Umno Youth's recent police report against malaysiakini and the subsequent police action in raiding and seizing the online daily's computers have perhaps achieved o­ne aim, though it is not exactly what they were hoping for.

The publicity generated by this infamous act not o­nly shows how authoritarian, undemocratic, myopic and close-minded the government and future leaders of the country are, but unwittingly by their actions they have done more to promote malaysiakini than any advertisement or promotion the o­nline news provider by itself could have done.

With due respect to malaysiakini , the website was little known to the average Malaysians and the international community, though it has steadily gained supporters (and detractors as well) in its three years of existence. Many Malaysians are denied an alternative viewpoint and access to non-government-controlled media as all the newspapers, radio and television stations are directly or indirectly owned and linked to political parties within the ruling coalition. There was no publicity given to alternative news sites like malaysiakini , thus its reach has been rather limited.

Thanks to Umno Youth, malaysiakini's plight has now reached a much wider (especially international) audience, with many published reports in overseas news organisations showing support and solidarity for malaysiakini , and widespread condemnation of the government's high-handed action in stifling press freedom in the country.

Perhaps there is a silver lining behind this cloud?