mkini

Malaysian prime minister accuses Malaysiakini.com of treason

By freedomforum.org staff

03.07.01

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The prime minister of Malaysia has launched a major attack on an independent online newspaper known for challenging government restrictions on the media.

Malaysiakini.com, which was honored in late January with the 2001 Free Media Pioneer Award, is now accused of treason.

Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad was quoted by the national news agency, Bernama, as saying that "these people (Malaysiakini) really behave like traitors, asking foreigners to harm their own country." He also declared, "People who love Malaysia would not support Malaysiakini."

The statements brought a prompt response from the Vienna-based International Press Institute. In a letter to Mohamad, IPI expressed its "deep concern about the recent harassment of the independent online newspaper Malaysiakini.com."

IPI and The Freedom Forum sponsored the award to Malaysiakini.com at the IPI World Congress in New Delhi, India, on Jan. 29. Last year, Malaysiakini.com editor Steven Gan was honored by the New York-based Committee to Protect Journalists for his courage as an online editor who "routinely tests the limits of his government's tolerance for press freedom by publishing articles ... that could never appear in Malaysia's tightly controlled press."

In IPI’s letter to the prime minister yesterday, the free-press organization noted that "last month, officials barred a reporter for Malaysiakini from a news conference, enforcing a rarely applied accreditation rule for journalists."

IPI also noted that last month, the deputy home minister was quoted in the press as saying that Malaysiakini's reporters would be barred from covering government events because the online newspaper is not a licensed publication, although Internet sites have not been required to have a license in order to operate.

Some of Malaysiakini's problems stem from the accusation that the Internet newspaper has received funding from international financier George Soros through the Bangkok-based Southeast Asia Press Alliance. SEAPA, an alliance of independent press advocacy organizations from the Philippines, Thailand and Indonesia, has stated that no funds it provided to the online newspaper came directly or indirectly from Soros or his Open Society Institute.

IPI said it "fears that the controversy over Malaysiakini's alleged funding by Soros is being used as a pretext to discredit one of the few critical media in the country as 'unpatriotic,' " adding that "the barring of Malaysiakini journalists from official events and the verbal attacks leveled against the on-line newspaper by government officials are flagrant violations of everyone's right to 'seek, receive and impart information and ideas through any media and regardless of frontiers,' as guaranteed by Article 19 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights."

Malaysiakini carried an editorial signed by the editor, Gan, on Feb. 16, noting that "Those who watch TV1 news would notice by now that there is a special slot recently on malaysiakini every evening. These reports would make Nazi propaganda master Joseph Goebbels proud. They were laced with quotes taken out of context, fabrications and downright lies."

Malaysiakini today carried an update on the government's withholding permission for certain foreign magazines to circulate in the country.

The March 1 issue of the Dow Jones weekly magazine Far Eastern Economic Review was finally released for distribution about a week late. However, the latest issue has been held back by the home ministry.

The other magazine in trouble is Asiaweek. Malaysiakini reports that the March 2 issue "appeared to have been banned" and the March 9 issue still has not been approved for distribution.

Malaysiakini says that Asiaweek "is still in the dark" about its problems since there have been no official complaints and no reasons given by the Malaysian government, according to Rick Hornik, executive editor.

Malaysian censors withhold 2 magazines from newsstands

By The Associated Press,
freedomforum.org staff

03.01.01

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Amid a climate of increased criticism of the foreign news media, Malaysian censors are withholding approval of the distribution of two Hong Kong-based magazines that report on Asian affairs, the Associated Press reported today from Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.

The delays in distributing Asiaweek and the Far Eastern Economic Review follow the government's stepped-up scrutiny of foreign news media since Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad complained that articles and photographs in a recent edition of Asiaweek made him look foolish and tired.

Mahathir, 75, is Asia's longest-serving ruler. He has been prime minister since 1981.

Malaysiakini.com, an independent Internet news service, reported today that Home Ministry press secretary Rohaizad Abdul Rahim declined "to speak to Malaysiakini or any other foreign publications."

Both magazines would normally have been on the newsstands by Feb. 26 at the latest after clearing the home ministry's censorship board, which usually clears all news weeklies for distribution at the same time.

By Feb. 27, when the AP began inquiries, neither the Asian weeklies nor the current editions of The Economist, Newsweek or Time had appeared. Censorship officials said that the delay was a glitch and approval would likely be made that day.

The three global-coverage magazines were distributed yesterday, but Asiaweek and Far Eastern Economic Review were still not available today.

