Firstly, it was very naive and peculiar for the National Union of Journalists to invite a man of such character like parliamentary secretary to the Information Ministry Zainuddin Maidin or Zam as he is popularly known, to officiate the forum on World Press Freedom Day.

Zam, after being appointed senator has become the number one solicitor and advocate for Prime Minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad  not Umno, not Barisan Nasional and definitely, not the country.

He behaves and acts more Umno-leader than the actual leaders themselves though he is not even an Umno member. He seems to hate PAS and opposition parties more than BN and Umno leaders. Its a good way to get a fat paycheck to feed his children though.

The pressmen in this country know very well and I mean, very well, that press freedom does not mean absolute freedom. They know very well that it is also not the kind of press freedom advocated and practised by the so-called `dog of the western media'.

What we want is simple press freedom  truths that the public have every right to know, not those dispensed only at the whims and fancies of the government. The right to know the truth without the Official Secrets Act, Internal Security Act and other oppressive laws.

We are all responsible enough to know what press freedom is all about. Zams speech at the forum shows that he himself has a problem dealing with the topic.