Malaysia and Indonesia share many aspects of social and political outlook. It was Indonesia that became the focus point for nationalist Malays during the 1930s. The Malays too benefited a lot from the liberal tradition of Islam from their neighbours.

Under Sukarno and Suharto, throughout the 1950s until a few years ago, many publications were banned and journalists detained. During Suharto's era, self-censorship played an important role in the press industry.

Yet, even during the era of tight press control, the press in Indonesia was relatively free to discuss and debate issues deemed sensitive in Malaysia such as religion, arts and culture, and social issues without fear of being attacked by either the establishment or some fragments of the society. The rich tradition of disseminating knowledge continued to flourish in spite of the lack of open space in the political arena.

But were the Indonesian press people not afraid of the state's repercussion during a century of press control?

Goenawan Mohamad of Tempo , whose influential news magazine was banned by Suharto in 1994, admits he had his fears. "But after Tempo was banned, my fear vanished." After it happened, he said it was clear that "we were not alone because there were others who would help. If we had given in to fear, it meant surrendering to terror. Fear itself is surrender. For me, maybe there was more arrogance than bravery."

In Malaysia, we have the Printing Presses and Publications Act 1984, which requires all print media to obtain a permit and renew it annually. Then, the Official Secrets Act 1972, amended in 1986, that classifies government documents as secret. Offences are punishable by a mandatory jail sentence of not less than one year and the Sedition Act 1949 (amended 1971) prohibits public comment on issues defined as sensitive; these include racial and religious matters.

The government does not directly controls the press; rather it allows corporate figures close to the authorities to own dailies, periodical publications, radio and TV stations.

Support policy

The policy of all media owners is to support the government of the day. This precept is grounded in the belief that only the government of the day can ensure peace, stability and development. Dissenting views are not encouraged and the media acts on its own to censor profanity, nudity, sex, violence and certain political and religious content, especially those involving the teachings of Islam.

Prime Minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad said the government would never allow the country's peace and security to be jeopardised for the sake of media freedom. He believed that press freedom already existed in Malaysia, stating that "the existence of multiple newspapers that are free to slander the government is proof that the government does not control the media."

With such a policy, common practice in the media, particularly in news reporting and disseminating of information is based on the principle of "the government is always right, or at least most of the time ".

My first experience in dealing with the reality of Malaysian journalism began in early 1989, barely a year in the profession. It was during the Ampang Jaya by-election where the then Deputy Prime Minister Ghafar Baba was scheduled to give his political talk. I was with Berita Harian at that time, and had innocently told the senior editor of the New Straits Times that it was going to be propaganda coverage. The senior editor was laughing when he brought me to see the group editor of New Straits Times . The big guy said: "So you think it's going to be propaganda news? Do you know who pay for your shirts and pants?" said the group editor. Sheepishly, I gave a nervous smile and did my job.

When I joined The Sun in 1996, the chief news editor asked for views pertaining to ideas to improve the paper. I proposed that there should be a column for inter-faith dialogue. The chief news editor explained that there was not much that could be done because he believed that such a thing could not be put in print. "When it comes to religion, we just allow a weekly space for the Institute of Islamic Understanding (IKIM) to explain about Islam," he said.

There are many other similar experiences shared by other journalists, especially when editors decline to allow certain stories to be published. Yet it must also be noted that some of the stories were spiked because they were just bad. Nothing political here, just bad stories with no proper introduction, no facts and worse, pure speculation and no attribution.

Self-censorship

So it should not come as a surprise when the public too exercise self-censorship because one only has to look at any newspaper, magazine, journal and book to realise that certain topics are basically off-limits.

With 40 years of mind-conditioning, Malaysians have accepted the fact that anything controversial or sensitive about the Malay and Islam issues are best discussed behind closed doors.

It seems that the government and the business establishment in Malaysia work closely to empower each other. Such cooperation would ensure the strengthening of the state.

The media practitioners  editors and journalists  empower both the government and the business establishment. This inevitably leads the press to disempower the readers.

While the readers are seemed to be the "victims" of the other two major actors  the government/business entity and the media practitioners  it can also be perceived as being partially self-inflicted. It is the responsibility of the readers to decide whether they want press freedom in the context of universal freedom, or freedom within the determined boundaries set by the authorities.

Immediately after the sacking and jailing of Anwar Ibrahim in 1998, the authorities were caught off-guard when there was a sudden influx of pro-Anwar and anti-Mahathir websites and newsgroups.

Alternative media

These sites played an important role in providing "alternative" news. Later, alternative websites such as malaysiakini.com and AgendaMalaysia.com , provided reports and analysis rarely found in the mainstream media.

However, within a short period, malaysiakini in particular, seemed to have played the traditional local media game. Instead of being "independent and impartial", it made the stand of being pro-opposition. The concept is almost similar to the mainstream media  carry all the news on one side and add a few opposing views to make it look more credible  and the situation has prompted readers to find other  limited  avenues for independent news.

