Newly appointed Information Minister Zainuddin Maidin was reminded by a senior journalist today that he is not the 'editor of the Malaysian media'.

"Zainuddin has had run-ins with other media executives, partly because he sees himself as editor of the Malaysian media. There is no such position," said former New Straits Times Group's (NSTP) group editor-in-chief Kalimullah Hassan today.

In his commentary on the cabinet reshuffle entitled 'Getting the right players for a winning team', published in the New Straits Times (NST) today, Kalimullah bluntly said that Zainuddin has had an uneasy relationship with senior executives of some of the mainstream media.

He revealed in his commenatry that the minister, a former editor-in-chief of Malay daily Utusan Malaysia , has sought the sacking of the top editors of the NSTP in a closed-door Umno information bureau meeting a day before the cabinet reshuffle.

The attempt, however, failed and according to Kalimullah, the credit must go to Umno information chief Muhammad Muhammad Taib who 'politely informed Zainuddin that he had chosen the wrong forum to vent his hostility on the media'.

"It was to the credit of the majority of the bureau - except for a senator from Johor and an assemblyman from Kelantan - that they did not embrace Zainuddin's views," he said.

Don't cross boundaries

Kalimullah who is now NSTP deputy chairperson and editorial advisor to the group said since Abdullah Ahmad Badawi took over as premier, the media has been given leeway and more freedom as long as they do not cross boundaries of inciting race and religious hatred.

"There are laws in place, in any circumstances, which ensure that the Malaysian press does not take the route of the free-wheeling sham freedom that the Danish and European media claim to uphold, as seen in the recent case of the caricatures of Prophet Muhammad.

"And as the China Press , Sarawak Tribune and Guang Ming (Daily) editors and publishers found out, Abdullah, as Internal Security Minister, will not spare the rod when the boundaries are crossed."

The three newspapers were censured by the government recently. Two China Press top editors were forced to resign after the paper was allegedly identified wrongly the woman in the scandalous video-clip as a Chinese national.

Sarawak Tribune was suspended indefinitely while Guang Ming's evening edition was axed for two weeks for publishing a controversial caricature of Prophet Muhammad.

Kalimullah concluded that the cabinet members, 'if they do not perform - whether new or old - their shelf-lives may be as short, or even shorter, than those of Shafie (Salleh) and Dr (Leo Michael) Toyad.

Shafie and Toyad were dropped as Higher Education Minister and Tourism Minister respectively in a minor cabinet reshuffle unveiled on Tuesday.

Greatest threat

Opposition leader Lim Kit Siang seems to agree with Kalimullah on his views about the new information minister.

"Although Zainuddin emerged from the world of journalism, he is the greatest threat to media freedom and Abdullah's reform pledge and programme for a clean, accountable, trustworthy, efficient and people-oriented administration which is prepared to hear the truth from the rakyat.," he said in a statement today.

He reiterated that Zainuddin's appointment will be 'a storm signal that hard times await the mass media, press freedom and freedom of information in Malaysia'