Politicians & Journalists

Desi this morn was greAted by TWO pieces of news giving an insight into the new Minister of Information -- in my world, I refer to him as minister of P. (Your gas of what P is is as goode as anyone else's...:) And don't be rude, asking Desi to spell it out!There is a Chinese saying: When painting a portrait, don't paint until the intestines show-lah!How many times Have I recounted this from Mr Coww's vice collectibles?

First account is extracted from an online newspaper, to which Desi the pauper does NOT have a subscritption and so it's thanks to the courtsey of a mGf's channelling to keep me educated on issues of the day. Jest some extracts from the report dated
Feb 20, 2006 and the emphasis is all mine, Desi's alone, not the sender, not the messnger, yes, the culprit is Desiderata-ylchong alone!
(Nowadays, one must make oneself 100% plus one clear so when there is trouble arising, one can join the ID parade and be shot, like in the firing squad in the days of the German genoside? Or to the Russian prairie, or to the Communist commune?
Digressing again, and it's jest started!:)

Zam: I won't entertain rubbish


Newly-appointed Information Minister Zainuddin Maidin had one answer - and stuck to it - when asked to respond to a claim that he had sought the sacking of top New Straits Times Press Bhd (NSTP) editors.

"I don't want to entertain rubbish. Sorry," he flatly told reporters at his office, on his first day at work as full minister following last week's cabinet reshuffle.

In otherwise jovial mood, Zainuddin - widely known as Zam - had called a press conference to explain the ministry's new policies, flanked by his two new deputies Zahid Hamidi and Chia Kwang Chye.

In a commentary published last Thursday, NSTP deputy chairperson and editorial advisor, Kalimullah Hassan had lashed out at Zainuddin, reminding him he is "not an editor of the Malaysian media".

Kalimmullah had claimed that, a day before the cabinet reshuffle last Tuesday, Zainuddin had asked for top NSTP editors to be dismissed, during an Umno bureau closed-door meeting.

Pressed for his response, Zainuddin again replied: "I am not going to entertain rubbish. I have the bigger picture in mind. You have to look at the bigger picture, not at small things."

Asking reporters to introduce themselves later, he clarified the context of his use of the word 'rubbish', when it came to the New Straits Times (NST) reporter's turn to identify himself.

"I am not referring to anyone as rubbish. But I am not going to take any rubbish. You know we have a very big task here. We are not going to entertain this small thing," he reiterated.

"I'm not saying NST is rubbish, jangan silap (don't mistake my meaning). I am just saying that I'm not going to entertain petty things," he told the reporter.

Jokingly, he asked everyone else: "Do I look like your enemy? Do I look like your editor? No?" before bursting into laughter.
.
.
.
.

"In newspapers we are trained as to what should be published. (If) it's rubbish, then you throw it in the bin... This profession teaches you to be a mature and very knowledgeable person.

"Unfortunately some people still pour out things in the newspapers. But that's guided by emotion, not by logical thinking," he said without elaborating.


DESIDERATA: Suffice to stop here. Want the full report, go take out a fool subscritpion. I did earn some B&B from thast newspaper once, butt that would be another storey to climb, when Desi has the time and needs the dime!


In my acKNOWledgement letter to the kind sender, Desi wrote, with some editing and self-censorship-lah, also added some spice (in English it's called EMbelleSHMENT-lah, like what the ladies do with cosmetics and P. surgery-lah! I think after this Post, I'm going to starting counting the MIStleTOES backwards!
I was trained at mainstream media, remember?:

"Hi ...:
Thanks.

Being a minister, he's FIRST, a politician, next a
journo!
I just don't trust politicians. Petty and
not-so-petty, including the likes of ....* and ....**.

Did you know that in his three/four terms as a Penang
constituency's MP, ....** never had a Serrvice Centre?
People had to go to his law office even on
constituency matters!

As for ....*, just take my word I have seen him work at
pretty close hand! A former comrade of his Tan See ....*** 2!

