The second massive street protest against the fuel price hike was once again played down by all major newspapers, despite the fact that water cannons were used to disperse the crowds last Friday.

A check showed that MCA-owned Chinese daily Nanyang Siang Pau left out the news, as did Oriental Daily News , which has yet to get its annual printing permit renewed.

Umno-linked Malay-language daily Utusan Malaysia , again did not publish the news.

The largest Chinese-language newspaper Sin Chew Daily ran a six-paragraph report on page six, but without photographs.

Another MCA-owned Chinese newspaper China Press ran a short story on page 19, together with a photograph of several Federal the Federal Reserve Unit (FRU) officers stationed in front of the Kuala Lumpur City Centre complex.

Unlike its failure to report the first demonstration, New Straits Times (NST) published a colour photo by international news agency AFP on page 13 ( photo ), captioned 'Cooling down tempers'. This showed water shooting from a cannon with a FRU officer looking on.

NST's sister newspaper, the Malay-language daily Berita Harian published the same photo but in black and white on page eight.

MCA-owned English-language The Star ran a story leading with "advice" from Inspectors-General of Police (IGP) Mohd Bakri Omar "not to take to the streets to protest against the recent fuel price increase".

"As police officers, our duty is to protect peace and safeguard the security of the country. If peace and security are disturbed, we have to take effective measures," he was quoted as saying in the report entitled 'Stop it, says IGP' on page six.

PM's directive to editors?

Last Monday, malaysiakini reported that coverage of the first protest on March 3 was either absent or minimal after the Prime Minister's Department allegedly ordered the media not to play up the issue.

The second demonstration held in front of the Kuala Lumpur Twin Towers, where state-owned oil company Petronas' headquarters is located, saw about 2,000 people turning out to vent their anger against the reduction in fuel subsidies, which has caused a knock-on effect on almost all goods and services.

More protests by opposition parties, trade unions and non-governmental organisations are expected against the fuel price hike , which ranges from 18 to 23 percent.