BUM2010: another take, aVOICE from civilsociety

Dialogue, out from the virtual world and into real life

CPI Writings

Sunday, 23 May 2010 17:18

Dr. Lim Teck Ghee presenting souvenir to Selangor MB, Khalid Ibrahim @ BUM2010 Minister of Federal Territories and Urban Well-being, Dato Raja Nong Chik @ BUM2010 Below is the text of the speech delivered at the Bloggers Universe Malaysia (BUM) 2010 gathering on May 22. Firstly, let me welcome our honoured guests – the honorable Menteri Besar [of Selangor] and the Minister of Federal Territories and Urban Wellbeing for gracing the occasion and providing the keynote speeches. I want to thank the various speakers and moderators who are here to provide their points of view and insights for what promises to be a very intense dialogue – a dialogue over contentious issues which are important to all of us but which has largely taken place over the internet. Now we are going to have it here in real life and not in the virtual world. I also wish to thank everyone who has worked or contributed to make this event take place – the organizing committee; the MB’s office of the Selangor state government; the FT Ministry and last but not least, my small CPI team that has worked hard to make this event a special one in several ways. I use the word special event perhaps in a biased way seeing that the CPI is the co-organizer but on reflection, you may agree. Firstly, this is one of the larger, if not largest gatherings of bloggers and blog supporters held in the country – at least in terms of the coming together of a community on a serious programme that focuses on the major divide of religion (and the associated divide of race) in the country. Secondly, we have a formidable list of speakers drawn from various political parties, the media and civil society. We have no political agenda or axe to grind in the group of speakers assembled today. We tried especially hard to ensure a good balance. No names need be mentioned but various speakers that we approached to ensure the better representation of all spectrums of views failed to respond or turned us down. Still I am not disappointed – we have an outstanding cast of speakers – and I hope they will not disappoint us. RTM does not belong to BN Let me remind you that this event is intended to commemorate World Press Freedom day. Press or media freedom, and the larger context of the freedom of expression is a cause which I believe is very close to the hearts of many if not all of us gathered here today – regardless of whether we are supporters of the BN or the opposition; or whether we are unconvinced of the virtues of both. Now this cause which is at the heart of a liberal democratic system has been systematically undermined. Even as I speak, there are hundreds if not thousands of media professionals working in the country who are engaged in self-censorship or state-directed censorship to ensure that what may be perceived as negative or sensitive materials, content or views are not put out in the public sphere. Or if put out, are spun and manipulated to present the government’s point of view and to demonize those the BN perceives as its enemies. This atmosphere – even culture of fear and intimidation – is supplemented on the other hand by the enormous rewards given out to the editors and senior management in media outfits by the state and the private sector owners for ensuring that we have sanitized or castrated news and views that do not question the system. Today, we have two cases of media professionals, who for living up to the ideals of ethical and independent journalism, for daring to improve the quality of our public discourse on contentious issues, have been punished. I refer to the cases of Chou Z Lam from RTM and Joshua Wong from ntv7. Let me quote from Chou’s blog: “Instead of reevaluating their self-censorship and decreased credibility, after I disclosed the Bakun documentary off-the-air incident, [the] RTM management had chosen to increase their control over the authority and professionalism of 3 Mandarin units, i.e Galeri Mandarin Nasional, the TV2 Mandarin news unit and Mandarin programmed by radio RTM. They had officially appointed an MCA member Yap, who has no experience