Posted on by Kit

Time for press freedom reform – although 8 years late

The Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi, should embrace press freedom reform to ensure that the reform measures he has announced on the judiciary and anti-corruption are meaningful and sustainable.

Without a fair and independent media, no reform measures whether to restore public confidence in the independence, impartiality and quality of the judiciary or an all-out battle against corruption can succeed.

When Abdullah first became Home Minister eight years ago, he was presented with a memorandum by Malaysian journalists calling for press freedom reform. He had at that time promised to study the memorandum but nothing has come out of it so far.

The March 8 political tsunami should be a salutary lesson to the Prime Minister that it is time that he embrace press freedom reform although it is eight years late.

The latest press ranking for Malaysia being placed at 141 in the Freedom House survey report on Global Media is another adverse international verdict on the state of the media in Malaysia. Abdullah should use the World Press Freedom Day this year to announce bold measures on press freedom reform especially an end to the annual newspaper licensing requirement as well as the repeal of the Printing Presses and Publications Act.

40 Replies to “Time for press freedom reform – although 8 years late”

  2. AAB made it clear and has confessed to controlling the media and radio stations when BN lost the elections, telling the people he had controlled these two channels of information but had neglected controlling the web. So what freedom of the press can there be? Everything we read in the papers has been “filtered” to suit the needs of the government and the suspension of the licence for the Tamil newspapers recently is solid evidence.

    So how do you think AAB should reform freedom of the press????

  3. what can we see today, controlling the media alone cannot guarantee the mastermind behind it…just see what happen in the recent 8/3 tsunami…its not that he fail to control the web…the truth is that web cannot be controled…even by circulating information in the web alone can cause a big impact on the political landscape as what happened in the recent GE..nowadays the younger generation are better of in term of knowledge and education..so its not easy to sweep away the people’s mind in term of specific method(mass media)

  4. Half a century had passed since independence and we are still facing government controlled press.The advent of the net had made the printed press a second choice.The old and the net feared citizens are the ones who still relish the papers and so government does not play a part in influencing the young.A free press is educative and puts the points in its way of swaying the thoughts.Only a free press will assure the stability of a government ,anything less will give rise to corruption and nepotism.Abdullah should not hesitate to free the press and the media and so gain another milestone in the history of the country.

  5. Any government which has a Printing Presses and Publications Act, can shout at the top of its voice that it has press freedom, no one is going to believe it! Why do you think Mahathir has always find this an albatross around his neck, all these years?

  7. All of us know a true press freedom will not happen under the governance of these arragont axxxxles. However, treat this as one of the many reasons to wipe them out entirely including ISA, AUKU, Corruption, Racism, etc. Instead of praying for falling rice from the sky, let us all get dirty on the padi fields. Get things done in the right way and not to waste energy and time. The biggest mistake is spoiling the leaders by granting them votes even if they misbehave, cheat, and commit crimes. Some of them will apologize and thinking that they could get away while the arragont ones would not even give a damn of what the people think.

    So, let us show these arragont bxstxxxs our true colours in the next GE. To KS, I thank you for fighting the enemies in the front line for such a long time. To RPK, I salute you for your great courage in the face of the evil. To Altantuya, please rest in peace…

  10. I don’t believe in Printing Press Freedom – is will never be absolutely free here; and it has not been free even before 8-yrs back!

    But I truly believe in Internet Press Freedom. We don’t need any newspapers, TV, Radio or hard-copy Election Posters being hung everywhere.

    Just the e-media will do.

  11. On last week’s TV programme, Hamit Elba said Malaysia had already had plenty of room for press freedom despite being reminded by Zainon Ahmad that the nasty Printing Presses and Publications Act still existed. If what Hamit Elba said were true, why Malaysia’s 2008 press freedom ranking is still being placed within the “NOT FREE” category, i.e. 141 out of 195 countries. Obviously Hamit Elba did not know what he was talking.

    Sad to say that PL has chosen the wrong guy for the job and it will cost PL’s premiership.

    Other more economically developed countries in the region have the following rankings:

    Taiwan – 32
    Japan – 35
    Hong Kong – 67
    South Korea – 67

    Malaysia is way behind them!