And if you think Dr M was dictatorial you, don't klnow what dictatorship is about!
And if you think Social Activism is puapering, this former Oppo leader now is on the boards of many Listed Companies ... and yet at the same time trying to sell medicine like in the olde days by the roadside, you know what I mean?

YL, Desi

PS: I prefer Pak Samad's press interview as in the
Star today.If there is ONE journo true to his
profession, this is One!

See, I am NOT RACIST, yes?


Account 2, speaks for itself, and reprinted here in fool because I think it's goode for the record, in appreciation of a fellow journalist whom I had the pleasure of "training" UNDER ('Daisy' carelessly left this word out, and that really makes ... full of ...self!doesn't she?) - and verbal intercourse - at a seven-day Media Trainig Course in my roaring daes. Just add proudly I would be proud to associate myself with Pak Samad's views on journalism as highlioghted (BOLDED-lah, By Desi, no, not by The Star, not by ZAM...why so long-winded one?)

from The Star, page 29:

Wednesday February 22, 2006

Pak Samad: Build up trust

By FLORENCE A. SAMY


PETALING JAYA: Keep good ties with the leaders but there is no need to be overcautious, so says veteran journalist Tan Sri Abdul Samad Ismail to newspapers.

And the law requiring a permit to print a newspaper should no longer be necessary, said the newsman fondly known as Pak Samad.

“It's not necessary to have the Act (Printing Presses & Publications Act 1984) anymore,” he said at his house yesterday. “No one in his sane mind will condemn the Government.

“You should just write what you think is fit to be published. Don't wait for the Government to signal first.

“I never listen to government signals, but then again I was close to the top leaders. The media must establish trust and confidence with the top leaders so that they don't suspect you of doing anything against them.”

Samad, 82, said newspapers practised self-censorship, sometimes too much for their own good.

“Sometimes people are afraid of their own shadows. They build phantoms of their own and impose their own rules but sometimes it is unfounded.”

“In my experience, I bantai aje (I just write) but I was also close to the top people and helped them as well.”

He said there was no such thing as press freedom, then and now.

“There is press freedom to publish but there is no press freedom to write anything according to your whims and fancies without the consideration of public order,” he said.

Samad's illustrious career in journalism began when he joined Utusan Melayu in Singapore in 1941. Between 1941 and 1944, he was the assistant editor of Utusan Warta Malaya (Berita Malai). He was made editor in 1945.

In 1946, he rejoined Utusan Melayu as assistant editor and was appointed its deputy editor from 1953 to 1958. He became a Berita Harian editor in 1958.

He was later the managing editor and deputy editor-in-chief with the New Straits Times until 1976 when he was detained under the Internal Security Act.

Upon his release, he was made editorial adviser of the New Straits Times Press Bhd in the 1980s and became editorial consultant in 2000 for a year.

Information Minister Datuk Zainuddin Maidin, who paid a courtesy call on Samad at his house yesterday, said he wanted to thank the veteran journalist for his contributions to the field.

“He made Utusan Melayu (Utusan Malaysia) into a distinguished journalistic institute. Although I have never worked directly with him, the fighting spirit that he pioneered is in me and has helped shape my personality and thinking when looking at problems facing the nation,” said the former Utusan Malaysia editor-in-chief.

Zainuddin said after independence, Samad removed elements of colonisation from the Straits Times to make it an English newspaper responsible for expanding the Malaysian nationalistic way of thinking.

“Regardless of what people think about Pak Samad's political stand, he is still a renowned journalist and nationalist with great contributions,” he said.

DESIDERATA: A point to add is Let's give Zam the benefit of the doubt and see hopw his propaganda pans out after a year on the job. as well as how he handles the "current" controversy enveloping Brendan Pereira and gang at the NST (You mean you don't know? Then detour to Jeffooi's Screenshots-lah!) vis-a-vis the Cartoon Incident (or isit Accident?) with reference to a Muhammad...AND I also agree with Zam's last comment that "Regardless of what people think about Pak Samad's political stand, he is still a renowned journalist and nationalist with great contributions."
See, Desi does agree with even his nemesis sometimes, and it's all fair and square in love, war and journalism, and politics