Is Umno planning to shut down all the Pakatan media? while Harakah appears on the net

Viktor Wong, Malaysia Chronicle

First you see Suara Keadilan’s publishing permit not being renewed because of its critical reports about the Umno-BN and its leaders. Now, it is reported that PAS newspaper Harakah is next on the list. Harakah has already been issued a show-cause letter by the home affairs ministry. Will The Rocket be next?

Currently, the traditional mainstream media in our nation are either owned or controlled by Umno-BN or are pro Umno-BN. Because of the growing influence of Pakatan Rakyat amongst the people and the overly one-sided reports of the Umno-BN press, the majority of Malaysians no longer find their newspapers relevant or worth buying anymore.

Malaysians of today want a well-balanced source of information not only from one side but from both sides of the political divide so that they can review and make their own decisions for the future of the nation – to which they are rightly entitled to based on the Federal Constitution. This is what civil society considers as Freedom of Thought.

That is why most of us are now shifting our focus to alternative sources of information like the newspapers published by PKR, DAP and PAS, as well as the online news portals in order to obtain the other side of the story.

So, is this what the Umno-BN federal government is planning to do? Shut down all the alternative media, one by one, in order to prevent the people from getting to the truth. If Malaysians know more about the true situation in the country, Umno-BN may suffer in the next general election.

The risks are indeed high that the federal government will shut down all the Pakatan newspapers because they are afraid their wrongdoings, abuses of power, mismanagement and corruption will be exposed to the public. Umno-BN should certainly be afraid because they will lose all their votes if their negative elements are dug out and exposed one by one.

But all is not lost. Even if Umno-BN successfully shuts down all the Pakatan newspapers and ban them from the public, Malaysians can still surf the Internet for online news portals like the Suara-Keadilan.com, Harakahdaily.net, Malaysia Chronicle, Selangorkini, Malaysiakini, The Malaysian Insider, and so forth.

The leaders of Umno-BN are still in denial mode. They are thinking that our people are fools and can be fooled around just like that. But beware, these Umno-BN leaders may end up fooling their own members and supporters more than they fool the Pakatan side.

Those who are still supporting the Umno-BN may really end up the real fools because of their leaders' denial mode. They deny they are wrong, they deny they make mistakes, they deny they are tainted, they even deny that corruption is wrong, and they also deny that abuse of power is wrong. The list goes on and on because to them, they are Supreme and can therefore do no wrong.

And to avoid being persecuted for the wrongs that they have done and may be still doing, they hide behind the Ketuanan mask. This is what Umno-BN culture is about.

So, go on! Shut down as many newspapers as you can, but you can never suppress or kill our minds and conscience, our freedom of thought, our views, our humanity. You can never kill the soul of our entire constitutional rights.

This is real political terrorism Umno-BN is practicing and they are fast turning Malaysia into a fascist state.

New look Harakah e-paper hits the net

Harakahdaily

KUALA LUMPUR, July 9: Harakah's digital version, or e-paper, is now available following a revamp. The new look and faster access ensure readers to get to read the paper's edition hours before it hits newstands on Friday.

Harakah marketing and business development manager Mohd Suhaimi Embong said the idea of having the e-paper came following high demand from readers outside the country.

Readers can now subscribe for the e-paper at epaper.harakah.net.my.

Meanwhile, the PAS organ said it was still working to renew its permit which expired Wednesday.

The paper has recently received a show-cause letter by the Home Ministry, giving it a week to explain why it failed to deliver the eight copies to the Home Ministry as required by the permit, as well as its continued sale to non-PAS members.

“The matter is being handled by Harakah’s management,” said Harakah’s management committee chairman Mustafa Ali, who is also the PAS secretary-general.

Three days ago, acting editor Taufek Yahaya was called for a meeting with Home Ministry officials, but the meeting had taken the form of a dialogue with officials advising Harakah to be careful "when reporting sensitive issues".