It was a bizarre move by Pakatan… for all this while they are fighting for freedom of speech, and now they are, asking people to boycott the papers for their biasness. Such an irony.

I do read Utusan occasionally, and I know how pro-BN and racial biased they could be when reporting certain issues… but that doesn’t mean that they are liars.

Chinese papers are often bias when reporting some racial issues too… Hishammudin’s keris wielding for example was widely criticised in Chinese papers, while the Malay papers were more protective towards the same news.

Sometimes, there is no absolute answer to right or wrong in certain matters… it’s just about sharing different point of views, which is not really a bad thing for better understanding among Malaysians.

Besides, the blogosphere are more biased in favour of Pakatan than the mainstream media for BN… we are the worst when it comes to biasness. So, should BN supporters launch a boycott campaign against the bloggers in return?

So much so for freedom of speech.

The blog has garnered almost 300,000 visitors in just 7 days, pretty amazing.

Malaysiakini has apologised regarding this matter… [Malaysiakini]

On election night, we were informed by PKR candidate Badrul Hisham Shaharin that he was told by an EC official that there would be a recount.

Our story on that night reflected this. In addition, on March 11 Badrul repeated that there was a recount at a press conference and this was reported by not only Malaysiakini but also a number of other newspapers.

However, we have come to know now that such a recount did not take place. As such, we would like to apologise to Khairy Jamaluddin for publishing that assertion in our subsequent stories.

I wonder if Badrul is ready to apologise regarding this mistake too.

Well, he is the Umno information chief after all, he needs to lead the cyber-evolution for the party. However, a blog is just a medium to share thoughts and information; it doesn’t help if the politicians are not doing their best to make the country a better place.

The Chinese writings are unnecessary, really… if we want to build a Malaysia for all Malaysians, at least show some courtesy to write in a language that everyone can understand. I know, the blog provides English version of the Chinese articles as well… but why not just in English, or perhaps in BM instead?

I have read some sarcastic comments on other blogs about Khir’s motive. The fact that he is going to moderate the comments at the blog is not going to be welcomed by the public…

I don’t blame him for that though; some Malaysians are immaturely abusing the freedom of speech… and considering his dent reputation among anti-BN supporters, his blog would be flooded with pointless verbal abuse, which probably deserves some moderation.

I hope that he won’t be stupid enough to block proper comments which share different point of views, and that he would share his real thoughts instead of making it solely for propaganda purpose.

Set the agendas and motives aside… it should be a welcome move to see political leaders expressing their thoughts directly to the public and to receive feedback. Give him a chance shall we?

Quoted from editor-in-chief Steven Gan, “Democracy is about voters acquiring sufficient knowledge to make an informed choice. By making Malaysiakini available to all, we want to play our part in helping Malaysians exercise their democratic right.” [Malaysiakini]

Frankly, the media biasness for the past couple of weeks are really annoying. It’s a noble act from Malaysiakini to try and balance the election news and information, kudos for that.

With election drawing near, doesn’t this gimmick sound like “Money Politics” to you? The great things about this stuff are that the Election Commission is closing one eye with it, and some main media is glorifying the money-giving act.

Screenshot of Malaysia Parliament website (on Jan 6 Feb 17; still no changes)

It’s the Official Website of the Parliament of Malaysia; not a website running by cats and dogs… how could they not keep this kind of information up to date?

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

Radio24, the first all-news radio station in the country, is expected to play a role in fulfilling the needs of the people to receive not only information, but valid information.

Information Minister Zainuddin Maidin said the 24-hour radio station, run by Bernama, began transmission today and would play an important role in providing actual and current news and information to the public “who crave for information”.

For the first phase, Radio24 will be available only in the Klang Valley, which is home to four million people, before the service is expanded nationwide in the second phase. [Bernama]

I have a feeling that the radio station will be yet another propaganda machine by the BN government. Besides, ‘valid information’ is a joke… it simply means information that the government wants the people to know.

Out of the ~ 4 minute video, this is probably the only controversial excerpt from the song…

Cakap lagi la Cina balik China, kalau semua balik sini bukan Malaysia, saya takut mana kamu pergi cari kerja.. tapi biasalah orang Melayu pun tak suka kerja… semua masuk hutan hidung macam sakai.

Think whatever you like about the phrase, I don’t want to talk about it.

What irritates me is how Berita Harian is trying to raise racial tension among Malaysians. They are doing their best to raise anger from Malays against a fellow Malaysian, a Chinese unfortunately.

As mentioned in my earlier post about Namewee’s saga… I strongly felt that the local press is doing more damage to racial harmony than Namewee himself by publishing irresponsible news articles.

The editors of Berita Harian should be mature enough to know that the article would raise uneasiness to the society, and they still chose to do so. Aren’t these people supposed to be charged under seditious act instead?

Don’t even try to tell me that it’s press freedom or that it’s their responsibility to publish the facts. Namewee’s Negarakuku video is based on facts as well, but it is improper because some facts are not meant to be published.

Facts can be seditious as well… if Namewee is to be charged with seditious act, the Berita Harian editors shouldn’t receive any punishment less than Namewee. As far as I am concerned, Berita Harian is doing much more damage then Namewee’s videos did.