Archive for category Media
4 things Najib must do to salvage his tattered credibility after his greatest leadership failure as PM post-Bersih post-EO6
Posted by Kit in 1Malaysia, Bersih, Media, Najib Razak on Saturday, 30 July 2011
The past five weeks are undoubtedly the worst period for Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak since becoming the sixth Malaysian PM 27 months ago – making him the object of ridicule and scorn not only in the country but also internationally, forcing him to cut short his overseas trip.
It was his greatest failure of leadership as Prime Minister leaving his credibility in tatters – which is why his claim yesterday that the release of the PSM6 under the Emergency Ordinance was in accordance with the rule of law was met with nation-wide derision.
Najib cannot be more wrong if he thinks that he had restored his credibility with the release of the PSM6 yesterday, as nothing could wipe out the fact of his government’s high-handed and unsuccessful action to suppress the 709 Bersih 2.0 rally for free and fair elections, resulting in the arbitrariy and totally unjustifieable arrests of the PSM6, first on the ridiculous grounds of “waging war against the Agong” and “reviving communism” and then under EO for being “prime movers” of Bersih.
There are four things Najib must do, immediately and urgently, if he wants to salvage his tattered credibility after his greatest leadership failure as Prime Minister post-Bersih post-EO6. Read the rest of this entry »
Those whom the gods would destroy, they first make mad
Posted by Kit in Media, Teoh Beng Hock, UMNO on Wednesday, 27 July 2011
By Zaharom Nain | July 27, 2011
The Malaysian Insider
JULY 27 — Many of us have long been opposed to monopolistic or oligopolistic control of institutions, including media institutions. More often than not, critiques of such control have been levelled at large corporations or moguls. Indeed, such concentration of control often invariably leads to lack of transparency and, of course, of accountability.
Hence, many who are concerned about media freedom and democracy are currently pleased, if not absolutely thrilled, with the reports about the closure of Rupert Murdoch’s News of the World (NOTW).
This, and the current revelations about the alleged dirty tricks employed by NOTW reporters and top executives, evidently now put Murdoch’s global media empire under much scrutiny and under threat.
Read the rest of this entry »
The Amanah agenda (Part 2)
By Sakmongkol AK47 | July 25, 2011
The Malaysian Insider
JULY 25 — This is a gathering of concerned citizens. On the stage forming the committee members of Amanah were Kadir Sh Fadzir himself, Daniel Tajem, S. Subramaniam( a former MIC deputy president), Tengku Razaleigh Hamzah as chairman, Ong Tee Keat, Bujang Ulis from Sarawak and a sitting MP from Sabah.
The audience was made up of mainly concerned citizens of all races, with Malays making the predominant number. I am sure not everyone in there in the hall that day will commit themselves to the rigors of field politics; but I was sure of one thing. Everyone were united in the revulsion and rejection of what is going on in the country — the politics, economy, the divisiveness in our society, the future of democracy, the future of this country.
Read the rest of this entry »
Punish Bersih or risk losing support, Utusan warns BN
Posted by Kit in Bersih, Media, Najib Razak, UMNO on Wednesday, 27 July 2011
By Melissa Chi | July 27, 2011
The Malaysian Insider
KUALA LUMPUR, July 27 — The Barisan Nasional administration must penalise the outlawed Bersih 2.0 movement and the people behind it or risk losing electoral support for its perceived weakness, the Umno-owned Utusan Malaysia said today.
“The government needs to learn from this incident. To ensure peace and public safety, the authorities should immediately act against the troublemakers. Don’t waste the support of more than 4,000 non-governmental organisations and individuals who have lodged police reports against Bersih.
“The delay in taking action against the organisers and supporters of the illegal rally on July 9 can erode the people’s support because the government is seen as unable to implement the law. So, do not send the wrong message to the people, (that you are) afraid to take any action against the opposition leaders and Bersih organisers,” the Malay-language daily wrote in an editorial today.
Read the rest of this entry »
Christian plot: What have police uncovered?
Posted by Kit in DAP, Islam, Media, nation building on Monday, 25 July 2011
By Hawkeye
July 25, 2011 | Free Malaysia Today
BUTTERWORTH: DAP has demanded that police reveal the outcome of their investigation into an alleged conspiracy to make Christianity the official religion of Malaysia.
