Malaysia: richer but less free than its neighbours
I was really looking forward to a press statement by All-Blogs (or the National Alliance of Bloggers) on 3 May, World Press Freedom Day, but instead I received a media statement from WAMI – Writers Alliance for Media Independence, issued by its chairperson, Wong Chin Huat.
I reproduce here the full statement for you:
Malaysia Boleh? “C ” Richer but Less Free than Cambodia and East Timor
Malaysians are ten and four times richer than East Timoreans and Cambodians but enjoy much less press freedom than their neighbours. Writers Alliance for Media Independence (WAMI) calls upon the Parliament to review all media laws in response to the latest press freedom ranking released by the Freedom House in conjunction of World Press Freedom Day.According to the Freedom House index, Malaysia has both scored and ranked worse than last year. The 141st most media-friendly country last year with 65 scores (the lower the better), the third richest Southeast Asian country now only ranks 150 with 68 scores. She does not only trail behind her larger neighbours Philippines (100th), Indonesia (114th) and Thailand (126th), but also the smaller Cambodia (122nd) and East Timor (42nd).
According to the IMF 2006 data, East Timor and Cambodia are the poorest and forth poorest nation in the region. Their average citizens earn only USD 1,727 and USD 3,170 in Purchasing Power Parity term, as compared to USD 11,858 by Malaysians. Why can¡¯t Malaysians enjoy their degree of press freedom when we are way richer? Is this not shameful enough for all of us, from the Prime Minister to every citizen, to ponder on? What is the meaning of our Independence if we are not free to know what happen around us and to express our views?
WAMI urges the Parliament to immediately set up a Select Committee to repeal or reform all laws that curb media freedom including the notorious Printing Presses and Publications Act (PPPA), Official Secrets Act (OSA), Internal Security Act (ISA), Sedition Act and Communications and Multimedia Act; as well as to enact a Freedom of Information Act. This was the demand of 37 civil society groups in last World Press Freedom Day. Also needed are anti-monopoly provisions to curb concentration of media ownership. One year on, there has been no concrete move towards law reforms.
Instead, a year of catastrophes for press freedom, 2006 saw the suspension of four newspapers under different pretexts, the official merger of four Chinese newspapers, and numerous instances of political interference into newsroom.
In the wider picture, freedoms of expression and information have come under harsh attacks by both state and non-state actors since last May 3. The casualties include books by Karen Armstrong and Charles Darwin (Indonesian translation), movies by Mohamad Amir and Tsai Ming Liang, plays and music performances and the seminars on Constitution organized by the Article 11 coalition. In the latest development, a parliamentarian, Mr Tan Kee Kwong, was even forced to retract and apologize for his criticism of the Mufti of the Perak state after waves of intimidations, including the thinly veiled warning of an ethnic riot.
We take comfort that the Kelantan State Government is considering a draft of Freedom of Information Enactment submitted the civil society as well as the call of a MCA parliamentarian Mr Wong Nai Chi¡¯s call for the setting up of the Parliamentary Select Committee for media laws reform.
Malaysians must act to promote and advance our freedom of expression and information under Article 11 of Federal Constitution or the celebration of Independence would be hollow.
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WAMI is a group of writers for the Chinese media in Malaysia, which aims to defend and promote media independence for freer public discussion and wider democratic space.It was formed by about 90 writers who quitted writing for the mainstream Chinese media in May 2001, in protest of the coerced takeover of the non-partisan Nanyang Press by the Malaysian Chinese Association (MCA), a ruling coalition member party.For further information please vist www.wami528.com
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Although the two country have almost identical system, Malaysia is placed better than Singapore in South East Asia.
Biggum Dogmannsteinberg - May 4, 2007 at 2:45 pm
I was really looking forward to a press statement by All-Blogs (or the National Alliance of Bloggers) on 3 May…
Well All-Blogs is still not register yet and the GoMen think all bloggers are liars, so gud enough lah the the president of the National Journalists Union, has urged the Government to recognise bloggers and netizen writers as the new media.
Adios
Anon Fm. Miri - May 4, 2007 at 3:08 pm
Well put Anon Fm. Miri. All Blogs is working on the constitution to seek registration. One step at a time. I am posting a blog on this tomorrow.
zorro - May 4, 2007 at 4:41 pm
Uncle Zorro, even a pro-tem committee can come out with a press statement. WAMI is a loose network, I dont think they are registered as such.
susan loone - May 4, 2007 at 5:48 pm
Well said Susan. Not only that..they must start exercising ideas how to unite the bloggers…and not sit on the fence. Look at Sheih’s new message!! He has been attacked and threatened. Do we need All blogs elected members to be fully and legally recognised by the reigstration exercise to do their elected responsibilities work? It may take months… and mind you…Sheih is an elected member.
