CEC Election Fraud)” of fictitious “Father Augustus Chen”
I have instructed my lawyers to institute legal proceedings against Utusan Malaysia for recycling the defamatory lies of the booklet “The Equity Report (CEC Election Fraud)” of fictitious “Father Augustus Chen”.
In a statement on August 5, 2013, I said:
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“Father Augustus Chen” who authored the booklet alleging irregularities in the DAP Central Executive Committee (CEC) elections last December was “a total figment of imagination of the Umno/BN ‘war-room psy-war’ campaign against the DAP before and after the 13th General Elections”;
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The allegations of DAP election irregularities by the fictitious “Father Augustus Chan” in his booklet is a regurgitation of the many lies and baseless allegations which had been published in some 400 anti-DAP reports and write-ups in UMNO/BN controlled media since January, particularly in Utusan Malaysia and New Straits Times;
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The appearance of the booklet of lies by the fictitious “Father Augustus Chen” in July was to provide a semblance of justification for UMNO/BN and the Registrar of Societies (RoS) to act against the DAP, enabling Umno/BN leaders and Cabinet Ministers to quote the fictitious “Father Augustus Chen” as authority why action, such as invalidation of DAP CEC elections and even deregistration, should be taken against the DAP.
Today’s New Straits Times front-page report of lies about DAP CEC re-election signals a new phase of the DDD (Demonise/Destroy DAP) propaganda war with lies and falsehoods
The New Straits Times (NST) front-page report today on the DAP Central Executive Committee (CEC) re-election is a typical example of the mountain of DDD – “Demonise/Destroy DAP” – lies and falsehoods by Umno/Barisan Nasional media, culminating in the July appearance of the booklet of lies by the fictitious “Father Augustus Chen”, in the past seven months.
The lead paragraph of NST front-page report headlined “DAP finally agrees to hold fresh CEC polls” by S.K. Thanusha Devi reads:
“Kuala Lumpur: DAP yesterday conceded that it must hold fresh polls, after it was found to have disallowed 753 party members from attending its congress-cum-elections as delegates in December”.
This is not journalism but a downright blatant and bare-faced lie, for two reasons: Read the rest of this entry »
Putrajaya blew over RM500m on pre-polls ad offensive
The Malay Mail Online
August 15, 2013
KUALA LUMPUR, Aug 16 ― Putrajaya spent over RM500 million in its advertising blitz ahead of Election 2013 ― as much as the next four advertiser categories combined ― to dominate the list of top spenders for the first half of the year.
According to a report on local advertising growth by Vizeum Media, an international media-buying agency, the next closest contender was women’s beauty products, which laid out RM163 million or less than a third of the RM530 million spent by the government.
“[The General Election] drove government spending to a historical high of RM531 million, accounting for 9 per cent share of the advertising market or one-third of ADEX within the top 10 spending categories in 1H 2013,” Vizeum said in its July report.
The amount was a 160 per cent increase over the same period last year.
Of the over half-billion spent, the Prime Minister’s Department took up the lion’s share with an outlay of RM264 million for the first six months of the year or five times more than it did in 2012.
“Jabatan Perdana Menteri accounted for 50 per cent share of all government spending during the same period,” the report continued.
The sum was enough the make the PM’s Department the country’s second-largest single advertiser, losing out to multinational consumer goods firm Unilever Malaysia which spent RM286 million. Read the rest of this entry »
I AM INSULTED…
Posted by Kit in Media, nation building, Religion on Monday, 12 August 2013
— Patricia Anne Martinez
The Malay Mail Online
August 12, 2013
AUG 11 — As an ordinary Malaysian Christian, specifically a Catholic, I want to place on record that I am deeply INSULTED.
I just watched the programme “Pope from the end of the world” on the Astro History channel. It is a biography (and nothing else) of Pope Francis. Perhaps it was featured before, but it was the first time I watched it.
Before the programme was aired, the following appeared on the screen: “THIS PROGRAM PORTRAYS DEPICTION OF RELIGIOUS FIGURES AND REPRESENTS VIEWS OTHER THAN MUSLIMS’. VIEWER DISCRETION IS ADVISED.”
The disclaimer — if it can be called that — was shown FOUR TIMES throughout the programme.
I feel insulted because the statement shows a deep insensitivity, as if a programme about the life of the head of my Church is something on par with pornography or material of dubious ethical and moral value. Read the rest of this entry »
I did not post the raya greeting, says DAP man
Leven Woon | August 10, 2013
Free Malaysia Today
Johor Bahru DAP division secretary Alan Tang today claimed that someone forged his identity on a new Facebook account and uploaded a Hari Raya greeting with an image of a roasted pork head.
PETALING JAYA: Johor Bahru DAP division secretary Alan Tang today vehemently denied posting a Hari Raya greeting that featured a roast pork dish on social network site Facebook, claiming that his identity had been forged.
The image showing a roasted pork head sandwiched between the Malay traditional snack lemang (glutinous rice) and ketupat (dumpling) surfaced on the first day of Hari Raya and quickly earned the ire of the Muslim community.