The Review and Asiaweek have a readership of 15,000 and 25,000 respectively in Malaysia, according to Malaysiakini, which also notes that Internet versions of the current editions of both magazines have been online since Feb. 22 for the Review and Feb. 25 for Asiaweek.

The edition of the Review, which is owned by Dow Jones & Company, that is being held up contains a story about discontent building up against Mahathir among the ethnic Malay Muslims who have been his power base, undermining his authority.

The story, which is teased on the cover, has a lead that says accusing the prime minister of cronyism and authoritarianism normally comes from the opposition, "but on February 4, it was card-carrying members of his own ruling coalition who broke ranks to do that very same thing."

On Asiaweek's Web site, two articles its latest issue referred to Malaysia. The first, about the rise of radical Islam in Southeast Asia, alleges that a group known as the Moro fighters were supported by the Malaysian government, insinuating that Malaysian businessmen, and even Malaysian Information Minister Khalil Yaakob, had ties with a Muslim rebel leader who is wanted on murder charges by the Philippine government.

Another article asserts that many rulers have sought to perpetuate their legacies by constructing buildings and cities that they hope will last beyond their time, and then goes on to refer to the prime minister's new administrative capital, Putrajaya, which has Mahathir's personality stamped on it, even if it is named after the country's first prime minister Tunku Abdul Rahman Putra Al-Haj.

Malaysia bans Internet newspaper from official events

By freedomforum.org staff,
The Associated Press

02.07.01

Malaysia's criticism-shy government has ordered that reporters from an award-winning Internet newspaper be banned from official functions and news conferences, the site's editor and news reports say.

Deputy Home Minister Chor Chee Heung has said journalists from Malaysiakini.com, or Malaysia Now, will be barred because of their critical reporting of Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad's government, The Sun newspaper reports.

Malaysiakini.com editor and co-founder Steven Gan called the ban an attempt to censor the site and curb criticism of the government and said the newspaper would defy it.

"The government is wary of our journalists going to functions and daring to ask tough questions," Gan told the Associated Press.

"We are going to test the boundaries of this one and continue attending government functions," he added. "They will have to kick us out."

A week ago, Gan received the 2001 Free Media Pioneer Award from the International Press Institute and The Freedom Forum at the IPI World Congress in New Delhi. Last year, Gan was honored by the Committee to Protect Journalists for his courage as an online editor who "routinely tests the limits of his government's tolerance for press freedom by publishing articles ... that could never appear in Malaysia's tightly controlled press."

Gan blamed the crackdown on a report in the current issue of the Dow Jones publication Far Eastern Economic Review, which said his site was funded in part by U.S. financier George Soros' Open Society Foundation.

Malaysiakini disputed the report and sought a retraction. The magazine printed a clarification, which said that, rather than receiving funds directly from Soros' foundation, Malaysiakini was partially funded by the Southeast Asian Press Alliance, which received funds from Soros.

In a bylined editorial titled "The courage to say 'we were wrong,' " Gan attacked the Review, claiming that the "clarification — not a correction — ... fell short of an honest retraction" and adding, "they were wrong."

SEAPA also said that none of the funds it provided to the Internet site had come directly or indirectly from Soros.

The press alliance has urged the Malaysian government not to "isolate or intimidate" Malaysiakini and to allow its journalists to cover government events "without restriction."

Kavi Chongkittavorn, SEAPA chairman, says the organization "is deeply disturbed" by the government action, which it sees "as an excuse to attack one of the few independent voices in the Malaysian media."

In its own story on the ban, Malaysiakini reported yesterday that Chor said the ban applied to "all press personnel without media accreditation ... not only on Malaysiakini.com."

Chor reportedly said he "was just repeating the existing ruling by the Information Ministry."

Chor also said that under the Printing Presses and Publications Act, Malaysiakini could not be considered a newspaper because it does not have a publication license.

He was referring to the online paper's application for accreditation passes, which was rejected last April because it had no license.

"I too can start a Web site and post all kinds of news and then call myself a news media. Anybody can do that," Chor said, according to the Malaysiakini report.

Chor said he would look into the matter further before "coming back to Malaysiakini in a few days' time."

Rustan Sani, leader of an opposition party, was quoted yesterday by the AP as saying that "there is a clear trend by the government to stop the dissemination of information to the people," adding that "we must fight back."

Web site honored as free media pioneer

By Susan Bennett
The Freedom Forum Online

01.11.01

An independent online newspaper that challenges government-imposed restrictions on the press and speech in Malaysia will receive the 2001 Free Media Pioneer Award from the International Press Institute and The Freedom Forum.

