Should the findings that Malaysian reporters fared dismally in the global bribery index which measures "the level of corruption in the journalistic profession" ( malaysiakini , Dec 19) even raise an eyebrow?

It is just inevitable that Malaysia languishes at the near bottom of the rankings, the same goes for our position on the human development index, transparency in government, or even football.

The media transparency index was tabulated using values assigned to eight variables. They were: professional education of journalists, adult literacy, well-established and enforceable journalism codes of ethics, anti-corruption laws with effective enforcement, free press and free speech, existence of media competition, accountability of government, and lastly, tradition of self-determination by citizens.

Evaluating the list above, we can draw a conclusion that journalists are to some extent products of their environment; and impacted by external factors like ownership, censorship and readership. If, for the sake of argument, we concede that these variables feed one off the other, then the resultant situation given the existing conditions in Bolehland can be summed up as "garbage in, garbage out".

I shall cite only one variable the accountability of government for comment. Let us look at a recent incident with respect to this. The Employees' Provident Fund which 'manages' the savings of over one million Malaysian workers made the announcement that it was considering not paying up the sum in its entirety should members want to make a full withdrawal at age 55.

In this regard, a responsible Malaysian press would have at least given its readers an inkling of how the EPF had embarked on a spending spree of workers' savings. Has anyone read any critical analysis (details, facts, figures) of whom the benevolent cash cow EPF has been 'investing' in over the past decade?

With the EPF now back pedalling on its outrageous threat, and thus deferring the possibility that we will not be allowed to collect, upon our retirement, the three bags full of money we put in, expect the story to be quickly and conveniently buried.

Call me a cynic but I don't see the media as being the public's watchdog. The ruling party's Pavlovian dogs, maybe. The media is the medium, call it stalking horse if you like, through which the powers-that-be float an unpalatable idea, balloon-like, to gauge public response. With the EPF proposal, pop! went the balloon; the idea was shot down due to public outcry.

If it is not investigative journalism we have encountered in Malaysian newspapers, what goods and services do they deliver? I humbly opine that readers are forking over RM1.20 to RM1.50 daily for their dose of party propaganda, barring the classifieds, comics and astrology pages.

These newspapers splash everything our Great Leaders do or say. Television new bulletins begin their broadcast with a plastic newsreader intoning: "Prime Minister Datuk Seri Dr Mahathir said today ". We have heard that so many times, we can recite the very words almost like a mantra. Nowadays the TellyBarbies would mouth: "Prime Minister Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi said". The name may be different, but the formula remains the same.

There is a sense of deja vu when you watch televised press conferences where Malaysian news hounds doggedly transcribe into their little notebooks what the PM says, or record into their microcassette players his pearls of wisdom. The scene featuring Abdullah is similar to that during the Mahathir glory days. Mercifully, Pak Lah has a more affable demeanour and amiable manner compared to his predecessor's signature expression and sneering tone we have become so accustomed to.

It is evident that earth-shattering news in the Malaysian context is a liturgy of the personality cult. During Mahathir's 22-year rule, there was no one single day in which a resident of this country could get away from His worship by the mainstream media, whether in the newspaper, on television, or occasionally over the airwaves.

In fact, I fear there is no escaping his in-your-face presence even today. Mahathir's picture on roadside billboards mar my travel on the highways while his looming figure several storeys tall projected on the Putra World Trade Centre screen at every Umno annual tribal gathering within living memory (and duly channelled through live television feeds) will continue to haunt my worst nightmares. I can only extend my condolences to all those hapless students who have to study his inspiring thoughts in the Mahathir 101 module. May the Force be with you.

Meanwhile, anyone who has ever picked up a newspaper would have been subjected to The Illustrious One's pronouncements. I have kept track of the stories that appeared in the print dailies during the period of a week or so prior to the septuagenarian's curtain call on Oct 31, 2003.