Penang DAP chairman Chow Kon Yeow said police wrapped up the investigation some time ago and should have informed the public what they had found out.
The seriousness of the allegation and the uproar it caused warranted the public disclosure, he added. Read the rest of this entry »
Angry Malaysians
Posted by Kit in Media, nation building on Monday, 25 July 2011
— CL Tang
The Malaysian Insider
Jul 24, 2011
24 JULY — Wong Chun Wai says, “Can we stop being angry people and try to make sense of the issues affecting the nation instead? Or better still, laugh at them?”; in his Sunday column, Of Angry Birds and Angry Malaysians: Sunday Star 24 July 2011.
A young man, about to become a father and a husband, saw his life tragically ended after being subjected to near inhumane interrogation by a government institution. Teoh Beng Hock was under such duress that, according to the RCI, it drove him to commit suicide. And this is someone who is apparently innocent of any wrongdoings.
An elderly lady, drenched as a result of the water cannons, walks away from a brigade of riot police, eyes stinging from tear gas. All she did was to take part in a peaceful march for electoral reforms with thousand others who suffered the same fate.
A mainstream newspaper and a so-called NGO with its bellicose leader is allowed to spew out racist rants; fan religious tensions; and spread fantastic conspiracy theories (Jewish/Communist/Christian domination, take your pick) to divert attention away from the failings of the government, with barely a murmur of disapproval from those whom we look to for protection of our shared values. Read the rest of this entry »
Utusan Malaysia says normal for corruption witnesses to commit suicide
Posted by Kit in Corruption, Media, Teoh Beng Hock on Sunday, 24 July 2011
By Clara Chooi
July 24, 2011 | The Malaysian Insider
KUALA LUMPUR, July 24 — Utusan Malaysia today downplayed the cause of Teoh Beng Hock’s death, saying that it is common for witnesses in corruption cases to commit suicide to avoid shaming their families or organisation.
“Awang does not understand it has been made such a major issue whether a person commits suicide during or after interrogation,” Awang Selamat wrote today in Mingguan Malaysia, the Malay daily’s Sunday edition. “In many other countries, the act of sacrificing oneself is not something alien to a corruption case.”
Awang Selamat is a pseudonym under which editors of Utusan Malaysia write. Read the rest of this entry »
Utusan defends MACC, holds DAP responsible for Teoh’s death
Posted by Kit in Corruption, Media, Teoh Beng Hock on Sunday, 24 July 2011
By Clara Chooi
July 24, 2011 | The Malaysian Insider
KUALA LUMPUR, July 24 — Utusan Malaysia expressed sympathy for the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) for bearing the brunt of the blame for Teoh Beng Hock’s death, saying today it was DAP and its adviser Lim Kit Siang who should be held responsible.
The Umno-owned daily’s editors, writing under the pseudonym Awang Selamat, accused the opposition party of tricking Malaysians into forgetting the corruption allegation against its leaders by drawing focus to Teoh’s death.
“Malaysians have been dragged too deep into this issue (Teoh’s death) until we have strayed from the actual path. The real issue — corruption — has been buried. Read the rest of this entry »
Press bosses to silently protest against Putrajaya’s media council plan
By Clara Chooi
The Malaysian Insider
Jul 22, 2011
KUALA LUMPUR, July 22 — Several media heads are expected to protest against Putrajaya’s proposal to form a Media Consultative Council (MCC) by snubbing a meeting next week to discuss the body’s terms of reference.
The Information, Communication and Culture Ministry has sent letters inviting numerous media organisations to attend the inaugural meeting at the historic Sultan Abdul Samad complex here on Monday afternoon.
But a source told The Malaysian Insider that instead of attending the meeting themselves, several media chiefs have agreed to show their protest by sending junior editors.
It is believed that the heads, including those from Barisan Nasional-controlled media, fear that the council will only impose further restrictions on press freedom. Read the rest of this entry »
Kit Siang labels Najib, Hisham ‘instant jokes’ over Economist black-out
Posted by Kit in Bersih, Hishammuddin, Media, Najib Razak on Thursday, 21 July 2011
By Debra Chong
The Malaysian Insider
Jul 20, 2011
KUALA LUMPUR, July 20 – Putrajaya’s decision to black-out portions of international magazine The Economist’s latest issue has backfired on the prime minister and home minister who both are now the target of jokes worldwide, DAP leader Lim Kit Siang said today.
