Of human rights, press censorship and the Asia Media Summit 2004

Some 15 supporters of sacked deputy prime minister Anwar Ibrahim and reformasi activists were arrested by police when they gathered peacefully yesterday at Malaysia’s Human Rights Commission (Suhakam) in Kuala Lumpur. The gathering, which attracted about 70 people, was in conjunction with Anwar’s conviction on April 14, 1999 to six years’ jail for corrupt practice.

Among those who were arrested were big guns from Parti Keadilan Rakyat such as Tian Chua and Dr. Sanusi Osman and other reformists, people who were merely exercising their right to peaceful assembly.

The above event, which has political significance, however did not make it to today’s local newspapers, such as the New Sunday Times and the Sunday Star. It not only failed to appear on the front pages of these dailies but was also crowded out by other reports in the inside pages.

Incidentally, the NST’s front page was filled with stories of jobless graduates, the US-Iraq conflict, and a huge pix of powerboat racing at the Putrajaya Lake; while the cover of the Sunday Star was packed with two stories of problems with the controversial National Service and of Tawau beauty Amber Chia who was selected as one of the faces of "Guess" in its Guess Watches Timeless Beauty International Model Search in Switzerland.

If the social responsibility of a supposedly respected newspaper is to inform and educate the general public about issues and events that concern the ordinary people, then the newspapers concerned have certainly failed in their collective duty. Worse, the conspicuous omission of this report can only be interpreted as a deliberate attempt on the part of these newspapers, which often pretend to be the mouthpieces of the ordinary people, to make the general public ignorant of certain important issues and events. Sometimes what is omitted (or censored) says a lot.

Furthermore, it is highly likely that the ‘sensitivity’ of the Anwar issue in the eyes of the government had prompted the press concerned to black out yesterday’s gathering at Suhakam, which is indicative of a press that is pliable to the extent of eroding freedom of expression and of the press. In contrast, online newspaper malaysiakini covered the event.

It is in this light that one is made to wonder about the ‘wisdom’ of Malaysia convening the colossal Asia Media Summit 2004 tomorrow, apart from trying to show the world that the country is able to assemble – in the usual Malaysia Boleh fashion – an assortment of big media players in the international scene. Is there really something worthwhile for the world’s media to emulate from Malaysia’s emasculated mainstream media especially in the wake of their circus performance during the recent general election campaign? Perhaps this is why the Sunday Star’s columnist Bunn Negara did not address the issue of press freedom in his article ironically titled, “Time for media to take stock” (Focus, pg 29).