Tang, when contacted, told FMT that he could not “have been so dumb to produce such a greeting”.
“I’m the one always advising my friends and comrades against touching on issues pertaining to race, religion and royalty, and it is even more impossible for me to do it myself,” said the 28-year-old Tang.
A print screen of Tang’s facebook account with the greeting was circulated on several pro-BN websites, but a search on Tang’s account found no such posting. Read the rest of this entry »
A time when Utusan Malaysia didn’t get away with everything…
Posted by Kit in Abdullah Ahmad Badawi, Media, UMNO on Wednesday, 7 August 2013
The Malaysian Insider
August 07, 2013
In a book about his years in power, former prime minister Tun Abdullah Badawi makes a startling revelation about how he dealt with Utusan Malaysia, in stark contrast to how the strident newspaper is managed by its Umno backers now.
Abdullah was known for liberalising news media in an attempt to restore their credibility after the severe damage that mainstream media took under the Mahathir years, but Abdullah still kept a firm line on racial and religious issues.
Referring to his appointees, he said, “I did not interfere with their work as I believed that they had a professional job to do and I allowed them the space to do it. But when they abused the openness by playing up racial and religious issues, like when Utusan Malaysia did, then I would call them and warn them.”
He revealed that he made a phone call to the editor-in-chief of Utusan Malaysia and left him with a stark warning: the newspaper had crossed the boundary with an editorial that smacked of racism and he should expect no favours from Putrajaya if charged with sedition.
Read the rest of this entry »
Fictitious “Father Augustus Chen” given seven days to surface and prove he is not a phantom – failing which would RoS reconsider his decision?
I have said that “Father Augustus Chen” whose booklet “The Equity Report (CEC Election Fraud)” is used as authority by Umno/BN leaders and the Registrar of Societies to invalidate the DAP Central Executive Committee (CEC) elections last December is a fictitious figure and a total figment of imagination of the Umno/BN “war-room psy-war” campaign against the DAP before and after the 13th General Elections.
Today there is further confirmation that the lies and falsehoods about election irregularities in the DAP CEC elections last year has become fodder in the upcoming UMNO party elections when Utusan Malaysia reported that the UMNO MP for Kuala Pilah and Minister for Domestic Trade, Co-operatives and Consumerism Datuk Hasan Malek has confirmed that he would be contesting for the UMNO Supreme Council elections in October this year.
It was Hasan Malek who over the weekend quoted the fictitious figure “Father Augustus Chen” as authority for the decision by the Registrar of Societies director-general Datuk Abdul Rahman Othman directing the DAP to hold CEC re-election.
Two dubious records are set here –firstly, it is the first time in the 56-year history of public law in Malaysia where Cabinet Ministers and public officials are depending on a fictitious character to justify their decision, and secondly, relying on a scurrilous publication which is no different from a “poison pen letter” which is published against the law as it does not carry the required identity of the printer and publisher.
Read the rest of this entry »
DAP National Legal Bureau should comb through the over 200 Utusan reports targetting and character-assassinating DAP since January to file multiple defamation suits against the Umno newspaper
The DAP National Legal Bureau headed by DAP MP for Puchong Gobind Singh Deo should comb through the over 200 Utusan Malaysia reports and articles targetting and character-assassinating DAP since January to file multiple defamation suits against the Umno newspaper.
In these reports and articles, Utusan Malaysia have ad nauseum repeated lies and falsehoods against the DAP and DAP leaders, particularly over the DAP Central Executive Committee (CEC) elections at the DAP National Congress in Penang last December, in utter disregard of the basic canons of journalism with regard to ethics, honesty and truth.
This campaign directed by the Umno/BN “war room” to demonise and destroy the DAP reached its peak in April just before the 13th General Elections, and although its tempo slowed down immediately after the general elections in May, its momentum was accelerated in June and July, culminating in the directive by the Registrar of Societies to the DAP on CEC re-elections.
Although the Registrar of Societies did not give any reasons to the DAP for its directive on CEC re-elections, two false allegations had been prominently canvassed in the Utusan media offensive in the past six months to justify any RoS invalidation of the CEC elections last December:
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That 753 DAP delegates had not been notified of the DAP Congress and denied the right to vote for the new CEC.
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That there were 547 phantom delegates, primarily from Penang, who voted at the DAP Congress last December.
Umno/BN journalism reached new “heights” when lies become truths and fiction transmuted into fact
Malaysian journalism in Umno/BN country has reached new international “heights” where lies become truths and fiction transmuted into fact.
The Umno-owned daily Utusan Malaysia gave an illustration of this “transformation” of Malaysian journalism yesterday when its official commentary “Bisik-Bisik” by Awang Selamat, which is the pseudonym of the Umno-Utusan propaganda/psy war command centre, launched another attack on the DAP for its response to the Registrar of Societies asking for reasons for the RoS’ decision to direct the holding of DAP Central Executive Committee (CEC) re-elections.
