A motion to debate Malaysia's poor ranking in the 2006 worldwide press freedom index has been shot down by Dewan Rakyat Speaker Ramli Ngah Talib.

The motion, moved by Parliamentary Opposition Leader Lim Kit Siang (DAP-Ipoh Timur), was deemed to be one that "does not require immediate attention".

Reading out the motion, Lim said: "Malaysia scored two 'worsts' in the index - the sharpest plunge of 32 spots from last year's 92nd to 124th placing, which is also Malaysia's worst ranking in the Reporters Without Borders (RSF) annual worldwide press freedom index since it was started in 2002."

"Last year, when Malaysia jumped 21 spots from the previous year's 113rd position, there was a lot of self-congratulations in the government and mainstream media.

"This year, Malaysia cannot make the same claim of scoring higher than other Southeast Asian countries, as we are well behind Cambodia (85) and Indonesia (100). In the Asia-Pacific region, we are behind Taiwan (32), Japan (37), South Korea (39), Hong Kong (61), Bhutan (116) and India (120).

"Malaysia's drop and placing for this year would have been worse, had the shocking development that the prime minister does not want to hear the truth from the media and the public had been taken fully into account."

Lim was referring to Information Minister Zainuddin Maidin's recent message to the media that Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi's pledge to hear the truth does not apply to the media.

'All's not right'

Malaysia's poor showing in the RSF index, said Lim, is a "sober reminder" that joins a list of indicators that all is not right with Malaysia on the nation's golden anniversary.

"While we should be proud of our national achievements, we have a greater reason to be concerned about our many national failings," he said.

This, he said, includes the failure to honour Barisan Nasional's pledge in 2004 general elections for openness and reform.

Lim also pressed for a Freedom of Information Act, while urging the government to dismantle undemocratic and oppressive laws.

RSF had cited the "serious, repeated violations of the free flow of online news and information" as its reason for giving a low rating to countries like Malaysia, Thailand, Vietnam and Egypt.

It explained that the violations included arrests of bloggers and closure of - or difficulty in accessing - news websites in these countries.