Malaysiakini.com, based in Kuala Lumpur, will receive the award at a ceremony on Jan. 29, during IPI's World Congress in New Delhi, India.

The online publication was founded in November 1999 by Steven Gan and Premesh Chandran "to test and push the boundaries of free speech and press freedom in Malaysia by providing credible and up-to-date news and analysis" and to "counter the culture of self-censorship in the mainstream media," according to mission statement.

In Malaysia, where the government has imposed severe restraints on newspapers and broadcasters, Malaysiakini.com has used the Internet as a testing ground for publishing provocative stories without government censure. The online publication has "gained tremendous popularity with its mix of unbiased news coverage, investigative journalism, in-depth analysis and commentary written in English and Malay," IPI said in making its award announcement.

Gan was honored last year by the Committee to Protect Journalists for his courage as editor of the online publication. CPJ said Malaysiakini.com "routinely tests the limits of his government's tolerance for press freedom by publishing articles on the Internet that could never appear in Malaysia's tightly controlled press."

The Free Media Pioneer Award was established by IPI in 1996 to honor individuals or organizations that have fought for press freedom. The Freedom Forum cosponsors the annual award and enables journalists from around the world to attend the IPI's meeting of editors and media executives.

Journalists sponsored this year by The Freedom Forum for attendance at IPI's conference in India are:

Owais Aslam Ali, secretary general, Pakistan Press Foundation

Shreeram Singh Basnet, executive director, Media Point, Nepal

Azer H. Hasret, chairman, Journalists' Trade Union, Azerbaijan

Sunanda Deshapriya, acting secretary, Free Media Movement, Sri Lanka

Faraj Sarkohi, journalist, Iran

Bul-Bul Monjurul-Ahsan, executive director, Media Watch, Bangladesh

U Thaung, journalist, Myanmar (Burma).

Thursday March 8

Those who speak with forked tongues

Premesh Chandran

11:38am, Thu: As a media organisation that strongly believes in press freedom, malaysiakini maintains that legal action should be taken as the last resort. However, the situation has become alarming.

The allegations against malaysiakini, which is based on untruths and our purported link with international speculator George Soros, has resulted in accusations of the website serving the agenda of the perceived enemies of the state and that malaysiakini journalists are traitors. This has now led to death threats being issued against a member of the team.

Indeed, the website has been put under an undeserved cloud of rumour, suspicion, hatred and contempt through allegations of foreign interventions and harbouring an ‘unpatriotic’ agenda.

Which is why we have instructed our lawyers to take necessary legal action against those who have, and continue, to make unsubstantiated allegations against malaysiakini, to defend the reputation of the website and our journalists.

But who are the potential defendants? The following is a partial list:

Dr Mahathir Mohamad

Prime Minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad, the wise man he is, knew all along that we were funded by Soros, or so he said. This fits perfectly into his worldview that all who are critical of Malaysia are foreign agents.

A genuine Malaysian would never have a bad word to say. He has labeled malaysiakini, and all those who read malaysiakini as traitors. Is this an opportunity for a class action suit by malaysiakini and our readers?

Abdullah Ahmad Badawi

On national TV, Abdullah declared that it is now “terbukti” (proven) that malaysiakini is funded by Soros. “Our perception that the news portal has a link with Soros, which was denied by the portal management, is now proven to be true and not a wild allegation,” he said.

How has our link to Soros been proven? Is Abdullah aware of the facts, including our detailed denial? Have his trusted lieutenants let him down by not briefing him of the facts?

The facts are that malaysiakini has a business relationship through Kini Technologies with the Centre for Advanced Media, Prague (C@MP), a division of venture capitalist Media Development Loan Fund. MDLF has among its 20 funders and partners, George Soros’s Open Society Institute.

The government should be proud that Kini Technologies, in partnership with C@MP, will be exporting software to the world, particularly to developing nations. Isn’t this part of the South-South cooperation preached by the prime minister?

Should we ask the deputy prime minister to prove in court how exactly is it now “proven” that we are funded or linked to Soros?

                                    Chong Yen Long

Former malaysiakini news editor Chong Yen Long has accused the website of telling half-truths. He said that we did not inform the public that we were receiving funds from MDLF and took it open himself to “spill the beans”.

But who is telling half truths? Chong informed the media of two facts:

1) That malaysiakini received RM188,000 from MDLF

2) That MDLF is believed to be funded by Soros.

Yes, the above is true. However, there are two other pertinent facts that he failed to disclose.

1) The payment in question, was not a grant, but was for a software development project.

