Who is Najib Razak?

ARCHIVES 2010

By admin-s On Mar 25, 2010

As a journalist of more than 15 years, the straw that broke the camel’s back for me came last week. At a press award ceremony on 19 March 2010, Najib took the opportunity to declare that it was grossly unfair to state that Malaysia lacked press freedom.

By Jacqueline Ann Surin (The Nut Graph)

IN just a week, Datuk Seri Najib Razak would have been prime minister of Malaysia for exactly a year. Twelve months down the line and all I really want to ask him is, “Will the real Najib please stand up?”

After all, we know that the sixth premier of Malaysia is intelligent and competent. Definitely not clueless. And so, when Najib-speak doesn’t quite match up to what’s really happening on the ground, one really has to wonder. Is Najib-speak for real? Is Najib for real? And if there are discernible discrepancies between the projected Najib and the real Najib, what exactly is Najib all about?

Shocking untruth

Those working in the Malaysian media should know better…

Now, those of us who work in the media, even in the government-owned or Barisan Nasional-linked media, know that if Najib were Pinocchio, he would have needed corrective plastic surgery the minute he said that.

The fact is, there have been ample instances where it was clear that the government, under the previous and the current administration, curbs press freedom. One just needs to read The Nut Graph‘s compilation of these instances to know that Najib’s nose would have grown long indeed at that award ceremony.

But more startling than the disconnect between what’s been happening and Najib’s declaration is this: It’s been barely a month since both The Star and China Press were both issued show-cause letters under the Printing Presses and Publications Act (PPPA). Now, surely, Najib, who has been in government for half his life, is aware of the PPPA. And surely, he knows that under the PPPA, the home minister can suspend or shut down a newspaper’s operations with no legal recourse. And that was why those show-cause letters to The Star and China Press were so troubling.

Marina Mahathir
(pic by Tara Sosrowardoyo)

Indeed, it isn’t surprising that columnist Datin Paduka Marina Mahathir was spiked by The Star, and one hears even columnist Zainah Anwar’s column has been held back pending word about the paper’s publishing permit.

For certain, self-censorship is one strategy that the media the world over uses in order to survive governments that would restrict an independent and free press. And so the fact that the No.1 English daily in the country has to resort to self-censorship in order to ensure its survivability just reeks of media control by the government.

And so I wonder, did Najib not know about these recent incidents? Was he badly advised by his aides? Did he forget? What can we surmise from his bold declaration that Malaysia enjoys press freedom and responsibility that the world’s media can learn from?

Here is what I think: Either our prime minister was clueless or he wasn’t. And if he wasn’t, and I’m wont to think that this prime minister is sharper than some others we’ve had, then Najib was being disingenuous. Or he was lying. Either way, it would be hard to trust a person who was being either.