King Dragging, Media Credibility and the Slipery Slide
We’re trying to ‘drag’ the King into politics?
That’s the best they could come up with? And it took them one whole day to do it?
Sigh, they’re not even making themselves worthy opponents.
The rakyat can’t drag the King into anything. His Majesty will do as He sees fit, and I’m confident that genuine concern for the well being of Malaysian subjects everywhere will hold sway, and not apathy.
(Remember the last time the PM tried to get the King to rubber stamp a contract extension?…. :)
I wish I could say the same of the media.
We all know the whole toothless lying lapdog deal, but I can’t help but spare some thoughts as to whether the people who run the media know just bad things are getting.
It was bad enough when they blacked out the lawyer’s march, but think, the city was covered over with up to a 100k people walking its streets. Everyone felt it.
And nothing was reported in the some papers. Nothing at all.
Today of course, the NST abandoned any semblance of neutrality in the inside pages, going on the offensive.
The government has repeated so many times that we’re not Pakistan or Burma.
But just use the media as a measure. Are we really that far off from a state where the only papers allowed are those praising the military leadership every day?
Did you see the RTM news that night? During news, they showed what was - even just on technical terms, ignoring content - propaganda. I’ll blog on this in greater detail soon I hope.
Do the high salaried people running these media organisations know that they are accomplices in the most insidious stage of the descent into evil?
It’s that stage where those with eyes can see that something is amiss, can feel that there is something increasingly wrong in our surroundings.
But it’s a little bit like ghosts hiding around the corner. Disturbing, but not entirely tangible or fully visible.
It’s still at a stage where you can pretend they don’t exist, persuade yourself that it’s nothing much, and certainly nothing worth risking your necks to question. After all, it’s not that bad.
But it’s when you’ve decided to leave them be that they are doing their worst work. Just as bad as the worst than what will be done later, when it is too late for us to change anything.
By that time, the cops really will be watching your every move, racism will really invade every level of your life, and they’ll probably even make it hard for you to leave the country.
Sounds far fetched doesn’t it (and really, I consider myself an optimist! :) ?
Well, it all starts when you can’t trust what you read in the papers or watch on tv.
Control the information, and you control the world.
Be slow to act now, and you’ll soon see the nature of those seeking that very control.
The last thing I’m saying is leave and give up.
I’m saying, stay and fight - like the hundred thousand on ten eleven.
Yesterday Malaysia local media wrote 4000ppl + traffic jams = Bersih rally. Now they are saying 60,000 attended Zakaria’s Open House! Bravo! Malaysia local media!
http://web7.bernama.com/bernama/v3/printable.php?id=295473
When what is written is no longer read
When what is spoken is no longer heard
The poor feet have to march to be noticed
The poor body has to take uninvited chemical bath
And never forget the song “Smoke gets in your eyes!”
Sometimes the silence is so deafening
Sometimes the reasoning is so appalling
Sometimes the reaction is so disappointing
Sometimes the pestilence is still so demanding
Sometimes we all wonder “What on earth is happening?”
(C) Samuel Goh Kim Eng
http://MotivationInMotion.blogspot.com
Mon. 12th Nov. 2007.
Malaysia the laughing stock of the world
Today an Idiotic ‘Islamic’ Proton auto.
Tomorrow?
The mind’s eye boggles!!!
Save you bucks, and buy a book
fictional tales are worth a look.
The local Malaysian media is truly loco
their written word has become so absurd
Beleive not what you read or hear,
the local media is unbelievable, that’s clear!
Use the net and choose what you surf,
from amongst it all, the truth will fall.
From Malaysian sources you’ll know bugger all.
May as well bang you head upon the wall.
want to drag2 gi kat tracklah!
Nat, ever considered protesting the media itself? As in a gathering at NST, theStar etc. to protest their lack of neutrality in these matters? Maybe could encourage some brave journos to stand up to the leaders in such a gathering too.
Civil society is doing an amazing, amazing job so far. First, wresting the judiciary from the hands of the government, going a long, long way to ensuring a real separation of powers. It’s still anybody’s guess if this will mean a real change in the judiciary.
Second, petitioning the king to restore free and fair elections - a pillar of democracy. This of course is still pending, and I’m wondering what the Agung will do next. Objectively speaking, I think he’s in a very tight spot (and we put him there, I think we can all agree). I hope something good will come out of all this.
Third, why not break the government monopoly on information? Alternative media has gone a long way toward achieving this with blogs, malaysia-today, malaysiakini and such. But majority of the people still get their information from the mainstream media. I’m wondering if something can be done to wrest the media from the government?
(I don’t know if if this comment is incitement to riot, if it is, please delete don’t wanna get u in trouble.)
dump the STAR just as i have boycotted nasty pee and his related gang since their unfair suit against jeff ooi and rocky. nothing is more effective than to hit where it hurt most; in this instance readership numbers without which their advertisement revenue will plummet. lets all switch to the SUN for a week as a start and I hope Nades and his gang will continue stand up against state propaganda after its popularity surge.
any takers?
Come to think of it, why has nobody marched on Parliament, or the judiciary? Pressure the institutions which are meant to check the overbearing executive. MPs have the power to kick Pak Lah out. The only reason they haven’t is that they haven’t been pressured to.
You might call it hopeless, but at least some tangible action can be taken. Not to mention that there are maverick BN MPs who could be focal points for an actual movement for change from within the backbencher ranks.