Walking down Singapore River

Part of touring Singapore usually involves taking one of those boats pictured above for a ride up Singapore River. I went into tourist mode and went for a walk down the river snapping up pictures on the way. Here are some, the rest can be seen on my flickr account.

Have a nice weekend!

Abdullah’s theory of press freedoms

the Sun ran a news report where the PM revealed that the current laws restricting the freedom of press are unlikely to be repealed. We can read that as ‘not going to be repealed.’

Tough media laws to stay: PM
R. Manirajan
KUALA LUMPUR (June 28, 2007): Prime Minister Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi today intimated that the tough media laws that are in place are unlikely ever going to be repealed or withdrawn.He said even if the reasons for their existence no longer exist it does not mean that they should be done away with.(emphasis mine)

The bogeyman here is of course errant news reports and articles that threaten national harmony; blogs that put a slur on government’s efforts to build a ‘peaceful and tolerant’ society. ‘Biased’ news reporting.

But AAB goes on to say, “Malaysian media have been very responsible or we would have been torn apart a long time ago”. Oh how heartening.

If freedom is to be earned, then the Malaysian media certainly qualifies by his own admission. Otherwise, if press freedom is corollary and prerequisite of a democratic society, there never is reason enough to restrict it. So which one is it Mr. PM sir?

Neither, he would say.

” Abdullah said media owners, including group editors, should be more responsible, and not play up stories or issues just to get a page one story out, but take into consideration the harmony among the races in the country. “

As it stands, if national unity is so fragile that a simple page one story can cause a riot, who is it that makes the greatest reaction when controversial articles makes the news? When Muslim groups gather to protest Lina Joy, they are exercising their democratic right, but when private broadcasters give space to opposition viewpoints, it threatens national harmony.

So who is the one playing up issues, the protesting Muslim on the street making his viewpoint heard far and wide or Lim Kit Siang running a blog? If the government wasn’t so concerned with green flags waved in the air and chants of “God is Great!”, why is AAB so scared of analysis that dissect the same incident-written by the very press that is made accountable to government.

It like being scared of your own shadow. You control it’s shape, but you’re still scared of it.

Some newspapers and periodicals have been testing the limits of his tolerance by using one critical report after another, he said.

“There have been some articles, commentaries, human interest stories written giving an impression that it was the general opinion and views of everyone, when it was actually an individual’s independent view on the matter,” he said.

First of all, which of these articles is he talking about? Such generalities should be backed up some examples. Malaysian ministers nowadays have that bad habit which does not speak a lot about their intelligence. And it stands I can find none in the mainstream media. I wouldn’t expect to find a $50 note in a rubbish dump, would I?

But never mind that true reporting about the very people who are dissatisfied with AAB’s premiership is testing his patience, what matters is that the PM only hears what is nice about Malaysia. No, the pimples on my face doesn’t matter, he says, just don’t bring me to a mirror-it’s just the mirror’s independent view on the matter.

There is a reason for highlighting and underlining the statement in the news clip earlier in this post. To me, saying things like this show how low the PM has descended. The statement is incoherent ( if you maintain a regulation, there are reasons for doing so, right!?) at best, and spoken with impunity (I don’t need a reason for having laws) at worst.

Here a challenge. If anyone still believes AAB is fit to run a second term, tell me why in the comments box.