YOURSAY ‘I don't need Malaysiakini to make me hate the government.’

After two court victories, Mkini still denied permit

Versey: The Home Ministry’s reasons for the rejection of Malaysiakini ’s application for a publication permit for a daily newspaper are not convincing to the educated and discerning public at large.

Shouldn't the government of the day have some confidence in its own administration of the country that, over the years under its governing, it has successfully raised a generation of intelligent citizens who can spot truth from falsehood?

As such, it's unlikely that people can be so easily "distressed" nor would they be easily misled by any baseless reporting that could "cause hatred towards national leaders”. In any case should that happen, there is still the law to contend with, isn't it?

Quote from Nelson Mandela in his address to the International Press Institute Congress in 1994: "A critical, independent and investigative press is the lifeblood of any democracy. The press must be free from state interference."

Surely PM Najib Abdul Razak and his government would have no objection to this great man's opinion, right?

Quigonbond: What the Home Ministry is trying to do is to drag the whole process along and hope that, at some juncture, the court will say that causing disaffection against ruling political party is sedition, hence everything else, including all publications, should follow be muzzled.

Malaysiakini 's fight is far from over, so if this needs another court application, so be it.

Honestly, ‘causing hatred against leaders’ and ‘creating controversy’ are lame reasons to deny someone a publishing permit. If controversy is the reason, then we might as well stop pretending to be a democracy and say Malaysia is a dictatorship.

Those in the Home Ministry forced to provide such indefensible justification will have to live with the shame and infamy for the rest of their lives. And their families, too.

We are not very much different from Saddam Hussein's Iraq or Nazi Germany, after all. When BN falls one day, these pen-pushers will come out and claim they were just taking orders. They should be forewarned now that that reason is not acceptable.

Sa Tombs: I have not read any article that causes hatred against leaders. That is the trouble with the nincompoops in the Home Ministry. They just don’t understand ‘Inggeris’.

By the way, the opposition are also the country's leaders. Leaders don’t only come from Umno. Perhaps what they want is for Malaysiakini to be like Utusan Malaysia .

Hang Babeuf: Does Malaysiakini imagine that it will be allowed to play and be judged by the same rules as Utusan ?

Or that the Home Ministry will handle it with the same delicate consideration that it extends to Umno's large daily plateful of rotten fish?

Anonymous$&@?: In Malaysia, it seems that decisions of the courts can be quashed by the Malaysian government with impunity. This case and others like the child snatched by a Muslim father are some examples.

Foreign companies better be wary if they want to invest in Malaysia because the courts won't be able to protect them.

IQ900: This is as if the news reported in the present mainstream daily papers are neutral. Rubbish, they are absolutely not. Go and read Utusan or New Straits Times and judge for yourself.

Jiminy Qrikert: It's happened in the past. Attempts by Najib and his government to muzzle critics have often backfired. This one looks like it will nicely backfire as well.

The mainstream media (MSM) has already lost out to the alternative media in reaching out to and ensuring balanced reporting of news for the rakyat's consumption.

Healthy debates and discussions take place on the digital media. The young feed off the Internet. When it comes to politics, many of the old folk feed off their young.

So, depriving Malaysiakini of the permit to publish a daily newspaper does not make any dent in its rate of growth among young consumers.

On the contrary, denying Malaysiakini the permit to publish is seen as high-handed oppression of the vendors of truth and the shackling of a trusted source of credible news.

It is such actions by Najib's government that cause the rakyat to hate the leaders. Malaysiakini just carries the news of the oppression.

CiViC: Indeed, I don't need Malaysiakini to make me hate the current government and its leaders.

Mosquitobrain: The Home Ministry’s Publication and Quranic Texts Control Division needs just to take a look at the court cases, past and present. Between BN-controlled media and in this case, Malaysiakini , which is more controversial and caused more distress?

National leaders, if righteous and have been clean, should have nothing to fear. After all, politicians from both sides of the divide should be able to take the heat and be open to criticism.

Boonpou: Would someone from the Home Ministry, never mind the home minister himself, explain to us the rakyat who are ‘the public" of Malaysia?

Have they forgotten that Pakatan won the popular votes during the last general election? If so, wouldn't those of us who voted for Pakatan then be considered as part of, or even the majority, of "the public"?

Relatively, which is one newspaper in Malaysia that has the highest tendency to breed division, if not hatred among "the public"? Is it Malaysiakini or is it Umno’s mouthpiece Utusan ? I don't think the ruling regime understands anything about the power of irony.

The fact that Malaysiakini failed once again to get a publication permit will only persuade or attract more of "the public" to read Malaysiakini online. The ruling regime has become the Sisyphus of the 21st century.

Odysseus: With continuous rejections, it can only mean one thing. Malaysiakini is doing all the right things to the extent that the BN government is fearful of it. This proves the pen is mightier than the sword. Keep up the good work.

Anonymous_1400076912: If leaders act excessively, they should be rebuked, criticised and corrected if the nation is to progress. There must be freedom of expression and discourse in the public sphere for Malaysia and Malaysians to go to the next level.

You cannot, and must not, stifle public opinion. Malaysiakini is on the right track. Right-thinking, intelligent and concerned citizens are behind you.

Vijay47: I think these problems arise because Malaysiakini editor-in-chief Steven Gan is not very experienced as a journalist. So for starters, he should take up, I think the phrase is, "an internship", with Utusan Malaysia .

A short stint there should teach him the rudiments of managing a newspaper in the Malaysian perspective that does not “often cause controversy”.

And don't forget to frequently cover the activities of our hero, prime minister’s wife Rosmah Mansor and her Project Perdana. Without the alleged diamonds, of course.

Ong Guan Sin: Keep up the good fight, Malaysiakini . The longer they drag the matter on like this, with all the foolish excuses each time, the more stupid they look and the more idiotic they reflect on their ultimate big boss, PM Najib Razak, who is only losing his credibility as a "global moderate".

Ace: What the Home Ministry said is true - news published by Malaysiakini are very distressing to the Umno-BN warlords.

As for "causing hatred towards national leaders", Malaysiakini 's role (if any) is negligible. The very actions/inactions and utterances by the so-called leaders will very much result in most of the thinking rakyat to hate them. Absolutely no instigation is needed here.

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