Press self-censorship in Malaysia: a case study (UPDATED with Chinese Translation)
Aiyoh! Do all Chinese prostitute themselves like this? I hope not or else this country is doomed. Hmm…what did that special officer to Prime Minister Najib say in the 1Malaysia seminar in Melaka: all Chinese came to this country as prostitutes? Well, at least The Star and its owners, MCA, did. And they are still prostituting themselves.
NO HOLDS BARRED
Raja Petra Kamarudin
No offence meant
It has been brought to our attention that a commentary piece in The Star headlined “Persuasion, not compulsion” on the recent caning of three women for syariah offences has offended certain quarters.
We would like to categorically state that there was no intention to insult or offend Muslims with the article by managing editor P. Gunasegaram that was published last Friday.
The Star sincerely apologises to those who were offended by the content of the article.
As a newspaper that bills itself as The People’s Paper, we strive to serve all our readers’ interests and are mindful of the need to be sensitive to their beliefs.
The Star, 24 February 2010
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Muslims instruct goodness and rule out evil as to Allah’s command to “command what is right and forbid what is wrong” (Surah Luqman, verse 17)
There is no compulsion where deen is concerned. Right guidance has become clearly distinct from error. Anyone who rejects false deities and believes in Allah has grasped the Firmest Handhold, which will never give way. Allah is All-Hearing, All-Knowing. (Surah al-Baqara, verse 256)
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Based on the Deen-i Islam, the very first requirement from humans is their sincerity, their ikhlas, their inner honesty, cordiality, so that whatever they perform should be as they wished from inside; and that they must never act for show-off and hypocrisy. The very first thing that Islam disapproves is hypocrisy (the state of a munafiq), that is, acting outward in dishonesty for a purpose, while the inner beliefs contradict with outward actions. For example, performing Salaat or fasting or wearing head-cover because of being forced to, without an inner warm reception, never make someone a believer. On the contrary, it turns a person into a munafiq, i.e., hypocrite.
If someone had at least some faith (iman) in spite of not being able to fulfil some practices, he is at least not an unbeliever. But if we force someone to take some unwilled actions, and if he performs those actions under our pressuring, then we will be pushing that person into hypocrisy and have undergone the responsibility of his misbehaviour.
UP TO DATE UNDERSTANDING OF ISLAM by Ahmed Hulus
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Actually, after writing about issues involving Islam the last two days I thought I would give this subject a rest. But when I saw what The Star published today I just can’t help myself but, yet again, flog this dead horse, so to speak.
The Star did not mention the real reason why they published that apology above but it does not take a genius to figure out why they did so — because, as usual, they received a phone call from the ministry that decides at the end of the year whether their newspaper licence should be renewed or not.
That’s right. Your newspaper permit is renewable annually and there has been many an occasion when the ministry holds back the renewal if they consider that newspaper too much of a problem.
Furthermore, the newspaper owners or editors would constantly be summoned to the ministry to be given a piece of the government’s mind. Some newspapers have to make almost weekly visits to the ministry to get a scolding.
This is how censorship is imposed in Malaysia. No doubt the government will claim that Malaysian newspapers, in their wisdom, practice self-censorship. But when they chop your cock off how else to lead your life other than by being a celibate? (Celibacy means to abstain from sex in case some of you do not know that).
The Star was propagating persuasion as opposed to compulsion. I have always said you can’t legislate conduct. You need to educate people. So what The Star said was basically the same thing. Teach them. Don’t force them. And if after teaching them they still don’t follow then there must be something wrong with the education system.
Islam says that you must propagate amar maaruf, nahi munkar. See Surah Luqman, verse 17 above. The Penang Chief Minister, Lim Guan Eng, has used this phrase before — amar maaruf, nahi munkar — and the Umno boys got very upset. They feel it is wrong for Guan Eng to use Arabic words and quotes from the Quran.
That is stupid. The Quran was revealed to all mankind as a message to all mankind, not just to Muslims. So how can it be wrong for Guan Eng to quote from the Quran in Arabic? This is how narrow-minded Umno people are. They should be proud that Guan Eng saw fit to quote the Quran. I am delighted that there are at least some things in the Quran a non-Muslim like Guan Eng finds worthy to quote from.
And see what Surah al-Baqara, verse 256 says — there is no compulsion in Islam. Is this not what The Star said? And is this not what the Quan also says? So why was The Star made to apologise for saying this? Is not what The Star said a quote right out from the Quran?
Aiyah! Sometimes I feel so disgusted I just don’t see any point in talking about it.
And why should there be no compulsion? Why should we educate and not legislate? Why should we not force people? Well, Ahmed Hulus explained this in his opinion above. If you force people then they do it because they are being forced to do so and not because they believe that this is the right thing to do. In other words, they are not sincere in doing it and this would make them a hypocrite. So compulsion breeds hypocrisy.
If you force someone to go to the mosque to pray and if he would be sent to jail if he does not, then certainly he would go to the mosque to pray. But he is doing it only to avoid jail and not because he believes that going to the mosque to pray is the right thing to do. He in fact does not even believe in your God. But he goes to the mosque anyway while his heart is not in the ritual he has to perform in the mosque.
I suppose this will be just like how a prostitute earns her living. She opens her legs for you because she needs the money. It is not about love. She does not enjoy the sex with you. She is hoping you will get it over and done with quickly so that she can get out of there.
And would not those who are forced to perform certain things for profit, or abstain from certain things because they are afraid of the punishment, be no better than prostitutes — religious prostitutes? It is something they do because they have no other choice. It is not something they do because they believe in it.
This is the height of hypocrisy.
And this makes The Star a prostitute as well. They do things according to what they are paid to do and not because they believe it is the right thing to do. They do what is necessary to be able to stay in business and make money and not because they want to fulfil a community service. Profit above the nation, that is The Star’s motto, not The People’s Paper, as they claim.
Aiyoh! Do all Chinese prostitute themselves like this? I hope not or else this country is doomed. Hmm…what did that special officer to Prime Minister Najib say in the 1Malaysia seminar in Melaka: all Chinese came to this country as prostitutes? Well, at least The Star and its owners, MCA, did. And they are still prostituting themselves.
The Star was right the first time around — persuasion, not compulsion. And by apologising for saying the right thing because they want to please the government in the interest of profit makes The Star a prostitute.
Self-censorship my foot.
Translated into Chinese at: http://ccliew.blogspot.com/2010/02/blog-post_26.html