But still credit must be given to malaysiakini for daring enough to test the waters. If only it can avoid the media traps.

This, once again, has to do with the culture of the Malaysian media. No one dares "rock the boat" for fear of challenging established relationships or for fear of retaliation. The rule here is never to question such issues as race and religion (the Sedition Act continues to monitor this), and political reporting is all about one side criticising the other.

Such a situation reflects the success of the country's forefathers in the construction of a formidable state ideology. Not so much of what is to be done but rather what must not and cannot be done. It is a preventive culture where one can only learn anything when one is willing to overstep the boundaries.

In Malaysia, both the ruling elite and the opposition agree that no one can criticise the image of Islam and established ideas of Malay-ism. This does not merely concern the issue of Islam as the official religion and the state of its administration where Malaysia is in reality already a semi-fundamentalist state.

Taboo topic

It is about the fact that no one can challenge the Malay-Islam hegemony, especially in the press.

However, it must be noted that, except those explicitly stipulated or implied through the press-controlled laws, there are no clear directives, or the set of do's and don'ts for journalists, editors included. It is all about assumptions, mostly in negative terms, under the guise of ensuring stability. Thus, media debate is rarely encouraged on topics pertaining to the rights and privileges of the Malays and Islam.

The issues of the Malays and Islam are so dominant that the hegemony determines the everyday life of Malaysians. Issues such as injustice, corruption, cronyism and oppression are deep-rooted within the framework of the Malay-Muslim dominance in Malaysia. One cannot talk of those issues without relating to these two factors.

Feudalism (or the remnants of it) remains the living fossil of the Malaysian mind. The transformation from total obedience to kings and warlords, to political leaders, is just a change of structure. The essence is still the same. Hence, most Malaysians strongly believe in a big, strong government, while not in terms of the current ruling party but the concept of an almost omnipotent ruling power.

With the existence of determined boundaries, it is only natural that the policy of political business in Malaysia remains intact without much criticism. Corporate figures, both Malays and non-Malays, created by the government of the day, are allowed to administer their business without critical attention from the media. After all, these forces own the media.

The government must not be afraid to face its own people while editors and journalists should continue to push for greater freedom and independence. At the same time, the public (ie the readers) must play an important role in making positive changes to the press. There must be changes in the attitude and behaviour of Malaysian readers, especially in shaking off the remnants of feudal mentality, to be free from fear.

Fundamental liberties

Every Malaysian should note that the Federal Constitution guarantees, among other things, liberty of the person (Article 5 of the Constitution), rights of equality (Article 8), freedom of speech, assembly and association (Article 10), freedom of religion (Article 11), rights to education (Article 12) and rights to property (Article 13).

Yes, these fundamental liberties are not without constraints as there have been amendments to curb the basic rights. Instead of giving up hope, we should try and find ways to overcome the problems.

Based on the experience of Goenawan Mohamad, Tempo began with an idea of creating a kind of magazine that no one had done before in the country. "Being a writer, my ambition was to introduce a fresh Indonesian journalistic language, something free from the predictable style of daily newspapers and from the politically charged lexicon, which was a legacy of the previous idea of journalism. We wanted to be free from a style in which the meaning of words was determined by the way of a politically powerful group spoke."

With some historical insights, we should understand the need to have freedom of the press. And that kind of freedom is not just about venting anger or revenge against the establishment. It is more about critical thinking and the process of being creative and imaginative.

At the moment, appearances of the press do not seem to reflect the true realities. If Malaysians were not prepared to overcome their fear of freedom to think and to express views beyond the determined boundaries, even if the free press exists today, it would be meaningless.

It is no illusion too that by lifting all the relevant press laws, Malaysians would immediately enjoy press freedom. There are many more laws to watch over the press such as the Control of Imported Publications Act, Internal Security Act, some provisions of the Criminal Procedure Code, Restricted Residence Enactment, Banishment Act, and the various states' religious laws.

While the media practitioners are struggling to go beyond the determined boundaries, the readers too have responsibilities beyond mere complaints. The readers play an important role to determine the kind of freedom they want, unless they are happy with their own self-censorship.

notes:

1. Jo Gunadi, Amplop Menghancurkan Solidaritas dan Integritas Wartawan , Radio Nederland Wereldomroep, January 22, 2001

2. Peace takes precedence over press freedom: PM, The Sun , Dec 12, 2000. Prime Minister Dr Mohamad Mahathir was replying to Keadilan president Dr Wan Azizah Ismail during a debate in the Dewan Rakyat (Parliament) the day before.

3. Goenawan Mohamad Speaks on the Press, Tempo and East Timor , August 28, 2001

This article is based on a paper entitled "Transcending constraints in the Malaysian Press: appearances and realities" presented by the writer at the Kaneka-SEAF Public Forum, UKM on Nov 1, 2001.

WAN HAMIDI HAMID is a freelance journalist with more than 15 years experience in the profession. He has worked for Berita Harian, The Star, The Sun dan Straits Times (Singapore).