2) That MDLF has 20 funders and that none of the funds from C@MP originated from Soros as assured by C@MP project director Martin Hala.

Malaysiakini’s relationship with C@MP and MDLF was also no secret. We disclosed these facts to the public when we released our report of our year 2000 accounts, on Feb 27.

The link to Soros is so tenuous that it is much like the case of accusing Israel of supporting Malaysia and by extension, the government is therefore serving the Zionist agenda because it received a grant from the World Bank, which among its contributors include Israel.

More so, malaysiakini is a business entity. Over the past year, we have made deals with a number of business partners and have signed up a long list of advertising clients. No doubt, some of these companies can be controversial, perhaps even backed by unsavory characters whom we are not aware of.

But malaysiakini strictly adheres to a policy where any editorial interference by our investors, business partners and clients will neither be accepted nor tolerated by the website’s editors and journalists. Indeed, as a news editor for one year, Chong can vouch for that.

Although Chong was informed that OSI does not fund malaysiakini directly or indirectly, he refused to believe this. Instead, due to his personal grievances with editor Steven Gan and myself, he has given fodder for the mainstream media and the government to spin a tale on our purported link with Soros.

One should not destroy an organisation and the journalists once under his charge because of personal grievances. Should he pay for the damage he has caused?

RTM

In early February, RTM ran a special on malaysiakini for an entire week. In its prime-time news slot on TV1 and TV2, it highlighted our alleged link with Soros. RTM interviewed several politicians and media experts who dutifully questioned our reporting and independence.

To further erode malaysiakini’s credibility, RTM reported that they had found that a 1995 article by editor Steven Gan and his special issues team at The Sun, exposing the deaths of 59 inmates at the Semenyih illegal immigrants detention camp in Selangor, was apparently not true. RTM quoted Bukit Aman's public relations head Supt Benjamin Hasbi stating that only eight people died, including a police officer.

Announcing the ‘false report’, RTM interviewed several personalities including Foreign Minister Syed Hamid Albar who quickly condemned Gan and questioned how he could have received the International Press Freedom award for an untrue report.

Gan had received the award in November last year from the New York-based Committee to Protect Journalists for his pioneering work in malaysiakini and his track record for independent journalism. In the award citation, CPJ had also mentioned the Semenyih death camp story.

Several media personalities, including a representative from the Malaysian Press Institute said that they would write to CPJ, informing them of Gan’s false report and request that they withdraw the award.

Gan responded in an editorial (Demonising malaysiakini), pointing out that RTM had mixed up two unrelated incidents. The death of eight migrants including a police officer occurred in 1998, following government attempts to deport Acehnese who feared retribution if they were returned to Indonesia.

The story by Gan and his colleagues was about 59 deaths at the Semenyih detention centre and was written in 1995. In fact, the piece, titled "Shattered Dreams", won an Malaysian Press Institute award in 1996 with the award being presented to Gan and his colleagues by the prime minister himself.

Malaysiakini has written to RTM requesting an apology and a retraction. None has been forthcoming.

                             Zainuddin Maidin

Zainuddin has had a lot to say about malaysiakini. He said that we will not be given press accreditation because we lack credibility. If credibility is the benchmark, it is a wonder how some other media organisations are given accreditation. To support, his attack on malaysiakini, he claimed to have “proof” that Gan worked for an anti-government newspaper.

The only newspaper that Gan has worked for in Malaysia, is The Sun. Is he suggesting that The Sun is anti-government? Perhaps action should be taken against Zainuddin to remind the parliamentary secretary of the Information Ministry that he should get his facts right.

Far Eastern Economic Review

The Review was the publication which got the ball rolling. In their Feb 8 issue, the Review carried an interview with George Soros, titled “Levelling the Field”. In its introductory paragraph, the article states that Soros’ Open Society Foundation funds, among others, Malaysiakini.com. Malaysiakini immediately issued a denial and called on the Review to issue an immediate retraction. Open Society Institute, which administers Soros’s fund, also issued a statement stating that it does not fund malaysiakini.

Instead of retracting their statement, the Review pointed out that “the Open Society Fund funds, the Thailand-based Southeast Asian Press Alliance (Seapa), one source of funding for Malaysiakini.com.”

The clarification misleads the public to believe that the Review was right all along, that OSI does indeed fund malaysiakini, but the funds flow via Seapa.

Like Chong, by reporting selected facts and omitting others, the Review was able to cast aspersions on malaysiakini. The Review was aware of two important facts:

1) That Seapa, a regional organisation of journalists who have long struggled for independent media in Indonesia, Philippines and Thailand, has a large number of funders.

