MGG Pillai Commentary View

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Did Dr Mahathir shoot himself in the foot or was it a black day for journalism?

THE MANUFACTURED CRISIS OF A Western news magazine threatening the Malaysian Prime Minister, Dato' Seri Mahathir Mohamed, is enough for the New Straits Times and UMNO leaders to be more royal than monarch. The NST says in an editorial (NST, 12 September 2003) this "threat" is "a black day for journalism". It assumes there was one and asks if Business Week should have threatened Dr Mahathir for an interview. It takes the high ground which it does not in its daily coverage and reports, and why an "immaculate reputation for accurate and unbiased information" makes or breaks a magazine. Even if the editorial did not say it, at least it explains why the NST circulation nosedived so disastrously as it has, that when a self-serving newspaper serves as the mouthpiece of the ruling party and ignores the fundamentals of the marketplce, its circulation should skid badly.

But only UMNO leaders rose in unison against the Business Week "threat". Many believe the Mahathir attack was a smokescreen to ferret those UMNO leaders not loyal enough to he who leaves high office in less than six weeks. Few wanted or dared to. The UMNO Youth chief, Dato' Hishamuddin Hussein, "lambasted" the magazine for its "irresponsibility". What it did is unacceptable, he said, and it has a hidden agenda. Besides, the western media do not respect Third World views and are "bold enough to blackmail our Prime Minister". The foreign minister, Dato' Seri Syed Hamid Albar, added his irrelevance: "It does not speak well of the media world or journalism, which is supposed to represent objectivity and professionalism." Was he, perchance, also referring here to the local media and journalism?

The only other UMNO leader quoted by the NST in what it sees as an insult to Malaysia's nationalism and patriotism was the Pahang mentri besar, Dato' Seri Adnan Yaakob who not understanding how the media works and believes only in a fawning media which reports what he wants them to write nevertheless has his say: "... the magazine does not know how to respect others' views ... (and belies) the view that (the) Western media is professional ... (but it) picked up the wrong person to mess with." Where are the other staunch supporters of the freedom of the press in the government?

Where is Senator Dato' Zainuddin Mydin, the former editor-in-chief of the Utusan group of newspapers, who so believes in press freedom that he orchestrated a physical attack on the offices of the Internet newspaper, malaysiakini (www.malaysiakini.com) because it believed in press freedom? Where is the minister of information, Tan Sri Khalil Yaakob, who should have led the charge against the Prime Minister's detractors even before the UMNO lemmings. Lemmings are rat-like creatures which once in while for reasons still unexplained they rush in hordes of hundreds of thousands in a mass suicide across the fields of Scandinavia into the cold waters of its seas. The three UMNO lemmings desperate seek a horde to commit suicide with. But the others have no such intent. With election less than six months away, this silence is unwarranted. Why are they then all silent?

If UMNO leaders do not want to stand up and be counted - the Prime Minister-to-be, Dato' Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi, on a two-day official visit to neighbouring Thailand, has not uttered a word or indeed Dr Mahathir after his intial foray - as they would happily a year ago, it reflects a larger malaise in the BN and UMNO. The political alliances shift inexorably away from Dr Mahathir. A Mahathir supporter in the time of Pak Lah is an anachronism. Which is why no BN leader has come up to his defence. The only non-Malay official or political voice is that of the deputy home minister, Dato' Chor Chee Heung, and he takes the official spin: the Government is liberal but it would be firm to act if Malaysia's national interests are impunged. In other words, officialdom does not think much of this Mahathir spin and so would not act. The magazine would not be banned, Dr Mahathir can say what he likes, and so his suicidal lemmings, but if Business Week wants an interview with Pak Lah as Prime Minister, he would consider it - with or without a threat. In other words, a storm in a teacup.

All it proved is the BN's misguided belief that it continues to be in charge. Dr Mahathir's belief in BN's invincibility is touching. He said in Kota Kinabalu this week BN would be returned in all 60 state assembly constituencies in the coming election. But it is now caught in factional fights among the BN partners, especially over the allocation of seats amongst them. There are threats of BN party members qutting to stand as independents. Election was to have been called for early this month. It cannot. It is now reported it would now be on 16 September, the 40th anniversary of Malaysia Day. Even that is doubtful. It was to divert attention from that squabble that the Business Week letter became what Dr Mahathir thought was a useful diversion.

If this was to be a matter of life and death, Malaysians would have risen in unison. Few believe it. Including many UMNO and BN leaders. There is no political benefit in offering to commit seppukku in an orgy of support for a departing politician. The letter that caused the mess is not released. The episode is given a spin which has no basis and to those of us in journalism is to put it mildly stretches incredulity. Otherwise would not political and civic leaders across the board risen to teach a lesson Business Week would not easily forget? Where then are the Ong Ka Tings, the S. Samy Vellus, the Lim Kheng Yaiks, the Kayveases of the BN. That even Dato' M. Kayveas said nary a word on this when he has words aplenty for any occasion is proof that yet again Dr Mahathir is stopped in his tracks. In short, this was an attempt brought to public notice with a hidden agenda, and all but a few misguided souls wanted a part of it. A black day for journalism it certainly was not. But it does tell you how to shoot yourself in the foot and cause the most damage.

M.G.G. Pillai
pillai@mgg.pc.my