Chinese media merger harms competition in Malaysia and abroad

The Southeast Asian Press Alliance (SEAPA) is concerned about a proposed tripartite merger of three media groups in Malaysia and Hong Kong, all owned by Malaysian tycoon Tiong Hiew King, which will create the largest Chinese publication group outside of China and Taiwan.

On 30 January 2007, Malaysia-based Sin Chew Media Corporation announced its intention to acquire Hong Kong-based Ming Pao Group and invited another Malaysian company, Nanyang Press Holdings, to join the merged entity.

SEAPA shares the concerns of its Malaysian partner, Centre for Independent Journalism (CIJ), that the consolidation, which is projected to produce a circulation of more than one million, may curb competition and pluralism in Chinese media accross countries where the three newspapers have a combined presence - namely, Malaysia, Hong Kong, the United States, Canada, Indonesia and Cambodia.

Opposition politicians in Malaysia grilled, threatened with prosecution for revealing government’s contract with highway operator

The Southeast Asian Press Alliance (SEAPA) is concerned that the Malaysian government is subjecting whistleblowers of a government document of high public interest to police interrogation and threatening them with prosecution.

On 29 January 2007, police summoned three opposition leaders - Ronnie Liu, Tian Chua and Khalid Ibrahim - to the Bukit Aman police headquarters in capital city Kuala Lumpur for questioning. Earlier in the month, the politicians had exposed a government agreement with a highway concessionaire, which, they claimed, is “lopsided and not done in the best interest of the people”.

The police interrogation follows Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi’s threat, reported in a local daily on 10 January, to prosecute under the Official Secrets Act (OSA) one of the opposition parties involved in the exposé.

Police manhandle and arrest blogger covering protest in Malaysia, briefly detain journalist

The Southeast Asian Press Alliance (SEAPA) is concerned that police in Malaysia roughed up and arrested a blogger at a peaceful assembly, and briefly detained an online journalist covering the event on 21 January 2007.

Blogger Tan Han Kuo had attempted to document the peaceful assembly held to protest a recent increase in highway toll charges, said a 26 January release from the Centre for Independent Journalism (CIJ), a SEAPA partner in Malaysia.

Landmark suit in Malaysia rightly has bloggers up in arms

The Southeast Asian Press Alliance views with grave concern a landmark suit in Malaysia filed on 4 January 2007 by a major news group and its top executives against two bloggers for “defamation” and “malicious falsehoods”. SEAPA sees this case as going beyond the interests of private entities. It will impact on Malaysians’ access to diverse and independent news, commentary, and information, and will also adversely affect the Internet as a medium for free expression in a country where much of the mainstream press is owned and influenced by political parties and government itself.

While the plaintiffs, the New Straits Times Press (NSTP), its Deputy Chairperson Kalimullah Hassan, Group Editor-in-Chief Hishamuddin Aun and former group editor Brenden Pereira, have the right to seek redress against any harm done to their reputation, their suit against the bloggers attacks the burgeoning movement of independent writing itself.

Malaysia’s community of bloggers have come together to condemn the filing of the cases as a threat to free expression in the country in general.

SEAPA notes that the two bloggers being sued, Jeff Ooi and Ahirudin Attan, have been actively exposing ethical issues pertaining to the traditional media that - because they are all either government owned and controlled, or linked through close business and political associates - give little room to dissenting views.

In Malaysia, news group and media executives sue bloggers for libel

A major news group in Malaysia and its top executives are suing two bloggers for “defamation” and “malicious falsehood” over certain postings they permitted or made in their blogs.

The New Straits Times Press (NSTP),  its Deputy Chairperson Kalimullah Hassan, Group Editor-in-Chief Hishamuddin Aun and former group editor Brenden Pereira filed a defamation suit against popular socio-political bloggers Jeff Ooi and Ahirudin Attan on 4 January 2007.

In Malaysia, government’s lax attitude to banning of books shows poor grasp of implications

The implication that book bannings in Malaysia can be reversed or reconsidered upon complaints from distributors or importers has distressed a local communication rights organisation.

“This implies, firstly, a lax attitude toward the banning of books and, second, it puts the onus for action on book distributors, whereas the responsibility should lie with the (Internal Security) Ministry to ensure that no frivolous bannings occur,” said the Centre for Independent Journalism (CIJ) in a 9 January 2007 release.

In Malaysia, newspaper weekly censored for “contravening Islamic teachings”

Government officers in Malaysia tore pages from international weekly newspaper “The Economist” and blacked out a paragraph because the content contravened Islamic teachings, according to the Centre for Independent Journalism (CIJ), SEAPA’s partner in Malaysia.

Malaysian government tells editors to downplay reports on toll hike

The Southeast Asian Press Alliance (SEAPA) is concerned with the latest interference in the media by the Malaysian government through a directive to downplay news of an increase in highway toll charges.

Malaysia’s ‘moral guardian’ ministry restricts books for ‘offensive’ content

The following publications are among scores that have been barred from some customs checkpoints in Malaysia for their “offensive” content - that is, of a sexual or violent nature, or of liberal Western ideas that are “not conducive” to Malaysian society:

Al-Qaeda: Casting a Shadow of Terror The True Story of Radical Islam; Anatomy for the Artist; Beauty of Yixing Teapots; The Heart of Tantric Sex; Fashion Illustration Next; The Private Life of Chairman Mao; Disney’s Counting Adventures Sound Activity Book, The Photographer’s Guide to Composition; Practice of Business Statistics; E-tales: The Best (and Worst) of Internet Humour; How to Talk to Your Child About Sex; Music for Sleepy Babies; The Probability of God; Breastfeeding Your Baby; Making Globalization Work.

And also Salman Rushdie’s Midnight’s Children and Shalimar the Clown, Gabriel Garcia Marquez’s Memories of My Melancholy Whores, Anthony Burgess’ The Malayan Trilogy and Chinua Achebe’s Things Fall Apart (the full list is available here), reports the “Sun”. SEAPA and the Centre for Independent Journalism have issued alerts on this.

Malaysia floats Internet laws to rein in bloggers

Malaysia’s The Star newspaper quotes a senior science and technology official as saying that Kuala Lumpur needs to update its cyber laws to help rein in “irresponsibility” the country’s burgeoning blogging community. Deputy Science, Technology and Innovation Minister Datuk Kong Cho Ha told the paper that “we need to have stricter cyber laws to prevent these bloggers from disseminating disharmony, chaos, seditious material and lies… We are talking about creating cyber laws to control those who misuse the Internet.” Kong added: “We want our bloggers to be responsible, to keep within the rules and not put up seditious articles that can create disharmony and chaos.”