Why should reporters lie about being banned from covering Zahid’s daughter’s case? Apparently, the court ‘did not realise’ the presence of the media. Hogwash! Her case would have attracted journalists the way cow-pies attract flies. Law of the jungle prevails.

• By Mariam Mokhtar

1. Why did the courts lie and say that reporters had not been stopped from covering former deputy prime minister, Zahid Hamidi‘s daughters’s trial?

2. Why would reporters risk their reputations in this manner?

3. Why did the National Union of Journalists Malaysia and the Media advocacy group Gerakan Media Merdeka (Geramm) also stake their reputations and demand to know why at least five reporters assigned to cover the couple’s charge for alleged breach of the movement control order were told to leave without any clear explanation?

4. So, why did the Federal Court Chief Registrar’s office say “…that the court “did not realise the presence of the media” in the court room yesterday….”

Does the Chief registrar think we were born yesterday? A high-profile case of an arrogant, attention-seeking daughter of a man like Zahid, will attract reporters, the same way cow-pies attract flies.

5. Do Umno-Baru warlords still wield power and influence in our institutions? What happened to the institutions acting without fear or favour? Or does this only apply to countries outside Malaysia?

6. How far do the warlords’ tentacles reach, especially as Zahid has publicly claimed that he is friends with the Malay triad group, Tiga-line? We know what happens to ordinary members of the rakyat who ‘disobey’.

7. A two-tier system of investigation exists. The poor are speedily brought to trial; whereas, the well connected, are only brought to justice after much public outrage and even then, the cases are subject to delay and umpteen excuses, such as falling ill on the day of the trial.

8. The Movement Control Order (MCO) has exposed the skewed system of justice in Malaysia. Not everyone is able to receive fair and equal justice and the law of the jungle prevails in the nation, where only those with strong political ties, escape scot-free or receive just a rap on their knuckles.

9. For a nation to succeed, it needs a strong, independent judiciary, which is not governed by fear or favour.

10. In his first public address to the nation, Muhyiddin Yassin claimed that he wanted to save Malaysia, but the opposite is true.

It is apparent that Muhyiddin does not care that under his rule, Malaysia will be known for a justice system that practices double standards and is tainted by taunts of hypocrisy.

-rebuilding malaysia