Supporters of o­nline news daily, malaysiakini , have donated a total of RM37,000 since the controversial police raid more than a month ago.

Of the total in pledges, malaysiakini has thus far received RM27,784 through cash, cheques and credit cards.

"Many of the contributors are subscribers and loyal readers of malaysiakini , and run the gamut from journalists to students," said malaysiakini business development manager Charmaine O­ng.

"Our largest contribution RM6,600 in cash came from a group of friends who were so disturbed by the police raid, that they decided to pool their monies and make a contribution to malaysiakini ."

According to O­ng, the contributions came from not just Malaysia but also overseas Japan, Hong Kong, Australia and the United States.

However, most of the contributors have expressed their wish to remain anonymous.

The police seized 19 computers, including four servers, from o­nline daily malaysiakini

in a raid o­n Jan 20 for 'forensic examination' over an allegedly seditious letter published o­n the website.

Contributions appreciated

A day after the raid, malaysiakini

was dealt with another blow when it was slapped with an eviction notice from its landlord PC Suria for having committed "activities which contravene the laws of the country".

The o­nline daily was given until Feb 28 to vacate its premises.

The raid was in response to a police report lodged by Umno Youth over the letter written by a reader which the youth movement claimed had questioned Malay special rights and the system of racial preferences.

Fifteen central processing units (CPUs) have been returned to malaysiakini

in stages, but there's still no signs at all o­n the fate of the servers. ( right )

Malaysiakini

editor-in-chief Steven Gan thanked those who have contributed to malaysiakini .

"We deeply appreciate this show of support from our readers and thank them for their generosity. Independent media can o­nly survive if it is financially independent," he said.

"The police raid, the loss of our key servers as well as the eviction order has affected our operations. The donations will go some way in helping us to soldier o­n."

Lease extended

Meanwhile, in a major reversal to its original decision, PC Suria in a letter dated March 5, informed malaysiakini that it was willing to extend the tenancy agreement for another year.

According to the legal advisor of PC Suria, Abdulamilhal Mohamed, the new tenancy agreement was to commence o­n Jan 1 this year.

However, the landlord said that starting this month, the rental for malaysiakini office in Bangsar Utama, Kuala Lumpur, would be increased by 15 percent to RM6,000.

However, malaysiakini questioned the hike in the rent.

"We believe we have an agreement with the landlord that the tenancy would be extended for a period of two years and at the existing rate of RM5,200," said malaysiakini chief executive officer Premesh Chandran.

"We will be referring this latest development to our lawyers," he added.

PC Suria is the sole distributor of computer products produced by Perbadanan Komputer Nasional Bhd (Nascom), a government-backed enterprise.

To view the list of malaysiakini contributors, please click here .