An anti-MCA takeover campaign leader and Nanyang Siang Pau journalist has resigned in protest against 'pressure' from the new management but vowed to continue fighting against the takeover.

Chou Z Lam, 32, said he had submitted his resignation letter last Tuesday to protest against the high-handed suppression and interference by the management in his work.

Chou is one of the leading figures in the movement against the takeover of Nanyang Press by MCA, and becomes the new management's first victim in their attempt to remove all dissenting views.

"The fight against the takeover will go on, with or without me in the office," he told malaysiakini today.

"I have received three warning letters in the past two months for opposing the takeover by MCA," said Chou, who is the leader for Nanyang and China Press Committee For Press Freedom.

A feature journalist who joined Nanyang Siang Pau in 1998, Chou said he was given his first warning letter on Aug 23 after he handed over a memorandum to the prime minister's political aide, Mathias Chang, to voice objection to the takeover.

Then, Chou and eight other journalists were issued warning letters on Sept 4 for attending the 'Memorable Night of Press Freedom' on Aug 28 which marked the third month of MCA's takeover of the daily.

At the function, about 50 journalists and their supporters from Nanyang had gathered to hear readings of news and feature articles which had been censored by the paper's management for "political reasons".

In the second warning letter, the journalists were accused of leaking out "confidential articles" without the prior consent of the newspaper. This, the management, said was a serious violation of the company's policy.

Third and final warning

In response, Chou wrote that the warning letter was unacceptable because the accusation against him was unreasonable.

"I explained that I had not violated any regulations of the company, and urged the management not to fabricate accusations against me that will affect my working environment.

"Following that, I received my third warning letter, accusing me of not respecting the company by using the words 'unreasonable' and 'fabricate the accusations' in my reply," he said.

Chou also said in addition to the third warning letter issued in early October, he was also depicted in his evaluation form as a person who did not fully maximise his working hours and described as having "participated in the anti-takeover campaign which has affected his performance".

"I defended myself, and commented that this was a wild accusation, but the management accused me of bringing emotion into the work," Chou lamented.

Award winner

Chou, who frequently writes on environmental, indigenous people and human rights issues, won the best report for the Chinese media from the Malaysian Press Institute last year.

He also complained that one of his five-part report on Sarawak indigenous people written two months ago was not published.

"The deputy editor told me that they chose to ban it, rather than censor it, so that it would not be read out to the public again," he said.

Since MCA took over Nanyang Press - the holding company for Nanyang Siang Pau and China Press - hundreds of journalists from the two dailies have launched a yellow ribbon campaign in protest of the new owner.

They have been holding gatherings on the 28th of every month since May to mark the day the dailies were sold to MCA.

Chou and his group received a press freedom award at a dinner to celebrate the first anniversary of Chinese magazine Perspective Pedas in August this year.