My Anthem

Sunday, June 29, 2008

Responsible Media vs Couldn't care less wans...

A recent Blogsworld-begotten buddy DPP sms-ed in the graveyard shift hour lust night (he knows this Midnight Voiz would be on the PC, BC...
"Refer mkini police report new sodomycase anwar ibrahim"

After t'anking him with a cyber-tehtari', Desi dared not access the Net as he's bitten once, three times shy because it was raining cats, dogs and wolves (yes, this species are coming out of the political woods!:( and a lightning strike always repeats,if you believe the story i "The postman rings twice...". You fathom the link between te Postman and Lightning -- my only sweet recall is one of juicy actress whose name I shall nowt share with but TEAse my ER because then you'll Giggle her name and Desi's knot into sharing prized numbers.

Where was I?
DIGRESSING, off course!

OK, after con BF, not at men kee Cos that outlet did not open but at a Lobak eatery whose price is more than 50% ...can't be lower-lah, you optimistic masochistic Malaysians. mGf ancient mariner, who just joined Desi as among 3 groups vying for fame/ignonimy? at a certain Best Blogger in Malaysia (English) Poll as informed by Mr X, has his famous quote reprised many times, so to that bugger who lodged the new Sodomite report against DSAI, I repeat: "Go eat shit and die...!"

My copy of the New Sunday Times ran this frotpage, bottom-of-page one-liner:
SODOMY REPORT LODGED AGAINST ANWAR; IT'S A FABRICATION, SAYS ANWAR > P4

So I updated DPP aka SHANKAR (y)ES that all I saw on P4 "... a newsreport without mentioning DSAI, only 'opposition leader', NO second report with DSAI's answer...?"
Anyone Lawyer hear can offer help to Desi to file a suit against the NST for "FALSE ADVERTISING," ah? -- leading Desi to part with RM1.20 this dull, storm-nigh moUrn? Let's split 50-50 with a 40million claim, can?The little law and consumerism I knwo tells me I stand an almost zero chance of winning, but "What's this life, if full of care, we have no time to write and dare?..." Mr (late as usual) WH DAVIES must be smirking somewhere...

Since I don't have a subscription to Mkini -- churchmousey writHer, remember? -- I despatched another SOS to the ucourtly but civil DPP to C&P ***malaysiakini.com's report to forward toDesi, please... I almost fell to my knees.

*** I'm joining some cheapO Blogger-frenetics in citing (two words, not wan!) Mkini in fool as it is promised the online newspaper would highlight thy Blog -- so this is an EXperinMENt to test the TRUTH! Remember one of MBH's objectives is to seek out the Truth, the "Hole T..., never mind, you lose readers once you go +long-winded... (+ BTW, which stands for By The Way in blogspeak, + is part of my name. Another part which provides a perennial defence when I stumble is ++++Errata...

NB: I left an Errata++++ msg at Mr X's when he mixed up johnlee mk and Dr azy Rahman in a current POLL at www.thex... somethin' which I will fill the hole late!, but that's covered o'lady!:(

Here's a GEM of an ANALYSIS I stole from a professional news site giving pay2view MKini a run for its or Georrge Soros' money...

Sound the trmpet for an intelligent breakdown of the nation's state-of-affairs concerning The-PM-in-Waiting

BY The Malaysian Insider

Sunday June 29, 2008:



A different Malaysia 10 years on

ANALYSIS

JUNE 29 — Here we go again. Like 10 years ago, Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim appears on the cusp of taking power. Like 10 years ago, he is facing a career-ending charge of being a sodomite. Like 10 years ago, this charge is going to put the country into a tailspin, split families right down the centre, drive a wedge between life time friends.

The Malaysian Insider finds out what has changed since 1998 when Anwar was accused of sodomy and sacked from government by the then prime minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad.

WHAT'S CHANGED:

Anwar Ibrahim

Six years in jail, a message of change and a promise of a better future for all Malaysians has turned Anwar from political opportunist into the hope of the nation. The Anwar of today and 1998 share some similarities – both appear more comfortable in the company of rhetoric than in substance. Both appear in a hurry for the ultimate political prize. Both crave for the international spotlight.

But the Anwar of today is genuinely admired by Malays, Chinese and Indians and viewed by many as the one politician who could unite the nation and chart a new era of growth and stability for Malaysia. Few believe that he was guilty of corruption and sodomy and are convinced that he was a victim of trumped up charges by Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad.

His ability to rise from the depths of defeat and despair, and unite the Opposition with a reform message has caught the imagination of the Malaysian public.

In 1998, he and his close circle of supporters believed that it was his time to occupy the top political seat in the house. Today, many Malaysians think that he is the prime minister-in-waiting. They are more than willing to overlook his faults and shortcomings.

There is going to be a fair bit of cynicism going around today about the police report lodged by his aide. The name of Sukma Darmawan will pepper lunchtime conversations.

On Sept 19, 1999, Sukma was jailed six months by Sessions Judge Hasnah Mohamad Hashim after pleading guilty to allowing Anwar to sodomise him.

He had pleaded guilty to committing an act of gross indecency under Section 377(d) at the official residence of the former Deputy Prime Minister in Kuala Lumpur in April 1998.

