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Utusan Malaysia says normal for corruption witnesses to commit suicide

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. Continue reading “Utusan Malaysia says normal for corruption witnesses to commit suicide”

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Utusan defends MACC, holds DAP responsible for Teoh’s death

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. Continue reading “Utusan defends MACC, holds DAP responsible for Teoh’s death”

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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. Continue reading “Press bosses to silently protest against Putrajaya’s media council plan”

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Kit Siang labels Najib, Hisham ‘instant jokes’ over Economist black-out

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 . Continue reading “Kit Siang labels Najib, Hisham ‘instant jokes’ over Economist black-out”

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Putrajaya, the days of censorship are over

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.
Continue reading “Putrajaya, the days of censorship are over”

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Kit Siang to Hisham: How about NST, Berita Harian?

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”.
Continue reading “Kit Siang to Hisham: How about NST, Berita Harian?”

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‘Economist’ report on Bersih rally ‘censored’

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.
Continue reading “‘Economist’ report on Bersih rally ‘censored’”

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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).
Continue reading “Doctored 709 photo — who’s responsible?”

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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.
Continue reading “I did not bring knife to demo, says protester”

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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!’ Continue reading “One event, many ‘truths’”

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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. Continue reading “Why did the police do what they did?”

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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. Continue reading “The elephant in the (news)room”

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Ten conditions for Umno

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. Continue reading “Ten conditions for Umno”

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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. Continue reading “Taking people for fools”

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Media organisation condemns rally and police

By Athi Shankar
July 3, 2011 | Free Malaysia Today

GEORGE TOWN: The assault on newsmen during Friday’s violent rally and the police inaction to stop it had irked the Penang Chinese Journalists and Photographers Association (Pewaju).

In a strongly worded statement here, Pewaju condemned the unprovoked attacks on a journalist, a photographer and a videographer by the protestors during violent and illegal rallies in George Town downtown and on Penang Bridge.

The rallies were against the Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng’s Pakatan Rakyat state government and next Saturday’s Bersih 2.0 rally. Continue reading “Media organisation condemns rally and police”

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TV, radio told to demonise Bersih rally

By Lee Way Loon
Jul 1, 11 | MalaysiaKini

With the Bersih 2.0 rally just around the corner, the authorities have launched a media campaign to label the rally as an illegal gathering to the extent that TV stations are required to submit daily reports detailing their news coverage on the rally.

Malaysiakini learnt that the Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission (MCMC), which oversees all private TV and radio stations, has directed the broadcasters to state the number and content of news related to Bersih in their reports. Continue reading “TV, radio told to demonise Bersih rally”

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Private broadcasters told to ignore Bersih, warn people against protests

By Jahabar Sadiq, Editor | June 30, 2011
The Malaysian Insider

KUALA LUMPUR, June 30 — The Najib administration has warned private broadcasters against mentioning the planned Bersih rally or the protest date but wants them to warn people against taking to the streets to ask for free and fair elections, media executives say.

The Malaysian Insider understands that the Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission (MCMC) called in media executives in the past week to inform them of the new regulations apart from Home Minister Datuk Seri Hishammuddin Hussein declaring Bersih T-shirts as illegal.

“We can’t mention Bersih, the July 9 date for the rally in our broadcasts but we must warn people against demonstrating. How to do that?” a senior media executive asked The Malaysian Insider.
Continue reading “Private broadcasters told to ignore Bersih, warn people against protests”

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Dr M blames press for worsening race relations

By Shannon Teoh | June 23, 2011
The Malaysian Insider

KUALA LUMPUR, June 23 — Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad blamed press freedom today for poor race relations which, he claimed, had worsened since he stepped down as prime minister in 2003.

He said that this was because press freedom has allowed racial and religious tension to ferment in Malaysia.

“Those days we didn’t talk so much about race, showing disrespect to others. Today we talk about race and religion, putting a wedge between the different races.

“Race relations today are not as good as when ‘a dictator of 22 years’ was leading the country,” the former prime minister told a forum of chief executives today.
Continue reading “Dr M blames press for worsening race relations”

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Chun Wai should not be blamed

By bujai | June 22, 2011

The readers’ poll on ‘Bersih 2.0’ which was carried by The Star newspaper drew mixed reactions from politicians, the media and blog writers. Some said it was tantamount to The Star throwing its full support for the planned rally next month while others described it as an immodesty.

To accuse The Star editorial team as being ignoramous and not sensitive to the sentiments caused by Bersih 2.0 is also not proper as the newspaper is professionally-led. However, professionals do err once in a while.

But to accuse The Star of committing an enormity is a bit overboard. If we expect the government, especially the Home Ministry to take a relentless action against the publication, we should may as well recap what other papers have done in the past few months. I personally believe what Utusan Malaysia did about two months ago was of ‘equal’ to that of The Star.
Continue reading “Chun Wai should not be blamed”

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Blogger warns Chinese away from Bersih

By Clara Chooi
The Malaysian Insider
Jun 21, 2011

KUALA LUMPUR, June 21 — After a similar threat from Perkasa’s Datuk Ibrahim Ali Sunday, the Chinese community was yesterday warned against participating in next month’s Bersih rally via an email thread making its rounds to several media organisations here.

The email, sent by a self-proclaimed nationalist and blogger with the pseudonym “Panglima Perang Cyber” (cyber war commander), came with an attached video found on Youtube.com of the infamous May 1998 racial riots in Indonesia that caused the deaths of hundreds.

“Are the Chinese in Malaysia willing to accept the same fate as their brethren in Indonesia if our country goes into chaos?

“So let us 1 Malaysia Malay, Chinese and Indians reject the Bersih demonstration for the good of our grandchildren. Watch the video below,” the email read. Continue reading “Blogger warns Chinese away from Bersih”