Malaysians need to blaze our own, unique path towards a freer press. We have so much to learn from the press laws currently enacted by other countries in the region, but may not be able to emulate the methods they used in the struggle to ratify those laws.

The people of the Philippines, Indonesia, and Thailand can all boast of forcing their governments to repeal repressive press laws and implement more liberal ones in their place.

It is important when comparing our own aspirations to a free press to note the political context in which these changes took place.