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From the Sun Online:
Columnists :: Citizen Nades - By R. Nadeswaran ( Every Monday & Wednesday )
Freedom comes with responsibility
ON Monday (May 3 -- YL), journalists around the globe celebrated World Press Freedom Day or the lack of it. The annual routine in Kuala Lumpur is to gather a group of speakers and lament over existing rules, regulations and laws which limit freedom. A week later, everything is forgotten and we wait another 51 weeks before the same thing is repeated. This has been going on for 10 years with nothing to celebrate.
If journalists had from Day One taken affirmative steps to protect their turf and profession, there would be every reason to celebrate. But alas, we chose to remain silent observers and are paying the price for it.
But the consolation is that all is not lost. There’s still a glimmer of hope that we will be given the opportunity to continue writing the truth without having to fear the Sword of Damocles hanging over our heads. The pronouncement by our leaders that a free press is part of the democratic system is indeed noteworthy. Furthermore, recommendations of the Performance Management and Delivery Unit (Pemandu) headed by Datuk Seri Idris Jala can be interpreted to mean that something positive is on the way.
Every right-thinking citizen of this country will agree with its view that investigative journalism also plays a crucial role to encourage public scrutiny.
Pemandu says investigative journalism needs to be encouraged through:
» Greater editorial freedom given to mainstream media;
» Ban on direct control of media by political parties;
» Review of existing laws e.g. Printing and Publications Act, Communications and Multimedia Act and Sedition Act that will allow the media to function more independently yet responsibly; and
» Liberalisation of licensing regulations to allow for greater media freedom and participation.
Immediately after the unit’s launch in December, I told an audience at a seminar that "even if 50% of the proposals are implemented, this country’s economy will fly through the roof". Asked to explain, I remarked: "Giving us more freedom will mean that we will expose wrongdoings, leaks and rent-seekers which in turn will put an end to corruption and back-handers.
But investigative reporting only exposes the wrongdoings. Period. What happens after that? As journalists, we don’t have power to initiate prosecution of the wrongdoers. Our job stops with the publication of the alleged wrongdoings. All else is in the hands of the attorney-general who is the only one who has the power to prosecute. If he does not act, all our efforts are worthless and useless.
That’s when the frustration steps in. After all the hard work, time, effort and money put into it, you see the crooks chomping their cigars, chauffeur-driven to six-star hotels with a coterie of bodyguards where they wine and dine with the rich and powerful. They pretend as if nothing has happened and that they are above the law. The long list of exposés by this newspaper is akin to a catalogue of shame. The dossier includes ministers, past and present, and top civil servants. How does the government expect the people to have faith in the system when the wrongdoers are allowed to continue to flaunt their ill-gotten gains?
While Malaysian journalists were "marking" the occasion with a forum in Petaling Jaya on Sunday, an Australian journalist was gathering information from various Malaysian sources in his quest to get the truth over a polymer notes scandal which has rocked the country. Nick McKenzie is an award-winning journalist and with Richard Baker of the Melbourne Age, told their readers of the millions paid in commissions to agents in Malaysia, Vietnam, Nigeria and Paraguay.
The fact that such commissions were paid by subsidiaries of Australia’s central bank – the Reserve Bank of Australia – itself is demeaning to the system of good governance which it is supposed to propagate. The fact that the Melbourne Age and its journalists are allowed and encouraged to pursue the wrongdoers is an indication of the degree of accountability and transparency that is being practised.
McKenzie told me that this would be a historical case for Australia because it is the first involving commissions paid to foreigners in offshore bank accounts. More importantly, for the central bank to be giving kickbacks to get contracts is totally unacceptable to the Australian people.
A noteworthy point though. Baker is des-cribed by his newspaper as "one of the biggest users of freedom of information (FOI) laws at The Age and despite many frustrations, finds it a good way to break stories". But McKenzie notes that there are "still some stumbling blocks in FOI laws as they can give a variety of reasons to delay giving the information".
Flawed or not, FOI laws allow access to information to Joe Public who wants to know if his money has been utilised prudently. If one government department pays RM80 for a screwdriver, he need not wait to learn about it when the Auditor-General’s Report is published a year later. No one will have any qualms about restricting access to matters relating to security, law and order, but what’s the big secret on purchases of uniform, maintenance of vehicles and the lot?
Finally, it must be said that freedom comes with responsibility. Freedom does not allow one to use information maliciously or for materialistic gain. We as journalists will cherish more freedom and better laws and will continue to act in the best interests of the nation and its people.
R. Nadeswaran looks forward to the day when he is able to access the travelling and subsistence claims for the aborted Brickendonbury project. Comments: citizen-nades@thesundaily
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