Two media activist groups lodged a complaint with Domestic Trade and Consumer Affairs Minister Muhyiddin Yassin today urging him to act against the 'monopoly cartel' in the Chinese newspaper market.

The delegation from the Writers Alliance for Media Independence (Wami) and the Committee Against Takeover of Nanyang Press Holdings by MCA (CAT) handed the report to the minister's confidential secretary Suleiman Ibrahim at the ministry building in Kuala Lumpur.

This was in conjunction with the second anniversary of the acquisition of two Chinese dailies - Nanyang Siang Pau and China Press - by MCA.

In the report, the two groups called o­n the minister to take the appropriate and necessary actions against the 'monopoly cartel' formed by four major Chinese dailies.

These are Nanyang Siang Pau, China Press , Sin Chew Daily and Guang Ming Daily. The last two are owned by Sarawakian timber tycoon Tiong Hiew King, who is close to the top leadership in MCA.

Nanyang Press' annual report last year revealed that the tycoon, who is said to be desiring to build a Chinese media empire - has a sizeable stake in the company as well

Consumer rights

"We urge the ministry to keep a close eye o­n the circulation barriers set by a cartel of Chinese dailies that could give o­ne party monopoly power over millions of consumers."

"Under the monopoly power, the subscribers unwilling to subscribe to the cartel would have no alternatives," said the media groups.

Vendors of Oriental Daily News - which hit the newsstands in January this year - have also claimed that the other Chinese dailies have tried to stop them from distributing their fledgling competitor.

The new daily is owned by another Sarawakian timber tycoon Lau Hui Kang, a nemesis of Tiong

The media activists also urged the ministry to restrict a company from owning more than o­ne major newspaper group and to "prosecute the cartel if their barriers have harmed consumer rights".

"The ministry should emulate developed countries such as the US and Australia for having a competition watchdog and a legal provision that can address the increasing monopoly issues especially in the mass media industry," said spokesperson Chew Chong Sin who met reporters later.

Chew also reiterated the groups' objection to political parties owning newspapers.

He said that as long as the party does not divest its share in Nanyang, it may not enjoy a cordial relationship with the Chinese community which had protested against the takeover.

The groups earlier held a 30-minute closed-door dialogue with Suleiman but the latter refused to meet with the press.

Not evil

However when contacted later, he said the matter will be brought to the minister's attention and the ministry's consumer affairs department will study it.

"The relevant department need to study whether the complaint is true," he added.

Suleiman also advised the groups to initiate legal action if the complaint involved consumers' purchasing rights.

"What is monopoly? It is very difficult to define monopoly, you can say Tenaga Nasional Bhd, Telekom Malaysia or the Sepang F1 circuit are monopolies. Monopoly is not evil in a total sense, sometimes it is good unless they do illegal trade," he said.

Vendors intimidated

Meanwhile, Oriental Daily News editor-in-chief Puah You Lai when contacted also urged the ministry to take attention o­n the complaint and protect consumer rights.

Puah claimed vendors distributing the new daily are still facing "intimidation", adding that several vendors in Petaling Jaya lodged a police report yesterday regarding the issue.

"Apart from asking vendors to distribute our paper, we have also have our staff helping in distribution," he said.