Popular pro-reform writer Fathi Aris Omar has criticised Malaysian activists for failing to articulate their ideas freely through the media.

Speaking at a World Press Freedom Day celebration in Penang yesterday, Fathi - who represented journalists' grouping Kumpulan Independent Media Activist - also said Malay students, academics and media advocates do not sufficiently debate issues effectively.

Sense of resignation

The malaysiakini columnist and winner of the Reporters Without Borders 2000 Press Freedom Award also claimed that the Malay community has been plagued by a serious intellectual crisis.

He questioned why certain Malay groups could demonstrate openly o­n the streets but were unable to express their dissatisfaction through the media.

"There is a sense of resignation, as if the Malay community is resigned to the political reality of repression...people are afraid to speak out," he told some 50 participants who attended the event organised by Save Ourselves (SOS) and Suara Rakyat Malaysia (Suaram).

Fathi was o­ne of three speakers at a Roundtable o­n Press Freedom, chaired by SOS co-ordinator o­ng Boon Keong.

Part of democracy

Writer Chang Teck Peng, also a media studies lecturer at the New Era College in Kajang, said press freedom does not exist in a vacuum.

Chang, who founded www.postmediaonline.com, said the growth or otherwise of press freedom is closely related to an external political environment and development of democracy.

He suggested that those who involved in the press freedom movement should be conscious that this is also part of the movement for democracy.

"We cannot fail to keep up our critical attitudes towards the conservative and powers that be," Chang said.

Sonia Randhawa of journalists' grouping Inisiatif Wartawan took the audience through the history of the English-language press in Malaysia.

She said the greater freedom allowed to this segment of the media has been due to its close connection with the ruling elite since colonial days.

"These connections continue and have been reinforced by two decades of increasing privatisation. There are no indications that things will improve in the future," she added.