Tenang, Hard Truths and the MSM

Tenang, Hard Truths and the MSM (Mainstream Media)

by Sakmongkol AK47

UMNO-BN wins Tenang

A friend who campaigned rigorously in Tenang for the BN told me he has to play host most of the times. I hope UMNO will not let this victory go to its head. They need to compare the votes they got in 2008 with what they got now. Its majority increased by a little more than 300 votes. That doesn’t matter though because a victory is a victory by any other name.

Tenang is just Menang: Majority of 300 Votes Plus

But to read more into this marginal increase, is a big mistake. UMNO’s support, despite the millions poured in, remained more or less the same. PAS of course, suffered more in the sense the deficit they got now has widened.

The flood was actually a godsend for UMNO. SPR needs to answer whether use of their facilities to transport flood victims was applied in a fair manner. But I think this aspect must be argued by the other side. As for me, I am more concerned not to let this minor victory be an excuse for Umno to stop doing reforms.

LKY’s Hard Truths for Singapore

Let’s discuss another matter. Lee Kuan Yew’s recent book, Hard Truths. In there, he said many bad (uncomplimentary?) things about Dr Mahathir, about Islam and about Malays in general. But these were not paid attention to by the MSM. They were more interested to extract any broad-brush by Lee Kuan Yew imputing some positiveness about Najib. Malaysians love to hate LKY but if you get some compliments from him, LKY is your hero.

Mainstream Media and LKY

Hence the hungry Press which holds no good feelings about Lee Kuan Yew, blared the headlines that LKY thinks Najib is a rational leader. I don’t understand the MSM’s love hate relationship with LKY. Undeniably they can’t dismiss LKY because that man is acknowledged by the world. Malaysia will stand out as a prick, if it doesn’t join in the general salutations of LKY.

The Press would love to needle LKY on any issues. But this time, its LKY’s approval of Najib as a rational leader that is being headlined. That would have been met with universal nod, if not for the fact, the MSM failed to qualify in what context is Najib a rational leader?

I mean the MSM people are myopic to ignore the fact, that Najib’s rationality as a leader is a qualified statement. That term used, needed to be expanded.

In what sense, can Najib be regarded as a rational leader? Unluckily for the MSM people, there are many of us who also read the book.

By the way- I would love to see how the MSM would respond when LKY said (on page 86):

“I don’t we’re (in Singapore) going to have the same problem as Malaysia because their press has lost credibility. The position of the media on television and print was so divorced from reality that people look for alternative channels. So bloggers, Malaysiakini, Harakah, opposition newspapers fill up the space.”

These Form 5 journalists (in our mainstream media) think we the public don’t read books or what?