opinion

'The press is the eyes, the ears and the mouth of the people', so said the American journalist Joseph Pulitzer. In fact, press freedom, according the United Nations Human Rights Charter, constitutes one of the most important components in the area of human rights.

Mankind has the right to earn a living, to be free from all forms of torture and persecution, to have an education. But without the right to express ourselves freely, to give constructive criticism and to voice out injustice and societal problems, none of the rights as above could be achieved at all.

As each society has different perspectives on the issue of human rights, a single code could not possibly be imposed throughout the world. It is only with an awareness of the country's problems and its situation through the press can the society judge what right is best for them.

Without knowledge and a tradition of inquiry, the society would be ignorant of things that are happening around them, selfishness and apathy will seep in, and the country will be sucked down to the abyss of the Dark Ages, much like the Jahiliyah society in pre-Islamic Arabia and Europe before the Renaissance.

Futile legalism and cultural stagnation would come, and there would be no interest in other people's welfare at all without a press to inform them of it in the first place. That is why I can safely say that press freedom and the right to voice out problems is the most important right of all.

It was the press who became the catalyst for the French Revolution to overthrow the cruel and hugely-corrupt French monarchy. It was the press that provided an avenue for the American colonists to voice out their dissatisfaction against England. It was the press which ultimately exposed the evil Hitler regime and all its diabolical schemes to wipe out the Jews.

With the press, disenfranchised and persecuted people have been rescued from being forgotten by the larger society and all evil and injustice could be revealed to the world.

Empty promises

All the hype about the buyout of Nanyang Siang Pau and its sister publication, the China Press by MCA's investment arm, Huaren Holdings, suddenly triggered a national interest in press freedom and society's responsibility to be on a vanguard for this very important right.

Whatever the MCA can say, it would be utterly impossible for a newspaper owned by them to be totally free from editorial interference, and ridiculous to expect these newspapers to remain 'independent' after a takeover by a political party.

This is nothing short of empty promises. You see, in the first place, there is no such thing as a 'totally free' newspaper, whether political party-owned or corporate-owned, contrary to Western propaganda. The owner's interest is of course paramount, and even if the owner has an independent streak, publishing articles which can possibly deal a death knell to the owner and his newspaper would be avoided at all costs.

Even Western newspapers are not immune to interference. In fact, a lot of them are not only owned by corporate bigwigs, some of them are even owned by political parties or at least have a sympathetic management.

All around the world, violation of journalism's code of conduct is widespread, and even the West is not spared. Some of them are so materialistic and profit-minded to the point of publishing explicit photographs and pornographic articles.

In this aspect, no country is unique, for if a newspaper is owned by a big organisation, chances are that it will not be so independent after all. It is rather strange that people are opposing this acquisition using the example of Western 'press freedom', which may not be so free after all.

It is truly sad that it is only a matter of supporting different propaganda and pandering to demagoguery, and not providing a big picture for the people which has ample room for various ideas and convictions and discussions between different groups and parties.

Passionate defender

The Chinese society in Malaysia has prided itself not only in its success in the economic and education spheres, it also intensely defends the free-wheeling and more-or-less independent Chinese press. It may be the only truly independent press in the country, considering that most of the Malay and English newspapers have already been owned by political parties or big corporations with political links.

Its courage in publishing non-conforming articles and providing rare coverage of controversial issues are legendary. It is not only one of the last vestiges of a free press in Malaysia, it is also a passionate defender of Chinese and other non-Malay interests and culture, sometimes to the extend of being anti-Establishment and counter-culture.

Many people have had illustrious careers in the Chinese press, some of the alumni even ended up working with the Government. It is also a promoter of intellectualism amongst the people, with its many intelligent and witty arguments on paper. Many of the people involved in the Chinese press are academicians and intellectuals.

Ironically, many MCA cadres have experience working in this press before, and many became articulate defenders of the non-Malay interests. And all of these is possible because it has a credible, non-corporate and apolitical management.

The current fear of the MCA buy over is understandable. The free Chinese press, after all, has been the pride of the Chinese community for so long. Every person who thinks logically would know that a politically-linked newspaper would certainly have limits in its content, for the owner's interest cannot be harmed.

Umno logic

Nevertheless, this controversy certainly gave a lot of people a sense of dj vu. It was the same thing when Umno took over Utusan Melayu in the early 60's. Utusan Melayu was one of the premier and most respected newspaper back then, famed for its nationalistic zeal and its independent conclusions of nationally critical issues.

Its alumni boasts of people like Ahmad Boestamam, Usman Awang, A Samad Ismail and many, many others, many of whom are still influential and respected till today. It was a major vehicle for the Independence cause, and native empowerment among the people. All this changed when the management moved over to Umno's control.

Said Zahari and the merry Utusan men protested against it, which resulted the former's banishment and subsequent jailing under the ISA for more than 16 years in Singapore. Today, the newspaper is only a shadow of its former self.

It is now a firmly pro-government publication, entirely subservient to the government and in promoting the government's view. If society then hadn't accepted Umno's logic that if they didn't control the newspaper, others like the Communists and extreme communalists would have, we may still have a free and independent Utusan Melayu today.

Today's Nanyang Siang Pau controversy is eerily reminiscent of the past with MCA giving the exact excuse of the controlling it first before the Opposition does. Rather like a stove calling a kettle black. Ironic, isn't it? We have lost one free newspaper in the past, and hopefully we won't lose another again.

Absolutely illogical

'Those who forget history are condemn to repeat it.' This evergreen saying by George Santayana speaks volumes of the crisis we have here today. Many will be apathetic and couldn't care less, and some will be so enamoured by hatred for the government that they are willing to do anything, including repeating the same mistakes that the government makes.

But to allow an independent newspaper to 'go under' would do all of us an injustice, regardless of what our political affiliation is. The point is, no matter which organisation controls a press, editorial interference will definitely surface.

It is not only proven in Malaysia, but in other parts of the world as well, including the West. I would rather have the MCA to be courageous enough to proclaim that they are buying Nanyang Holdings for the purpose of making it a vehicle to promote their cause, instead of hiding behind the facade of a 'business deal' and promising something that is absolutely illogical and ridiculous.

Better an honest devil than a dishonest saint.

RAYMOND WOO is a tertiary-level student who says he "despises yet celebrates the idiosyncracies of Malaysian life; who waves the Malaysian flag yet feels that he is a citizen of the world".