  12. let’s correct this perception once and for all. The Internet is NOT ONLY for the younger generation nor is it for the urban educated group. We are seeing an ever and constant increase in BM and Chinese language postings, plus lots of people writing in who clearly lacks the polished language of an educated person. Thanks to competition, Internet access is becoming more widespread … maybe not enough, but getting there.

  13. “The Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi, should embrace press freedom reform to ensure that the reform measures he has announced on the judiciary and anti-corruption are meaningful and sustainable.”

    The Prime Minister should embrace a lot of things, and chief among that he should embrace the truth.

  15. Press freedom reform? – Oh! what a big lump in the throat for the government of the day. I believed that such thought is still out of their reach. It is always so difficult to take the first positive move. Like the live telecast coverage for parliament sitting, it is not something that happened out of the blue. The idea to have it take ages to materialize. The government is always worries of the negative impacts and the first parliament live telecast produced thousand and one comments. But I do believe that day will come where Malaysia will have reporters without borders, bloggers without borders, etc, etc,. If BN can’t do it – wait for PR to do it.

  16. 8 years ago is a different story, now after 8th March political tsunami, the government is already reviewing the practice of regulating newspapers through an annual printing permit application via Printing Press Publication Act (“PPPA”). As similar with other issues, many government/BN leaders post March 8th recognize the need to reinvent (for their own survival) but views and approach are divided between those including the PM more proactive on this reform agenda, others not so and some (wishing the old order) adamantly against. Whatever, the time is right now for Civil Society and Opposition to now press – and the chances of it happening are now more than ever increased and better – for the amendment or repeal of the PPPA campaigned by media watchdog Centre of Independent Journalism (CIJ) and supported by our media editors and Union of Journalist (NUJ) which also equally campaign and support the enactment of its corollary the Freedom of Information Act.

  17. This much is however clear:

    1. amendment or repeal of the PPPA is a positive signal by govt that it is willing post March 8th to liberalise to meet rakyat’s demands but it does not necessarily translate immediately to more press freedom (except perhaps by a notch more) because (a) mainstream media organizations are ultimately owned by either BN component parties or business owners having close ties and supportive of it who of course have the strongest influence still in appointing their editors and dictating their editorial policies (b) the regulatory regime covered by normal laws relating to defamation, sedition, official secrets etc are already in place and more than abundantly adequate to punish anyone who wields the press freedom either irresponsibly or in manner unacceptable to the ruling govt leaders. So press freedom & degree of tolerance has more to do with mindsets of these people than just laws and regulations.

    2. Whilst Press liberalization is advanced by both amendment/repeal of PPPA and its corollary the enactment of Freedom of Information Act (“FIA”), if the govt accepts the first it will not mean it equally accepts (at this or any other time) the second. This is because FIA implies severe curtailment if not repeal of the Official Secrets Act (“OSA”). For the OSA protects government’s secrecy. It protects govt decision makers from public challenge, insulates their policies from criticism and legal action, conceals mistakes or the arbitrary exercise of power, allows government to pursue objectives even if they do not get public support and avoids pressure for action which the government wishes to resist……all necessary prerequisite for the patronage and largesse – the heart and reason for existence of BN’s political system – to subsist.

    3. Increasingly more govt leaders including the PM will be receptive to consider the amendment or repeal of PPPA because (a) they would look good (reformasi seems the fashion of the day) to the rakyat as if they are “re-inventing”; on the other hand they are not giving away their ace by such a move because political tsunami of 8th March shows that even with PPPA in place, the mainstream media could not do its job of protecting support for BN, and lastly as stated in 1(b) above, when push comes to shove, our other existing laws, even with the repeal of PPPA, are sufficient to hold to account irresponsible journalists/writers or those whose manner of exercise of freedom of press is unacceptable to the Powers-That-Be. (Already Home Minister Syed Hamid Albar already made suggestion, likely at Pak Lah’s prompting, Koh Tsu Koon supports it, most important media chiefs (appointed by ruling coalition) also support am,endment/repeal of PPPA.
    On rakyat’s part its a victory of sotrts because it is one more institutional reform to pave the way to nudging towards a more open society.

