| Monday April 2 Gov’t chided over Keadilan permit delay Tong Yee Siong 7:10pm, Mon: The Home Affairs Ministry was censured in Parliament today for not issuing a publication permit to Berita Keadilan, the party organ of Keadilan, although its application was submitted more than a year ago. PAS MP for Tumpat, Kamaruddin Jaafar said that when the government changed the permit of the PAS party organ, Harakah, from bi-weekly to a bi-monthly publication last year, Prime Minister and the then Home Affairs minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad was reported to have said that all political parties would only be allowed to publish their respective newsletters fortnightly at most in the future. Kamaruddin said that it has been a year since, and Keadilan has yet to be granted the permit. “I was surprised to learn that after more than a year, Keadilan is still waiting for the publication permit that they should have got a long time ago. It is unlawful to restrict Keadilan from publishing its bulletin as a legitimate party in Malaysia,” he said. Under the existing Printing Presses and Publication Act 1984, any proprietor of a print media has to apply for a permit which is to be renewed annually at the absolute discretion of the Home Affairs Minister. In response to Kamaruddin’s criticism, Home Affairs Ministry parliamentary secretary Abu Zahar Isnin said that the ministry is in the process of reviewing Keadilan’s application. Abu Zahar said that the ministry had sent letters to Keadilan to gather some additional information required for the issuing of the permit. “If the information conforms with the requirements of our procedures, we will issue the permit,” he said. Abu Zahar who is also Umno MP for Jasin, however, did not specify a time frame as to when the review will be completed. Citing Harakah and the Rocket (the DAP’s party organ) as evidence that the government has no intention to curb the opposition’s voices, he said that the government will not impede on the opposition’s freedom to express their views as long as they do not misuse that freedom to publish malicious or false news. “We allow the opposition to voice out their opinions and views, but we will take action against them if they are found to be misusing their freedom,” he said. ‘Incompetent government’ Meanwhile, Berita Keadilan editor Khalid Jaafar told malaysiakini when contacted that the party first applied for its publication permit before the general elections in Nov 1999. He expressed his frustration over the fact that all component parties in Barisan Alternatif except Keadilan have their respective publication permits. “The government cannot deny us of our publication permit. It is a delay, and this has again shown the people what an incompetent government is about,” he said. Khalid said that although Keadilan has received letters from the ministry, they were solely to confirm that the ministry had started processing their application and did not ask for additional information. He said that the ministry has not briefed them on the latest status of their permit since then. This, however, is not stopping the party from publishing Berita Keadilan, he added. |
| From: "Parti Rakyat Malaysia" <p_rakyat@H...> Date: Tue Mar 20, 2001 4:51pm Subject: Kenyataan: Suara PRM Akan Terbit Segera Kenyataan Ketua Penerangan PRM Kepada Semua bahagian dan ranting PRM Juga Para Penyokong dan Peminat PRM Perkara: Suara PRM Akan Terbit Segera di Pasaran Sukacita diumumkan bahawa Suara PRM yang telah mendapat permit penerbitan KDN akan muncul di pasaran pada 23 Mac ini. Suara PRM mengandungi 32 halaman dalam Bahasa Malaysia termasuk bahagian berbahasa Tionghua dan Inggeris. Harga di pasaran ialah RM2.00 senaskah. Bahagian-Bahagian dan Ranting-Ranting PRM boleh memesan terus kepada Pengedar: Puan Marina (Telefon: 03-22832788 atau 013-3504410) Harga untuk Bahagian-Bahagian dan Ranting-Ranting PRM adalah seperti berikut: Bagi pesanan 2,000 naskah ke atas = RM1.30 senaskah; Bagi pesanan 2,000 naskah ke bawah = RM 1.50 senaskah Segala jualan adalah secara tunai. Tidak boleh dipulangkan jika tidak laku. Berikan sokongan saudara untuk penyebaran Suara PRM seluas-luasnya dengan segera memesan akhbar PRM yang ditunggu-tunggu itu yang akan muncul dalam bentuk baru dan kandungan amat menarik. Sekian dimaklumkan, Hassan Karim Ketua Penerangan PRM |
| alternative media |