Over 10 days from Oct 18 to 26, 80 percent of the four newspapers' front-page leads were about Mahathir. Out of a possible 39 main stories (10 days multiplied with four publications minus one ( The Star did not publish on Deepavali), 31 reported on what Mahathir said and did. Only on Oct 24 and 25 did stories of jailed former deputy prime minister Anwar Ibrahim's alleged links to terrorists nudge Mahathir from his pre-eminent place.

If Malaysian front-page main stories were a glass of milk for little children, er, readers, four-fifths of the drink would comprise Mahathir-fortified nutrients. Had Mahathir proclaimed: "The sun rises in the west", his lackeys in the press would have unquestioningly regurgitated it as front-page material, and fact to boot.

An example: On Oct 26, readers of the New Sunday Times were greeted with a headline screaming in big, bold letters "PM: Bush the biggest liar" on the paper's front page. Not to be left out, Malaysia's bestselling broadsheet Mingguan Malaysia proclaimed " Bush lakukan pembohongan besar PM " while its lesser-selling rival Berita Minggu chimed in with: " Bush pembohong besar: Dr Mahathir " (For readers who don't read Malay, these two headlines approximate the NST 's).

Although The Star refrained from such high drama in its headline, it made up for it the following day with a picture of a banner crying: "Bush lied". The banner had been unfurled at an anti-Iraq War protest in an American city. The Malaysian mainstream media has clearly shown itself to be nothing more than the servile conduit for Mahathir's vitriol.

The cause of the Mahathir diatribe was President Bush's alleged rebuke of Mahathir's "but today, the Jews rule this world by proxy" statement made at the OIC Summit hosted at Putrajaya. Below we see how Malaysian papers played the story:

  • Utusan Malaysia : " Bush tidak cerca Dr M "

  • Berita Harian : " Saya tidak dicela: Dr M "

  • New Straits Times : 'Bush did not rebuke me'

  • The Star : "No Bush rebuke"

    • These front-page headlines on Oct 22 indicate that with Malaysian media, some things are simply reported as, because Dr M denied it, therefore "It never happened." QED.

    Another is printing the party-line rebuttal without giving column inches to the original criticism. Take this gem of classic Mahathirism (elaborating on Jews ruling the world by proxy): "These are facts of history and to tell me that I cannot mention facts of history is to deny me my right to free speech. I hope, please do not distort and misinterpret me." Priceless, eh?

    If the Malaysian media faithfully tagged along on the state-funded holiday of the former prime minister to some far-flung corner of the world, that was because they wished to be on hand to report 'breaking news'. If the Malaysian media had prominently featured pictures of the Mahathir clan - the First Lady, the First Daughter, cutting some ribbon, holding some baby (in the case of Marina Mahathir actually holding her own newborn) - that was also 'stop-the-presses news'.

    One may accuse me of harping too much on a leader who has already retired, but I do so because his two-plus decades at the helm has left an indelible scar on the Malaysian psyche. And he, more than anyone else, epitomised the personality cult syndrome purveyed by local mainstream media.

    If Mahathir seems to have enjoyed a Pharaoh-like obeisance from his subjects at the apogee of his rule, the mainstream media is partly to be blamed for elevating him to near divinity.

    History is repeating itself. There is already near-saturation coverage of Abdullah (not that we expected a change in modus operandi). Expect, however, the MCA-controlled papers to palm off some Ong Ka Ting photos with the PM in a futile effort to imply importance through association. This pitiable attempt can in no way mitigate the Barisan minion's political irrelevance (the Chinese-based party is simply not in the game anymore).

    And we will see the VVIP spouses Endon Mahmood and Wendy Ong instead of Siti Hasmah and yesterday's-news-Ena Ling on television and newspaper front pages pictured doing out-of-the-ordinary tasks like packing Raya cookies for our brave soldiers. They are newsmakers in the Boleh tradition.

    On the other side of the coin, there is no need to ponder upon why Malaysian 'journalists' had not asked hard-hitting questions of the prime minister and his men on matters pertaining to public interest. Let me just repeat here a cautionary tale. Remember the little boy who told the emperor he wore no clothes? The child was promptly executed. And I can bet you that that little boy neither lived in Finland nor Denmark.