Teresa Kok

After the sacking [or demotion, depending on how you look at it] of the top two China Press editors, some groups have organised some activities to protest the government’s action.

A candlelight vigil was held outside the China Press building last Friday. Neither I nor any senior DAP leaders were able to attend,because all of us were at the leadership retreat in Cameron Highlands. While we were not there, our spirits and thoughts were with the paper and its staff.

Last night I was invited to speak at a forum on the China Press issue organised by Merdeka Review and Human Rights Committee of the Selangor Chinese Assembly Hall.

Reports on the forum were only carried by Oriental Daily, Merdeka Review and Malaysiakini. The meeting room was huge and the presence of only about 40 members of the public was a bit disappointing. None of the Chinese papers sent their reporters to cover the event which means none of these papers dare to carry news of the event except for internet media.

The poor turnout for such an important event shows members of public are still dependent on mainstream media for info. Without the cooperation of the media, most activities by civil society won’t go very far too.

However, we had a fruitful discussion on the Squatgate Scandal and analysis on Pak Lah regime and the way the media is now controlled. Most panellists expressed disappointment over MCA and the government over the China Press issue. One former journalist said the Pak Lah-led administration controlled the press in a more subtle manner. He has monthly meeting with editors of all local media. He also used Prima Media to buy over control of all mainstream media.

Some “disobedient” journalists from the Malay media have been transferred out of KL, mainly to Kelantan, to write nonsense about the PAS-led government

I see the sacking of the editors as a face-saving measure by UMNO and the police. After the Squatgate Commission was told the victim in the MMS clip was a Malay, it created resentment and unhappiness among many in UMNO. They were grumbling over how a minister was misled and had to go to China to apologise.

The police were cross and not at all happy over the publicity generated over the Chinese nationals’ complaints as well as Squatgate. The UMNO guys were unhappy that the issue was exposed by the Opposition, that it gained so much publicity and that it affected the relations between China and Malaysia.

As Pak Lah had to pacify his own troops and the police, the Internal Security Ministry went hunting for a scapegoat. They could have gone for either me or the Chinese media, but since I have never said the victim was a Chinese national, I couldn’t be blamed. China Press which has made the blunder in its caption of the nude squat photo in its evening edition on 23rd November 2005, became the target.

The forum agreed the sidelining of the China Press editors was a warning to the press to not stray from the government’s position. Both speakers and audience who spoke last night regretted the racial line taken by Utusan Malaysia and other Malay media. They want to know why the Malay press put a racial slant on the issue.

It is beyond stupid that no MCA leaders, as owners and leaders, spoke up for China Press and it was left to the DAP and civil societies to defend it.

Nothing much would have been achieved through the forum. We were preaching to the converted. In its lonely hours, maybe China Press and its staff will start to realise who their real friends are.

When the government cracks the whip, many journalists shamelessly look the other way and won’t even extend their colleagues a helping hand, or a silent “We care” whisper. We regret the National Union of Journalists did not take up the matter and voice its protest.

At the end of the day, most of the journalists here are cowards with [have] a conscious preference for ricebowl journalism over everything else.

(I have re-phrased by last sentence because I may have been a bit overboard with my sweeping comment.)