Sheih came forth to protect Susan from Big dog and a voice when she was attacked…with clear blunt straight to the point message. To me…that’s exercising his responsibilities as an All Blog elected member…and in any soceity….they are bound to be bad apples to be warned to change or all blogs to boycott…if no change. That will ensure Unity on the right track.
Hiding beside the word ‘Freedom of Speech”….as an excuse not to act..is in fact..showing lack of true interest in unity or responsibilities.
I recalled zorro challenged me to be a blogger and then realise it is a different ball game. What ball game? I do not carry balls nor treat my messages as a game….unless few wants to joke around and we tease each other…that type of game I play..but not with messages concerning unity.
I hope all ELECTED MEMBERS go and visit Sheih…..your co member is being attacked…now more than a month and even received death threats NOW…go show your UNITY STUFFS IS IN THE MAKING…especially from Rocky and Jeff….to start the leadership by examples.
monsterball - May 4, 2007 at 6:52 pm
Well, on socalled Press Freedom, Malaysia may be a step higher than Singapore. What for? When their people are so corrupted you read in the press day in and day out daily. You get stomache. The police especially the traffic police will extort you, for minor traffic offences. Money and Politics talks. The people in thier Kampongs are so poor, since Independence. Personally, I believe and hope Singapore will continue to be a strong and mighty one. What for, when the country is topsy turvy, insecurity, disorganised, well-sustained corruption part of their culture. Singapore, a tiny red dot, the world knows is well respected with many international conferences held here and many more to come. There is Law and Order. It is safe generally even for a young lady even to walk alone late at nght, not its neighbour. Daily, tens of thousands of its neighbour leave their country to be employed in Singapore. What is the purpose to obtain Press Freedom when some of the people are so irresponbsible. Please note that Press Freedom goes hand in hand with responbility for nations to progress and succeed. Our leaders may be strict, law and order, tight control. We are allowed to criticise our Government as it is not a totalitarian state. Look, China, a Communist state is coming up fast and mark my work within 30-40 years it will be the most powerful country in the world in various respects especially the economic aspects. It has no intention like others to colonise or bully smaller countries. Very soon the Chinese Currency will be the most desired one in the world.
Philip Lau - May 4, 2007 at 11:30 pm
Gitanjali 35
By Rabindranath Tagore
Where the mind is without fear and the head is held high;
Where knowledge is free;
Where the world has not been broken up into fragments by narrow domestic walls;
Where words come out from the depth of truth;
Where tireless striving stretches its arms towards perfection;
Where the clear stream of reason has not lost its way into the dreary desert sand of dead habit;
Where the mind is led forward by thee into ever-widening thought and action—
Into that heaven of freedom, my Father, let my country awake.
Poet - May 6, 2007 at 10:45 am
Well Cambodia maybe more “free” for now, but with the discovery of oil, the curse of the oil riches has begun. I have read the “signature royalties” have already been paid……… to whom?
susmaryosep - May 7, 2007 at 1:11 pm
I think the press freedom ranking released by the Freedom House may be a good general guide in comparison not one necessarily bespeak of the inner quality of freedom of expression.
So it isn’t that earth-shakingly useable as a all pertinent comparison with S’pore. How many of us already is skeptical of frequent dry statistic so flaunted like that of the local CPI? Looking at it makes one imagine that inflation is hardly in existent. How wondrous.
What quality of press freedom does Bolehland have? Who question why is it that the malay MSM press has that greater propensity and freedom to be constantly racist in tone while others are not? How is it that they possess that license to do that while others do not? The quality of greater “press freedom” in Bolehland therefore is itself tainted vis a vis S’pore, e.g..
Similarly, in the international scene, why is the middle eastern press (or Bangla press, e.g.)convey that much hate speech while the US and Western media are comparatively constrained out of their (often Leftist influenced)MSM political correctness?
wits0 - May 7, 2007 at 7:01 pm
Have you ever watched the old Cowboy Westerns where a mob of enraged self-righteous people “seek to carry out justice” and conduct a public-square lynching? Change the time and place and a couple of names plus the props and put Hindraff in the plot as the chief evil black hoodlums. I wonder if it would make a good box-office hit?
It is a dangerous sign to monitor the current scenario and plot unfolding in the land of mainstream goverment controlled media. None of these media organisations has given Hindraf or its leaders an equal opprrtunity to present their views or to respond to the overwhelming tirade of accusations levelled against them. Instead, there has been a calculated, slanted and selective barrage of insinuations as well as maximum coverage on unsubstantiated allegations. Djs thought to have joined the march were fired from radio stations, a company with the same name lost its buisness license and the intensity of this momentum is liken to a massive vigilante.
