BAD MANNERS MAKE A JOURNALIST?

I witnessed the Wong Family, YB Wong Ho Leng, his wife Irene Chang, eldest daughter Suzanne work tirelessly during the Sibu by-elections in which YB Ho Leng won the Parliamentary seat after an embarrassing delay by the Election Commission. I met Irene again during the Sarawak State Elections. She trained Election Agents during the run-up to polling day whilst Suzanne ran the father’s operation centre in Sibu. Recently YB Wong, was taken ill. The following article below appeared in New Straits Times online:

KUALA LUMPUR: Irene Chang, the wife of Sibu DAP member of parliament Wong Ho Leng, who is also Sarawak DAP chairman, is said to have criticised the party for failing to provide or offer financial support to her husband, who has a brain tumour.

A news portal reported that Chang was incensed after reading a media statement on Jan 13, issued by secretary-general Lim Guan Eng, who had merely expressed the party's support for Wong.

She was quoted as saying that the party's leadership was heartless.         

"Wong is only 53 and we have five children -- four of them are in school, college and universities -- and, hence, our financial resources are strained."

She said Wong's legal practice had suffered after he was elected as MP.

"As a DAP MP, he is expected to contribute a portion of his allowance to the party and, more often than not, the allowance is not sufficient to pay for all the expenses of serving the people as an MP.

"Every month, we have to top up another RM10,000 as additional expenses for serving the people and maintaining our service centres.

"And now Wong is sick and we need money for his treatment and all that Guan Eng can say or do is that the party will support us morally and help service the constituency

"Where is the humanitarian support to us in this time of difficulty? Not a single sen coming from the party, after all that we have done and achieved for the party. Shame on you, Guan Eng." 

Could this be the reason why Oscar Wilde said this: Bad manners make a journalist. This prompted Kit Siang to ask: What unethical depths and bottomless pits are going to be plumbed by UMNO/BN leaders and their mainstream media (MSM) before the 13GE?

You might remember that I announced that come January, the GOM and their newly hired Oglivy would unleash a torrent of spins to drown PAS and DAP. This could be it, yah? Yellow gutter journalism! These press-releases by the government controlled mainstream media belong in the gutter because that is where the ruling classes throw their putrid trash. This is the lowest form of popular yellow culture -- lack of information, misinformation and a contempt for the truth or the reality of most people's lives -- has overrun real journalism. Today, ordinary Malaysians are being stuffed with this garbage.

Journalism as practiced by the government media rags has transformed journalism into organized gossip. Wasn’t it one Karl Kraus who said that if the reporter has killed our imagination with his truth, he threatens our life with his lies. Every journalist who is not too stupid or too full of himself to notice what is going on knows that what he does is morally indefensible. Of course I do not agree with a friend who said that if a person is not talented enough to be a novelist, not smart enough to be a lawyer, and his hands are too shaky to perform operations, he becomes a journalist. I see journalists as the manual workers, the laborers of the word. In my time I had journalist friends whose blood and convictions flowed from  their pens or through their portable typewriters. The likes of Norman Siebel, Cheryl Doral, David Tambayah, Musa Scully, Francis Emmaneul,  Maurice Khoo, Tony Francis, Boey Kok Choy, Terence Netto, Kee Thuan Chye, Fauzi Omar, Lazarus Rokk and William D’Cruz. These I believe walked away when editorial police stifled  personal convictions and as such they have moved on. Fortunately we still have the likes of Frankie D’Cru, Zainon Ahmad, Terence Fernendez, Nadeswaran and P Gunsegaran  All the above named wrote with PASSION. Journalism can only be literature when it is passionate I remember reading somewhere.

We need a press that stresses opinions; not the current sycophant press, radio, and television that emphasize news only on the powers that be. It is no surprise then that Malaysia records worst-ever ranking on press freedom HERE  whilst Malaysiakini is still most trusted HERE

Below, Irene Chang rebuts the nasty bit by the NaSTy tabloid:

Irene Chang on her Facebook:

I have been made aware of a certain article posted online and which reported me as having complained against our party leadership. I am absolutely furious. There is absolutely no truth in this article. I did not give any interview nor did I ever complain against our party or against anyone. More importantly, never did I ever feel, for a second that I have a cause to complain against our party or anyone in specific. In fact, since my husband's medical condition was diagnosed, I have been too worried and concerned about his medical condition than to worry whether the party is providing any financial support or otherwise. But having said this, I put on record that since our party leaders have been told of my husband's condition, each and everyone of them, have been unbelievably supportive and caring. Both my husband and I have, in fact felt that we have been very blessed to know these people, who have somehow, crossed over the line from being political comrades to being very caring friends. And my family and I have been very touched by the call for support for my husband by our Secretary General, YAB Lim Guan Eng, an appreciation of which was posted by our eldest daughter, Suzanne Gail Wong, in her facebook on 14th January 2013. Therefore, it would be very unfair and unjust to let this article be passed around for people to pass judgment on our party leaders, our party and me, without any basis at all. I therefore strongly condemn this article for each and every sentence therein is a lie.