with journalism to oversee programmes and news produced by these 3 units. Whoever has given the instruction to carry this surveillance, I would say this act will only erode the credibility of RTM, jeopardizing the rights of information of its audience and humiliate the pride of [the] journalist, as well as insulting the profession of journalism. Those in power in RTM, [it] seems, don’t understand a single fact, that these broadcasting stations are not owned by BN, but the peoples and the communities. I hereby urge those who had humiliated the profession of journalism to resign their post in RTM and apology to RTM’s audience as well as those who had contributed their time and effort for the success of production of Rawang documentary and Bakun documentary series”. Since writing this piece in his blog, Chou has received marching orders from RTM. As for Joshua who quit his job at ntv7 on 20th April, let me read out what he has to say in the recent interview that Shahnon Shah conducted with him which has appeared in The Nut Graph. Extracts: [Quote] What was different this time round that you decided you needed to quit? What was the thing that made you decide, ‘This is it’? It really was self-censorship, and also the external interference this time was just too obvious. I have to be fair to the external actors, though. I really do not know if the Prime Minister's Office merely forwarded third party concerns to us, or if they were actually instructing us. There’s a gap here that I cannot explain and I have no evidence to point either way. But top management should have conducted a thorough investigation of these matters before jumping into self-censorship….If the top management had just bothered to find out the facts and defended me, I don’t think I would have resigned. Have you been receiving many messages of support for your decision to quit ntv7? Who have they been from? What have they been telling you? Yes, mostly from old friends and my church members. Mostly the messages are, “You’re very brave.” Or, “You must be very careful, because the people you have taken to task are quite high-level.” But I had to take this risk, especially when I called the press conference to expose these things. I don’t think of it as brave — I think these are principles every journalist should hold. You see, if we were to talk about political directives and so on, two Chinese dailies — Sin Chew and China Press — did not report on my resignation on the day it happened. They only published follow-up responses from different leaders later, even then with little prominence. But Nanyang Siang Pau and Oriental Daily reported on my resignation. How come these two papers could do it? Was there a possibility of self-censorship in the other papers? Have you been receiving criticisms, including from fellow journalists? What’s their point of view? Yes, they say since I held such a high-profile press conference, I would be affecting the show Editor’s Time and so on. But I wasn’t condemning my team members…. I was just saying, stop political interference and self-censorship. Some of them also consider what I did as … showing off. It’s up to them to judge me. To me, time will be the best judge of my actions. If I had continued to work within the system, it would actually be easier for me. More importantly, if we care about good journalism, I would rather we gather more journalists to fight for press freedom and against political interference, instead of dismissing individuals. [Unquote] I wish to end by urging all here not only to rally to – but to fight for – the cause of media freedom and the larger freedom of expression. Being able to voice our views on the internet should not be enough. We need to reform the larger authoritarian system that has made it difficult for Malaysians to distinguish between facts, lies and opinions. Freedom for the independence and integrity of the mainstream media and its practitioners must not be forgotten or consigned to the wayside. It must remain our collective and urgent resolve and objective. Finally, let me end with a reminder from the advertiser. Please visit us at www.cpiasia.net where you can post your views and comments on what has transpired today.

