"By giving us the opinions of the uneducated, journalism keeps us in touch with the ignorance of the community .” - Oscar Wilde.

Johann Hari was recently found guilty of journalistic perfidy. Plagiarism to be precise. To redeem himself , the prolific British columnist not only returned the prestigious George Orwell Prize, but pledged also to undertake a programme of journalism training at his own expense.

These acts of contrition may fall far short of the expectations of some, but Hari has at least demonstrated the rare courage to put himself under close scrutiny from now on. To err is human, to forgive divine. When one has been forced to swallow a large slice of humble pie, what else can we say?

azlan Compare Hari’s honesty to the ego of the Malaysian mainstream press, and you know what I mean. Day in day out, we are fed with propaganda masquerading as “analysis”. While pages and pages are devoted to Najib Abdul Razak’s ‘charm’ offensive, it is not so cool to realise that opposition figures remain inaccessible to TV and radio stations, not to mention the daily dose of demonisation by Utusan Malaysia, Berita Harian and the New Straits Times.

When you think this scenario is unique only to Umno-controlled dailies, you are wrong. In fact, the cozy relationship between the major Chinese newspapers - and Sin Chew Daily in particular - and the ruling elites takes a much subtler form. The monopoly of the Chinese-language press industry by Tiong Hew King - a timber tycoon hailing from Sarawak - could not have been possible without the tacit approval of the MCA and, more importantly, Umno.

In reminiscence, the takeover of the Nanyang Press Holdings by the MCA in May 2001 had the blessing of Mahathir Mohamad, who had grown fidgety at the increasingly vocal Chinese community and gravely concerned over further erosion of his public support given the disgruntled Malay constituency.

Golden oppotunity to expand readership

No one was more enthusiastic than the Sin Chew Media Corporation, which saw it as a golden opportunity to expand its readership. With the MCA in charge, the circulation of Nanyang Siang Pau was set to dwindle.

sin chew daily and nanyang siang pau 240106 And dwindle it did. In late 2006, Sin Chew Corp effectively took control of Nanyang Press Holdings, making Tiong a press baron of the Chinese-speaking world.

In return, Rita Sim, a close ally of then-MCA president Ong Ka Ting, was appointed as an executive director of the vastly enlarged Media Chinese International , perhaps to take care of MCA interests. Little wonder that Sin Chew Daily became the quasi-mouthpiece for Ong, until he was forced to step down ignominiously in the wake of the party’s disastrous rout in the last general election.

Now that the MCA is a spent force and Chua Soi Lek - Ong’s nemesis - does not see eye-to-eye with Media Chinese International, Sim is said to be on her way out. In could come Leong Chew Meng, a son-in-law of CC Liew , the managing director of the Sin Chew Media Corporation.

Despite all the pretense of calm and unity, things may not look well in the kingdom of Tiong. Bosses are by nature not adverse to cronyism except when it threatens their dominant position.

In a country where the press is tightly monitored by the powers-that-be, the highest honour ought to be creative yet untiring resistance. Such is not the case with Liew. Instead of using the enormous influence of the Chinese press to push the boundaries, Sin Chew under Liew has opted for a symbiotic relationship with Barisan Nasional. There is hardly any article critical of the authorities nowadays, while words by Najib are taken as gospel truth.

zainuddin maidin at fiesta merbok 240206 arrogant The unctuous loyalty paid off and won Liew an official Tokoh Wartawan Negara (National Eminent Journalist) Award last October. The largest circulating Chinese daily churned out one article after another to sing Liew’s praises, conveniently ignoring the home truth that the prize only puts Liew on a par with Zainuddin Maidin ( left ).

If being acknowledged as ‘eminent’ by a government that is bent on curbing freedom of speech and civil liberties is not an insult, I don’t know what is.

CC Liew obviously has not allowed the Sin Chew Corp to rest on its ‘laurels’. In recent months, opinion pieces by Sin Chew ’s so-called senior journalists started to appear in the English media also, including The Star and the Malaysian Insider . But the quality of these writers has come under severer scrutiny because their writings are - more often than not – either wishy-washy or completely ridiculous.

I have written in the past how Tay Tian Yan, a deputy editor-in-chief, wantonly distorted an in-depth report of the Economist on social media in trying to deride his detractors. When this unethical practice was pointed out and criticised by others including myself, Tay played dumb and had others ‘argue’ for him.

To the dismay of those who have higher expectations of the Chinese press, most of these articles were written pseudonymously, even with names as absurd and ludicrous as ‘Little Media Soldier’ and ‘Little Red Riding Hood’. The writers - if they deserve to be regarded likewise at all - failed to dwell on the issues raised, but relished in personal attack. I would be blushing profusely if I were Tay.

azlan Tay may attempt to sound whimsical in his writings, but that only makes him look silly, contradictory and sometimes downright illogical. For instance, he described Najib’s announcement of the abolition of the Internal Security Act as a piece of reform that would “move Malaysia’s democracy forward by as much as twenty years”.

The day after, Tay opined that the prosecution of Mat Sabu over a historical dispute showed that Malaysia was still lacking in democratic credentials. What happened to the “giant leap for democracy” as optimistically predicted by the same writer in the previous column?    

Race to curry favour

The most disgusting is a leading article of Sin Chew that likens Najib’s reform efforts to the perestroika of Mikhail Gorbachev and the national reconciliation process initiated by Nelson Mandela and FW de Klerk. One must congratulate the Chinese daily for having outperformed Utusan Malaysia in the race to curry favour with the prime minister.

Yes, evil laws such as the Printing Presses and Publications Act indeed hang over one’s head like the Sword of Damocles, but they surely do not have the effects of propelling one to eulogise the government!

Worse, Sin Chew is also notorious for having published works by prominent journalists without the latter’s knowing. Last November, it ran an article by James Tu of the Apple Daily in Taiwan on the release of Aung San Suu Kyi in the form of an ‘exclusive interview’. My sources confirmed to me Tu had not been consulted at the time.

A Facebook user also found that as much as 30 percent of the contents of Sin Chew ’s leading articles on the world’s economic crisis - published on July 18 and Aug 9 respectively - were repetitive, with minor changes made to names of countries and regions. When a so-called broadsheet has become so arid that it is compelled to resort to recycling its own writings, what does that tell us about the state of Malaysia’s mainstream media today?

The deterioration in Sin Chew ’s quality no doubt has its roots in media monopoly. The death of vibrant yet healthy competition and the cordial relationship with the ruling elites have stifled dissent and prevented a diversity of opinion from emerging, while the comfortable position occupied by those with vested interests in the press industry clearly explains why the Chinese dailies are now so removed from the political sentiments on the ground.

Enough of bashing. Sin Chew cannot go on bragging about its ‘integrity’ yet continue to behave like a snob. If it truly desires to live up to the highest journalistic standards possible, something must be done to show remorse. As for the Tokoh Wartawan Negara Award, CC Liew may keep it for good. After all, it is only as worthy as a human rights prize given in the name of Mahathir.

JOSH HONG studied politics at London Metropolitan University and the School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London. A keen watcher of domestic and international politics, he longs for a day when Malaysians will learn and master the art of self-mockery, and enjoy life to the full in spite of politicians.