2) That the OSI funds go only towards paying the salary of one Seapa advisor, and none of it reaches malaysiakini.

Yet, the Review refused to disclose all the facts and maintained that their clarification is adequate. Stating two out of four pertinent facts, is as good as lying.


                              George Soros

But what about George Soros? Are we going to let him get of scot free? After all, all this hot air is about a link to the man himself. Shouldn’t he pay? Perhaps we should sue Soros for RM100 million. If, as all of the above suggest that Soros is in fact funding malaysiakini, Soros probably would not even fight the case. Yes, perhaps we should sue Soros to ensure malaysiakini has enough funds to last a decade at least.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
PREMESH CHANDRAN is malaysiakini’s chief executive officer.

Thursday March 8

Website CEO receives death threats

Ajinder Kaur

1:18pm, Thu: Malaysiakini chief executive officer Premesh Chandran has received two threatening e-mails believed to be linked to the recent allegations that the news website was funded by controversial currency speculator George Soros.

The e-mails, which were sent from two separate accounts, one from TMnet and the other Jaring, threatened to cause harm to Chandran allegedly for being a traitor and Zionist.

“The e-mails were received on Tuesday. It is lamentable that the baseless allegations which have been hurled at us (malaysiakini) in the last few weeks has led to such threats,” Chandran said.

He added that he has notified the Internet service providers concerned to alert them about the e-mail messages.

“We would like TMnet and Jaring to investigate the e-mail addresses to identify the senders. We will lodge a police report once the senders have been identified,” he said.

The e-mails carried the titles “I am watching you” and “Curse you, Zionist!!!”.

The Jaring e-mail read, “Hello traitor, You talibarut (closely connected to) Soros. Zionist agent. I'm watching your house 24 hours 7 days a week. Heh! Heh! Go back to Israel before we slaughter you, bastard.”

It also included Chandran’s home address.

The TMnet e-mail said, “You bastard Zionist! Celaka kau (Damn you) Premesh Chandran. Orang Keling keturunan imigran India tak tahu mengenang budi (Ungrateful Indian immigrant). You have lived in Malaysia. Your parents have lived in Malaysia and now you become a Zionist agent to destroy Malaysia, my beloved country. I will hunt you down and (you will) pay (for) what you did to Malaysia and the Palestine people. You can run but you cannot hide. Pray you will die before I catch you, Zionist agent. Ptuih! Keling sial (Wretched Indian) Allahuakbar! God is great!”

Malaysiakini has been under heavy attack recently for allegedly having links with international financier George Soros.

Last week, Prime Minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad insinuating that malaysiakini journalists are traitors to the country and “people who love Malaysia would not support malaysiakini”.

Soros controversy

The Soros controversy began when foreign publication Far Eastern Economic Review stated in an article titled ‘Leveling the Field’ in its Feb 8 edition that malaysiakini was among the media organisations in Asia which received funds from Soros.

This attempt was unsuccessful after Bangkok-based Southeast Asian Press Alliance (Seapa), which gave a grant as seed capital to malaysiakini last year, showed that malaysiakini was not a recipient of any funds from the American financier. (Malaysiakini seeks retraction from magazine, Feb 3)

Later, there was another effort to cast aspersions on malaysiakini after the US Embassy bought banner ads in the website. The attempt failed again when it was found that the embassy also took similar ads in a mainstream newspaper’s website.

The issue, however, persisted when malaysiakini's former news editor Chong Yen Loong told national news agency Bernama that the website received RM188,000 from the Media Development Loan Fund (MDLF), which he “believed to be well-funded by Soros”.

Business deal

Chandran immediately issued a statement saying that the money was payment for a business deal between the Centre for Advanced Media, Prague (C@MP), the technology division of venture capital MDLF, and Kini Technologies, the technology arm of malaysiakini’s publisher Mkini Dotcom.

Kini Technologies is working in collaboration with C@MP on the online advertising engine project and other projects as part of C@MP’s software group, C@MPW@RE. C@MPW@RE will be marketed to other online media start-ups, especially in Third World countries, as a solution to their own online advertising needs.

Chandran added that the Open Society Institute (OSI) funded by Soros was only one of MLDF’s 20 funder organisations but none of MDLF’s payment to malaysiakini for the software deal came from the OSI, given that C@MP is a self-sustainable division of the venture capital.

Soros, a notorious currency speculator, was labelled a ‘moron’ by Mahathir who blamed him for causing the 1997 Asian financial crisis.

Soros has used part of his wealth to fund charity projects around the world through OSI.