QUESTION TIME | The latest episode with The Star newspaper is clear indication that the Printing Presses and Publications Act 1984 (PPPA), amended in 2012, still remains a vicious weapon that can be opportunistically wielded to ensure print newspapers and publications stay in line.

It matters not one bit whether The Star is right or wrong, so long as the Home Ministry holds that it is wrong. For the Home Ministry has the right to remove The Star’s licence at the stroke of a pen - showing the ministry holds a mightier one than the paper’s own.

The paper knows that, which is why it apologised quickly for putting a headline which said “Malaysian terrorist leader” above the picture of Muslims praying, even though that decision is quite defensible from an editorial point of view. How do you fight someone who holds a knife to your throat?

On the front page in dispute, it is clear that the headline refers to an article on the inside pages, and the photo below it is clearly captioned, “Holy month starts: Muslims performing Terawih prayers at the Sultan Mizan Zainal Abidin Mosque in Putrajaya. Today is the first day of Ramadan.”

What was The Star confronted with when it made the editorial decision to do so? First, it wanted to highlight that there was a Malaysian terrorist leader in the Philippines - that was the big news of the day. It was also the start of Ramadan, and it wanted to commemorate the occasion with a picture on the front page, as it usually does.

To differentiate the two, there was a line drawn. Clear enough for most people.

When I saw the report, I did not see any attempt at all to insult Islam and thought nothing of it as did many others. Some did and made police reports, and the Home Ministry sent a show-cause letter to paper. This raises legitimate questions of whether outrage was manufactured.

For making an attempt to mark Ramadan with a suitable picture, while at the same time reporting the most important news of the day, The Star gets hauled up. That’s not fair but that’s the way things are with the PPPA, a terrible piece of legislation which puts too much power in the hands of the Home Ministry.

You may not believe this, but the Home Ministry even takes offence if an advertisement for an alcoholic drink faces reports in newspapers involving certain dignitaries, events and topics.

Under the PPPA, any newspaper requires a licence to be issued by the home affairs minister, who can revoke it at any time. It was amended slightly in 2012 to give the impression of more freedom by not requiring yearly renewal. The Act still says the decision of the minister (of home affairs) to revoke licences is final under Section 13A (1), which states that “Any decision of the Minister to refuse to grant or to revoke or to suspend a licence or permit shall be final”.

The Star has not stopped at an apology but has offered up two of its top editors as sacrificial lambs - its editor-in-chief Leanne Goh Lee Yen and executive editor Dorairaj Nadason, who will both be suspended pending investigation and inquiry.

Meantime Wong Chun Wai, Star Media Group chief executive officer, also a former chief editor, will oversee editorial operations during this period, stepping into the role of saviour of the situation just as he did when an article I wrote in February 2010 resulted in a similar show-cause letter...