The veteran opposition lawmaker recommended that Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak also overhaul the home ministry led by the latter’s cousin Datuk Seri Hishammuddin Hussein and appoint as officers in charge those who were more tech-savvy and up-to-date on current affairs.
Lim poked fun at the Najib administration for blotting out large segments of the weekly magazine’s July 16 edition that covered the Bersih 2.0 rally earlier this month, despite the article being also available online . Read the rest of this entry »
Putrajaya, the days of censorship are over
Posted by Kit in Bersih, Hishammuddin, Media, Najib Razak, university on Wednesday, 20 July 2011
Malaysiakini Your Say | Jul 20, 11
‘Is this where our indelible ink from March 2008 went, to black out a report on clean elections rally? Shameful and pathetic.’
Economist report on Bersih rally ‘censored’
Lynn: Other than the obvious stupidity of blatant censoring, this also shows how bloated the civil service is – to have people on payroll sitting around manually blacking out thousands of copies of The Economist. What a waste of time and typical of the inefficiencies of our government today.
Jaguh: These cowardly acts indicate shallow thinking. Whoever suggested it has no brains. There is the Internet. This really reflects on the whole cabinet (they all should be in a ‘cabinet’) and frankly, compared to other countries, they have no class, no standards and no morals. A change is imminent.
Read the rest of this entry »
Kit Siang to Hisham: How about NST, Berita Harian?
Posted by Kit in Bersih, Hishammuddin, Media, Police on Tuesday, 19 July 2011
Malaysiakini | Jul 19, 11
DAP parliamentary leader Lim Kit Siang has urged Home Minister Hishammuddin Hussein to act fairly and equally against all publications instead of indulging in selective persecution over the coverage of the Bersih 2.0 rally of July 9.
Reacting to the disclosure by a PAS volunteer that he had been falsely accused of holding a knife and rock-throwing during the Saturday demonstrations, Lim asked whether New Straits Times (NST) and sister-publication Berita Minggu would be hauled up by the home ministry to answer claims their reports had distorted the events of that day.
Lim also cited the ministry’s summoning of three Chinese-language dailies last week over claims they had reported favourably on what the authorities had branded were “illegal assemblies”.
Read the rest of this entry »
‘Economist’ report on Bersih rally ‘censored’
Posted by Kit in Bersih, Media, Najib Razak on Tuesday, 19 July 2011
Hazlan Zakaria & Wong Teck Chi | Jul 19, 11
Malaysiakini
Opposition parliamentarians have claimed that the July 16 edition of The Economist has been defaced by the Home Ministry in an apparent attempt to censor a report on the Bersih 2.0 rally for electoral reform.
“The Economist July16 issue has been censored/black inked on Bersih story by Home Ministry,” reads a tweet by Ipoh Barat MP M Kulasegaran.
In photos distributed via micro-blog site Twitter, the report headlines ‘Political affray in Malaysia: Taken to the cleaners’ shows lines blacked out by what seems to be a permanent marker pen.
Read the rest of this entry »
Doctored 709 photo — who’s responsible?
All top journalists as well as management personnel in New Sunday Times and Berita Minggu responsible for the photographic falsification of a PAS Unit Amal volunteer as a violent 709 protestor armed with knife when he was holding a Malaysian flag and not throwing rocks at police should step out and own up.
It is a violation of all the basic tenets of journalism of truth, fair play and responsibility for New Straits Times through the New Sunday Times and Berita Minggua to commit such a blatant and flagrant breach of journalistic ethics – a base and lowly act of irresponsibility not only to the profession of journalism but also a great disservice to the plural Malaysian nation-building.
The Malay daily Berita Minggu had on July 10 front-paged the picture of a heavily-built man in a white T-shirt with a black cloth wrapped around his face.
The man, shrouded in smoke, was depicted hurling an object with his left hand while in his right was what appeared to be a knife handle.
The caption read: “Seorang perusuh membawa pisau dalam perhimpunan haram” (A rioter brings a knife to illegal rally) and another subheadline read: “Perusuh guna senjata, batu, lawan polis” (Rioters use weapons, rocks to fight police).
