EDITORIAL: Malaysian democracy fai

[suriya@xxxxxxxxxxxx]

       Editorial & Opinion 

       EDITORIAL: Malaysian 
       democracy fails in the 
       fine print

       When a dog demands that its barking 
       cousins be muzzled, clearly something is 
       wrong. So it was with the call by a 
       Malaysian newspaper last week that those 
       filing anti-government reports should be 
       arrested under the Internal Security Act 
       (ISA) which allows indefinite detention 
       without trial. 

       Surely no self-respecting journalist would 
       call for the jailing of those who are simply 
       doing their job -- to seek truth and pursue 
       justice -- and undermine the very freedom 
       they are duty bound to defend. 

       In an opinion piece published in the 
       pro-government New Straits Times last 
       Tuesday, the author urged the Malaysian 
       authorities to take a page out of 
       Singapore's book and crack down hard on 
       ''errant'' reporters, especially foreign 
       journalists. That ''troublesome'' journalists 
       are mostly foreign is not surprising: 
       Malaysian journalists have long been 
       cowed into submission by a gamut of 
       restrictive laws. 

       In a democracy, a government must be 
       prepared to account for its actions and to 
       subject them to public scrutiny, especially 
       by the media. But democracy is interpreted 
       differently in Malaysia. Almost all 
       government documents can be labelled 
       secret under the Official Secrets Act. This 
       law effectively inhibits civil servants from 
       giving information, including that not strictly 
       categorised as secret, for fear of 
       retribution, demotion or worse still, 
       punishment with a mandatory jail sentence. 

       In addition to this, other laws which have 
       severely hamstrung Malaysian journalists 
       include the the Printing Presses and 
       Publication Act. It gives the powerful home 
       minister -- a post held by Prime Minister 
       Mahathir Mohamad himself -- the right to 
       suspend or revoke printing and publishing 
       permits, decisions that are not subject to 
       review and cannot be challenged in court. 
       The act also requires annual application for 
       all printing and publishing permits, a 
       corollary aimed at putting the press on a 
       short leash. 

       Indeed Malaysia does have a constitution 
       which guarantees freedom of speech. 
       However, the charter also allows the 
       government to impose restrictions, as it 
       deems necessary, to protect the security of 
       the nation. This has resulted in a slew of 
       laws which severely curb freedom of 
       expression. In short, there is freedom of 
       speech in Malaysia, but not freedom after 
       speech. 

       With such an oppressive environment, it's 
       no wonder that self-censorship becomes an 
       obsession for many Malaysian journalists 
       and editors. No doubt, many well-meaning 
       journalists have fought tooth and nail 
       against self-censorship, and against their 
       editors for mutilating their reports, or worse 
       still, killing them altogether. But often, they 
       are fighting a losing battle. 

       The media should aim to hold true to its role 
       as a public watchdog and to respect such 
       journalistic ethics as responsible and fair 
       reporting. True, there are indeed cases of 
       inaccurate reporting by foreign journalists, 
       the major bugbears of the powers-that-be in 
       Malaysia. But solutions exist in countering 
       such misleading reports. 

       For example, in Thailand, the National 
       Press Council is specifically formed to 
       ensure that the media does not abuse its 
       power and those found to have 
       overstepped their ethical standards are 
       punished. In addition, libel laws are there to 
       help redress any malicious reports. 

       All these are mechanisms to check 
       irresponsible journalism and to ensure that 
       press freedom is protected. Clearly, 
       throwing journalists in jail under the ISA is 
       not the answer. By arguing for such 
       draconian measures, the Malaysian media 
       appears to be acting much like a dog in the 
       manger -- if they can't have press freedom 
       for themselves, then others shouldn't have 
       it, too. 

       Last month, in one of the many pro-reform 
       demonstrations, the police set up road 
       blocks a few kilometres from the meeting 
       ground to discourage protesters from 
       reaching the venue. That, however, did not 
       deter the crowd: they stopped their cars 
       and trekked the remaining distance on foot. 
       An Australian TV crew there to cover the 
       rally had problems lugging their heavy 
       camera gears and asked for a lift from a 
       passing motorcyclist. 

       The man apologised profusely. It would be 
       dangerous for him to be seen helping out 
       foreign reporters, he said, ''but you can take 
       my bike''. It's gestures such as this which 
       goes to show that some Malaysians do 
       fervently believe that foreign journalists are 
       doing a far better job than local journalists. 
       And that's a damning indictment for 
       Malaysian journalism.