Friday, September 29, 2006
News blackouts still the norm?
Why do governments issue edicts to stem the flow of information to the governed? In the pre-Internet days, such steps were very effective to ensure information that may undermine or weaken the government is barred from reaching the masses. An uninformed constituency is a pliant and docile citizenry. In Malaysia, the government is struggling to align the seemingly contradictory goals of encouraging an informed internet-savvy population and at the same time, maintain its grip on power via a tired but successful mixture of subtle intimidation and promises of prosperity and stability.
In the late 1990s, Malaysians were astounded and might I add, excited, to learn about the power of the internet to circumvent official media channels and help themself to information that was suppressed by pro-government mediums. My father MGG Pillai, a veteran journalist and commentator for forty years, also found an avenue in cyberspace to bring his perspectives to a new audience. Since the early 1980s, The Mahathir Administration had discreetly made its displeasure of my father known to the local media titles and henceforth, MGG Pillai was banned from the local media scene. So the internet was a godsend to him and others like him who believed that alternative views will help nurture a society that thinks with a critical eye on issues.
Thanks to the government’s commitment not to interfere with internet content, alternative political views and issues abhorred by the government flourished in cyberspace. I think that if not for the internet exerting an influence on the political landscape post-Anwar Ibrahim, Tun Dr Mahathir might still be in power today. Cyberspace added another dimension to the intra-party attacks on the then Prime Minister, creating restlessness and doubt within the party leadership whether the old man was outliving his welcome. Tun finally saw the writing on the wall and left. In all his wisdom and strategic brilliance, I don’t think he could have predicted the rise of the internet as a powerful political tool. It is ironic that this medium that Tun nurtured and touted as an economic tool may have been partly responsible for his departure from power.
His successor told Malaysians that there will be more freedom in the media circles. While the Malay-language newspapers and the government’s electronic media continued to present a chauvinistic taint on issues, newspapers like the New Straits Times and the Sun actually began to write on issues with a more critical stance. Obviously the new leadership wished to differentiate itself from Tun’s strict media management style during his 22 years in power. In my view, there is no turning back of the clock even if the Prime Minister wishes to clamp down on dissent – cyberspace has already been the choice of many who wishes to express their dissatisfaction of the current leadership. But the heat is building up on the Prime Minister on a variety of fronts now – corruption, project implementation issues, 9th Malaysia Plan, leadership qualities, the son-in-law factor and issues tinged with racial and religious overtones.
Malaysia is now wrestling with a more informed citizenry (albeit still a minority) who is using cyberspace to practice citizen journalism. Issues like the UMNO demands to the Chinese chief minister of Penang, the student brawl at University Putra Malaysia and the sorry excuses uttered by the university authorities have angered a huge section of the urban and rural Chinese community. The government’s censure of a Chinese deputy minister for alleging that renovation funds meant for two Chinese schools were siphoned off by a third party ,ensured the Malay-Chinese divide remains contentious.
Following Singapore’s calculated remarks two weeks ago aimed at ensuring this divide keeps frothing at the mouth, Chinese-language media carried news about the government’s refusal to build more vernacular schools in the 9th Malaysia Plan, despite promises to the contrary made earlier by the Abdullah administration. So now, the government thinks it makes perfect sense to resort to hasty news blackouts on reports of alleged misappropriation of renovation funds for Chinese schools. Apparently, the Chinese vernacular press which is well-known for its brand of investigative reporting, has unearthed further cases of fund abuse in schools in Penang and Selangor.
So a news blackout is in effect. I have not seen any reports on this issue in the mainstream newspapers for more than a week. So it would be logical to assume that such a ban is in place. Such a gag on news will only be seen by the group of people which the government needs to convince that it’s sincere in resolving this issue, that there is indeed a cover-up. News blackouts do not work in the age of the internet. News, like single-cell organisms, will just pop up elsewhere, in this particular case, cyberspace.
