SYNONYMOUS WITH BULLY: COWARD!

On March 27,2008 I blogged about an effort by a group in Penang to boycott the Star. (here)scroll down for tak nak star.
Today I received some items of what transpired between Stanley and a KL-based editor Charles.
I just wonder why they picked on Stanley and unloaded him with some heavy stuff which they never did to People's Parliament's much-muscled effort (here).

This is how it happened to Stanley:

INTERESTING COMMENTS MADE BY a STAR employee in an interview with me

by K.Sudhagaran Stanley,

Good day to all,

The Star has taken note of the 'Anti-Star Campaign" and are pretty worried on what this campaign could possibly achieve. So they sent someone to speak to me to convince me that Star is a great newspaper.

The editor of crime desk Mr. Lourdes J. Charles, representing the Star, came down from K.L recently to meet. In the interview, he made certain interesting comments which I am quoting below for your consideration:

· "Your articles asking for a boycott of Star have not gone down well with the Police and government and the police has investigated this matter"

· "Star gives a 30% quota to the Opposition. And that is more than any paper in the country!"

· "The survey, on the coverage of the GE 08 by the media done recently by the media watch group which showed that the Star is the most pro government, was commissioned by the SUN.

· "There is a newspaper war going on."

· "Blogs and alternative media publish lots of lies."

· "DAP led government in Penang will collapse if they choose to boycott the Star."

· "The Star will favor the government of the day."

· "If you don't like the Star, don't buy the Star!"

· "There is nothing for the Star to apologise for."

· "The Star is an MCA owned paper."

He tried convincing me to stop the boycott campaign by instilling fear in me that the police and government are not happy with my articles on boycotting the Star. He even stated that the police had done an investigation on me on this issue. Is it true then, that the Barisan Nasional is a share holder of the Star? If no, why are the Police and the Government unhappy with my campaign?

When questioned on why insufficient space was given to the opposition to air their views during the GE 08, Charles claimed that the articles were finalized late and that there was not enough time to publish it the next day. Does he mean that in the two weeks of the GE 08 campaign, they face the same problems everyday? If so, they are not fit to be a press company. He even stated that lots of the articles about the opposition were published in the KL editions. Well KL people, this is your chance to comment on the truth of that statement.

When questioned on why Anwar Ibrahim was not given a chance to reply in their papers on the statement made by Chandra Mussafar just before the GE 08, Charles replied me in a way trying to judge the mind of it's readers by telling me that Chandra is a man of justice and a close friend of Anwar. And that Anwar could not even answer the questions posted by BBC in Hard Talk. He claimed that Anwar was mumbling. He even stated that when Anwar was Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister, he did not do anything good for the community and took away the rights of the Indians and Chinese. Well. That's not for The Star to decide. Give us both point of views and the readers will decide.

The Star even claimed that the recent survey on the press done by the media watch group on the General Election which stated the Star was the most pro-government paper, was commissioned by the SUN and that a paper war is going on. I want an explanation from The SUN on this matter. He said that 30% quota was given to the opposition by The Star. He even stated that other blogs and alternative media publish lots of lies and false news.

Charles even claimed that the new Penang government led by DAP will collapse if it chooses to boycott the Star, because the Star will not give them any space to voice their views. And that was why Guan Eng replied "I don't boycott newspapers", when asked by the star to comment on people boycotting The Star. Well let me tell The Star, we have not depended on your paper to get the message of the opposition. It will make no difference if your company were to close down in a few months time. It is because the rakyat does not depend on a paper which is full of lies and lop-sided views.

The Star has even stated that we don't have the right to demand an apology from them and that they don't subscribe to the demands of the public. They said "If you don't like The Star, don't buy The Star. This is their view. Are we still going to support a company which is so arrogant? We have allowed them to monopoly the market for so many years, if we still allow them to do so, there might be a time that we might not have our choice.

The TAK NAK STAR campaign will go on. Stop buying and Advertising in the Star. They have rejected to an open apology for their unfair reports during the GE 08. Even lately when HINDRAF organized an Abolish ISA forum in Penang, The report was not publish. Many news and reports are not being published by them. Do we need this kind of press?

They even stated that they will favor the government of the day, which means they have not stood by their commitment towards journalism. At one point Charles even admitted that the vendors are being disturbed by the campaign and that, they are worried 3000 people might loose their jobs in The Star.

Well, this is good sign for us. Let us continue in this struggle to defeat injustice, stop the lies and practice democracy.

The Star is also one of the main reasons for the downfall of BN in the 5 states, claims Charles. He stated that the Star did a lot of underground work to make the opposition win and the results is Kedah, Penang and Selangor fell into opposition hands. Are they making sense in claiming that?

K.Sudhagaran Stanley,

Coordinator,

NOW THAT THIS IS PUBLIC KNOWLEDGE, WILL CHARLES BE CALLED BEFORE THE BOARD?.....AND THIS HAPPENED MONTHS AGO......