Mustafa K. Anuar

The government recently axed a feature on the competition among Chinese dailies. A deputy minister says this is to avoid 'confusion', prompting MUSTAFA K ANUAR to wonder what all the confusion is about?

So, RTM is off-limits to the opposition because the public is not ready for the public airing of 'sensitive' issues. MUSTAFA K ANUAR dissects the rationale behind this statement and shows why the government servant who uttered it was off the mark.

'Extremists', 'traitors', 'anti-government', 'communists', 'a threat to national security'...these labels have been used on citizens ranging from political dissenters to cheating taxi drivers. MUSTAFA K ANUAR looks beyond the labels and sees how they can be used as a cruel form of social control by the powers that be, some downright stupid labels that boomerang on the accuser notwithstanding.

When a former editor suggests that journalists in Malaysia be "certified" fit to practice, it can only trigger alarm bells among those who believe that the country needs a more independent media — not an even more cowed one. Our columnist explains why.