Read the rest of this entry »
I did not bring knife to demo, says protester
Malaysiakini | Jul 18, 11
The man behind the image of an alleged ‘violent protester’ that was splashed on the front pages of the country’s major newspapers after the Bersih 2.0 rally on July 9 has stepped forward.
Speaking at a PAS ceramah in Kuala Lumpur on Saturday, Abdul Razak Endut said that the alleged knife he was holding was a Malaysian flag and he was not throwing rocks at police.
“When the FRU fired tear gas, I saw the wind blowing towards the demonstrators… I picked up the canister and tossed it to a grass field with the hope that the demonstrators would be safe,” said Abdul Razak.
Read the rest of this entry »
One event, many ‘truths’
By Eric Loo
Jul 15, 11 | MalaysiaKini
Being clean is good. Being clean in government is best. So, the people walked the streets of KL for a clean cause. But when the government and its media played dirty on the discontented multitudes who flooded the streets of Jalan Tun Perak, Jalan Petaling and Jalan Pudu on July 9, it makes me very angry. I was there.
Right-wing threats against Bersih, splashed across the mainstream papers and screened on television, had ironically mobilised to the public square the Malays, the Chinese, the Indians and other usually ‘invisible’ minority groups. The people gathered and chanted as one body in front of Menara Maybank. ‘Hidup Bersih! Hidup Rakyat! Hancur Bersih! Hancur Rakyat!’ Read the rest of this entry »
Why did the police do what they did?
By Zan Azlee
July 15, 2011 | The Malaysian Insider
JULY 15 — The tough policeman with the huge muscles grabbed me by my shoulders and flung me towards the sidewalk not caring that I had a press tag around my neck.
I struggled to keep my balance and not drop my camera. I barely managed to not trip over the curb.
“Halau cameraman itu! (Get rid of that cameraman!)” screamed the policeman’s other colleagues.
My crime? I was shooting a bunch of arrested demonstrators being led out of Tung Shin Hospital and through a police line. Read the rest of this entry »
The elephant in the (news)room
By Dr Mustafa K Anuar
July 15, 2011 | The Malaysian Insider
JULY 15 — The morning after. The pro-government mainstream press splashed headlines, news reports, so-called “analyses” and photos that essentially and predictably mocked, discredited and demonised the leaders, supporters and participants of the Bersih 2.0 rally in Kuala Lumpur last Saturday.
For instance, the Sunday Star carried a front-page headline that said: “Defiant”. The bold headline accompanied a huge picture of a face-off between the Federal Reserve Unit and other police personnel on the one hand and the protesters on the other at the temporarily closed Puduraya bus terminal. Read the rest of this entry »
Ten conditions for Umno
Posted by Kit in Bersih, Corruption, Education, Elections, Hishammuddin, Media, Najib Razak, UMNO on Wednesday, 6 July 2011
by Bahaman Abdullah
The Malaysian Insider
Jul 05, 2011
JULY 5 — Since Ibrahim Ali is so fond of giving everyone ultimatums (the latest being to MCA, Gerakan and Ambiga Sreenivasan), I suggest we give Umno and Najib Razak a list of 10 conditions to be met if he wants the support of urban Malaysia.
1) Distance yourself publicly from Ibrahim Ali and Perkasa. Failure to do so will be taken as a sign that all the garbage from Ibrahim is endorsed by the Umno president and his kuncu-kuncu.
2) Stop using divide and rule tactics to keep Malaysians apart. The only reason why BN worried about Bersih is that this election reform movement appears to have brought Malaysians of different races and religious groups together.
3) Tackle corruption and start by investigating cabinet ministers, senior politicians for living way, way beyond their means. Read the rest of this entry »
Taking people for fools
By Eric Loo
Jul 4, 11 | MalaysiaKini
Each time I log in to non-mainstream media to catch up on news in Malaysia, I see the same old stories about how bad things have become since the 1980s – from financial scandals and systemic corruption to institutional discrimination and dill heads running the country. My reactions have become passé.
Each time I come home, friends and kin tell more stories about how bleak they see their future as being. Once, these were mere stories and theories we shared over mugs of teh tarik during the pre-Internet days when the government-controlled media was our main source of political news. Read the rest of this entry »
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