Zainuddin doing nation a great disservice in trying to play down the gravity of crime by telling the media to tone down reports on crime when he should have mobilized the Information  Ministry to help free Malaysians from crime and the fear of crime instead of poisoning the minds of the people with party propaganda

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Media Statement
by Lim Kit Siang  
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(Parliament, Saturday) Information Minister, Datuk  Zainuddin Maidin is doing the nation a great disservice in trying to play down the gravity of crime by telling the media to tone down reports on crime when he should have mobilized the Information  Ministry to help  free Malaysians from crime and the fear of crime instead of poisoning the minds of the people with party propaganda.

Yesterday, when visiting the parents of 26-year-old hotel housekeeper Azlini Azmi who was found murdered in Sunway Mentari at Bandar Sunway in Petaling Jaya on Tuesday – found with slash wounds on her chin, neck and torso -  Zainuddin said in Sungai Petani  that the media should “tone down” reports on crime and violence.

He said the media should not try to create too much sensation or glorify news too the extent of getting people excited and involved in crime.

Zainuddin, who presented a RM3,000 donation to Azlini’s parents Azmi Mohd Nayan, 48 and Che Zainah Othman, 46, hoped the family would be patient during their bereavement and in “facing the realities of life”.

Is  the Information Minister seriously suggesting that Malaysians,  regardless of race, religion, gender  or political beliefs, should accept   the crime wave in the country and the fear of crime in  the streets, high places and even in their homes, with resignation and patience as part of the Malaysian “realities of life” under Barisan Nasional government?

Instead of telling the media to tone down on reports of crime, he should have encouraged the media to give even more reporting on  crime in the country until the  message gets through to the police and the government, particularly the Cabinet, that complacency, resignation or patience is completely unacceptable until law and order is restored and   Malaysians are freed from crime and the fear of crime – whether in the streets, public places or the privacy of their homes!

As Information Minister, Zainuddin should be telling Malaysians what he is doing to mobilize all the communications resources at his command in the Ministry  to help the police and the people to  fight crime, instead of misusing his Ministry to clamp down on information or poison the people’s minds with party propaganda.

(05/08/2006)