NUJ president sacked by Utusan

-
The journalistic community was dealt with a severe blow on Labour Day when the National Union of Journalist (NUJ) president Mohamed Hatta Wahari was sacked by his employer Utusan Malaysia for criticizing on the Umno-owned newspaper over its imbalance and racist reporting.

According to Hatta, he was terminated from his senior journalist position on April 21, a week after the newspaper’s disciplinary inquiry decided he was guilty of breaching the terms and conditions of his employment.

We would like to urge Hatta to carry on with his quest for press freedom. We also urge all journalists to stand by this man who have been fighting tirelessly for the welfare and rights of all journalists and our people.

Eventhough he is employed as a journalist in Utusan Malaysia, he risked his career to stood up against his employer who publishes regular racist and hate messages in its publications and fought against various injustice and unfair policies on journalism.

On proposal made by the information minister Rais Yatim recently to regulate the media industry via the establishment of a Media Consultative Council, we jointly condemn such action as a means to regulate and to control the media entirely.

The unfettered but responsible reporting by online news portals like The Malaysian Insider and Malaysiakini are some examples on how a self-regulating media industry would work.

Regulating the media industry would mean some form of a dictatorship that is against spirit of democracy and freedom of press.

Popular posts from this blog

EC should ask ROS to register Pakatan quickly

-
Image
The Election Commission (EC) had recently advised the current opposition pact, Pakatan Rakyat comprising PAS, PKR and DAP, to register their coalition so that they could use their logo in the coming general election. EC deputy chairman Datuk Wan Ahmad Wan Omar said the coalition should be registered because the opposition parties were always seen violating regulations of the election campaign, especially on the use of their logo. Datuk Wan Ahmad seems to be overly ignorant and too forgetful on this issue. The EC deputy chairman should ask the Registrar of Societies (ROS) to quickly register the Pakatan instead of calling on Pakatan to register itself. Pakatan Rakyat had earlier send in their formal application to register itself as a coalition of political parties since November 2009 and ROS has yet to register the said entity till today after delaying and creating so many hassles for more than a year. It is not Pakatan who is delaying on its application but it was the ROS who is just...
Read more

USM fiasco a shame

-
I read and heard with irritation and felt disgusted with the fiasco committed by the apex status university called Universiti Sains Malaysia (USM) which caused untold anguish to the affected students and their parents. If this happened in Japan, the Vice-Chancellor would have done the honourable thing - take full responsibilty and leave, but here in Malaysia, as expected, the blame is shifted here and there, trying to make someone a scapegoat. By the way, would there be any racist or sabotage elements involved? Those who are responsible for this fiasco should be sacked or expelled immediately.
Read more

Federal Constitution that Safeguards the Legitimate Rights and Interest of All Malaysians

-
Image
The provisions of the Federal Constitution are very clear. It confirmed the position of the Malay Rulers, Islam as an official religion of the federation and special position of the Malays and the natives in Sabah and Sarawak whilst recalling that those provisions balance those special positions with safeguards to protect the legitimate rights and interests of the other communities in Malaysia which also includes their right to profess and practice their religions freely without being fear of any threats or being harmed by anybody. The legitimate interests of the non-Malays and non-Muslims would include, amongst others: a) Article 153 (9) says that business or trade cannot be solely reserved only for the Malays, b) Article 3 (1) says that the official religion of the federation is Islam BUT other religions are also allowed to be practiced in peace and harmony in any part of the federation. This means, the other communities too have their fundamental legitimate rights and interest here ...
Read more