In response to Paul Warren's letter ([#1] Being credible and telling the truth [/#], March 3), nations everywhere have laws and regulations that prevent foreigners and non-citizens from owning majority stakes in domestic media companies (be it press, TV or radio).

Close to home, one can point to Singapore which has very stringent laws on this. In Singapore, it is an offence for the media to be funded by foreigners and any such funding has to be disclosed up-front to the relevant authorities.

Media baron Rupert Murdoch went to the extent of giving up his Australian citizenship and becoming an American citizen so that he could take over some TV stations in the US - this was in compliance with American laws that are still in place.

The point is very simple - domestic politics are for the citizens of that country if national sovereignty is to mean anything. Foreign media are free to comment on domestic matters, but the country must have the right of unedited rebuttal (again, witness what Singapore has done in this area). It is strange why Malaysia keeps getting criticised for what many other countries are openly doing.