The government has yet to take concrete steps to freeing up the media despite a glowing tribute to journalists from Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi.

Parliamentary Opposition Leader Lim Kit Siang pointed out that Abdullah has yet to commit to repealing the Printing Presses and Publications Act (PPPA) and other laws that control the media.

He was commenting on Abdullah's speech to 1,000 journalists at the Mass Media Conference 2007 in Kuala Lumpur last Friday, during which he praised the media for its co-operation.

Abdullah had described the media as being conscientious when reporting sensitive issues involving race and religion.

In a statement today, though, Lim said "the speech is more significant for what he omitted than what he said".

Lim said Abdullah had not mentioned the memorandum submitted to him when as Home Minister in 1999, that called for a repeal of annual licensing of newspapers under the PPPA. The memorandum was signed by more than 950 journalists.

"Abdullah had given a solemn undertaking to journalists that he would give their memorandum serious consideration. Eight years has passed ... and Abdullah has still to respond," said Lim.

"Is Abdullah's speech on the mass media ... a final answer after right years of rejecting the memorandum calling for the repeal of repressive laws?"

He added that the Friday's conference is "most disturbing for more reasons than one".

"In particular, the conference was organised by the internal security ministry which seems to reflect an increasingly intrusive and invasive government role in the sphere of mass media," he said.

On Friday, malaysiakini revealed that the government has issued a directive to private radio and television stations not to air speeches by opposition leaders.

Signs of obstruction

Lim further said the "the arsenal of repressive instruments and laws fettering media freedom had been left intact" over Abdullah's tenure as home, then internal security, minister.

"There is been no move whatsoever towards new legislation to create an environment which fosters greater openness, accountability and transparency like the Freedom of Information Act and Whistleblowers Protection Act," said Lim.

Instead there "more and more signs of government obstruction" of the development of a free and responsible press, he said, citing a recent government directive to black out opposition news on private television broadcast stations.

In another development, Lim's motion to debate the Malaysian Trades Union Congress (MTUC) demand for a minimum wage for the private was rejected by the Dewan Rakyat Speaker today.

Last week MTUC had simultaneously picketed in 14 locations nationwide after its demands for a minimum wage of RM900 and RM300 in cost of living allowance went unheeded by the government.