  18. There is no genuine press freedom. When you read the newspaper, which party is reported first ? The Barisan Nasional and all its’ good deeds. The news from the Pakatan Rakyat is found in some tiny column at the corner of the newspaper. The newspaper should have two columns for comparison; one for the BN and one for the PR ( Pakatan Rakyat ) so that the public would come up with their own conclusions.

  19. It is selfish of the government to shut out alternative information from the rakyat just because it wants to make sure the rakyat is not influenced by the opposition. I think it is unwise to do that in this age of globalization and intense international competition. If one examines carefully, it is not difficult to see that most of the advanced countries have very high degree of press freedom (e.g. 1st for Finland) as opposed to underdeveloped countries (e.g. 194th for Burma).

    The rakyat need alternative views and opinions to develop their thinking and sharpen their judgment so as to make the right decision which they perceive is best for them. If the free flow of information is blocked or obstructed, the rakyat will not be able to FULLY develop their thinking capacity and polish their judgment skills; as a result, they will lag behind their counterparts in advanced countries. Surely, we don’t want a developed Malaysia in which its rakyat have less than satisfactory thinking capacity and judgment skills.

    Perhaps the government is worried that once the rakyat become “smart” in their thinking and judgment (due to exposure to alternative views and opinions), there will be revolts and demonstrations in the country everyday. I think such fear is unwarranted as I do not see this happening in advanced countries.

    Just look at our wealthy neighbour with a GDP (PPP) per capita of USD51,829 (surpassing that of the US), yet its press freedom ranks only 153th out of 195 countries – what a waste! I believe that due to the lack of alternative reference media in that country, its people’s thinking power lags behind that of many western countries.

  20. YB Lim Kit Siang.

    On Press Freedom. may i post this report from NST (Prime News) dated 4th May 2008.

    That The Royal Malay Regiment (RMR) “invades” the Palace.

    Actually, it is Buckingham Palace in London, where HRH Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II resides.

    Their duties would also include Windsor castle and St. James Palace. makes me miss my days in UK.

    i am very confused here.

    1) what have this elite Ist battalion got to do with Buckingham Palace. and GUARDING Buckingham Palace ?

    2) i thought we need every man /wowen of the police, army to help to make Malaysia, MY COUNTRY, my home SAFE . AND ALL MALAYSIANS TOO. plus tourists and investors.

    3) when Hindraf made an appeal to HRH Her Majesty The Queen,they were deem unpatriotic.

    Maybe it is Diplomacy or as the Defence Attache said ” two months stint in London” .

    thank you for a prompt reply.

  21. Talking about press freedom, I am surprised that these days, The Star has more coverage on Pakatan Rakyat. I used to think that it is owned by MCA. Well, it’s a good start.

  24. What press freedom can we have if they can buy over not only the newspaper but the whole group when they feel threatened! That was the case with Nanyang those days when MCA bought it over, make a mess out of it, lost several millions and then give up!!!!!

  25. Advances in IT will force press freedom upon the govt. I think they really have no choice given the realities of the world now. This is the only way forward. If the govt continues to insist on controlling the local media, then it would only make them look silly.

    There is no way the ruling party can control all the medias they want because we are now in a borderless information world. We have the internet, the mobile phones and and all sorts of gadgets that relay news and messages at the blink of an eye.

    I agree with Raja Petra, our mainstream newspapers like The Star and Utusan and other local papers are now the alternative media and not the internet simply because the rakyat knows that these local papers carry engineered and filtered news.

  26. PL think, think, think! Study carefully the motivation of the “inventor” of the Printing Presses and Publications Act. Check if the Act was created for the “inventor”s self-gratification, to secure his position or really for the good of UMNO and the country.

    If the Act was created merely to secure the “inventor”s position, then repeal it and throw it out of the window!

    PL be smart, don’t treat everything you inherited from your predecessor like golden pearls ‘coz some of them were created for his personal gain and to secure his own position and not really for the good of the nation!

