When all is said and done, what's remarkable about The Sun imbroglio is not so much its controversial report on the alleged assassination plot, but the stand taken by its former editor.

Andy Ng refused to divulge the sources of the news report. He stood by it and disassociated himself from the grovelling front-page apology which appeared on the paper the day after the contentious report was published. More importantly, he quit.

It was an honourable and commendable act. After all, it is not often that bosses take responsibility for their actions.

I had worked with Ng in the few years I was with The Sun . Yes, we have had our quibbles over how far to push the envelope of press freedom. I didn't particularly enjoy that experience. He was the man who slashed paragraphs from my weekly column, and on a number of occasions, chose not to publish it.

But what Ng did last week has won some measure of respect from many journalists.

It is inconceivable that experienced journalists the likes of Ng - and recently-resigned editor-in-chief H'ng Hung Yong as well as suspended chief editor Robert Ho and managing editor Chong Cheng Hai - would have made the decision to run the news report without the proper checks demanded by the profession.

Reports of death threats against the country's top leaders are not new. Earlier last year, Prime Minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad himself alerted the media that there were calls for his death on the Internet. Moreover, when asked about The Sun 's report, Mahathir dismissed the assassination plot as not particularly serious since he was not warned by the police about it. However, he did not categorically deny the report.

Internal coup

But whatever the truth of the news report, The Sun 's predicaments have now paved the way for an internal coup. Out goes the newspaper's top editors, and in comes a "very prominent" lawyer - a man who was previously embroiled in the controversial New Zealand holiday

with former chief justice Eusoff Chin. VK Lingam, a part owner of the daily, is now effectively its acting editor.

The Sun has, in its short existence, shown what the mainstream media can, and should, do despite being given a very short leash by the government. Its outstanding reports on a number of burning issues of the day are admirable.

There is no doubt that investigative journalism is a precarious task. This is especially true when whistleblowers are singled out and punished for leaking information. Often when certain wrongdoings are leaked to the media, the priority of the authorities is not so much to redress the alleged problem, but to bay for blood from the informers.

Which is why it is paramount that journalists protect their sources. By refusing to budge, Ng and the suspended editors and journalists did the right thing, and they should be backed by the journalistic fraternity. Indeed, journalists in the daily deserve kudos for standing by their former editor and for demanding that their suspended colleagues be reinstated.

Perilous journey

With The Sun now withdrawing itself into its own shell, we have lost a fellow traveller in our collective quest for press freedom.

The voyage we embarked on two years ago has become even more lonely. Clearly, this journey is both perilous and treacherous. Only time will tell whether we would eventually reach our destination, or whether we are buried in some unmarked graves along the way.

There is, however, no turning back. Press freedom is like toothpaste - once it is out, it's difficult to put it back in. Thus, our New Year resolution is to squeeze a little bit of that out from the tube.

True, it's no easy task. The powers that be are ever vigilant to ensure that journalists are not being infected with such heady ideas as press freedom, transparency, human rights, justice and democracy.

Malaysiakini has literally a handful of largely inexperienced journalists. No doubt, we will make mistakes as we continue our journey, and we will score our share of scoops. There, too, will be more pressure and harassments - both from the government and some of our colleagues in the mainstream media.

But by the end of 2002, if we have squeezed a blob of press freedom out from the tube, then we would have taken a few steps closer to accomplishing our mission.