Open letter to Mohamed Nazri Abdul Aziz,
minister in charge of Parliament House.

I was at the Parliament yesterday as a member of the public at the invitation of Tindak Malaysia and the Bersih 2.0 steering committee, who submitted their proposal for electoral reform to the parliamentary select committee.

Anthony Loke was there, and I noticed several other Members of Parliament listening in to the press conference (Nurul Izzah Anwar, Tony Pua, Lim Lip Eng, Fuziah Saleh and R Sivarasa) because they were equally interested in ensuring that the next general election is conducted cleanly and fairly. As members of the public, we are all watching the current developments in the country.

The press conference was held subsequently at the same location, designated for a press conference.

As a member of the public, and one who has to deal with the press practically throughout my entire career, I must let you know I was truly shocked to find the ambience in which the press conference had to be conducted in the august house.

The background noise from an LCD TV monitor screen was creating a nuisance to the press conference. Members of the press had to sit on the carpet.

The people concerned, Wong Piang Yow (founder of Tindak Malaysia) and Zaid Kamaruddin (Bersih 2.0 steering committee) had to speak above the noise level in order to be heard by members of the press.

If you have to arrange for a press interview for a client, you will know what I am telling you.

If not, ask Yong Soon Heong, editor-in-chief of Bernama. When I knew him nearly 15 years ago, I had to prepare the room for a TV interview with several people, and his first advice was: "Make sure that the room is nice and quiet. No background noise."

I am sure he will tell you the same thing as he had advised me 15 years ago. Otherwise, if you ask any TV crew who is on assignment, they will tell you to prepare a room with the least background noise for a press interview.

Even the noise from an air-conditioning unit is considered as noise, when the TV camera is turned on and the interview is being conducted.

Therefore, the corners set up for Media Conferences in the august house are far from being acceptable to the media.

The TV crew people may not tell you but one of them who wanted to get a good recording of another press conference I attended, told me that he was annoyed when the personal address system was tested during the press conference.

This is the kind of feedback that I get when I sit with them, which you do not get to hear.

Not many people would have taken the trouble to highlight to your attention; hence, you might have overlooked this yourself. As a result, the media corners have become worse than a marketplace, with no proper seating arrangement for the press.

A few rooms should be set aside for media conferences, instead of corners here and there. I am sure members of the press would like to be treated with some dignity.

When I brought a friend to meet Ng Yen Yen last year, you had made your own room available for Ng to entertain me and my guest.

I hereby, appeal to you, as a member of the public as well as someone within the media fraternity, to provide several rooms for media conferences, rather than press corners with no facilities for the members of the press.

If there are no rooms available, and a press conference has to be conducted at these press corners, the host of the press conference should have every right to turn off the TV monitor.

In yesterday's instance, there were people who were glued to the TV monitor during the press conference, making it difficult for me to request for it to be turned off.

In the first place, these few gentlemen should enter the Dewan Rakyat to watch the debate "live" rather than to compete for the TV monitor.

I am copying this letter to several of the MPs who were there at the press conference with the hope that they will follow up on this subject.

I also have also sent a copy of this letter to the media who may want to carry it to their editorial sections; they are free to do so.

I trust that you, as a minister, will look into providing proper facilities for press conferences because you are involving members of the press and people who are making important statements that can impact the whole country.

Both the press, and I am sure the Members of Parliament, want to be treated with some dignity in the august house.