  27. Time for press freedom, time to free the judiciary, time to free the Police, time to free the AG’s Chambers. Free them from political interference. Time to put the thieves behind bars.

  32. Did someone say press freedom in malaysia?

    Ha ha ha ha. Hi hi hi ha ha hi hi ha.

    Sorry.

    I mean ha ha ha.

    It’s hi hi ha ha.

    Well ha ha you see its hi hi ha ha.

    But not ha ha hi hi ha.

    Huh? @#*&^%1b(UF><?

    But I am on the net now. Am I not?

    Wew.

    At least I can pen a sentence or two.

    The net is an altogether different media because it did not begin its life as a medium of mass media.

    It’s original aim was to transmit data and share data.

    Then it became a tool for people to communicate with one another.

    Then it caught on big time and big way (thanks to the inventor of WWW) and because of its extensive reach, it acquired the critical characteristic of mass media – dissemination of info to the masses.

    But it is more powerful than the print media.

    Anyone interested can participate and contribute.

    Anyone concerned can post a response.

    Its quick and simple and almost zero costs.

    The net has a life of its own.

    Wow. Think about it. Who need the print media.

    Older folks maybe. Those who are financially less able maybe. Those who has a phobia for computers maybe.

    But category of ‘maybe’ will certainly shrink over time.

    The print media will have to content themselves with a dwindling pool of readers.

    Need we worry about Printing Press Act?

    Maybe not.

  33. Do we actually need newspaper? it cut down the trees, weaken the ecology. Worst of all, it’s used mainly for political propoganda rather than helping the society by providing more job opportunity, creating more values, and giving more choices to the people.

    If u go Canada or US, there’s so many choices of products, even go Singapore, there’s alot of info pertaining to the world today, and many more resourceful news rather than local BN govt. political news. Why do we need to pay for RUBBISH? Beside the BN govt. lies there not much u can find in there.

    Internet is much better. The Star cost RM 1.20 on weekdays and RM 1.50 on weekend, a decent streamyx cost RM 3.30 per day.

    There should be virtual press from the opposition state. This will cut down the cost to set up printing company. All u need to appoint a good editor to stay at star buck or coffeebean or anywhere comfortable to review and put up the info.

  34. PL take note. While you are PM, the Printing Presses and Publications Act works in your favor, but AGAINST you after you leave office.

    Knowing your days as PM are numbered, quickly get the Act repealed to make way for your future comeback after leaving office. Don’t be like you predecessor who complained of “no press freedom” after leaving office – it will be too late then!

  35. Even if press freedom is given ,it will not mean much.Because all the main stream papers belongs to BN parties.News will still be self censored and all news will be onesided.Even the SUN PAPER which now belongs to Vincent Tan,Was pro BN during election time.

    RTM and BERNAMA which belong to the goverment will surely be used for Goverment proparganda.We have quite a few opposition papers in the market but they are all in BAHASA MALYSIA.If you read this this papers ,they have nothing good to say about the BN GOVERMENT.

  36. “they have nothing good to say about the BN GOVERMENT”

    First of all it is funded by Malaysian who support democratic. Secondly, BN leader is weak, unable to react to vast majority of Malaysian. Malaysian are been denied the right to compete against strong country like China, India, Vietnam, Laos, Cambodia, Thailand, and Indonesia.

  37. Try do a survey during weekend at shopping mall:-

    In the survey,

    Name 10 things BN government have done that benefit you and your family?

    You can buy some gift e.g. chocolates, candy, voucher after completing the survey at shopping mall then reward them.

    See how many Malaysian can name the 10 things.

    BN government “SKs”

  38. In my opinion, the media should regulate themselves of what they write, it is also their responsibilty because of course, these information are for the masses, which also include youths and minors. With the yearly licensing that these media have to abide to, this was how they have been operating as they were when Mahathir was the PM. Do remember, in 1987 he banned The Star during the infamous operasi lalang.

    As for Abdullah now, I am sure he is recognising the need to open up the media in malaysia. And saying that, the next step would be the removal of the annual press licencing.

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