God forbid the day

when journalists can't write,

interview people who can't talk,

for people who can't read.

THE WEEK'S GUEST BLOGGER: ZAID IBRAHIM

If we follow the actions and thinking of Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad and his supporters, then we must rectify the “errors’ of the past, even if it means violating established principles of the Constitution, laws and good governance.

According to them, bringing in more Muslims into Sabah in the 1990s and making them citizens was not a cynical move to help the ruling coalition win elections (although that was the immediate benefit), but to correct the mistakes of history. Simply put, the country needed to have more Muslims – even if they were foreigners from the Philippines, Pakistan or Indonesia – because Tunku Abdul Rahman “gave away” citizenship to the Chinese and Indians as part of the Merdeka agreement. Dr M somehow blames the Tunku for making citizenship “easier” for non-Malays, which he believes justifies his call for a Royal Commission of Inquiry into Tunku’s decision 60 years ago.

His ranting could be ignored if it weren’t for the fact that it’s dangerous. Dr M destroyed UMNO when it did his bidding and we must not allow him to destroy the country too. To advocate reviewing all past policies and disowning our former leaders’ great sacrifices is highly irresponsible. The country’s design and constitutional make-up is not like the latest Proton model for him to change at whim. Our heritage and history are ours, not his. He has lost all sense of proportion in trying to gain traction for his wayward political views to change the outcome of the General Election.

Dr M was a member of the Alliance, which agreed to adopt the principle of “jus soli” in granting citizenship to non-Malays. It was a social contract that the Malay Rulers agreed to, and which the rakyat also supported, as evidenced by the Alliance’s overwhelming victories in the 1955 and 1959 elections. Yet Dr M has no compunction ridiculing our pioneering leaders’ great effort to forge a nation. He is bent on making race a divisive issue in this General Election and he will destroy this country if his views are not accepted.

So let’s make this General Election a referendum on the man himself. If we reject him, as we must, then we can only do so by rejecting the Barisan Nasional. The eunuchs in the BN are all scared of him. I urge Malaysians to show their revulsion for this man and his ideas by rejecting the BN once and for all.   We cannot solve today’s problems by harping on the past. We have to live with the past, and not find excuses when we are unable to govern well now. We solve problems by working together, by adopting peaceful means and by having big-hearted leaders like the Tunku. The revisionists of our history have to be put in their proper places.

NO WHITE ANGPOW PLEASE, ITS FROG CAKE NOW.

I was mischievously, but reliably informed that the Perdana Foundation, Ibrahim Ali’s premium sponsor, has ordered this cake for the Perkasa Chairman to present to the Malaysian Consultative Council of Buddhism, Christians, Hinduism, Sikhism and Taoism (MCCBCHST) who are expected to take part in the HARMONY WALK in Brickfields.

 This cake in the shape of a frog is made out of buttercream icing and features an icing that is a nice  green frog with various shades of green to help accent the frog to make him look cute. Call Perkasas today for  frog themed birthday cakes at 03-41428291 (Tel./Fax)

This, it was hinted to me, is Perkasa’s answer “that anything you can do I can do better”. Of course, this is the toad’s way to counter THIS.

RELIGION IS AS EFFECTUALLY DESTROYED BY BIGOTRY AS BY INDIFFERENCE.

“Bigotry dwarfs the soul by shutting out the truth.”  

E.H. Chapin

"It doesn't matter if it is a Malay Bible, an English Bible, a Kadazan Bible or a Tamil Bible, the issue is he incited the burning of bibles," said Human Rights lawyer

Siti Zabedah Kasim.

Perak mufti Harussani Zakaria today reminded Muslims in the country that they will become infidels if they allow non-Muslims to use the word 'Allah'.

He explained that if the Muslims allowed the word Allah to be used by non-Muslims, it meant that they condoned the acts of the non-Muslims to associate Allah with lesser beings.