Dialogue, out from the virtual world and into real life

CPI Writings

Sunday, 23 May 2010 17:18

Dr. Lim Teck Ghee presenting souvenir to Selangor MB, Khalid Ibrahim @ BUM2010 Minister of Federal Territories and Urban Well-being, Dato Raja Nong Chik @ BUM2010 Below is the text of the speech delivered at the Bloggers Universe Malaysia (BUM) 2010 gathering on May 22. Firstly, let me welcome our honoured guests – the honorable Menteri Besar [of Selangor] and the Minister of Federal Territories and Urban Wellbeing for gracing the occasion and providing the keynote speeches. I want to thank the various speakers and moderators who are here to provide their points of view and insights for what promises to be a very intense dialogue – a dialogue over contentious issues which are important to all of us but which has largely taken place over the internet. Now we are going to have it here in real life and not in the virtual world. I also wish to thank everyone who has worked or contributed to make this event take place – the organizing committee; the MB’s office of the Selangor state government; the FT Ministry and last but not least, my small CPI team that has worked hard to make this event a special one in several ways. I use the word special event perhaps in a biased way seeing that the CPI is the co-organizer but on reflection, you may agree. Firstly, this is one of the larger, if not largest gatherings of bloggers and blog supporters held in the country – at least in terms of the coming together of a community on a serious programme that focuses on the major divide of religion (and the associated divide of race) in the country. Secondly, we have a formidable list of speakers drawn from various political parties, the media and civil society. We have no political agenda or axe to grind in the group of speakers assembled today. We tried especially hard to ensure a good balance. No names need be mentioned but various speakers that we approached to ensure the better representation of all spectrums of views failed to respond or turned us down. Still I am not disappointed – we have an outstanding cast of speakers – and I hope they will not disappoint us. RTM does not belong to BN Let me remind you that this event is intended to commemorate World Press Freedom day. Press or media freedom, and the larger context of the freedom of expression is a cause which I believe is very close to the hearts of many if not all of us gathered here today – regardless of whether we are supporters of the BN or the opposition; or whether we are unconvinced of the virtues of both. Now this cause which is at the heart of a liberal democratic system has been systematically undermined. Even as I speak, there are hundreds if not thousands of media professionals working in the country who are engaged in self-censorship or state-directed censorship to ensure that what may be perceived as negative or sensitive materials, content or views are not put out in the public sphere. Or if put out, are spun and manipulated to present the government’s point of view and to demonize those the BN perceives as its enemies. This atmosphere – even culture of fear and intimidation – is supplemented on the other hand by the enormous rewards given out to the editors and senior management in media outfits by the state and the private sector owners for ensuring that we have sanitized or castrated news and views that do not question the system. Today, we have two cases of media professionals, who for living up to the ideals of ethical and independent journalism, for daring to improve the quality of our public discourse on contentious issues, have been punished. I refer to the cases of Chou Z Lam from RTM and Joshua Wong from ntv7. Let me quote from Chou’s blog: “Instead of reevaluating their self-censorship and decreased credibility, after I disclosed the Bakun documentary off-the-air incident, [the] RTM management had chosen to increase their control over the authority and professionalism of 3 Mandarin units, i.e Galeri Mandarin Nasional, the TV2 Mandarin news unit and Mandarin programmed by radio RTM. They had officially appointed an MCA member Yap, who has no experience with journalism to oversee programmes and news produced by these 3 units. Whoever has given the instruction to carry this surveillance, I would say this act will only erode the credibility of RTM, jeopardizing the rights of information of its audience and humiliate the pride of [the] journalist, as well as insulting the profession of journalism. Those in power in RTM, [it] seems, don’t understand a single fact, that these broadcasting stations are not owned by BN, but the peoples and the communities. I hereby urge those who had humiliated the profession of journalism to resign their post in RTM and apology to RTM’s audience as well as those who had contributed their time and effort for the success of production of Rawang documentary and Bakun documentary series”. Since writing this piece in his blog, Chou has received marching orders from RTM. As for Joshua who quit his job at ntv7 on 20th April, let me read out what he has to say in the recent interview that Shahnon Shah conducted with him which has appeared in The Nut Graph. Extracts: [Quote] What was different this time round that you decided you needed to quit? What was the thing that made you decide, ‘This is it’? It really was self-censorship, and also the external interference this time was just too obvious. I have to be fair to the external actors, though. I really do not know if the Prime Minister's Office merely forwarded third party concerns to us, or if they were actually instructing us. There’s a gap here that I cannot explain and I have no evidence to point either way. But top management should have conducted a thorough investigation of these matters before jumping into self-censorship….If the top management had just bothered to find out the facts and defended me, I don’t think I would have resigned. Have you been receiving many messages of support for your decision to quit ntv7? Who have they been from? What have they been telling you? Yes, mostly from old friends and my church members. Mostly the messages are, “You’re very brave.” Or, “You must be very careful, because the people you have taken to task are quite high-level.” But I had to take this risk, especially when I called the press conference to expose these things. I don’t think of it as brave — I think these are principles every journalist should hold. You see, if we were to talk about political directives and so on, two Chinese dailies — Sin Chew and China Press — did not report on my resignation on the day it happened. They only published follow-up responses from different leaders later, even then with little prominence. But Nanyang Siang Pau and Oriental Daily reported on my resignation. How come these two papers could do it? Was there a possibility of self-censorship in the other papers? Have you been receiving criticisms, including from fellow journalists? What’s their point of view? Yes, they say since I held such a high-profile press conference, I would be affecting the show Editor’s Time and so on. But I wasn’t condemning my team members…. I was just saying, stop political interference and self-censorship. Some of them also consider what I did as … showing off. It’s up to them to judge me. To me, time will be the best judge of my actions. If I had continued to work within the system, it would actually be easier for me. More importantly, if we care about good journalism, I would rather we gather more journalists to fight for press freedom and against political interference, instead of dismissing individuals. [Unquote] I wish to end by urging all here not only to rally to – but to fight for – the cause of media freedom and the larger freedom of expression. Being able to voice our views on the internet should not be enough. We need to reform the larger authoritarian system that has made it difficult for Malaysians to distinguish between facts, lies and opinions. Freedom for the independence and integrity of the mainstream media and its practitioners must not be forgotten or consigned to the wayside. It must remain our collective and urgent resolve and objective. Finally, let me end with a reminder from the advertiser. Please visit us at www.cpiasia.net where you can post your views and comments on what has transpired today.