'Why did Utusan remove Zam's article on Habibie?'
Malay-language daily U tusan Malaysia should not have deleted from its website its article calling PKR de facto leader Anwar Ibrahim and former Indonesian president BJ Habibie “the dog of imperialism”, says former Bernama editor-in-chief Azman Ujang.
Malay-language daily U tusan Malaysia should not have deleted from its website its article calling PKR de facto leader Anwar Ibrahim and former Indonesian president BJ Habibie “the dog of imperialism”, says former Bernama editor-in-chief Azman Ujang.
“I am also curious as to why the original article was retracted and deleted. It should not (have been),” Azman (
left)
said, when fielding questions at a forum today.
“Many people want to read exactly what (former Malaysian Information Minister Zainuddin Maidin) wrote after (incumbent Indonesian president) Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono complained about it”.
The article was published in the daily’s Dec 10 print edition and Susilo complained that the comments were improper and unethical.
It is no longer accessible on Utusan’s website.
Professor: Nothing wrong politically
Zainuddin’s article mocked Anwar for inviting Habibie to deliver a lecture at Universiti Selangor on Dec 6.
He also accused Habibie of allowing Western powers to influence him to grant independence to East Timor.
Based on this, Azman said Susilo fould the article insulting for placing the former Indonesian president in the same basket as Anwar.
Speaking on the same issue during the forum entitled ‘Utusan: Kewartawanan Dahulu dan Kini’, Universiti Teknologi Petronas professor Ahmad Murad Mohd Noor Merican (
right
) said that there was nothing wrong politically in the article and that the position taken was the writer’s right.
“However, we need to look at the context of international relations,” said Ahmad Murad as he explained how different Malaysia and Indonesia were, although the two countries have similar cultural traits.
“Thus, from this context in the ethical aspect, the editor should consider carefully how the article should be published, where it should be published and even the headline is important as it makes an impact to the reader.
“A good ethical code is to maintain good relations between countries, not to trigger strife,” Ahmad Merican added.
