3 groups lodge reports against blogger (NST)

Three police reports were lodged against blogger Jeff Ooi for allegedly defaming the country, government and police force.

The reports were lodged by the Malaysian Islamic Consumers Association, Malaysian Indian Muslim Congress and Pertubuhan Seni Silat Ikatan Kalam Malaysia against a statement issued by Ooi to an Al Jazeera reporter. The statement was allegedly broadcast on YouTube following an illegal gathering on Nov 10 organised by a coalition of opposition parties and non-governmental organisations calling itself Bersih.

The police reports were lodged at the Sentul police headquarters yesterday about 4.30pm.

The complainants want Ooi to be investigated, alleging that the interview given to Al Jazeera not only tarnished the image of the country but was also seditious and caused racial tension.

Ooi is also alleged to have given inaccurate information to Al Jazeera in stating that the police used unnecessary force in dispersing the demonstrators.

[The videos in questions... video 1 & video 2]

Police report lodged against Malaysia Today, Raja Petra (Thestar)

A businessman has lodged a police report against web portal Malaysia Today and its owner Raja Petra Kamaruddin for an article in the site which he alleged could cause disunity.

Noor Hisham Yusoh, 33, lodged the report at the Brickfields police station at about 7.30pm yesterday accompanied by seven other friends urging the authorities to carry out investigations into the article.

He said the article headlined “What the eye does not see” by Raja Petra had elements of instigation.

“As a Malaysian citizen, I think that his accusations are serious and can convince a lot of people in Malaysia that the country is not peaceful anymore,” he said, adding that the article could make the situation worse.

Noor Hisham from Bukit Subang said he decided to lodge the report after having a discussion with his friends who agreed that the article could cause disunity in the country.

“We are living in a very prosperous country and we do not want such an article to cause any problem,” he said.

Responses from Jeff and Raja Petra…

Jeff: ZAM, Al-Jazeera & police reports against Jeff Ooi
Raja Petra: I am greatly offended

Thoughts from other bloggers (and commentors)…

Police report against Malaysia Today, again
3 lodge police report against Jeff Ooi
Police Report lodged against Jeff for Al-Jazeera Interview
Kimma Lodges Police Report Against Jeff Ooi
Another Frivolous Police Report Filed Against RPK and Malaysia Today
Jeff Ooi implicated for defamation & Sedition
Police reports lodged against 2 bloggers
RPK, Government and the Army

I respect Jeff Ooi for pioneering the socio-political blogging in Malaysia, but frankly I am not a big fan of him… I have doubts about his character and political correctness sometimes.

Politics101 has branded Jeff’s joining as “probably the biggest catch in living memory’ for DAP, and that it is ‘is a historic day for the country”… I don’t think so.

Jeff Ooi might be famous to bloggers, but for those who don’t blog or rarely read news online… they don’t know Jeff Ooi. If I ask my friends about Jeff Ooi, chances are 9 out of 10 won’t know who the heck he is.

You may argue that those friends of mine have been living in caves, but fact is there are lots and lots of Malaysians like them that never bother much about happenings online.

Besides, the high profile ‘welcoming’ of Jeff Ooi is set to backfire in certain way… I have friends that work for DAP for years and I don’t think they ever received the attention that Jeff Ooi is having at the moment… I am not sure if everyone in DAP would be that generous and welcome Jeff with open arms like Lim Kit Siang did.

If Jeff Ooi wants to become a successful politician, he needs to jump out of the NET and do more ground work to spread his ideology. He needs to expand his circle of influence… and starting a new blog won’t help much, as it would be the same group of people from his current blog that are going to read it.