NST: Dr. M urges bloggers to tell the truthI was there at the B.U.M. 2009 meet where Tun Dr Mahathir spoke for more than half-an-hour and answered questions posed by the floor for another half-hour.
That was not the essence of Tun's speech. The key points of Tun Mahathir's speech is the paradigm shift from Fourth Estate to Fifth Estate - the coming of Internet revolution and the impact of blogging. Of course Tun did make a point that bloggers must write based on facts, and not fictions. Tun highlighted that the fact that the newspapers are losing out to the internet news and that the newspapers must now evolve.
That was not the essence of Tun's speech. The key points of Tun Mahathir's speech is the paradigm shift from Fourth Estate to Fifth Estate - the coming of Internet revolution and the impact of blogging. Of course Tun did make a point that bloggers must write based on facts, and not fictions. Tun highlighted that the fact that the newspapers are losing out to the internet news and that the newspapers must now evolve.
If you read the news at NST there was nothing that was written except the emphasis on the captioned title. I intentionally stood near the main stream reporters when Tun spoke to see what they scribbled and I observed that they wrote very little on their small note pad. I wanted to observe what these reporters would write in their notepad and it amazed me that they have so little to write when Tun spoke so much. And, the ultimate news that appeared in the newspaper were the part that is so insignificant.
After reading the NST I went online to read Malaysiakini. That was exactly what Tun Mahathir spoke. I culled it here for those who do not have Malaysiakini accounts to read the exact words from Mahathir:
[Quote]
Dr M 'blames' editors for self-censorship
Rahmah Ghazali | May 16, 09 9:37pm
Former prime minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad has denied that during his long tenure as prime minister, he had imposed censorship on the mainstream media.
In his 30-minute speech at the Bloggers United Malaysia (BUM) dialogue in Subang Jaya this evening, Mahathir said the media self-censored itself because it tried to 'second guess' what government leaders want.
According to the 84-year-old politician turned blogger, there were a lot of praises made during his time as prime minister “except for vernacular papers or party organ papers which were quite criticial” of him.
“But mainstream media such as New Straits Times or Utusan Malaysia sort of second guessed what kind of things they want to print (about the leaders). Sometimes they were wrong,” he said.
He claimed that the situation became worse after he stepped down when the press practised self-censorship more extensively.
He blamed this on former New Straits Times group editor-in-chief Kalimullah Hassan, a known loyalist of Mahathir's successor, Abdullah Ahmad Badawi. (Note: Mahathir did not say the name Kalimullah; he said the man whose name is an Indian God and a Muslim Mullah)
“He would do this (self-censorship) in whatever you report and it went on very quietly. The press never complained and gave the impression that there was no interference, but there was,” argued Mahathir.
According to him, blogging could get around media censorship because “government control (of the Internet) is just impossible”.
Although the Multimedia Super Corridor (MSC) promised not to censor the Internet, Mahathir said a simple code of ethics should be agreed by the bloggers in “sticking to the facts”. (Note: This is exactly what Mahathir said pertaining to the ethics of bloggers)
The former premier argued that blogging could eventually displace the traditional media and other electronic media completely. (Note: This is the key point of Mahathir's speech)
With the number of bloggers growing everyday, Mahathir noted that it would be very frustrating for the government of the day to “play hide and seek” with them when it comes to censorship.
“Because there is nothing to stop him (the blogger) from setting up another blog... the only thing I’m glad is that I’m no longer the PM (to take care of this) so to the government of the day, I wish them luck,” he quipped. (Note: Yes, this is what Mahathir said)
Mahathir had been accused of imposing self-censorship on the media in his two decades as prime minister, especially during the infamous Operasi Lalang in 1987 when the police cracked down on opposition leaders and social activists.
The operation saw the arrest of 106 persons under the Internal Security Act (ISA) and the revocation of the publishing licences of three dailies - The Star, Sin Chew Jit Poh and Watan.
However, said Mahathir, he had nothing to do with it as they never stopped the papers from saying "nasty things" about him.
“There were accusations thrown at me, saying that I was worse during my time. But I would like to say that newspaper editors are very sensitive people especially those in mainstream media.
“They self-censor because they believed I would not like (what they report) and that I would object - that was all. Other papers said nasty things about me but I never stopped them,” said Mahathir.
He further justified the ISA crackdown because "the situation was moving towards (racial riots of May 13) 1969".
“It was increasing to a point that Umno wanted to have 500,000 people to show their strength and I thought it would escalate, that was why we had to take action,” he said. (Note: Yes, this is what Mahathir said)
Moreover, Mahathir apparently laid the blame on those in charge of security - the police.