Awang Selamat commented:”Awang teringat desakan orang politik termasuk bekas orang DAP sendiri yang mahukan DAP mengadakan semula pemilihan CEC ekoran dakwaam berlaku penyelewengan dan manipulasi undi membabitkan 547 perwakilan.”
The lie of 547 phantom delegates at the Penang DAP Congress in Penang last December, with the even more ludicrous allegation that all the 547 ‘phantom’ DAP delegates came from Penang, is one of the despicable falsehoods concocted and conjured up by the Umno/BN psy-war journalists when there is no shred of evidence whatsoever, but which Umno/BN propagandists hope can be accepted as fact by gullible Malaysians by implementing the Goebble doctrine that if a lie is repeated a thousand times, it could become a fact.
Read the rest of this entry »
Facebook removes Dr M’s ‘Chinese Dilemma’, cites violation of community standards
By Zurairi AR
The Malay Mail Online
August 01, 2013
KUALA LUMPUR, Aug 1 — An article by Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad on “The Chinese Dilemma” has been removed by Facebook for allegedly violating its community standards, according to the former prime minister’s Facebook page’s administrator.
The column piece, originally published in English daily New Straits Times (NST) and then posted on Dr Mahathir’s Facebook page, painted a portrait of Chinese Malaysians in a dilemma, caught ostensibly between their thirst for political control while retaining their economic clout and the decades-old power-sharing formula.
“Today, Facebook has informed us that the article was removed for violating its supposed community standards. This means there were many who were disturbed and opposed, and complained to Facebook against what Tun wrote,” said a posting by an administrator who identified himself as “KN”. The original posting had received more than two million likes.
KN had urged fans of the page to read the online version of the article on NST’s website and decide for themselves whether the article violated Facebook’s Community Standards or was just an “unpleasant truth”, as he called it.
Facebook users can anonymously report any posts that they believe violate the social network’s community standards by clicking on a link on each post.
A post which receives enough complaints will then be investigated by Facebook’s User Operations team, and it will then be removed if the team decides that it has violated the standards.
It is believed that Dr Mahathir’s article may have been removed for promoting hate speech, which according to Facebook includes attacks on people based on their actual or perceived race, ethnicity, national origin, religion, sex, gender, sexual orientation, disability or disease. Read the rest of this entry »
Onus is on UMNO Youth and Utusan Malaysia to substantiate their allegation that “The New Village” glorified the MCP and demonised the police and soldiers
Posted by Kit in Media, nation building on Monday, 29 July 2013
In today’s Malaysiakini report “Unfair to ban ‘New Village’ on trailer alone, says Shabery”, the Communications and Multimedia Minister Ahmad Shabery Cheek said he was not surprised that the film had drawn protests from UMNO Youth and party-owned Utusan Malaysia as I too “over-reacted” to another controversial “Tanda Putera” film after the screening of its trailer.
He said it is unfair to judge ‘The New Village’ based on its trailer release along and said a “rational” decision must now be made on its fate.
I invite Shabery to specify how I had “over-reacted” to “Tanda Putera” after the screening of its trailer, as I had never seen the trailer of “Tanda Putera”.
My first statement on Tanda Putera is available on my blog, dated 4th August 2012, as follows: Read the rest of this entry »
Stop this public lynching
Posted by Kit in Court, Crime, Law & Order, Media on Friday, 19 July 2013
by Dr. Lim Teck Ghee
Friday, 19 July 2013
Commentary
The decision of the AG to charge Alvin Tan and Vivian Lee marks the half-way point in the public lynching of these two young people.
What were they guilty of?
A moment of unthinking madness; an act of stupidity and idiocy; a prank in bad taste; racial and religious insensitivity; youthful arrogance – yes, these criticisms and much more in the way of scorn and public shame and odium can be heaped on their foolish and misguided attempt to draw attention to themselves.
But to charge them for sedition and for a criminal act under the penal code! And then to deny them bail as if they are a major threat to public peace and order. Please!
Let us not forget that prominent politicians guilty of even more in your face racial and religious taunting have got away scot free, with the last notable racist political figure even put up as a candidate during the recent election. And what about even earlier incidents such as kris brandishing? Read the rest of this entry »
Deracialising M’sian journalism
by Eric Loo
Malaysiakini
Jul 18, 2013
We find strength in numbers. Shared goals prompt us to unionise for collective bargaining and associate for mutual affirmation. Hence, we have clubs and fraternities, guilds and societies, centres and institutes. We identify with the group’s creed, culture and calling. But when journalists’ associations are founded on racial positioning instead of editorial mission, it piques my interest in their political motivation.
In a democracy we’re free to associate and assemble along racial lines. I understand the motives for Perkasa’s existence; likewise the reasons for Hindraf and Dong Zong’s founding. But let not our journalists be defined by racial differentiation.
When media practitioners assemble under exclusivist racial umbrellas, when they see themselves first as Malay, Chinese or Indian journalists instead of journalists who happen to be a Malay, Chinese or Indian, it raises a range of ethical issues. The main being their professional integrity and capacity to report fairly and truthfully when they are confronted by race-related issues and moved to write about it. Read the rest of this entry »
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