In 2006, the Court of Appeal comprising Justices Gopal Sri Ram, Hashim Mohd Yusoff and James Foong unanimously allowed Sukma's appeal and set aside the conviction and jail sentence.

The judges said they were convinced that "in the circumstances, the conviction was wholly unsafe."

Media

One of the chief concerns during the recent Umno supreme council retreat was the independent streak displayed by several mainstream newspapers. Party officials felt that the Star, New Straits Times and the Sun seemed anti-establishment on certain days and fawning in their coverage of Anwar and Penang chief minister Lim Guan Eng on other days.

They suggested that Prime Minister Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi take stern action against the top media bosses. Sad. They just don’t get it.

The era of controlling media coverage or expecting newspaper to sugarcoat all reports about the government is over. It ended officially on March 8.

Fact is that the editors of the mainstream media had to face one reality after March 8: that 48 per cent of the Malaysian electorate voted for Pakatan Rakyat. As such, the newspapers and television stations had to recalibrate their bias against the Opposition or flirt with irrelevance.

Sure there will be wall-to-wall coverage of the police report filed by Anwar’s aide but in the days and weeks ahead Anwar and critics of the government will also get their space in the Star, Sun, Edge Financial Daily and other mainstream outlets. Some writers will scrutinise all the actions by the police and let the public know if the stench of a stitch-up is overpowering.

There will not be the Pravda-like journalism of 1998 which saw the NST, Malay Mail, RTM and TV3 convict Anwar even before he stepped into court. Why? Because the editors know that the punishment from Malaysians will be swift and painful. Why? Because the media bosses know that unlike 1998, Malaysia’s alternative media is fully developed.

If the mainstream media is one-sided, Anwar and his supporters can take comfort that the public will turn to the vast number of blogs and news portals that have mushroomed in the last decade for their source of information.

Fear

It’s gone. Malaysians have lost their fear of going against authority, of voting in the Opposition, of challenging the prime minister, of demonstrating on the streets and of the unknown. The result: a messier but a far more accountable Malaysia.

There was a time when Malaysian would have opted for stability over anything else. They would have put up with stock answers from Barisan Nasional politicians, and accepted blindly assertions by the police.

Not now. Even the mighty are finding this out. Perhaps no other group has benefited from the unshackling of fear as much as Pakatan Rakyat. Perhaps no other politician has urged Malaysians to cast aside their traditional caution as much as Anwar Ibrahim.

If the police believe that they can walk up to Anwar’s spacious home, whisk him away in unmarked police cars and detain him indefinitely under the Internal Security Act like they did in 1998, they will be in for a rude shock. Not only will Pakatan Rakyat bring large crowds onto the streets across the country but the authority of the BN government to rule Malaysia will be severely undermined.

Anwar has to be given due process, the police investigations must be transparent, and the evidence must be able to withstand the toughest scrutiny. Otherwise, it will be Prime Minister Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi and his administration which will end up being on trial. And it will not be a pretty sight.

The Opposition

The sacking of Anwar from government and Umno in 1998 split the Malay community. Parti Islam SeMalaysia (Pas) benefited greatly from the fissures, overnight transforming itself from a political bit player into a mainstream heavyweight. In the 1999 general elections, Pas retained Kelantan, won control of Terengganu and won 27 parliamentary seats.

But the Opposition was weak, an alliance in name only, and greatly outnumbered in Parliament. Not today. Today the PKR-DAP-PAS alliance has 82 MPs and controls Selangor, Perak, Penang, Kedah and Kelantan.

Today, Opposition politicians have the stature and command the respect of a significant number of Malaysians. They have the numbers and can send the country into paralysis with demonstrations if they choose to do so.

An UPDATE, also from The Malaysian Insider:


Anwar's latest statement
Released at 5.30pm from the Turkish embassy in Kuala Lumpur

JUNE 29 — I am issuing this statement from within the embassy of the Republic of Turkey in Kuala Lumpur.

I was transported to the embassy earlier this morning fearing that my personal safety was in danger. I thank all those who offered to assist me in this time of need and am grateful to the Turkish ambassador for extending an invitation to seek refuge within the embassy.

Since the March 8 elections, numerous credible sources from within the government and military intelligence have advised me that certain agents from within Barisan Nasional leadership have initiated plots to cause harm to me or my family or my supporters.

I have been told that my assassination has not been ruled out as means to subvert the people's will and bring an end to the transformational changes taking place in Malaysia.

Notwithstanding the threats which are intended to silence my voice, I intend make public new evidence implicating that the Inspector-General of Police Musa Hassan and Attorney-General A. Gani Patail engaged in criminal acts of fabricating evidence in cases launched against me in 1998.

The allegations that have been made against me on Saturday are nothing more than a replay of the events which transpired in 1998 when I was sacked from the office of the deputy prime minister, jailed and beaten, and then charged and convicted by a kangaroo court for crimes which I never committed.

This charade was orchestrated by a corrupt Barisan Nasional leadership which made use of the entire apparatus of the state power including its control of the judiciary, the police force, and its grip on the mainstream media.

These actions are being repeated today to undermine the forces of reform and renewal which were unleashed in the March 2008 elections.

I would like to assure my family, friends and supporters in Malaysia that I am safe and remain committed as ever before to continuing the struggle for a free and just Malaysia.

Anwar Ibrahim

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