This news blackout is another stain on the Abdullah administration, and in my view more damaging to its earlier commitment to more press freedom. Another flip flop decision by the rulers that be that only accentuates the administration’s credibility and perception dilemma amongst an increasingly sophisticated populace (and this includes an increasing number of rural folks as well). ¶ 4:17 PM
In the late 1990s, Malaysians were astounded and might I add, excited, to learn about the power of the internet to circumvent official media channels and help themself to information that was suppressed by pro-government mediums. My father MGG Pillai, a veteran journalist and commentator for forty years, also found an avenue in cyberspace to bring his perspectives to a new audience. Since the early 1980s, The Mahathir Administration had discreetly made its displeasure of my father known to the local media titles and henceforth, MGG Pillai was banned from the local media scene. So the internet was a godsend to him and others like him who believed that alternative views will help nurture a society that thinks with a critical eye on issues.
Thanks to the government’s commitment not to interfere with internet content, alternative political views and issues abhorred by the government flourished in cyberspace. I think that if not for the internet exerting an influence on the political landscape post-Anwar Ibrahim, Tun Dr Mahathir might still be in power today. Cyberspace added another dimension to the intra-party attacks on the then Prime Minister, creating restlessness and doubt within the party leadership whether the old man was outliving his welcome. Tun finally saw the writing on the wall and left. In all his wisdom and strategic brilliance, I don’t think he could have predicted the rise of the internet as a powerful political tool. It is ironic that this medium that Tun nurtured and touted as an economic tool may have been partly responsible for his departure from power.
His successor told Malaysians that there will be more freedom in the media circles. While the Malay-language newspapers and the government’s electronic media continued to present a chauvinistic taint on issues, newspapers like the New Straits Times and the Sun actually began to write on issues with a more critical stance. Obviously the new leadership wished to differentiate itself from Tun’s strict media management style during his 22 years in power. In my view, there is no turning back of the clock even if the Prime Minister wishes to clamp down on dissent – cyberspace has already been the choice of many who wishes to express their dissatisfaction of the current leadership. But the heat is building up on the Prime Minister on a variety of fronts now – corruption, project implementation issues, 9th Malaysia Plan, leadership qualities, the son-in-law factor and issues tinged with racial and religious overtones.
Malaysia is now wrestling with a more informed citizenry (albeit still a minority) who is using cyberspace to practice citizen journalism. Issues like the UMNO demands to the Chinese chief minister of Penang, the student brawl at University Putra Malaysia and the sorry excuses uttered by the university authorities have angered a huge section of the urban and rural Chinese community. The government’s censure of a Chinese deputy minister for alleging that renovation funds meant for two Chinese schools were siphoned off by a third party ,ensured the Malay-Chinese divide remains contentious.
Following Singapore’s calculated remarks two weeks ago aimed at ensuring this divide keeps frothing at the mouth, Chinese-language media carried news about the government’s refusal to build more vernacular schools in the 9th Malaysia Plan, despite promises to the contrary made earlier by the Abdullah administration. So now, the government thinks it makes perfect sense to resort to hasty news blackouts on reports of alleged misappropriation of renovation funds for Chinese schools. Apparently, the Chinese vernacular press which is well-known for its brand of investigative reporting, has unearthed further cases of fund abuse in schools in Penang and Selangor.
So a news blackout is in effect. I have not seen any reports on this issue in the mainstream newspapers for more than a week. So it would be logical to assume that such a ban is in place. Such a gag on news will only be seen by the group of people which the government needs to convince that it’s sincere in resolving this issue, that there is indeed a cover-up. News blackouts do not work in the age of the internet. News, like single-cell organisms, will just pop up elsewhere, in this particular case, cyberspace.
This news blackout is another stain on the Abdullah administration, and in my view more damaging to its earlier commitment to more press freedom. Another flip flop decision by the rulers that be that only accentuates the administration’s credibility and perception dilemma amongst an increasingly sophisticated populace (and this includes an increasing number of rural folks as well). ¶ 4:17 PM
