Though prepared to wait as long as it takes to get its suspension lifted, Chinese newspaper Oriental Daily News has in the offing a new Chinese current affairs magazine as a 'worst-case scenario' alternative.

A source from the daily told malaysiakini that while the newspaper is prepared for the worst-case scenario, it is ready to begin republishing at anytime.

"We are prepared to wait another few months (for the suspension to be lifted). All appeals to the ministry have been done, and testimonials (by management that all requirements have been abided by) also completed," added the source who requested anonymity.

Two months into its suspension today, the daily has been accruing monthly losses amounting to millions of ringgit for the upkeep of its 200-odd staff and printing plant-cum-office in Subang Jaya, Selangor.

It was slapped with a suspension order on Sept 29, just hours after its inaugural issue hit the streets in several towns.

Deputy Home Ministers Zainal Abidin Zin and Chor Chee Heung, and the ministry's publication control unit chief Abdul Rahim Mohd Radzi when quizzed on the issue had declined to elaborate, saying they had no knowledge about the developments, though it was learnt that the suspension order was signed by Abdul Rahim.

Win-win

The source said the new magazine is a win-win solution "whether our appeal (to get the suspension lifted) is successful or not".

"We are still doing our best to appeal for the suspended daily at this moment. If we are allowed to republish the daily, the magazine can still help us consolidate our resources. It's a two-way thing," he said.

As for the publication permit, he said "it would not be a big problem to get it", but reiterated that their focus was still to get the daily going.

On a small number of resignations recently, the source said they were not related to the company's financial situation.

"We didn't cut down our workforce. Our boss can still afford to pay us. The resignations are normal as in other companies. Maybe they got offers that they think are more suited to them, so they left," he said.

Political agenda

Oriental Daily News staff are working as usual, providing news for their sister daily, the Sarawak-based See Hua Daily news.

The two dailies are both owned and financed by KTS Sdn Bhd, a plantation company owned by Sarawakian timber tycoon Lau Hui Kang, which also owns two Sarawak dailies Borneo Post and Utusan Borneo .

Scores of journalists and editors from Nanyang Siang Pau and China Press joined the fledgling newspaper largely as a result of MCA's controversial acquisition last year of Nanyang Press Holdings, the publisher of the two dailies.

Oriental Daily News was supposed to have hit the streets in July but sources said it was postponed due to "repeated advice" from the ministry to drop the launch altogether.

Although no official reason was given for the suspension, several quarters claimed that there could be a political agenda behind it.

There was talk that the new daily was associated with MCA's Team B led by deputy president Lim Ah Lek and Gerakan, but this was dismissed as rumours.