* If sciologists were to evaluate the Barisan controlled-media’s turnspeak on Hindraf, it would be entitled “the lust to demonize.” It is almost impossible to conduct a meaningful dialogue with a media bound by a Printing Act leash dangling around its neck.
I am reminded of the statesman Dr Tan Chee Khoon, he was one of the few who had the capacity to speak for the downtroden without fear or favor, and that was in an era where the media was not emasculated. Certain government-controlled media have conveniently camoflouged the whole March and dissent as an incidious racial issue, and pre-judged it as a volatile attempt to stir unrest in the country.
It is a winding road often travelled, yet Malaysians are not as gullible as the establishment envisions it to be. All government newspapers are tools of state propaganda. Even a first-year Universiti Sains Malaysia student of journalism can tell us that. Even a padi farmer in Arau can preach that pertinent point to his children. Those who buy and read government-owned newspapers are news junkies subjecting themselves to Official Knowledge crafted to suit the need of the owners of the means of producing propaganda. However, it is interesting to monitor the scope of how far the media has become agents of the executive.
All government newspapers are used to skillfully silence and kill opposing viewpoints, albeit couched in some proclamation of free speech. It has been used to engineer risings, uprisings and downfalls. It has been bought and sold by those who have the means to buy and sell politicians.The same goes for the government-owned television stations. They are shapers of consciousness, they will condition those unwilling to unplug themselves from the propaganda of the regime, and uncritical citizens end up victims of the establishment agenda of racial and religous subjugation.
It is no secret to Malaysian that Malaysian Indians have been crushed for decades. The tarred roads they laboured over have almost become a painful reflection of their marginalisation, while others have long passed that road to acheive their dreams. For decades the community, their children and peoples continue to face the same cycle of poverty, discrimination and disenfranchisement.
The Indians have often stood with others in the cause of fighting against injustices, often to the point of losing the little finances they have. They have often walked championing the cause of emancipation for other minorities while losing their own, and often at the expsense of their own lives. Invariably, when Indians stand up for their own plight, they stand alone.This predicament after five decades of oppression will not get them any standing ovation, other than continued “Police prison lock up mystery deaths” and a stoic establishment silence. There is no just solution or determination to prosecute those who perpetrated brutal killings of their families in slums such as Kampong Medan.
Selective journalism has been with us long before the oldest profession. And it does exhibit its “assets” for maximum appeal. It amuses me to varying degrees of hilarity and sorrow as to how far some would go to legitamize their prejudice and religous bigotry against Malaysian Indians who have been marginalised. The Printing Press Act table could have had an adverse effect on institutionalised loyalty and allegiance. Rice bowl journalism however does create a dependence that is hard to disenggage from.
It is interesting to observe that none of the goverment-controlled media has dared to break ranks from the establishment leash or to feature an independent non-biased interview with Uthayakumar. On the contray they sought to seek some high profile exclusive interviews with both royal and common subjects on the road to deliver the goods.Invariably, the Hindraf march has been portrayed as one that is both seditious and militant in orientation. The issue of multiple deaths of Indians in prison or the Kampong Medan killings is avoided as it were a contagion.
So far none of the State owned media has taken Umno Youth keris waving politicians to task of inciting racial or religous sentiment. Threats of ethnic cleansing made by keris waving and flag burning are prominently highlighted by these media organizations, while the less influential minorities with little economic clout on the other hand are admonished and coerced to apologize for using their voices. In other words, the marginalised Malaysian Indians is only qualified to be the nation’s top candidate for the heaviest possible crush.
Should the marginalised Malaysian Indians and other minorities smile and politely nod and sing praises to the goverment’s “ketuanan Melayu” concept? It was and is being championed as an ethic of wholesome value, while any hint of protest against it will be construed as an anti-national threat to nation and security that will result a quick confrontation and deportation to Kamunting. Perhaps it is a silencing Malaysian Indians and other minorities will eventually be legislated “to get used to”. The subliminal reasoning postulated is that the non-bumis will eventually come around and embrace ketuanan Melayu just like a keris that is raised with “pantuns” and choruses that call for it to be bathed in blood. Are there any journalists left in the mainstream media with professional and journalistic chutzpah to critic such blatant racism?