“If I had told them not to, they would soon feel that I was not very supportive. The police have the guns and the power, and we don’t. When managing people with guns, you have to be very careful,” he said. (Note: Yes, this is exactly what Mahathir said)
At a press conference later, Mahathir also expressed his disappointment towards the mainstream papers and that he himself has “stopped reading the New Straits Times”. (Note: I am not sure he said this. It could be, but I have to listen to the speech that was taped by my friend)
To back his claims that the media have been practising self-censorship, he said he was “gagged by the media completely during his successor’s tenure, that of Abdullah Ahmad Badawi”. (Note: Yes, this is what he said)
The owner of a million-hit blog called Chedet, Mahathir said that he was “treated something like a pariah” as he was cut off completely by members of government even though some of them were appointed by him. (Note: Yes, he said it - he was made a Pariah)
In his speech earlier, Mahathir recollected the events which led him to take up blogging exactly a year ago.
“I had at least 14 invitations from Umno members to give a talk but these people were later told to withdraw their invitations, which they did.
"So I was cut off from being able to give my views even to members of my own party,” he said.
Mahathir also put the blame on Abdullah for “erasing the existence of the previous PM who had appointed him” instead of being “slightly grateful to his predecessor”.
“But strangely, the moment the new PM took over, he seemed to think that he needed to erase the existence of the previous PM.
“Soon after that, I was cut off from the press... reporters were not allowed to interview me... and they were not allowed to print anything I said,” said Mahathir.
Gagging a politician from talking is not a good idea, added Mahathir, because “we politicians like to talk”.
“You can kill a politician by preventing him from talking... I have a big mouth so I use it quite often,” said Mahathir to the laughter from the 200-strong crowd.
He said it was not until 2008 - four years after he stepped down - that he had to resort to blogging.
Mahathir revealed he had trepiditon taking up blogging as he thought he might not be able to handle criticism.
“I was afraid that I couldn’t handle some nasty comments thrown at me and scared that I could not reply to all of them... it is a torture. I hesitated for quite a long time until I (started to) blog,” said Mahathir.
In his 30-minute speech at the Bloggers United Malaysia (BUM) dialogue in Subang Jaya this evening, Mahathir said the media self-censored itself because it tried to 'second guess' what government leaders want.
According to the 84-year-old politician turned blogger, there were a lot of praises made during his time as prime minister “except for vernacular papers or party organ papers which were quite criticial” of him.
“But mainstream media such as New Straits Times or Utusan Malaysia sort of second guessed what kind of things they want to print (about the leaders). Sometimes they were wrong,” he said.
He claimed that the situation became worse after he stepped down when the press practised self-censorship more extensively.
He blamed this on former New Straits Times group editor-in-chief Kalimullah Hassan, a known loyalist of Mahathir's successor, Abdullah Ahmad Badawi. (Note: Mahathir did not say the name Kalimullah; he said the man whose name is an Indian God and a Muslim Mullah)
“He would do this (self-censorship) in whatever you report and it went on very quietly. The press never complained and gave the impression that there was no interference, but there was,” argued Mahathir.
According to him, blogging could get around media censorship because “government control (of the Internet) is just impossible”.
Although the Multimedia Super Corridor (MSC) promised not to censor the Internet, Mahathir said a simple code of ethics should be agreed by the bloggers in “sticking to the facts”. (Note: This is exactly what Mahathir said pertaining to the ethics of bloggers)
The former premier argued that blogging could eventually displace the traditional media and other electronic media completely. (Note: This is the key point of Mahathir's speech)
With the number of bloggers growing everyday, Mahathir noted that it would be very frustrating for the government of the day to “play hide and seek” with them when it comes to censorship.
“Because there is nothing to stop him (the blogger) from setting up another blog... the only thing I’m glad is that I’m no longer the PM (to take care of this) so to the government of the day, I wish them luck,” he quipped. (Note: Yes, this is what Mahathir said)
Mahathir had been accused of imposing self-censorship on the media in his two decades as prime minister, especially during the infamous Operasi Lalang in 1987 when the police cracked down on opposition leaders and social activists.
The operation saw the arrest of 106 persons under the Internal Security Act (ISA) and the revocation of the publishing licences of three dailies - The Star, Sin Chew Jit Poh and Watan.
However, said Mahathir, he had nothing to do with it as they never stopped the papers from saying "nasty things" about him.
“There were accusations thrown at me, saying that I was worse during my time. But I would like to say that newspaper editors are very sensitive people especially those in mainstream media.
“They self-censor because they believed I would not like (what they report) and that I would object - that was all. Other papers said nasty things about me but I never stopped them,” said Mahathir.
He further justified the ISA crackdown because "the situation was moving towards (racial riots of May 13) 1969".
“It was increasing to a point that Umno wanted to have 500,000 people to show their strength and I thought it would escalate, that was why we had to take action,” he said. (Note: Yes, this is what Mahathir said)
Moreover, Mahathir apparently laid the blame on those in charge of security - the police.