| From: "Parti Rakyat Malaysia" <p_rakyat@H...> Date: Fri Feb 16, 2001 2:43pm Subject: Permit Untuk Suara PRM Diluluskan/ Permit fo Suara PRM Approved KENYATAAN MEDIA / MEDIA STATEMENT Rustam A. Sani, Naib Presiden, Parti Rakyat Malaysia (PRM) [This statement is in Malay and English] Kementerian Dalam Negeri meluluskan izin penerbitan “Suara PRM” Melalui sepucuk surat yang diterima semalam, PRM telah diberitahu oleh pihak Kementerian Dalam Negeri (KDN) bahawa permohonan kami untuk memperoleh izin penerbitan bagi akhbar lidah rasmi kami, Suara PRM, kini telah diluluskan. Kami percaya perkembangan ini merupakan kesan pengumuman kami minggu lalu bahawa PRM akan mengambil tindakan mahkamah terhadap KDN, bukan sahaja kerana gagal meluluskan izin penerbitan itu tetapi juga kerana tidak menjawab surat menyurat kami berhubung dengan permohonan tersebut yang telah dikemukakan sejak 22 Mac 1999. Manakala kami berterima kasih kerana memperoleh izin penerbitan ini, kami juga ingin menyatakan rasa kesal bahawa izin penerbitan yang sepatutnya merupakan hak asasi kami dalam sebuah sistem demokrasi harus diperjuangkan dengan membuat ancaman untuk mengambil tindakan mahkamah. Meskipun kami telah memperoleh izin penerbitan ini, namun kami tetap berpendapat bahawa suasana hak menerbitkan dan menyebarkan pendapat di negara ini amatlah menyedihkan. Malah kami berpendapat bahawa kerajaan secara sedar sedang melaksanakan suatu dasar yang bertujuan untuk menyekat dan mencabul lunas-lunas kebebasan. Banyak penerbit bebas telah dibatalkan izin penerbitannya secara sewenang-wenang dan masih ada parti politik yang belum diberikan izin menerbitkan akhbar rasminya meskipun permohonan telah dikemukakan sejak bertahun-tahun. Memandangkan keadaan ini, maka PRM bercadang untuk meneruskan rancangannya mengadakan suatu persidangan meja bulat di kalangan parti-parti politik, badan-badan NGO, dan para penerbit individu yang telah mengalami banyak halangan dan rintangan oleh dasar kerajaan tersebut. Tujuan pertemuan itu adalah untuk memikirkan strategi yang dapat dilaksanakan bagi mengatasi penindasan hak asasi yang dilakukan oleh KDN. Persidangan ini dicadangkan akan diadakan pada akhir bulan Februari. ---------------------------------------- Rustam A. Sani Naib Presiden Parti Rakyat Malaysia 16 Februari 2001 TRANSLATION Interior Ministry has granted publishing permit for “Suara PRM” Through a letter that was received yesterday, PRM has been informed by the Ministry of Internal Affairs (KDN) that our application for a permit to publish the party organ, Suara PRM, has been approved. We believe that this development is the result of our announcement last week that PRM would be instituting legal action against the KDN, not just for failing to grant the publishing permit but also for not responding to our correspondence concerning the application, which was first submitted on March 22, 1999. While we are thankful for the publishing permit, we wish nevertheless to reiterate our sense of regret that a permit that should have been our basic constitutional right under a democratic system has to be obtained through threats of taking legal actions against the Ministry. Although we have now obtained the publishing permit for our own party organ, we are nevertheless still of the opinion that the condition for publishing and dissemination of information in this country is far from being satisfactory. Indeed we feel that the government is consciously pursuing a policy of the suppression of basic rights. Many independent publishers have had their publishing permits revoked and a number of political parties are yet to hear about the fate of their applications for permits to publish their party organs. Given the situation, PRM has decided to pursue its plan of organising a round table conference of political parties, NGOs, and individual publishers that have suffered suppression and victimization under the government repressive policy on publications. The purpose of the conference is to formulate a strategy to counter the unacceptable policies of the KDN. The conference would be held in late February. Rustam A. Sani Vice President Parti Rakyat Malaysia (PRM) 16 February 2001 -- Rustam A. Sani 7519 Jalan Bukit Lela, Gombak 53100 Kuala Lumpur, MALAYSIA Tel: +[603] 6189 7588 Fax: +[603] 6184 1069 Mobile: 019 389 7888 |
| 'Rocket' to revert to a monthly tabloid (fwd) ------------------------------------------------ To Sang Kancil <sangkancil@lists.malaysia.net> From "M.G.G. Pillai" <pillai@mgg.pc.my> Date Thu, 27 Apr 2000 21:23:43 +0800 (MYT) cc SK <sk@lists.malaysia.net> Delivered-To mailing list sangkancil@lists.malaysia.net Mailing-List contact sangkancil-help@malaysia.net; run by ezmlm ------------------------------------------------ ---------- Forwarded message ---------- Date: Thu, 27 Apr 2000 23:50:53 +1200 From: mIChaeL fONg <stmichael@saintly.com> Reply-To: bungaraya@listserv.net-gw.com To: bungaraya <bungaraya@listserv.net-gw.com> Subject: [BUNGARAYA] [iso-8859-1] 'Rocket' to revert to a monthly tabloid Ng Boon Hooi for Malaysiakini The DAP's official magazine, Rocket, will have its format restored to its original tabloid newspaper next month to save costs. DAP national publicity secretary Ronnie Liu told malaysiakini today that the printing of Rocket in the present magazine format placed too much burden on the party's budget, hence the party decided to revert to the tabloid format, with the next issue scheduled to come out on May 19. Rocket has been published since 1967 with