Legitimate issues brought up by Hindraf should not be eclipsed by selective journalism or propaganda. None of the goverment-controlled media dared to report how the Police and FRU bulldozed the Batu Caves temple and shot chemical-laced water jets and tear gas into captive crowds. The establishment potrays all foreign media including the BBC and other independent news agencies as “enemies” united against the government. Such allegations will no longer influence or work against Malaysians who wish to get a balance and fair coverage of issues.
The local Press failed its readers and took their support for granted when they launched a tirade of unconfirmed “scoops” like the allegation that Hindraf members had attacked an Indian restaurant in Brickfields(Paandi). Even in their retraction (when the restaurant owners had confirmed that the report was false and that he had not spoken to any reporter or news agency), the Star failed to print a retraction. Sri Paandi Restaurant boss Mr Thomas and Mr Kumar denies making any allegation against Hindraf or to indicate that they were responsible for an attack by thugs at his restaurant. Nevertheless, Tv1, Tv2, Tv3 or NTV7, Bernama and The Malay Mail quoted that he did. Such media abuses and maneuvering will lead people to further distrust it. And the beat goes on.
In my opinion, Indians of various religous background and persuasions will stand with Hindraf for the following reasons:
Firstly, Hindraf has a legitimate right to speak out against the systematic ethnic cleansing of poor and marginalised Indians that has manifested over the past three decades. There is irrefutable evidence of this in the aspect of multiple deaths or “Police related lock-up deaths” and the involment of other personnel in carrying out such dastardly attacks. Uthayakumar himself has documented death threats against him and the destruction to his car and property over the years he has spent exposing these injustices
Secondly, Indians of other religous and ethnic persuasions have witnessed similar violations against them, the destruction of churches and property including the removal of crosses and statues in Christian schools and Convents as well as attacks against the Orang Asli in the interior. There is documented evidence of these and other violations and the goverment must demonstrate sincerity in its claim to openess to executing justice for these oppressed groups.
Thirdly, the current MIC leadership has failed to bring economic, social or cultural emancipation to the community. There needs to be a new impetus and reformation in seeking development and breakthrough for the community. Investigate and make public the real culprits who attacked and killed the 5 Indians and injured over 100 others in the Kampong Medan racial attacks tragedy from March 8th 2001 to March 22nd March 2001.
Malaysians owe themselves the duty to investigate the 1,000 over police reports against the various authorities for the shoot to kill of hundreds of suspects and the mysterious deaths of hundreds in police custody (60% estimated to be Indians who only from 8% of the population). Hundreds of Indian “suspects unlawfully arrested, detained, beaten-up and tortured, hundreds of hindu temples demolished at the rate of one hindu temple in every three weeks and scores of hindu temples forced to relocate next to sewerage tanks.
Investigate the unreported information on Hindraf’s letters,(over one thousand), memorandums, appeals protest notes scores of Civil Suits to the Prime Minister Ministers, Attorney General, Inspector General of Police, Chief Ministers and the other Malaysian authorities. Detailed reports on racism, marginalization and captive colonialism of the Indians in Malaysia.
Hindraf’s track record of legal and peaceful struggle is irrefutable and the campaign to mislead the Malaysian public that it has links to terrorits groups is a pernicious political ploy to divert attention of these continued injustices and violations. This continued media demonization of Hindraf is counterproductive and serves only to promote the narrow racist policies. Fear and intimidation should not be the motivation in dealing with greviances of any community. Is the promise given by Prime Minister to hear the truth even if it hurts still valid?
When media control becomes interlocked with political parties and business interests, the selling of lies and half-truths become more savvy, sophisticated and salivating. The story of poverty and why people become poor will not be told – the truth will hurt and bring governments down.
We are all, in our own way, turning into journalists telling our own truth. In my definition truth is an objective verifiable criteria independent of viewpoint or consensus. Why independent of a goverment-controlled media? Because true non-selective journalism conforms to the constitution of reality, and a knowledge of things as they are. The people is entitle to that.
We no longer need a media that present us with half-truths. We need our cell-phone cameras, our blogs, and our will to speak truth without apology. The fast rate of Internet penetration in Malaysia will see the proliferation of ‘citizen journalists and commentators’ who will continue to exercise their rights to free speech. Nothing can stop the bloggers from providing alternative truths or truths that matter. It is pivotal that other communities stand with Hindraf in their struggle to liberate the Indian community from its captive status.
When one chooses to remains silent when a minority is being crushed, it may reap silence when if falls on them. Now is the time to make the choice to use your voice.
mindonn - December 12, 2007 at 1:04 am
Malaysians need to be grateful to have great supply of food, natural resources and no natural calamity in the country.
Iklan Malaysia - January 16, 2009 at 4:08 pm