vox populi small thumbnail 'They criticise - using extremist and racist arguments - but find it difficult to accept being criticised. Perhaps Utusan is saying they're above the law.'

Utusan hauls up NUJ head over criticism

JBGUY: Hata Wahari, stick to your guns and see if these low-life characters have the guts to admit the faults of the paper. Utusan Malaysia needs to be overhauled and its chief editor given the boot along with those provoking racial hatred.

Hata, you are on the right track and history will record you as a voice fighting for fairness and justice in journalism.

KSN: Is this not our national disease? That is, we cannot speak up, we have no freedom of speech, we have no freedom of the press, we're under the thumb of the home minister and in this particular case, this man speaks for all journalists as their elected president, but that is not allowed too. Yet he is expected to as it is his duty and responsibility.

Dr Jacob George: This is how bullies operate. They can, like puritans, criticise - using even extremist and racist arguments - but find it difficult to accept being criticised. Perhaps Utusan Malaysia is saying that they are above the law, that they are above criticism and they are untouchables. Watch their sales drop drastically in 2011.

Pants on Fire: The trouble with the so-called democratic Malaysians is that they will hail someone as the hero and all, but when he is sacked, how many are with him, call him up and offer him a job, etc? Will all the pro-opposition guys care to collect funds to take his challenge to the courts in the event he is sacked?

Bozuka: The problem with union members is that they do not know when to stand up for their rights and for their union's rights. They are coward and not bold enough to rally behind their president unlike us in the 70s and 80s. The management has taken this as an advantage to silent and scare the unions.

How do you except your president to perform his job when moral support is not given when it is needed?

Lover Boy: Why am I not surprised by Utusan's action against Hata? To the Utusan management, Hata was suppose to get NUJ (National Union of Journalists) to sing to Utusan's tune. Utusan does not see that Hata wears two hats - as a staff of Utusan , and on the other hand, the chief of NUJ.

Is it not true that Utusan's circulation has dwindled because of its racist stand? Is it not true that Utusan is the mouthpiece of Umno? How is that insulting to Utusan ? Utusan should be courageous enough to own up to the Umno policy that it is trying to promote. Hata is nothing but a scapegoat.

Fight them, Hata. You could be dismissed, but I am sure before a fair court (a rare commodity these days) you will win.

Not Confused: I am encouraged that at last a reputable journalist has had the courage to come out of his shell and take a principled stand against the bullying tactics of the Utusan management.

We all know precisely what Utusan is - a racist rag that is declining badly in circulation. It is almost certain that Hata Wahari will be fired or demoted. Let's hope he has other principled colleagues who will also come out of their shells and support him.

If they are also fired, then Utusan will collapse as the remaining journalists are unprofessional and not worthy of their title.

Neders: I have to assume a sizeable majority of the readers of Utusan are Malays. If indeed this tabloid champions the cause of the Malays, why the dwindling circulation?

Is it because the Malays are beginning to be aware that what it prints does not serve the cause of racial unity and is mainly hogwash? That what it says is counter to PM Najib Razak's 1Malaysia but paradoxically is the organ of Umno. I view this as nothing short of blatant hypocrisy.

BTN: I still remember many years ago, our parents advised us to read the Malay daily to improve on our Bahasa Malaysia. Those were those days when the paper was worth reading as it was responsible and a real tool for nation building.

The present paper is so racist in nature that we banned our kids from reading it as it not only demotivates them, it also destroy their pride.

MrM: Hata was making his criticisms in his capacity as NUJ chief not as an Utusan employee. If Utusan cannot distinguish between the two, it just proved the level of intelligence of those who run this newspaper.

Tweet on Hannah Yeoh's pregnancy draws flak

Anonymous: Kedah Gerakan Youth chief Tan Keng Liang, so what did you exactly mean if not to insinuate that Hannah Yeoh (Subang Jaya state representative) will be incapacitated by her pregnancy?

You and your 'chap lap' (bankrupt) party have learned your lessons well from the Umno/BN - say something stupid and sexist and then deny the real intention behind it while blaming the opposition for airing it. Wouldn't you also not capitalise on PKR's blunders?

Lucas: What a waste of time. Why does Pakatan Rakyat want to get involved in petty fights? What's the issue really about? I'd advise people like Hannah Yeoh and Teresa Kok to stop this. The rakyat pays you to work, not quarrel.

Anak Bangsa Malaysia: Hannah Yeoh has been a highly visible and hard-working member of the Selangor state government since the 2008 general elections. Tan Keng Liang's feckless statement is typical of the sexist statements that come out of Umno-BN every so often, but he is only one of many such boors.

We have not forgotten boor extraordinaire Bung Mokhtar Radin's crudely sexist 'bocor' remarks insulting Fong Po Kuan in Parliament, nor Dr Mohd Khir Toyo and Utusan Malaysia 's lascivious and fetishistic obsession with the strong and independent women leaders in Pakatan like Teresa Kok, Elizabeth Wong, Teo Nie Ching and Nurul Izzah Anwar.

It has not escaped public notice that Umno-BN does not have strong and independent women leaders - who are by definition incompatible with the Umno-BN 'culture' of yesman-ism, abject sycophancy and chauvinism - of all kinds.

Sexism is not an isolated malaise in Umno-BN; it is an integral part of the Umno-BN 'culture' - together with corruption and racial and religious bigotry.

Hwa Shi-Hsia: I am very glad we are beginning to have pregnant politicians. Maybe this will force the issue of more family-friendly employment policies in Malaysia.

Employers moan and groan about giving women 90 days off, but all of you who are parents can testify that a three-month-old baby is still tiny and in need of much care. Anyway, whether Hannah takes leave or not, professional mothers are tough and I have no doubt that she will be able to do her duties or delegate where necessary.

I have a friend who's doing her PhD and took less than a week off after her second baby. But, she didn't leave the baby at home with a maid or anything - she took her daughter to uni!

Changeagent: I find it incredulous that Tan Keng Liang would distort the situation by advising Teresa Kok to rectify her statement and not add or imply anything he did not write.

It is undeniable that he had uttered and shown blatant discrimination against a pregnant Hannah Yeoh. There is no two ways about this. Politicians in developed countries would lose their political careers for issuing this type of inappropriate statements.

 

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