vox populi small thumbnail 'It's good to see that some are waking up, but it's the exception rather than the rule. We are still a long way to media freedom.'

 

 

A ghost in RTM?

Sarawakian: If all journalists had been steadfast and stand their ground over the years to protect their profession, things wouldn't be what it is today. Everyone was sucking it to the government and today, they are nothing more than propagandists for the government that they so willingly served.

It's good to see that some are waking up but it's the exception rather than the rule. We are still a long way to media freedom. You want to change the situation? There's only one way and that's change the government.

ONG: I don't agree with Chou Z Lam that ghost stories such as this will undermine Prime Minister Najib Razak's promise of a "vibrant, free and informed media" because there was never going to be a "vibrant, free and informed media" to be undermined in the first place. I never believed Najib was even remotely serious about that promise.

Rayfire: Sadly these ghosts are not confined to RTM alone but they are wondering all around Putrajaya with some going over to Sibu for so-called work visit! Don't worry, we will ‘deghost' Malaysia come the 13th general elections.

Press freedom advocates read dailies upside down

Chuah Siew Eng: Harakah and Suara Keadilan are political organs and meant to be their parties' mouthpieces.

Can you say the same of the newspapers, whose licences allow them to be sold to the public, which means their loyalty is to the public who bought the papers to find out information about what's going around them? And that includes what the government is saying, and especially not saying, about public interest matters.

Malaysiakini , please disregard such unintelligent opinions next time if you're not planning to show them up for what they are, because when you're not situating the context wholly you're also doing your readers a disservice. though you can argue that the comments section is a chance for reparation. But if the article is forwarded, how is that misconception corrected?

Ben Hor: Of course, the Harakah and Suara Keadilan will be bias. They are party-based newspapers! The mainstream newspapers should never be bias in reporting since they are supposed to be non-partisan-based papers.

Phra Ong Chao: Harakah and Suara Keadilan are restricted only to party members. How did they (Umno Youth members) manage to possess copies of those party papers when they are not members of PAS or PKR? The others are, of course, not doing anything wrong since mainstream papers are available to all.

Perkasa not racist, says Umno leader

Dr Vincent Ong: Why is our PM so quiet on all these racial slurs while promoting his 1Malaysia. Isn't it double standards or is he taking the rakyat as suckers? These racists remarks are driving away foreign investors. Besides, many of our own Malaysian investors are investing abroad and not locally. Or maybe is it Najib's strategy to remain in power?

SingaPuraPura: With respect to the deputy minister for education, it is submitted that when the chieftain of a ‘racially-justified' and ‘ethnically-purposed' organisation demands that the elected federal government of a multi-racial country punishes a certain community of the citizenry (by way of withdrawing the monetary allocations it had pledged to that community via a contesting political coalition in order to acquire the electoral votes of that community in a by-election) that organisation does not only fall within the definition of a ‘racist' organisation but also within the ambit of one that is nationally ‘subversive'.

It is further suggested that, contrary to recent general assertions through the controlled media, there are no equivalent racist or extremist non-Malay organisations or political parties in Malaysia; if there were any, they would have been banned by the Home Ministry and their leaders incarcerated without trial.

Kgen: Perkasa doesn't defend the constitution. It doesn't even understand the constitution. Perkasa has enlarged what the constitution provided for Malays. Does the constitution seek 67 percent of the economy - or whatever the Malay population ratio - for the Malays?

The constitution does not even contain the words 'bumiputera', 'Malay special rights', 'Ketuanan Melayu' or 'social contract'. They were the invention of Umno politicians to justify their racist policies.

Md Imraz Muhammed Ikhbal: Perkasa is not racist because it does not practice ethnic cleansing, says our learned deputy education minister. Therefore "racism" is presumably defined as "ethnic cleansing" based on his line of argument.

If this is the yardstick of the caliber of our leaders in the Education Ministry, then I guess it is no wonder as to why we have either the corrupt or idiots running the country. What a sickening circus we have become!

Doc: Dr Mohd Puad Zarkashi, being a deputy education minister, I hope you understand English - ‘racist' or ‘racism' (as defined by the reputed Merriam Webster dictionary) means ‘racial prejudice' and ‘discrimination based on race'.

Umno and Perkasa are organisations which only allow membership of a particular race and only look after the interest of that particular race. Am I safe to say that Umno and Perkasa fulfill the above definition of ‘racist'?

A ‘fool' as defined by the same dictionary is ‘a person lacking in judgment or prudence'. Am I safe to conclude Ibrahim Ali and yourself, Dr Mohd Puad Zarkashi, fit into the above definition of being a fool?

Karma: If Umno is not racist, Mohd Nazri Abdul Aziz and Dr Mahathir Mohamad would not be calling each other racist . The West is racist because the Whites discriminated against the Blacks and other races. This is because they claimed these people are immigrants. But most of them today are born in US, UK or France.

Umno is still claiming the Chinese as 'penumpang' after 52 years of independence. It was repeated even until end of last year in a BTN class in Port Dickson to some disgusted medical students. It was further repeated by former PM's aide Nasir Safar this year.

Steve Ong: Puad, the Chinese voters are not confused by DAP. It is the racist Umno and Perkasa policies which forced the Chinese voters to vote for a change in the government. Also, do not always use the West as comparison as Umno/Perkasa's values are nothing when compared to Western values.

In the West, their citizen can be assured of a clean government, justice in the courts, no police shooting dead of innocent citizens, efficient anti-corruption agencies which investigates all corrupt cases and the AG/IGP are answerable to the people. So, please do not try to hookwink the rakyat as we are not that ignorant.

Arul Inthirarajah: Neither the Ku Klux Klan, nor the Nazis would admit that they ever were racist organisations, but like Perkasa, they simple are. Simply denying that one is not racist does not make it so.

Najib: Obama wanted to see me to learn about NEM

Malaysians Are Not Stupid: My toes are laughing. This the biggest joke in the world. Anyway, why is Najib so proud of this fact even if it is true? You mean he needs Barack Obama to validate him? It shows that he is a person not sure of himself and needs the approval of others to feel good of himself.

Sentinel: So, the Foochow landed in Sibu in 1901. When did Dr Mohd Khir Toyo or Ahmad Ismail's parents landed in Malaysia to give them the right to call us ‘pendatangs'?

 

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