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Media Statement
by Dr Tan Seng Giaw
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(Kuala Lumpur, Friday) : I propose that Parliament set up Special Select Committee on Press Freedom to enquire into the true state of the media in this country, consistent with May 3 as the World Press Freedom Day.

The Government must review all laws relating to press freedom, such as the Printing and Publications Act, the Official Secret Act (OSA) and the Internal Security Act (ISA). It has to look again at the annual printing license, KDN, to ensure transparency and accountability.

I was a panelist at the forum on press freedom organized by Asian Institute for Development Communication (Aidcom) at the National Integrity Institute on 3 May, 2007.

It is in the nature of governments that they control the media and the judiciary. As Lord Acton says power corrupts, absolute power corrupts absolutely. These are universal truths which will be with us for posterity.

The people deserve the government they get. They deserve the leaders they get. It is only when the people are passionate about press freedom that leaders will take heed. Hence, we need continuous education.

Virtually all journalists would not like to see their writings result in disturbances in the multireligious and multiracial country. We should forge a nation, united in our diversity.

According to the organization, Reporters Without Borders, the ranking for Malaysia in the Press Freedom Index jumps 21 points from 113 in 2005 to 92 in 2006. This is an improvement. But from my viewpoint, the change is cosmetic. For 31 years, I regularly comment on issues in three languages.

In the last few years, these statements are sent to newspapers by faxes and e-malis. For example, on 30 April, 2007, the Prime Minister Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi expressed his feeling of anger and shame following the bursting of pipes and the leakage of sprinklers and the collapse of ceiling of government buildings in Putrajya and Kuala Lumpur. He ordered the checking of all buildings in the whole country. I put up a statement on these shameful defects, suggesting that the Government present a White Paper in Parliament so that members could debate on the matter in depth. As usual, very few media show interest.

Now, we have an alternative in the form of Internet and its blogs. There are not many people who read blogs. The number will increase in the next few years.

20 years ago, 107 persons were detained in Operation Lalang under ISA. Many were released within 60 days. A few were forcibly enrolled at the University of Kamunting. I was one of them. One of the charges against me was that on October 11, 1987, at a gathering at Thean Hou Temple, Kuala Lumpur, I used the issue of promotions of headmasters and senior assistant teachers without Mandarin qualifications to national-type Chinese primary schools to provoke the racial feelings of the Chinese. I did not speak at the temple. Now, especially in the Ijok By-election on 28 April, 2007, the Government says
that it was wrong to send headmasters who did not understand Mandarin to Mandarin schools.

The struggle for media freedom takes a long time. The roads are tortuous. In 2006, 150 reporters were killed in various parts of the world.

In Malaysia, no journalist has been physically harmed or killed. Some such as Abdul Samad Ismail were detained under ISA or dismissed from their posts.

Throughout history true leaders have suffered or died because of liberty or freedom such as 18th century French writers and philosophers Rousseau and Voltaire. Both were the embodiment of the French Enlightenment, connected
with the French Revolution. In the same century, English poet, painter, engraver and mystic, William Blake wrote a poem Mock On, Mock On, Voltaire, Rousseau:

Mock On, Mock On, Voltaire, Rousseau;

Mock on, Mock on, 'Tis all in vain.

You throw the sand against the wind,

And the wind blows it back again.
 

And every sand becomes a Gem

Reflected in the beams divine; .....

Voltaire believed in religious, political and social liberty. He suffered from periods of banishment because of his radical beliefs.

Aidcom organized World Press Freedom Day, in collaboration with the Malaysian Press Institute and the National Press Club, and in cooperation with United Nations. Its booklet contains the meaning of press freedom and a table on the imprisonment and murder of cyber-dissidents, media assistants and journalists.

We encourage the Government to try its best to promote press freedom, not only to improve the Press Freedom Index, but also the contents of press freedom. One meaningful way is to set up Special Select Committee on press freedom, to enquire into the true situation. It should review all the laws that affect press freedom and the annual printing license, KDN, marching
towards the bright future.

(4/5/2007)