"Thus, this consent also makes us (Muslims) to be infidels. We must be united in defending our faith," he told reporters.

 We have seen Malaysian in custody beaten to death by our police who pledged to protect us. We are aware of foreigners given citizenship A young teenager is shot to death because in guilt of not having a driving licence, he drove away from the police.  We have men and women who are turned away from jobs because of their sexual orientation. We have children born out of wedlock deprived of basic education. We have seen Malays, Chinese, Indians and natives discriminated against because of who they are …… they are not the elite….they are not UMNO members. This is not the Malaysian way. We must draw the line. Without delay, we must pass the Hate Crimes Prevention Act and a Non-Discrimination Act. And we should implement the Royal Commission approved IPCMC and vehemently institute the Violence Against Women Act. We must dismantle the hate machines like the BTN that indoctrinates racism and instill hate on young minds. Above all we must flush out those bigoted zealots like  Harusanni Zakaria, Ibrahim Ali, Hassan Ali and the re-threaded Riduan Tee, all draped in flowing santimony and drag out their dark convictions. Wasn’t it  George Gordon Byron who cautioned that those who will not reason, are bigots, those who cannot, are fools, and those who dare not, are slaves. The mind of a bigot is like the pupil of the eye. The more light you shine on it, the more it will contract. Haven’t we been reminded by the more sensible muslims in our midst that it requires less mental effort to condemn than to think. Indeed bigotry dwarfs the soul by shutting out the truth. As such all our silences in the face of bigoted, racist and prejudice assaults are acts of complicity.

let the jihad begin today

the jihad against bigotry……

if Egyptians can

Malaysians can too……

we are created from

the same

GOD.

WATCH THIS ON WIDESCREEN

A JUST JUSTUS DESPATCH: WILL THE CHRISTIAN SHEPHERDS TOO ABANDON THEIR FLOCKS FOR HARMONY WALK?

Dear Uncle Bernard,

Allow me to follow up from your posting of 24 January “The Tan Sri Shepherd Has Abandoned His Flock?”:

The World Interfaith Harmony Week (WIHW) celebrated worldwide, since its inception, will take place in early February. The Committee To Promote Understanding and Harmony Among Religious Adherents (Interfaith Committee) formed under the auspices of the National Unity and Integration Department, that comes under the Prime Minister’s Department, has scheduled a series of programmes to mark the event.

Amongst the events scheduled to be held are:

a. 1st February,2013 @ 4pm---Launch of WIHW at the Summit, USJ with Muhibbah buses flagged off on journeys to the North and South  (free rides as compared to the Himpunan Hijau walk from Kuantan to KL)

b.  2^nd February,2013 @ 4pm---Harmony walkabout with the PM at 4pm

     to 6pm  Brickfields, Kuala Lumpur.

We can be sure that Najib and other BN leaders WILL capitalise on the event and probably be waving 1Malaysia flags to attempt to portray their supposed caring attitude to Malaysians of all faiths, particularly with the General Elections just around the corner. And you can bet that the media and television crew will be in full attendance to highlight to all and sundry what supposedly caring leaders we have. Undoubtedly the Utusan, Harian, NST, Star, Sun (why not?) and even, yes, even the Malay Mail may front-page these events on 2^nd and 3^rd February.

Representing the non-Muslims in the Interfaith Committee are representatives of the Malaysian Consultative Council of Buddhism, Christianity, Hinduism, Sikhism and Taoism (MCCBCHST).

Considering the current  fuss over the use of ‘Allah’ by non-Muslims and the inaction of Government leaders, particularly the Prime Minister, in dealing with the blatant provocation by Perkasa and others to the non-Muslims including the threat to burn copies of the Bible, should not the representatives of the MCCBCHST totally boycott all activities of the Interfaith Committee including the programme for the World Interfaith Harmony Week until Perkasa and the like are made an example of and adequately and suitably dealt with? Or will we witness, as so often seen before, that these non-Muslim religious leaders will wilt under their perceived need to ‘rub shoulders’ with the powers-that-be and swallow their pride and sacrifice their principles in partaking of the event? Will they be willing parties to the false impression Najib and gang hope to create that they are for all Malaysians?

Let us wait for an announcement by these non-Muslim religious leaders about the stand they will take on the matter. If we fail to hear anything from them by 31^st January, 2013, then it will be safe to assume that they have chosen to swallow their pride and to sacrifice the interest of their flock of followers and it is then left to each of us to choose whether to attend the programme to let them know what you think of their participation.