“If I had told them not to, they would soon feel that I was not very supportive. The police have the guns and the power, and we don’t. When managing people with guns, you have to be very careful,” he said. (Note: Yes, this is exactly what Mahathir said)
At a press conference later, Mahathir also expressed his disappointment towards the mainstream papers and that he himself has “stopped reading the New Straits Times”. (Note: I am not sure he said this. It could be, but I have to listen to the speech that was taped by my friend)
To back his claims that the media have been practising self-censorship, he said he was “gagged by the media completely during his successor’s tenure, that of Abdullah Ahmad Badawi”. (Note: Yes, this is what he said)
The owner of a million-hit blog called Chedet, Mahathir said that he was “treated something like a pariah” as he was cut off completely by members of government even though some of them were appointed by him. (Note: Yes, he said it - he was made a Pariah)
In his speech earlier, Mahathir recollected the events which led him to take up blogging exactly a year ago.
“I had at least 14 invitations from Umno members to give a talk but these people were later told to withdraw their invitations, which they did.
"So I was cut off from being able to give my views even to members of my own party,” he said.
Mahathir also put the blame on Abdullah for “erasing the existence of the previous PM who had appointed him” instead of being “slightly grateful to his predecessor”.
“But strangely, the moment the new PM took over, he seemed to think that he needed to erase the existence of the previous PM.
“Soon after that, I was cut off from the press... reporters were not allowed to interview me... and they were not allowed to print anything I said,” said Mahathir.
Gagging a politician from talking is not a good idea, added Mahathir, because “we politicians like to talk”.
“You can kill a politician by preventing him from talking... I have a big mouth so I use it quite often,” said Mahathir to the laughter from the 200-strong crowd.
He said it was not until 2008 - four years after he stepped down - that he had to resort to blogging.
Mahathir revealed he had trepiditon taking up blogging as he thought he might not be able to handle criticism.
“I was afraid that I couldn’t handle some nasty comments thrown at me and scared that I could not reply to all of them... it is a torture. I hesitated for quite a long time until I (started to) blog,” said Mahathir.
[unquote]
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I can attest that what was published at Malaysiakini.com was 99% correct and factual.
***************
Source: Malaysiakini.com
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6 comments:
Dr. M urges bloggers to tell the truth. Yeah, and then get your pants sued off, for example RPK, Jeff Ooi and Rocky
"In 1977, having acquired substantial shares in The Star, a Penang-based newspaper, Abdul Rahman became the newspaper's Chairman. His columns, "Looking Back" and "As I See It", were critical of the government, and in 1987 Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad banned the newspaper. This led to a split in UMNO, with Abdul Rahman and another former Prime Minister, Tun Hussein Onn, setting up a new party called UMNO Malaysia, but its registration was quashed by Mahathir Mohamad, who set up his own UMNO Baru ("New UMNO"). Abdul Rahman later supported Semangat 46, a splinter group of UMNO led by Tengku Razaleigh Hamzah. He campaigned actively for the latter in the General election of 1990, but was already in very poor health. The well-educated, visionary Tunku could barely contain his contempt for Mahathir's brash nationalism (i.e. Ketuanan Melayu) that went totally against the Rukun Negara and brought about serious racial segregation. He was a pillar of staunch opposition until his death in 1990." in full text herefor those who choose to remember selectively, there are archives which help the masses keep in the straight and narrow. thank goodness there is history, otherwise, all will be forgotten,...
"In any case, the incident provided Mahathir's government with the excuse to further tighten the executive stranglehold on politics.[citation needed]. In the following year, the Printing Presses and Publications Act was amended so that it would be more difficult for printers and publishers to retain printing licenses eliminating the renewal process. They would have to annually re-apply. In addition if any license is revoked, it could not be challenged in court. A prison term was added for publication of false news, jail sentence for up to three years.
The leading Malaysian English daily, The Star, was closed down for a few months. In the weeks prior to Operation Lalang, The Star had continuously provided transparent news coverage about the Opposition's point of view. This constituted treason as far as the government was concerned, and they were shut down under Malaysia's repressive sedition laws. The Star resumed publication months later under new management that was installed by UMNO. Most of the previous staff were laid off or otherwise threatened with prison and ISA. From that point onwards, The Star, as well as many other media outlets in Malaysia, became government-controlled mouthpieces with an obvious pro-government slant. These media outlets were also noticeably whitewashing all of the UMNO government's wrongdoings and corruption. All the cover-up and whitewashing by the mass media became more obvious towards the late-90's, when another power struggle within UMNO (the Mahathir vs Anwar episode) revealed the extent of corruption and crimes among the UMNO executive that have never been revealed or reported."
taken from here ,.... siapa mudah lupa?
That is why for the past 3 to 3 now, I have not bought a MSM papers coz they only report BS!
Like your article here, I resort to the blog sphere and sites like Malaysiakini, Malaysia Insider and a few blogs site like your here.
You guys manage to pass the truth around and let us decide what's right and wrong........
NST: Dr. Mamak urges bloggers to tell the truth...
LOL!
COMING FROM A GUY WITH SELECTIVE MEMORY WHO CAN'T EVEN BE TRUTHFUL WITH HIMSELF...
thats my Tun M...god bless u
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