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Wednesday, July 20, 2011

Economist Blackout: M'sian Home Minister now the No.1 enemy of Truth

Economist Blackout: M'sian Home Minister now the No.1 enemy of Truth

What do the following sentences have in common?

“and one man died of a heart attack”

“The march itself was then banned, although the authorities offered Bersih a stadium to meet in — and then withdrew the offer.”

“The heavy-handed police tactics have provoked a lot of anger; the government has conceded an official investigation into claims of police brutality. In one instance (caught on film), police seemed to fire tear gas and water cannon into a hospital where protesters were sheltering from a baton charge.”

These three sentences were conveniently blacked out by the Malaysian Home Ministry, using bold black-ink marker pens.

After a long while, the heavy black ink of the Malaysian government's censorship has appeared again on the pages of foreign news magazines - this time on the latest issue of the Economist. The weekly magazine’s July 14 report on the Bersih rally was blacked out in the above three places.

In a desperate bid to do damage control, the Home Ministry went to great pains to cover-up the truth of Bersih. Not just satisfied to control the local media scene, they have now taken to censuring foreign news magazines.

All in an attempt to hide the plain truth from the people of Malaysia and also from the international community.

Yet, while they go about black-marking foreign magazines, the Home Ministry turns a blind eye to the shady reporting by their own government-controlled local media.

In fact, staff at these organisations have revealed that many of the more sensational and politically-slanted articles including the Datuk T sex video conspiracy was "ordered" by higher-ups.

Government media 'doctored' photos to put Bersih in a bad light

A Berita Minggu report is the latest example and proof of the Najib administration actively plotting with the local media to twist the truth to the people. The Berita Minggu report had on July 10 front-paged a picture of a muscular man in a white T-shirt with a black cloth wrapped around his face.

Shrouded in smoke, the man was pictured hurling an object with his left hand while in his right was what appeared to be a knife handle. The caption read: “Seorang perusuh membawa pisau dalam perhimpunan haram” (A rioter brings a knife to illegal rally) while a subheadline read “Perusuh guna senjata, batu, lawan polis” (Rioters use weapons, rocks to fight police).The photo was also used in the English-language NST, with the caption "Peaceful?".

It gave the BN government the excuse that the Bersih rally was violent and not peaceful as the organisers claimed. It also offered the police an excuse for their deplorable brutality towards the ralliers.

But on Sunday, the man in the photos came out to deny and offered the original photos to prove that Berita Minggu and NST had used doctored images. The man PASl volunteer, Abdul Razak Endut. He said he never held a knife and was actually a Malaysian flag when the photo was shot. He also said he was not throwing rocks at police either but was hurling away a teargas canister that had exploded nearby to a crowd of suffering ralliers.

“When the FRU fired tear gas, I saw the wind blowing towards the demonstrators. I picked up the canister and tossed it to a grass field with the hope that the demonstrators would be safe,” Razak told a press conference.

Among those angered by the newspapers' lack of professionalism and the BN government's sheer dishonesty to the people is DAP adviser, Lim Kit Siang.

"All top journalists as well as management personnel in New Sunday Times and Berita Minggu responsible for the photographic falsification of a PAS Unit Amal volunteer as a violent 709 protestor armed with knife when he was holding a Malaysian flag and not throwing rocks at police should step out and own up," said Kit Siang, who is also the MP for Ipoh Timur.

Chinese media not spared

But did the Home Ministry do anything to the NST or Berita Minggu? Nothing, no action, not a finger was lifted.

Only those that cross the BN get punished, it seems. Just like the Economist and some of the Chinese, which had reported the rally with less bias to the BN that it wanted.

Last week, the Home Ministry hauled up the top editors of three Chinese newspapers because their coverage of the July 9 rally was allegedly favourable to the Bersih 2.0 organisers. It was also reported that the Home Ministry now plans to issue “show cause” letters to the three Chinese dailies.

It was the Chinese newspapers which also bravely reported on the 6-hour jam on the Penang Bridge and along areas of Seberang Perai on July 8th, caused by a group of 300 UMNO supporters who thought that by barricading the Penang Bridge, they could stop Penangnites from going to Kuala Lumpur to attend Bersih 2.0.

Needless to say, this bit of news that reflects on the intelligence of the UMNO leaders was blacked out from all mainstream media and never made it into any of the government-controlled newspapers.

It must also be noted that the Chinese newspapers found the guts to report the incident after their reporters covering the scene were physically threatened by the UMNO supporters. But for highlighting the incident, these Chinese newspapers were 'rewarded' with a call from the Home Ministry and a possible “show cause” letter.

Enemy of truth

It is clear that the Home Ministry is the enemy of truth. And when the truth hurts too much, it won't stop at stooping to fabricate evidence just to support a twisted spin on a peaceful rally.

The police are now asking the public to submit in their videos as evidence for police brutality. It doesn’t stretch the imagination to suspect that such videos can be manipulated and re-engineered to make them favourable to the police.

Bear in mind, the parent agency for the police is the Home Ministry. And the Home Ministry is led by Hishammuddin Hussein, the cousin of Prime Minister Najib Razak.

Hisham's ministry now brings to mind another organisation that was tasked with maintaining a state of fear among its subjects. This organisation had the influence to haul up even their own supporters and have them “removed” for the party’s greater good. This organisation also had total control over the police and initiated some of the most heinous deeds known to modern man.

Read a little of history and you will find that Hisham's ministry is acting very much like Hitler’s own Schutzstaffel or simply called SS.

- Malaysia Chronicle

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