To the likes of Reverend Herman Shastri, Reverend Thomas Philips, Bishop Bolly Lapok, Elder Tan Kong Beng, Archbishop John Ha, Jagir Singh, Harcharan Singh, Mohan Shan, Tan Hoe Chieow and others, it is your call…to serve God and your faithful or to serve mammon!

Curiously there was another event in Brickfields recently. A group of Indian NGOs protested against Mahathir for having raised the matter of the granting of citizenship for Indians during Independence. I wonder whether they will make a similar appearance during the Harmony walkabout by Najib on 2^nd February to make known their distaste of the matter to him.

ooooOoooo

Dear JJ,

Would it be asking too much if the MCCBCHST insist that Ibrahim Ali

 and all his state Perkasa leaders to link arms with our reverends in the Harmony Walk. That would be walking the talk, yah? That would really beat any Barnum or Ringling Brothers Circus Clowns marching into Brickfields, to the beat of Najib’s 1Malaysia beat-up 1M4U doggerel.

THE EARLY TREASON: SABAH’S SILENT RIOT.

HERE

Please VIEW on wide screen

Also HERE

OF BALU AND KEAT.

Remember my two bullheaded friends, Balu and Keat. They are registered voters but are put off by the needless and ill-timed happenings within Pakatan. They had earlier threatened to sit out GE13! I even gave them each a new year gift, HERE, hoping against hope to win them over. I decided to forgo lunch after the feast last night at Sri Nonya with Zaid and his former colleagues at ZICO, But that was not to be when I was called to join Banu and Keat for brunch. They announced that they will put the X for any Pakatan candidate……all because of the slimy Katak Ib Ali! Dang! Allah works in wondrous ways, yah?

THE TAN SRI SHEPHERD ABANDONED HIS FLOCK?

Who says I must respect Tan Sri Murphy Pakiam just because he was anointed Archbishop? Najib too was anointed by UMNO to be Prime Minister but he has not earned my respect. Yesterday the sycophant rag, the STAR,  front-paged “UNITY PLANS FOR GAZA”! An apt headline would be “UNITE  TATTERED 1MALAYSIA”! This is one “shepherd” who strayed from his priority, to allow Mahathir’s proxy Ibrahim Ali to besmirch his motto/slogan: 1 Malaysia.

The Sun also front-paged Najib’s who pledged solidarity with the Palestinians and backed reconciliation between Hamas and Fatah. In the name of Allah, even the OIC cannot bring these two fractious muslim groups together, fat chance the scandal-strapped PM of a corrupted country can bridge this gulf between the factions HERE. There is in town a homegrown NGO that goes by the name of COMPLETE, admittedly striving to champion the Palestinians. Even this group has two factions, one siding Fatah, the other Hamas as a fund raising event recently proved. Perhaps, Najib could do well to unite COMPLETE before venturing into Gaza.  

Now, back to Murphy Pakiam. If my uncle, Datuk Tan Cheng Or, was not bedridden he would give two tight slaps to his former student Murphy Pakiam!  In 2007, The Herald and Pakiam, as its publisher, filed for a judicial review after it was ordered to stop using the Arabic word "Allah" in its publication by the Malaysian Ministry of Home Affairs. On the last day of 2009, HE was not in court when the High Court Judge allowed for the use of Allah in the Bahasa version of the Bible. The government appealed against judgement and Murphy dutifully followed Najib to the Vatican!

Within two months of Pakatan taking Selangor, the parish priest of St Paul the Hermit was granted permission from the Selangor Government to build a new church. The priest of this poor parish approached the Tan Sri Archbishop for funds to initiate proceedings. The Bishop told the priest to get his parishioners to raise funds. The parishioners are by majority, poor estate workers. And the Right Honorable Pakiam’s motto is: Mercy and Peace.

A group of Catholic doctors on their own time collected medicine and made nocturnal visits to  Mynmarese immigrants hiding in the jungle. The Tan Sri heard about this and stopped the doctors from their “clandestine” trips to give aid to the disadvantaged. Mercy?

And now Ibrahim Ali wants to burn the Alkitab and our SHEPHERD continues to pray(????) for guidance amidst an embarrassing silence? Thank God a national group representing the evangelical Christian community has stepped up to the plate to tell Najib to practice what he preaches! Tan Sri Murphy continues to twiddle his thumbs! Impeachment is a secular penalty. Is there an ecclesiastical equivalent or should the shepherd go to pasture to bring back some dignity to the office!