DAP chairman Lim Kit Siang serving as the first editor. It was a weekly tabloid until 1984 it became a monthly tabloid which sold between 30,000 to 50,000 copies monthly. In 1998, the Rocket was turned into the magazine format, in line with the changing political environment, and this format, which was costlier, had remained to date, with its publication frequency being "irregular" although it was licensed to be a monthly. "The printers and the distributers have warned by the authority many times, and we have been forced to stop the publication a few times," Liu said. Liu pointed out that before 1987 Operasi Lalang, the tabloid earned some money for the party. However, after the crackdown, the restrictions imposed by the authority have led to the publication to incur financial losses. He said the new tabloid will focus on the general news from DAP, Barisan Alternatif component parties and NGOs, as well as some political commentaries. He also stated that Rocket will be published every month, in four language editions - English, Malay, Mandarin and Tamil. "The 24-page Rocket will have a print run of 50,000 copies monthly and sold to members at RM1," he said. Liu added that the Rocket plays a major role to getting DAP news across to the public, since the party's news and actvities have been blacked out by the mainstream media for the past 30 years. |
| PAS to help revive DAP publication ------------------------------------------------ Islamic party tries to get around restrictions on its hugely popular newsletter, Harakah, by publishing The Rocket twice every month By WAN HAMIDI HAMID IN KUALA LUMPUR THE Parti Islam SeMalaysia (PAS) and the Democratic Action Party (DAP), the odd-couple of Malaysian politics, are taking their courtship a step further -- with the Islamic party getting around restrictions on its Harakah newsletter by now moving to resurrect the DAP's publication, The Rocket. From this month, the people behind Harakah, the hugely popular twice-monthly newspaper of PAS, will attempt to revive the DAP newsletter that has fallen on bad times. It started off as a weekly years ago but its appearance at newsstands has been irregular, prompting some people to quip that "the Rocket takes off as frequently as a space shuttle". There is a political element to the tie-up. Without the reach and resources of the government, opposition parties know that their newsletters provide the best avenue to get their message and criticism of the Mahathir administration to the masses. The more frequently such newsletters hit the streets, the better. Harakah's editor Zulkilfi Sulong said the company would use some of its 60 staff members to help publish The Rocket two Fridays a month. Harakah, which enjoys a circulation of 280,000, will be sold on the remaining two Fridays. DAP's publicity chief Ronnie Liu said that the party would maintain editorial control over newsletter. "We have our own editorial staff and we will have contributions from party leaders and members," he said. The first issue contains interviews with leaders of Barisan Alternatif, the loosely-formed coalition of opposition parties that took on Barisan Nasional at the general election. The party hopes that it will be able to sell an average of 30,000 copies for the first few months and take off in the same way that Harakah did two years ago. Before the sacking of Anwar Ibrahim and the political crisis that followed, Harakah was in every sense a party newsletter. It had a circulation of 80,000 and contained articles that were more about PAS than the political scene in Malaysia. Its editorial direction changed after the former deputy premier's removal in September 1998 with a focus on a no-holds barred criticism of government leaders. The circulation then jumped to 380,000 and is said to have played a major part in the effective media campaign against the government in the run-up to the November election. In March, the Home Ministry reminded Harakah that it was a party newsletter. As such, it had to abide by the conditions of its publishing licence that it could only be sold twice a month and that too to party members. Sources said that ever since the ministry made clear its intention to enforce the law, opposition parties had been looking at the best way to maximise the effectiveness of their newsletters. The tie-up between DAP and PAS over The Rocket will almost certainly be used by the Malaysian Chinese Association (MCA) to whip up the image of the unholy alliance between the secular party and the Islamic fundamentalist movement. Harakah's rise BEFORE the sacking of Anwar Ibrahim and the political crisis that followed, Harakah was just a party newsletter, with a circulation of 80,000. Its editorial direction changed after Anwar's removal in September 1998. It began to focus on a no-holds barred criticism of government leaders. The circulation then jumped to 380,000. |
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