Sin Chew is not endorser of political violence

As the general election is drawing near, various social irregularities have begun to show up. Politically linked activities have been lately disrupted by acts of violence, in particular the February 26 Green Rally in Penang that was marred by a small group of irresponsible individuals. It is not hard for anyone to tell that this was the work of people who have fallen out of favour among the public and are struggling to make a comeback, and who have to resort to intimidation and other dirty tricks to salvage their diminishing political influences.

On March 5, Tang Nan Fa posted his blog on "Umno that keeps mum in the face of violence" in an attempt to analyse the background of political violence. While showing off his familiarity with similar incidents overseas, Tang tried to imply that Chinese newspapers in this country have chosen to stay out of the incident, making them not much different from the accomplices.

Tang has concealed his harsh remarks against Chinese newspapers in articles that are only accessible to paying web users. In his article, he quoted a sentence from Sin Chew Daily columnist Lim Sue Goan: "It is impossible for BN component parties to do anything against the law," and concluded that Lim has zipped his lips over the violence that unfurled before his eyes.

On the editorial published on January 11, in the same paragraph as the sentence quoted above, Lim went on to say, "It could have been the seed of hatred that was sowed, causing some extremists to lose their heads and ready to retaliate by using violence."

Lim was making his comments and offered the most likely arguments based on what actually happened, which was fair to those who abide by the law while not endorsing any act of extremism.

Meanwhile, Tang Nan Fa has been grossly prejudiced in lashing out crude remarks of questionable credibility against a senior journalist. Putting the blame of political violence wholly on the media is both senseless and unjustified.

Tang has regularly published erratic statements online. He oughts to take responsibility for what he has written instead of taking cover in the world of uncurbed online comments while continuing to tarnish the image and integrity Chinese newspapers have worked so hard to build up over the years.

How can anyone claim that Chinese newspapers connive with political violence? Writers on the Op-Ed section have been censuring such unlawful acts in unison. As for the newspaper's official stand, Sin Chew Daily has on January 10 made it very clear through its editorial that it absolutely did not condone any act that would mar the country's legal spirit, following a series of politically inspired acts of violence.

Probably no one had informed Tang of the presence of such an editorial, or he chose to forget it. On March 3, Sin Chew Daily once again voiced up strongly against acts of violence after the anti-Lynas rally in Penang's Esplanade, in which the safety of journalists was put in jeopardy.

Apparently Tang and many online authors belong to the same league as the columnists of Oriental Daily News, who would grab every available opportunity to hit out at Sin Chew Daily, the most influential Chinese language daily in this country, in a bid to wrestle control of public consensus.

In the meantime, the Sin Chew Daily editor has urged the web mobsters not to resort to verbal violence against "Ms Tow Truck" and her family, reminding them of the fatal heart attack suffered by Jiang Yun Lai under the pressure of merciless criticisms from web mobsters. He nevertheless did not imply that all those who criticise:"Ms Tow Truck" in a rational and sensible way are mobsters as well.

Some websites and online writers have maliciously distorted the fact by accusing Sin Chew Daily of labelling online critics against "Ms Tow Truck" as web mobsters, with the wicked motive of inciting ill-feeling towards the newspaper.

As a matter of fact, most web users are not verbal mobsters. They could have vented their anger and frustration in an exaggerated manner due to their inability to change the status quo, which is easily understandable. That said, some irresponsible online writers have attempted to fan the flame by accusing Chinese newspapers of endorsing political violence. These are the professional web mobsters with some ill-intentioned agenda that we must not treat with apathy.

-Sin Chew Daily